Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion breastfeeding and IQ

DS was 9lbs 5 oz. at full term. I remember that last 6 weeks, I was in constant pain around my middle and when I described to to my doctor, he said, "Oh, yeah, that searing pain. That's your skin pulling loose from you ribs." I chugged a lot of Tylenol after that just to be able to sleep. And when I got a cold and coughed I would simultaneously pee my pants and throw up because there was not enough room for everything that was going on. I have never been great at sharing in general and I took even less pleasure in sharing my abdomen.

Did I mention I only have the one kid?

DD8 was 9 pounds 14 1/2 ounces. You might as well call it 10 pounds. DD6 was 10 pounds 10 ounces and was born on her due date. I begged the doctor to induce me early and he was going to. Then he called me back and said "Something came up" and he was going to schedule me A WEEK past my due date, can you imagine if she waited that long? She would have to have been born with a pair of shoes on so she could walk out of the hospital!

Hee, hee! It took me a few years to get up the courage to do the whole thing again! I had a terrible time with acid reflux while I was pregnant with DS. At one point, I could only stand to eat plain oatmeal and canned pears. There's no way I could go through another pregnancy. I'm terrified of the thought!

10 pounders, 'Neato! Ugh! SOOOOOO sorry!

Ah, reflux! The bane of my second pregnancy!

I threw up at least once a week every single week through my entire 2nd pregnancy, and usually much more than that. If I ate anything too acidic or too spicy, if I ate anything too sweet or too fatty, if I ate too much, if I didn't eat soon enough and got too hungry, if I drank anything carbonated...I yaked.

Basically I lived on tossed salads with ham and a little milk because it was all I could keep down. Even crackers were hard on my tummy if I had more than one or two. I lost a little weight at a couple of my checkups and they were all worried about me. I told the nurse I was doing the best I could! At least I was overweight to begin with, thank goodness, so the baby was okay.

I would wake up in the act of throwing up sometimes. DH was worried I was going to choke in my sleep. Who but drunk rock stars ever has to worry about that!?! I got really good at sensing when it was coming and making it to the bathroom, even out of a sound sleep. Weird...

The worst, though, was when I threw up our anniversary meal in the parking lot of the restaurant about a week before I delivered! DH and I laughed at the "$100 puddle" I had made. But it didn't seem fair to STILL be throwing up a week before delivery! Aren't you supposed to be over that particular ickiness about 6 months earlier!?! Harumph!

So I feel for you, Cathy! So yucky!

Did I mention that one was my last pregnancy, too?

I threw up the whole nine months too. The worst part is all those people telling you you'll get over it. I don't think I had a single serving of fruit in the last trimester and I considered every meal with the same question--how will it feel on it's return journey? Mostly I ate milkshakes since they passed the test.

Ah memories!

Kriston, I had morning all day sickness until about the sixth month. I tossed my cookies twice a day like clockwork. Never in my sleep though...that sounds awful! I used to wake up in the middle of the night and HAVE to eat something. I felt like a slave to my stomach.

Throwing up was a pain with #2 since I would always wet my pants when I threw up.

Ooo! Shall we compare delivery stories?


This is one of those female bonding things!

Dottie, you got to try them all

#1, 40 wks, natural birth, 23 hrs back labor (whew!) It felt like someone was pounding a railroad spike into my spine.

#2, 40 wks, induced. I stuck it out until they o.d.'ed me on pitocin causing tetanic contractions. The epidural was heaven!

Female bonding!

Induced from nothing with #1. It's the only childbirth thing I'm evangelical about: don't EVER induce from zero! (To help labor once it's started, maybe. From nothing? Just say NO!!!!)

I endured 23 hours of bone-crushing labor, 3 hours of which was pushing, needing 3 epidurals and 2 pushing doses...and still no baby. They almost had to use the forceps. I was exhausted, so they let me roll over and quit pushing for a while. After 30 minutes of rest, my stubborn DS7 finally decided he was ready and came in just (just?!?) another 30 minutes.

Yeah, don't get me started on what happens when we let the suits make decisions about medical care...

OTOH...

I went natural with #2, warning my midwives from my very first appointment that I would not be willing to induce even on pain of death. They pooh-poohed me...until I was at 41 weeks (again!) Happily though, DS4 came on his own at 42 weeks. I delivered natural, but on my hands and knees (because being on my back was too painful), which was even exciting for the midwife and nurse--first time that had ever happened for them! They were so excited and funny about it. I guess it gets boring to do the same thing the same way all the time, even when the same thing is delivering a child!

Like breastfeeding, natural childbirth isn't one of those things I think everyone "must" do. I totally respect that everyone has different needs. But for me, natural childbirth was sure a whole lot nicer than the highly clinical experience of my induced labor. I felt fantastic after natural childbirth! All those endorphins! And labor itself really was not that bad for me when it came on it's own terms. DH says I have the best looking postpartum photo of any he's ever seen. I'm sweaty, but I look positively cheerful!

SUCH a better experience!

For me the induced birth was better. The natural birth was totally exhausting and ended in DD's shoulders being stuck and her clavicle being broken (I felt it snap like a chicken bone breaking inside me.) I needed extensive "repairs", retained some membranes, had giant nasty blood clots post delivery. I was extrememly freaked out by the whole thing and ended up with PPD.

DS birth was induced because we didn't want him to get any bigger (see above experience). The overdose of pitocin caused contractions that lasted 15 minutes and I started to seize. DH called the nurse and everybody rushed in, turned off the I.V. and gave me a stadol injection. Then they told me they recommended an epidural. I was so loopy from the stadol I would have agreed to anything. I remember them telling me to sign a consent form and I couldn't even focus my eyes. But I scribbled something on the paper anyway. The epidural was great, and I actually got to enjoy DS' delivery. The whole thing was over faster, I was in better condition at the end, and I didn't suffer from depression with DS.