It's so easy to do this - and free! Cord blood contains valuable stem cells that can help with research and can save lives! If everyone did this maybe using the stem cells from aborted fetuses wouldn't be an issue.
Here's what you do. Call up or email your local cord blood bank and request that they send a cord blood collection kit to your house. Inform your doctor that you'll be donating it. Then just bring the kit to the hospital when you go into labor and the nurses will do all the work. Call whoever the bank tells you to the next day and they'll come and collect it! So easy, so helpful. Hope our kit gets here before the baby ;)
I had a doctor's appointment today - they usually start checking your cervix at 37 weeks but I requested not to have that done today. They were fine with that. I also talked a little about the actual delivery. With Madeleine I did not have an IV but with John Paul I did. I HATED it. I was so uncomfortable, I had to go to the bathroom every 5 minutes, I couldn't walk around very well because I was attached to a big pole. She said they could do a hep lock and I didn't have to have the IV. YAY! I also said that the nurses wouldn't let me eat last time, for about 15 hours. I was SO hungry and every time there was a shift change I would ask for food and they said no. They finally brought me a little bowl of jello, which didn't even take the edge off. She said she didn't mind if I ate and she'd write it in my chart ;) YAY again!
I can't believe this is 2-3 weeks away! I'm so excited. But I'm actually feeling pretty good right now so I can handle it for a little while longer.
15 comments:
The food thing I get, but they cannot expect a woman to go a day or day and a half without some sort of caloric intake!
I packed gatorade and PB crackers and trail mix and ate when no one was looking:)
There is no medical indication for depriving a mother of food during labor. General anesthesia is not used during c section.
I ate like a pig, with the blessing of my midwives. I had a c section. I had local anesthesia.
I am alive.
Cathy- general anesthesia can be indicated in a true emergency c-section when they don't have time (30-40 min) to place a spinal block or epidural. But you are right that even under GA, the no eating rule is outdated, as techniques have improved to prevent aspiration of food.
If they deny you food, do like Brenda and just eat it when they aren't in the room. Have Ken hold it and claim it's his. :-)
You will do great! Your doctor sounds very supportive.
I am SOOOOO freaking excited about the newest baby Pack's arrival and it is pretty crazy that its just 2 - 3 weeks away!!
Thanks for posting about cord blood, its a great reminder. My hospital already collects cord blood for a public bank, so all I have to do is tell them upon admission and they will have it all set up. I called the cord blood bank So easy! I don't even have to order a kit, they already have them on the floor! (hmmm ... wonder if the birthing center would have this same service. I doubt it. You have to be trained to collect it. Ugh. A strike against the birthing center).
I didn't realize how easy it is to donate, and for some reason I thought it cost something. I guess that is probably if you are collecting it for yourself. Good to know.
I can't wait to hold little Ice!
Good point, Monica re: true emergencies AND the fact that even with GA, the old "aspirate" chestnut just doesn't wash.
I had a pretty big emergency in that his HR dropped waaay low (and not just for a few seconds), but they still gave me a local, thankfully. It was awesome (and terrifying) - like a scene from ER - lots of shouting, counting aloud, etc.
;)
Aaaaand, then I threw up. All over my midwife's shoes.
To her eternal credit, she said, "Oh, please. That's not EVEN the grossest thing I'll have on my shoes today."
LOL!
I've also heard of C-S with NO anesthesia.
Oh, snap!
I have a folder on my comp titled "Tips from Blog Moms." I cut and paste the imfo about the cord. Thanks for that:) I am so excited about your progress. I feel like I know you so well b.c of Mary! You seem like such a delight:) HUGS
Thanks for the reminder about the cord blood - the hospital we chose doesn't participate in the local public bank, but we'd like to find a way to give away this precious resource.
SO glad that you will only need a hep-lock and that they'll let you eat! So sad that it sounds so cutting edge :)
Since this is your third it can go really fast, but if you do end up eating make sure you ask for anti-nausea meds. I didn't know they existed ther first two times and, man, did they make a difference with #3!
I really wish I would have remembered you could donate it! I know we can't afford to keep it, such a shame it goes to waste! Thank you for this post!
My brother in law is anesthesiologist and he has a fit that I stopped for a salad on the way to labor. He said aspiration is the number one cause of death in delivering mommies and that you never know if/when you have to be put under. I don't know, a mommy needs her calories, especially for a long labor. I don't know what I will do next time...but I will say I vomited immediately after labor but the salad was totally worth it...
WR,
You were fine.
;)
Hemorrhage and amniotic embolism due to OBs using Cytotec contra-label to induce labor are MUCH more likely to kill mother AND child.
"The actual incidence of aspiration during birth is 7 per 10 million births in cases accumulated between 1979 and 1990 in the United States. A study in which 11,814 women were allowed to eat and drink during labor reported no maternal damage or death occurring from aspiration. There have been no maternal mortalities due to aspiration in Australia since 1987 and only one death in the UK in the 1990’s despite a recent liberalization of oral intake policy."
HTH.
We tried to donate the cord blood twice (1st birth and 2nd birth). The first time around we went to the hospital too early and were sent home. We accidentally left the cord blood kit in the car and it sat there all night in -40F temps. We called the cord blood bank and they said not to use it, to be on the safe side.
The 2nd time around I procrastinated ordering the kit, and baby surprised us with his arrival at 36 weeks (I had just ordered the kit a few days before).
With baby #3, we decided to forget about it given our track record, and requested delayed clamping and cutting of the cord instead. She was the only one of our kids who wasn't really jaundiced after birth. Coincidence, maybe, but I wonder.
counting the days - can't wait to hear little ICE is on his way!
Heaps of blessings to you ALL of you!!!
Love
Christi
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