Labor Day is Coming Early This Year!

by Amy on September 1, 2010

Welcome! If you're new to The Finer Things in Life, you might like to subscribe for free updates. Subscribe via RSS to read updates in your favorite feed reader, or via email to have new posts delivered directly to your inbox. Thanks for visiting!

wdatm Labor Day is Coming Early This Year!

Hi folks, it’s Toni here, filling in for Amy today, and I have some exciting news to share!

Guess what?!?!? Amy’s water broke this morning so the baby will be here sometime…. I say sometime because if you have been following Amy’s Why Didn’t Anyone Tell Me? series you know she has had three very different labors.

In order to make things fun for us -because we all know labor isn’t fun until the baby arrives, Amy has decided to host a giveaway.

Amy is giving away a $25 Amazon gift card to the person who comes the closest to guessing the baby’s arrival time, gender, weight, length.

You can read about Amy’s other natural births: Baby 1, Baby 2, and Baby 3, on her site, and don’t forget you can link up your own birth story on Labor Day.

Until then, please remember to pray for Amy that she would have a fast delivery with no complications and that baby and mama would be healthy and back home soon!

To enter, leave a comment with your guess, this giveaway ends after the baby arrives. :)

  • Share/Bookmark
Print

{ 112 comments }

Back Away from My Cervix

by Amy on August 31, 2010

If you’re new here, you might want to catch up on the Why Didn’t Anyone Tell Me? series.

wdatm Back Away from My Cervix

Hello, my name is Amy.  I’m 37+ weeks along with my 4th baby.  I do not know how far dilated I am.  I do not know if I am effaced.  I do not know the station of my baby.  I do not know, because it doesn’t matter!

With much trepidation at my 32 week appointment, I finally gathered the courage to tell my new doctor about my strong aversion to vaginal exams.  It went something like this:

Him: Any questions?

Me: Well, yes.  {said in my best trying-to-be-confident while rambling voice}  I’ve never had a vaginal exam done until I’m well into labor because from all my research I know they are almost always unnecessary and I see no reason to go through the discomfort all for false hope or false discouragement because I’ve known people to walk around at a 4 for a month and other people be completely closed one day and have the baby 12 hours later, and then there’s the risk of infection or inducing labor so you don’t need to do them, right?

Him: {grinning at my obvious discomfort}  Actually, it’s refreshing to not have to convince a patient that vaginal exams are unnecessary.  I don’t do them if you don’t want them done, because vaginal exams provide useless information. There is no need for them in most pregnancies.

Me: {internal happy dance}

I’m a never say never kind of girl, and I know that there are circumstances where a vaginal exam might provide necessary information… maybe you’re way overdue, you’re trying for a v-bac, you think you might be in early labor and you live hours from the hospital, etc. but in the vast majority of normal, healthy pregnancies, vaginal exams are not necessary or helpful.

The Myth of the Vaginal Exam in Pregnancy explains it much better than I do.

…The common belief is that by doing a vaginal exam one can tell that labor will begin soon. This is not the case…

…Many people try to use the information that is gathered from a vaginal exam to predict things like when labor will begin, or if the baby will fit through the pelvis. A vaginal exam simply cannot measure these things…

…Labor is not simply about a cervix that has dilated, softened, or anything else. A woman can be very dilated and not have her baby before her due date or even near her due date. I’ve personally had women who were 6 centimeters dilated for weeks before labor began. Then there is the sad woman who calls me to say that her cervix is high and tight, she’s been told that this baby isn’t coming for awhile, only to be at her side as she gives birth within 24 hours…

…Vaginal exams can increase the risks of infection, even when done carefully and with sterile gloves, etc. It pushes the normal bacteria found in the vagina upwards towards the cervix. There is also increased risk of rupturing the membranes. Some practitioners routinely do what is called stripping the membranes, which separates the bag of waters from the cervix. The thought behind this is that it will stimulate the production of prostaglandins to help labor begin by irritating the cervix, causing it to contract. This has not been shown to be effective for everyone and does have the aforementioned risks…

(click over for the full article)

It’s your body, your baby, your birth. For me, I’m thinking if it’s not helpful… if it’s not necessary… if there are risks… well then, just back away from my cervix!

Are vaginal exams routine with your prenatal care?  Has anyone ever told you they aren’t a must-do?

Linked to Works for Me Wednesday

  • Share/Bookmark
Print

{ 24 comments }

August Clutter Update

by Amy on August 31, 2010

clutterbutton1 August Clutter Update

FINALLY — The Nesting has begun, and not a moment too soon.  I’m still not where I want to be clutter-wise before baby comes, but after a non-motivated summer, the itch to pitch has returned!  Here’s what left our house this month.

Trash

  • giant board book
  • bath book
  • 3 bath toys
  • 1 broken blender (They don’t make ‘em like they used to!)
  • 1 worn out bread machine (A wedding gift — so sad to let it go!)

Recycled

  • 34 plastic lids  (I really have no explanation for this.  How on earth did I even own 34 plastic lids that didn’t have containers?  Dunno.)

GoodWill

  • 12 burp rags
  • 1 blanket
  • 2 crib sheets
  • 25 baby clothing/bibs
  • 1 pair shoes
  • 8 toys/stuffed animals
  • 23 adult clothing items

Yes, there was some baby stuff in that pile.  And yes, we are having a baby soon… but babies don’t need all that stuff. I’ve been there, done that, and pretty much know what we need.  Sure hope someone else can use it, though!

August Total: 113

2010 Total: 496

If I’m going to get anything at all purged in September, it had better happen fast.  Things are about to get interesting around here… ;)

How’d you do in August?  Link up so we can cheer you on!

  • Share/Bookmark
Print

{ 3 comments }

Help for Mom-to-Be

August 30, 2010

This arrived in my inbox on August 11 from a blog-reading friend: Hi Amy, I’ve been thinking about you and praying for you as you go through the final weeks of your pregnancy.  I hope it’s going well and the heat’s not doing you in. Could you use any help in the last few weeks, [...]

  • Share/Bookmark
Read the full article →

Our Birth Story, Baby #3

August 29, 2010

***If you’re new here, you might want to catch up on the Why Didn’t Anyone Tell Me? series.*** ***Reminder: On Labor Day next week, I’ll be hosting a Labor/Delivery Stories Linky.  Please join us!  I can’t wait to read all of your stories!*** —————————– Since we’d already defied statistics and my water broke at the [...]

  • Share/Bookmark
Read the full article →

Weekend Wanderings: Baby Shower Edition

August 28, 2010

My regular wanderings will return next week, but I wanted to make sure all of my readers are able to visit and enter to win all of the amazing baby and mama giveaways Donielle lined up for me.  I’m so completely blown away by everyone’s generosity! Much more important than all the cool stuff, though, [...]

  • Share/Bookmark
Read the full article →

Hampton Hotel Sweepstakes

August 27, 2010

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Hampton Hotels. All opinions are 100% mine. Family lore has it that my husband’s grandma was quite the sweepstakes player. Back in the day… you know… the days when such games were played with pencil and paper, requiring envelopes and stamps (gasp!) she’d spend [...]

  • Share/Bookmark
Read the full article →

Finer Things Friday: By the Slice

August 27, 2010

Summer is best savored by the slice, don’t you think? We sure think so!  Watermelon feed last night, ice cream social at our house tonight… we’re savoring summer around here, and it’s a Finer Thing, for sure! What Finer Things are you celebrating this week? Link up and let us know!  Thank you for directly [...]

  • Share/Bookmark
Read the full article →

Pregnancy Hormones

August 25, 2010

***You can catch up on the Why Didn’t Anyone Tell Me? series here.*** Moody?  Emotional?  Temperamental?  Ugly? Who, ME?! I love being pregnant. My body blessedly handles it very well.  I don’t gain a ton of weight, I pretty much carry my babies as a basketball all in front, and I’ll admit it… the positive [...]

  • Share/Bookmark
Read the full article →

Virtual Baby Shower Giveaways Update

August 24, 2010

Have you been following along? It’s been so much fun for me to wake up each morning this week to a wonderful blessing of gifts from Donielle and some amazing sponsors.  Don’t forget that you can enter to win each and every gift that I receive!  Here’s what has been posted so far: Bravado Nursing [...]

  • Share/Bookmark
Read the full article →