Right now, there are treatments that are done using stem cells and cord blood. I believe they are used for leukemia and other cancer patients. In time, there will be more.

People donate them now. We decided that instead of risking NOT finding a match should something devastating happen to our son, we’d store his stem cells just to make sure there is a match should something happen.

Today, stem cells can:

Cure red blood cell diseases (Fanconi Anemia)
Cure white blood cell diseases (e.g. SCID)
Treat cancers (Leukemia and Neuroblastoma)
Repair tissue (Heart Tissue)

(Plus, 40 other diseases not mentioned)

Last night, as we watched a video showing some women going through those rough contractions, I remembered all the times my only relief came from lying in the fetal position (and naked) on the cold bathroom floor. I hope that I conjure up all that memory and go into it knowing that this time I’ll get a big, fat poop filled reward in the end. :]

Thank you, all for leaving such awesome comments and sending such reassuring email. They mean a lot to me.

I’m not going to give you any advice about the pain, as I know everyone has different pain thresholds. If you have had painful things, migraines, terrible cramps etc. in the past, you probably will deal with it better than those of us who have never had any significant pain to compare.

I just kept saying to myself that it would end eventually, and not hurt forever. And once the baby came out? Well there was virtually no pain left, a bit of achiness/soreness where I was stitched, but really? Nothing even as bad as a headache.

We talked about cord blood storage with our doctors and the hospital, and they said it is pretty much not done in Canada. Or at least in BC. I think the number was at about 2% of parents do it.

I think you need to start making your list of things you will look forward to once your baby has arrived. Maybe this will get you more excited to go towards (and past) labour? Let me see…being able to walk more than a block..tie your shoes, paint your toenails, shave your legs…those are all things I gave up in my last trimester. Sleep on your back! Eat rare meat (if you like it) and unpasteurized cheeses.

Sugar, that’s all he’s wearing for the first couple of months as well. it’s entirely too hot for much more.

I can’t wait to see my vagina again to be perfectly honest. I haven’t seen it in months. I did discover some stretch marks on the underside of my belly today. That made me want a drink. I made a smoothy instead. Damn stretch marks. Spent a billion dollars on Belly Butter for nothing.

I was so proud that I had no stretch marks for my entire pregnancy. Even 3 days before I gave birth, my dr. remarked on how amazing it was. After I gave birth, and looked at my lower stomach for the first time in months (withour a mirror), I found that the very act of labour appears to have given me a whole bunch just around my navel. No more bikinis for me! They have faded into invisibility, but the skin just doesn’t lie smooth anymore, you can see the indentation of the stretch marks.

I do not believe that Bush administration is pushing against stem cells derived from cord blood. Quite the contrary: their argument is that the ban on federal spending on embryonic stem cells is moot in part because stem cells are readily available in cord blood and do not require the destruction of an embryo. But that’s not entirely accurate, since cord blood stem cells are not as useful in the treatment of neural diseases like parkinsons or paralysis from injury.

However, research on tranforming multipotent stem cells into pluripotent cells would solve two problems: 1) it would give parents like us more oppportunities to help our children should they become sick 2) it would eliminate the ethical debate around harvesting embryonic stem cells.

BTW, Henry was born at 35 weeks. He was 4lbs 10 ounces (smaller than a bag of sugar), and was healthy enough to be sent home after a week (of course, our crappy healh care at the time discharged him at 48 hours and he was near death from jaundice when the ambulance whisked him back to the hospital).

ahh, good times.

Pack your hospital bag now! We were caught completely unprepared and Kerry had to waddle the halls in her hospital gown and winter shit-kicker boots because we didn’t bring slippers. And nipple stimulation? Nah, that didn’t work. Kerry started labor but stopped, so we fought the pitocin dose by suggesting we stimulate her nipples. After an hour of pinching and tickling, we relented.

Also, the Bush administration hasn’t been exactly kosher with perusing any of it. I still stand by the fact that under a different political environment more folks would hear more about the benefits and get behind it. The more folks behind it, the more resources go into it, etc. etc.

Sort of related: I wonder, why it is that fertility drugs and a push with science is OK under certain circumstances but the line is drawn (arbitrarily) at using lab created embryos for stem cell research? Instead, aren’t they destroyed? I don’t get it. I might not get any of it, who knows.

Then again, I just really can’t stand this administration so most of my comments are biased.

Also, heard all about pitocin last night. I hope it doesn’t come to that. :/

I didn’t find c-section recovery difficult. I guess I am lucky. I say it is because I don’t have any stomach muscles:) I definitely had more recovery with Simone b/c of pushing for three hours before they did the c-section. You still have the swelling associated with pushing. SIGH! I actually remember the recovery time in the hospital being worse with Shep. Maybe it was because it was a second C. Maybe my docs in VA just gave me better drugs. Who knows!

My advice is that if you end up with a C-section get either a belly support band or underwear that is made to make your stomach look flat. The pressure helps make standing and sitting easier after a c-section.

We decided to donate our cord blood. If we can help someone else’s kid…I think more people should know about donating or storing cord blood. It’s very simple and can truly save a life.

I hope you are getting a chance to rest w/your feet up!

I too suffered from extremely painful menstrual cramps and I have to say that my contractions weren’t any worse than those cramps. I was induced with oxytocin. I ended up with the epidural about three hours into my induction so I can’t say what transition feels like. (I was pregnant with twins and the OB strongly recommended the epi just in case she needed to reach in there to get the second baby, which she didn’t have to do.) Before the epi the contraction were very manageable. After the epi was in, I just felt pressure and when I got closer to pushing I just shut everyone out and focused inward.

I second resting with your feet up and drinking lots of water. Before you know it, you will be at home your son!

Next week I begin my internal exams as well as the 36-week ultrasound to make sure he’s in the right position for birth. I’m pretty sure he is. But we’ll see. I’m also curious to see if I’m at all dilated. I am anxious.

Got the water thing covered, I think. In fact, I often contemplate moving onto the toilet I pee so much.

Thanks again, everyone for the valuable information. It’s always reassuring to know that others have been there countless times before. Rest assured, there are probably going to be several more hysterical freak out posts before he arrives. I get worked up entirely too easily. :]

and by the way, when i lost my mucas plug i had no idea what it was, i had my friend on the phone & she asked me “is it your mucas plug” and i yelled back “DOES IT SAY MUCAS PLUG SOMEWHERE ON HERE???”.

ha!

yeah, no one mentioned that. I only heard about it during my first Lamaze class which took place two weeks ago.

You’re going to do just fine with labor. I’m saying a wee prayer for you that it is peaceful and wonderful. I’m so excited for you!

seriously, nyers need some etiquette lessons, STAT.