yeah I'm not sure if it varies from state to state but in Massachusetts a c-section requires a 4 day stay in the hospital whereas a vaginal delivery is a 2 day stay. (or is it 4 night and 2 night? I forget it's been so long ) I think if at all possible stick with the regular delivery because it's VERY hard to convince the OB's to let you do a VBAC once you've had even one cesarean.

Thats why I will be induced. Everyone wants to c section an older mom but I dont want to have to go through the recovery process. Vaginal is alot easier on the woman than a c section. But Drs love them because they reduce their liability and then make a ton of more money on them.

I have alot better chance of going vaginal 2 weeks early with being induced. I dont want another 10 pound baby and I dont want to have to take care of a wound and a new born at the same time..

Did you have a csection before? My first just wouldn't come out after 28 or so hours of labor...her head was just tooo big so I had a csection with her. My second was scheduled because that's just what you did when you already had one before but honestly a vbac was totally doable I think since she was 5 pounds even at birth and had a puny head. Now I think I'm doomed since vbacs after one section are hard enough to convince but after 2 and when you're 42..........faggitaboutit. It DOES suck to recover physically on top of having a newborn for so long but since I never had it anyother way I guess I don't know what I'm not missing.

I wanna say something so gross so I will say it in code so you get it ok?


Someone benefits from your C girlie... YOUR HUSBAND LOL.. You are like a teenager still GROSS GROSS GROSS GROSS... LOL LOL LOL LOL

You just dont have the trauma to your body that pushing out a 10 pounder does. Gees. I couldnt sit down for 2 weeks...Its muscle trauma but your body is still the same in other places LOL

I'm not ready to discuss or hear about this part of pregnancy yet. Can we just talk about cake again?

Im getting a walking epidural. Its the epidural you can move with plus I want to be induced 2 weeks early so the baby flies out...

Yes we can talk about cake

I didnt have an epidural before my little one. I had it with her and it was WONDERFUL.. DRUGSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

I'm not even pregnant and get the cramps in my calves at night. Thanks for the tips on how to get rid of them.

For swollen feet - I keep a pillow under the covers to prop my feet up on at night. It's just a little higher, but it helps a lot.

I definitely agree about not gaining too much weight when pregnant. I've heard that you can actually gain new fat cells, not just add fat to the ones you have, while you're pregnant so the more weight you gain while pregnant, the more fat cells you'll have to fill up later in life when you gain weight. Not sure how true that is but I know when I gain weight I look pregnant now.

you mean you don't want to practice by grabbing your lower lip and pulling it over your head?

Im so freaking hungry you cannot imagine

what the... LOL

Someone benefits from your C girlie... YOUR HUSBAND LOL.. You are like a teenager still GROSS GROSS GROSS GROSS... LOL LOL LOL LOL

Is that honestly true and proven? Some women were telling me at work C-section leaves a nasty scar you can't get rid of and she said she can't show her body now - Then doing it other than C-section you lose your...elasticity ?


That's someting I forgot to ask and I was curious -- Anybody got some input on that

my ob/gyn sewed me up tighter. so i am back to being virginal again




its not that bad. i worked out two weeks later. i could definately sit the next day.

JP....labor and delivary arent what u think...I had a 9lb baby, and an epidural that never worked, and seriously it wasnt that bad...I was stitched ALOT down there, and it was nothin a motrin 600 couldnt handle..and after about 5 days, it was fine....sitting did hurt the first day or two, but, sit on a few pillows, and its all good...and, if their saying taleen might be smaller, u may not even need to be cut down there....

oh yea, my OB whos daughter dates a man from jordan tells me as he is stitching my business...

"Hey kel, u know what they prize in the middle east"

"whats that doctor rossner?"

"A virgin, u wanna be one again??"

lol....i did opt for an extra stitch or two...lol....

LMAO.....I'm still not looking forward to it. I think you have to take it in steps. Right now I'm ready to discuss cake.

I knew it! I've noticed how considerably higher c-sections are here compared to my home country, and I was wondering why that is...I would not want to have a c section, I guess whenever we decide to start having kids I'll be very careful to find a doctor that understands how I feel about it and is willing to adapt to what I want.

Saludos,
Caro

looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
oooooooooooooooool

Most doctors opt for a c-section as the last resort. My first was a c-section because he was breeched (turned upside) and never descended into the pelvic area for delivery. My c-section was schedule the last day almost the last day a person could be pregnant post 40 weeks! My second was a repeated due to the high risk of having a v-back and breaking the incision area (specially here where there is an OB shortage almost all docs opt for this, now they are becoming more optimistic of the liability issues), which could lead to major blood loss, unplanned hysterectomy or even death! This baby depends, I could schedule or I could labor we will know more when I am at 35 weeks (wow that is in 10 weeks!).

As a side note someone asked about a scar from this procedure, once your skin is cute under several layers you will have a scar, but most doctors do bikini cuts so unless your running around naked or staring in some xrated movies no one notices it. There may still be some docs doing the old cuts, mid way up the abdomen horizontal instead of vertical n the bikini area

Here's a question for you gals...


Why does everyone think its ok to pat a pregnant woman's tummy? SOOOOO annoying!

I thought if you had a c section - you stay in the hospital a lot longer than giving a natural birth. I had my baby on a Wednesday night and Friday morning we left the hospital. It was the same amount of time just like 20 years ago.

how about some alien cake?

i hated the pat

I dont get patted too much but I usually have a screeching pre schooler with me jumping around... I dont mind much. I am just happy to be alive and happy the baby is ok

I'm getting lots of belly touching--I usually don't mind as long as people ask first.

They stopped to ask me earlier on (6months or so)....the bigger my belly grew the more free touches without warning happened! LOL Drives me nuts!

Because people have no sense of personal boundries. Likely, I will knock someone out. It's like how people feel some kind of compulsion to pet your hair. Why? I would never touch someone else's hair (friends, family, strangers) unless I had a reason or it was Ammar. Somehow he is exempt from my feelings of personal space.

You know what I hated the most...

(Mind you My stomach was Ginormous)

People would stop me in the grocery store, or at the quiet bank i work at, or elsewhere, and let out a big...

"Holy Cow" or "Daaamn" or "My God" real damn loud, and say...are u havin twins?? and hwen i would tell them No, theres just one baby, they would say, well u might wanna get another check on that...

U know, how ignorant, i know i got big...problem was i only gained about 28lbs, and the baby was HUGE....and i was allll belly, so i just kept stretching and stretching....

I would get cramps in my legs and feet at night. The doctor said magnesium and iron deficiency and suggested I eat a banana before going to bed. After my son was born the cramps went away.

I got huge too, but no one asked if I was having twins.... they did however hover to my belly and start rubbing it and patting and talking to it, which was SSSSOOOOOOOO annoying. I guess pregnancy means you get no personal space. Once I was at a doctor visit and he kicked me so hard his foot went between my ribs. Once I stood back up from falling to the groundin pain, some old smelly guy asked if I was ok, then said oh.. look at the little foot and started tickling it... I think that was the worst part of my pregnancy, all the crazy people wanting to touch me.

I dont know what is more scarey sounding....freaky people touching me or having a little foot through my ribs;)

After watching a couple of my friends lose babies or not be able to get pregnant, I kind of feel stupid saying much about boundaries or anything else. If you are pregnant and your baby is healthy you have a hell of alot to be grateful for. I thank God everyday hes ( the baby) is alive and healthy. It could be a different story

all people ahve different opinions. Depends on what the person views as her personal space and how close they guard it. In all cases, to each their own.

I had a ton of boundaries... TONS.. I think because i have watched people close to me lose their babies, both to still birth, miscarriage and other stuff,,, I m really reticent to act too snotty to many people about what my boundaries are if they wanna pat me.. IMHO

I did not mind when people rubbed my belly ... i would always tell them to go right ahead ... as far as stretch marks ... i gained 50 pounds ... at the end of my pregnancy i looked as if we were having twins ... but still no stretch marks

I am not one to have strangers feel me when I am pregnant. For the most part, wearing my long tunics/shirt dress most people think I am just extremely large ! My boys always are touching me and my friends, but other then that no one else.

I don't understand how people rubbing your tummy relates to lost pregnancies. I know that I would never complain about being pregnant because of so many who have suffered and lost a baby. It's like laughing in the face of a blessing. But when people come at you to rub your tummy that's just wierd. I'm not even sure what they get out of it. The poor baby is probably confused cause they know they've never heard that voice before.

I'm nervous about ever getting pregnant because of "pain at site" but I know when I see that baby that I made with my spouse - it came from both of us! If God has to make somebody half me and half him that's who it would be! all those times I didn't feel well during pregnancy would disappear.

People touching my stomach during pregnancy that would drive me nuts. That's my stomach

I think its where you live. I live in such a tourist area , sometimes all I see is British tourists and families wandering around that you could literally go to some parts of my town and never see a familiar face ( disney area) LOL

I think my thresh hold for things pissing me off is pretty high. I am not say it has always been so but I kind of like anyone even noticing if I am pregnant because this town is so full of strangers that we sometimes as natives dont make a connection.

I think it depends on the person. My family is highly intellectual, cold, stand offish. I would kind of like to have the whole my big fat greek wedding family with people spraying windex on me and yelling. I love my husbands family because they are so big and hyper. THey would probably rub me 24 hours a day

sarah, Everyone told me before I had zaid that God makes u forget the pain, so u will have more babies...maybe so, maybe not, but I tell ya, The minute i saw zaid, it was like I had never been in labor, no pain, no nothin, it was all gone...

That's exactly what the mothers in my family say

hopefully I can get my spouse to wait on me for 5-6 more years till university is finished. 26 still seems to young to have a baby!

I just know how much I love my husband. I know when I am able to hand him his baby and he gets to hug his baby ( his dad died when he was only 13) that all of this will seem very worth it. I hope my baby looks just like him... like a little twin

omg I hope that our baby will look like him too:) I even have recently told my husband I am going to name our first son after him. I decided that as I was leaving Palestine. but I only just recently told him:) I want all of my kids to be a carbon copy of my husband because that is just how awesome he is:) (I'm surprised my husband's head can fit through the door at this point, lol

I just wanna use my husbands name for our future son (God willing)

I had a C-section. I went in at 6:15a.m. Thursday morning and was out by Sunday Morning. They let me go a day early because i was moving around nicely.

Ok sooo I 've had four kids... 2 c/s (1 emergency and 1 planned) 2 v/bacs (1 natuarl and 1 epidural) so as far as delivary ask away I can help in that arena foooosooo. Now the leg cramp thing? Only happend with one of them and I found drinking water (keeping hydrated) is the only thing that helped. But try not to over do things..you really need to stay tuned in to what your body is saying Perhaps you might need to take it back a noch during the day?? good luck!

Esalaam/Hello ...

Ethiopian and other African nations women use Shea butter. The real stuff. While, I have heard also palm oil butter and olive oil works.

I have started to use olive oil but too late already have stretch marks.

But I am sure glad here in Algeria people do not think to touch your belly!

BTW, I think we should make a thread about child birth in MENA. I have some experience in this ... that I would like to share

speak away because i will not be having a baby in Algeria lol

Well, on hand I do not blame you! But then on the other ... it is not so bad! I have been hospitalized several times here ... in the public hospitals. They are crowded ... little horrifying if you compare them to the US ones! But I have seen worst conditions in other countries. And afterall, healthcare is free! Something I can not thank Mr. Bush for!

Plus, there are many private clinics that have a better standard.

But if anyone is interested ... we could explore this. I have some 'nice' gruesome stories!