I saw this link on another blog while I was still pregnant and just had to experiment, at the time we were still keeping his name a secret so I couldn’t share the outcome, however now that we all know Otto’s name I can indulge in a bit of fun.

Otto Yiu-Ho Hooi

Responsible, caring, loving, nurturing, healing and comforting, the name Otto Yiu-Ho Hooi is warm and makes one feel loved and special. Harmonious and peaceful, the name Otto Yiu-Ho Hooi feels good to anyone, but doesn’t call up any particular feeling strongly. Otto Yiu-Ho Hooi is neutral, suitable for those for whom stability and harmony are high priorities.

Good sense of business, but slow and not particularly adaptable. Strong sense of beauty, but not passionate. Idealistic, with a strong sense of justice.

The name Otto Yiu-Ho Hooi makes one feel like a home away from home. It offers protection and love. It takes away anxiety and fears, and heals the broken-hearted. If you want others to feel like this is their home, this is their safe haven, then this is an excellent name.

The name Otto Yiu-Ho Hooi attracts money slowly, predictably, the result of effort and common sense.

Otto Yiu-Ho Hooi’s most positive characteristics: Protective, harmonious, comfortable to all.

Otto Yiu-Ho Hooi’s most negative characteristics: Stick-in-the-mud. No passion.

I am finally getting around to posting about this!  I am typing this between breastfeeds so it isn’t the greatest written blog I have ever done.

Saturday morning I was eating breakfast and felt a gush of fluid, didn’t think much of it, but rang the hospital anyway, we were told to come straight up and have it checked out.  I didn’t think it was anything as I had no contractions and didn’t really feel like this was it.  We made our way to the hospital and were examined, as I thought my cervix was closed as anything and there was nothing happening, only a few contractions on the monitor that I couldn’t feel.  I went home feeling a little sheepish but fine with it all.

Sunday morning I woke up after a great sleep (thank god!) and went to book club, while I was there I thought my Braxton hicks were feeling a bit strong but didn’t think much more of it, considering how closed my cervix was the day before.  I just made it home and in the door when there was a distinct gush of fluid, this time however I didn’t want to worry the hospital needlessly and went to lie down for half an hour, after getting up I had more fluid come out in a few different gushes, enough to soak through panty liners.

We rang the hospital again, and were told once more to come up, I had also started to feel a lot of pain in my back and the contractions were about every 4-6 minutes apart but not terribly painful.  I rang my mother to come and help us get the house organised and to talk me through them with random chatter as I didn’t want to get up to the hospital too soon.  For some reason I couldn’t leave the house untidy, we vacuumed, made the bed and did the dishes before I felt ready to leave the house.

We made our way to the hospital about four hours after my waters had broken, and the contractions were getting a bit more intense and closer together.  We were accepted into the pregnancy assessment unit straight away and put on the monitors to check Otto’s heartbeat and my contractions,  this time we saw all the right things so were admitted.  Thankfully the nurse was happy with my birth plan and decided not to see how many cm dilated I was but just to let me progress on my own.  We were admitted to the post natal ward as they felt that I was coping well with my contractions and it might be a while yet before I was ready to go to L&D.

I laboured up there for a while, Han was massaging my lower back with the oil we had bought and I was trying different positions to improve the pressure on my back.  Eventually around 8pm I decided I wanted to go to L&D and get settled in, I could feel the contractions coming much closer together, about every 2-3 minutes and they were getting more intense, I did however manage to walk down there which made me feel so much more in control.

Once down there we explained our birth plan again and got examined, I was in a lot of pain lying on my back during the check which led us all to believe that the baby must have been presenting posterior.  I was about 3cm dilated which was better than I expected.  The midwife suggested a shower and it felt so much better to be under the hot water!  I stayed there for a few hours on the birthing ball, leaning forward trying to get Otto to move to the front.

I laboured between the shower and the bed for the next few hours always leaning forward to the front trying to relieve the pressure from my back and trying to get Otto to turn around.  This eventually led to a swollen lip of my cervix at the front, obstructing Otto from moving down the canal correctly, I also was unable to empty my bladder but had made sure I had kept up enough fluid so it was very full, also obstructing his way down.  Eventually we made the decision to have a in/out catheter inserted and I had to start to labour on my left side to help the swollen lip of cervix.  Labouring on my left side was awful, the pain was so much more intense but Han was doing great talking me through them all.  By this stage I was 8cm dilated and it only took me another hour to get to fully dilated.

I was finally able to start pushing once the cervix had started to go down and it was a great relief.  For some reason though, I had thought the contractions would be the hardest part of labour, boy was I wrong!  Pushing was a lot of hard work and pretty painful.  I had managed to keep to my request of no pain relief although there were definitely times when I really thought I couldn’t do it any more.  I pushed for about 2-3 hours and had made some decent progress, however I was starting to become exhausted, at this stage I had been in labour for about 15 hours.  My contractions were starting to slow down, they were going from about every minute to every 6 minutes apart and decreasing in intensity which was making pushing with them even harder.  The decision was made to commence syntocin via my drip to help get them started again, by the time that had started to work however I was beyond it and had nothing more to give, I was starting to cry with each contraction rather than use my energy to push with them.  Our excellent OB came in at that point and I started telling everybody to just get him out, Otto that is, not the doctor!  The decision was made after a few more pushes that I was too exhausted to continue so we vacuumed Otto out, I still had to push with the contractions, while the OB pulled, Otto was so close and it was a relief to start feeling as though I was having some help from the doctor.

Eventually, after another 15 min Otto was born at 0543 Monday morning, 17 hours and 13 min after my labour had begun.  He weighed 7lbs and 15oz and was screaming his little lungs out, I was able to reach between my legs and lift him to my chest, and Han cut the cord.  The experience is second to none, Han and I are forever changed thanks to the gift of this little boy who has been wished for over the past two years so much.

My birth may not have gone completely to plan, as I ended up needing some interventions, but I am still proud to have gone through the experience without pain relief and aware of all the interventions I was agreeing to, without the support of the midwife there is no way I would have been able to achieve those goals.

Now as we look forward to a new chapter in our lives with Otto we are so blessed to have the support of so many family and friends around us.

Our new family

For some reason over the last few weeks I have had a hard time sitting down and writing our birth plan.  I wanted something that could be read quickly and hopefully kept to just one page, while still letting them know exactly what we wanted.  I will take it to our doctor this week and see what he says, I will also need to read over it in the next few days to make sure that I have remembered everything.

Our list is finally so much smaller, I feel as though if the bean came now it would all be ok, most of the things are done and really by the end of this week it will all be done.  Hard to believe that this coming week we are going to be full term, lots of people told me that the last trimester really drags on, but I think I have found it the fastest one yet, however I still have a bit over three weeks to go, so who knows!

Alanah and Han’s Birth Plan

Birth Style

• We would prefer to refrain from having any practice or procedures that, in the absence of medical urgency, could unnecessarily stand in the way of our having the most natural birth possible.

• Alanah would prefer to have an active-birth style labor with minimal intervention.

Birth companion

• My husband Han.
  

Pain relief

• Alanah would prefer if staff refrain from discussion of “pain, hurt, etc.” and any offer of medication or labour-enhancing procedures unless requested. Including pain scale enquiries.

  Monitoring

• Intermittent monitoring — not continuous electronic monitoring unless required due to complication.
  

Interventions

Minimal interventions:

• Minimal vaginal examinations

• Labor to be allowed to take it’s natural course

• We would prefer not to use labor accelerating medication

• Alanah would prefer the blood pressure cuff be removed between observations.

• We would like to be consulted before the introduction of any medical procedure – augmentation, amniotomy, membrane stripping.

• Episiotomy only if necessary and only after discussion.

• Delivery of baby to be complete before suctioning nose/throat.

Delivery positions

• Alanah would prefer freedom to walk/move as she desires during labour.

• Alanah would like to change positions, and assume labour positions of her choosing.

• We would like the birthing environment to have minimal bright lights.

Post-Delivery

• Han or Alanah to receive the baby if at all possible.

• Cord to be clamped and cut only after it has ceased pulsing.

• Han would like to cut the cord.

• Immediate skin to skin contact with baby placed on Alanah’s stomach or lower chest.

• Alanah would like to attempt to breast feed immediately after the birth.

• No wrapping of baby.

• Alanah would like a natural placenta delivery (no cord traction, manual removal or use of oxytocin) unless medically necessary).

In the case of Caesarean:

• Han would like to remain in the theatre and recovery room.

• Han will hold the baby after the C-section and bring the baby to Alanah.

• In the absence of an emergency, Han will hold the baby immediately after delivery for skin-to-skin.

For some reason beyond the limited capacity of my technological challenged brain I can’t seem to write below the video all in one post, so I have decided to just make up a separate post.

As I am drawing closer to giving birth alot of my attention is being focused on the actual birthing process, for a long time now after working in the medical field and having attended more cesareans than I care to number I have known that I would like to have a natural birth.  What I wasn’t aware of was the huge natural birth movement that seems to have begun in Australia and indeed alot of the westernised world.  Since commencing research for my own birth I have found that there are two very polar views and often it is the new mother that is caught in the middle.  I think that it is only in such a wealthy country we could make birth such a bitchy topic at times.

It saddens me, that women are being pigeonholed into either doing what is best for the baby or doing what is best for the themselves, when were the lines drawn in the sand?  I happen to think that doing what is best for the mother is indeed what is best for the baby, where did the instinct go to do what is right for us and our families, instead of doing what the society approves of.

In our family, we will try to give birth the natural drug free way, both Han and I have researched it together and read many books on the subject, does that mean it will happen for us?  Only time will tell, and no one will be in my unique position while giving birth, as each birthing and mother is different, to tell me otherwise, at the end of each birthing experience the healthy mother and baby is the goal and it certainly is for us.  I just wish that each pregnant woman was free of the judgement of others to make the decision that is right for them and their baby.

I have found that videos like the one below to be interesting, I find they help educate me without pushing it too much, it also helps that one of the people interviewed is actually an Australian author from my home town, as so much of my reading and research is from America.

more about "Reducing Infant Mortality on Vimeo", posted with vodpod

On Saturday my excellent friends and mother held a baby shower for “the bean” and I.  We had an excellent day, the games were hilarious and the food spectacular, so much effort went into it I am not sure how I will ever repay the favour when they have their own babies!

The bean!

We not only did some of the more usual shower games, but also a game I hadn’t played before where one blindfolded person fed another.  This game was so funny, I only downed two mouthfuls I was laughing so hard!  Well done to the girls that finished at lightening speed.

Wearing rubbish bags just in case!

Concentrating on the baby essential's game.

Group photo

A bit of a blurry group photo, but I feel really blessed and humbled to have all of these amazing women around me as both Han and I venture into the next stage of our lives.

The organisers

start of 34 weeks.

How far along:  34 weeks

Total weight gain: 12kg, I haven’t put on any weight in the last two weeks though.

Maternity clothes: Definitely

Sleep:  What is this?  I am awake alot during the night, either peeing or just not sleeping.

Best moment this week:  Hearing that my baby shower can go ahead as I am not    contagious with chicken pox!

Movement:  Yup, alot of the time I really know when he is awake or not now.

Food cravings:  none really at the moment

Gender: boy.

Labour signs:  No, just alot of Braxton Hicks

Belly button:  Half in, the bottom is just hanging on.

What I miss:  The ability to walk without feeling the need for an iron lung!

What I am looking forward to:  Baby shower this weekend!

Weekly wisdom:  Take the time out of your day to smell the roses

Milestones:  Making 34 weeks and not going into labour.

We are having a beautiful day here today, and what better way to spend it than with the sun on my back washing the windows!  I have to have the day off work today due to an attack of shingles but will probably go back tomorrow and do my final three shifts.  I am determined however to use it to my advantage and get a few more things crossed off the list, hence the window washing.  I also finally got the cloth nappies washed and hanging in the sun, hard to believe that in about 7 weeks they will be hugging a certain baby bottom!

Anyway, the grocery shopping is calling at the moment, hopefully I can get one or two more things crossed off the list today.

I think I have started something I shouldn’t have by writing a list, it just won’t stop growing now.  I haven’t even crossed one thing off it yet!  I am sure that would be helped if I could get off the internet and actually start doing some of the jobs!

Instead I was so captured by walking into my bathroom this morning and finding the dried lavender I placed there last night dappled in morning light, I just had to take a picture.

Now I am off to cross some things off.

So as my maternity leave is drawing closer I am finding myself freaking out a bit about all the things I need to get done before the baby arrives.  So as all of you on the internet are my witness I am putting together a list of things that I should do over the next few weeks while I am still mobile.

1. Wash all the cloth nappies.
2. Buy and set up trolley next to the change box for above nappies and things.
3. Remove old tinting off the windows in the baby’s room, and if it goes ok, our room as well. This was not easy and left a heap of crap so I will just leave the rest of it on.
   
4. Wash all the windows.
5. Make room in the linen closet for baby’s towels and things.
6. Wait until after the shower and put together a list of items still needing to buy.
7. Buy maternity bra’s.
8. Get my baby bag off layby.
9. Buy one more set of PJ’s or nightie for hospital.
10. Pack a hospital/labour/baby bag (this one really freaks me out). I have started to put things out when I think of them
11. Pay the hospital bill
12. Put up the bookshelves in the baby’s room and set them up.
13. Organise our closets ready for Spring/summer as I don’t think I will have the time soon.
14. Birth announcements.
15. Thanks you cards for the baby shower.
16. Filing, and creating a proper file for the all the information about baby bean.
17. Listen to my hypnobirthing CD.
18. Download some movies for when I am stuck on the couch.
19. Pick up cradle from Dad (six hour drive).
20. Organise a new mattress for the cradle.
21. Make CD’s to listen to during Labour.
22. Get car cleaned.
23. Install baby capsule.
24. Buy essential oils for labour.
25. Organise Plumber.
26. Put dryer up on the wall.
27. Put Vacumn cleaner in for a service.
28. Buy cordless phone.
29. Framing for artwork in the nursery.
30. Organise medical kit for the baby.
31. Write birth plan.
32. Organise nursing chair to be steam cleaned.

I am sure there is more, and as I get things done, I will probably have to add things, hopefully I can get all this done!