Little Happies - Vol 2015 -- 3rd Trimester talk

I wanted to share some of the reading I've been doing to prepare for peanuts arrival.

1) Is your little one not in the correct position.. or worried of what docs keep saying:
Spinning Babies  there are many videos, and positioning tips to turn your baby.

2)  All the classes that I've looked into for first time breastfeeding have been full, or not offered for another month or so..  So I bought a book & have used this online resource Breastfeeding University
i'll share the free code I got:  BRUeA2awm  ..otherwise it's $25. Once you complete the video sessions.. and take the quizzes. You get $25 off a starter kit.

3) Our birth instructor highly recommended this site: Mothering  . It has been a big wealth of informaiton.

4) Treat yourself, or ask for it as a gift, for a non-hospital   Birthing Gown  . They are very soft, and you will want to wear again & again. They are very good for after birth too while nursing.

5)  Read up on Group B Strep  I didn't want to test positive for it.  You don't know you have it til after the test comes back.. If you want to prepare for the test,  there is a procedure you can do, to give you a better chance not to test positive for group b strep & avoid those pesky  IV's.  You want to do this a good 10 days before your test.. which is done at 35 weeks or greater, no sooner. The results are valid  for 6 weeks..


  Vaginal Wash for Elimination of GBS Infection  

"You use one part 3% hydrogen peroxide to four parts water. (Hydrogen Peroxide kills Step B on contact, however, NEVER  treat with undiluted HP – too strong!)  Douche or irrigate once a day, every day, for 3 days.  Also clean labia w/ solution twice daily for all three days.  Then make sure to do this again the morning of your test.** (**Alternate directions in last paragraph of this page.)  This recipe is from Jenny West, a midwife in NM.  Her email is info@tubsntea.com if you have any questions."

[Many young women of today no longer are familiar with how to do a vaginal douche.  Purchase a douching bag at Walgreens’s in the feminine supplies aisle.  It will come with a detachable nozzle about the size of a Tampax for vaginal use and occasionally another nozzle for rectal use.  The bag is to be filled with the solution described, the nozzle attached, shake the bag to mix, then get into the bathtub in a squat or recline with legs apart.  Insert the nozzle into the vagina, gently, as far as it will go.  (Remember that your vagina is Y-shaped with the cervix coming down between the arms of the Y.)  Gently squeeze the bag as you move the nozzle GENTLY to each side of the Y and up and down the vagina – trying to reach each little crevice and fold.  Remember to douche the labia outside as well.  Be sure to rinse the bag well after use.  Now take your shower. That’s all there is to it!]

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"Three parts water, one part hydrogen peroxide (if you do 3 cups water, and one cup hydrogen peroxide, you'll get one quart of solution)  since this will be a low pressure vaginal wash, I'd recommend one quart.  You will need an enema bag or douching bag-sold a drug stores or Wal-mart type places.  You can mix the solution right in the bag--be sure to pinch off the tubing with the thingy provided for that.  I usually suggest the woman lay in the bath tub--semi-reclining, insert the vaginal end (it has several holes in it, and is longer than the other end provided). Holding the bag only as high as your arm is long, release the pinchy thing and you should feel the fluid start coming out.  If not slide the vaginal insert out a little bit (and you may not have to pull it all the way out, just until some air can enter one of those little holes to release the flow) until you do feel fluid flowing.  Re-insert gently, "banging into things and probing" is unnecessary.  Relax and 'visualize' anything your body does not need flowing out with the solution.

            Some midwives add a little Echinacea, tincture or tea, (3-4 TBsp of tincture or one cup of tea--you would replace one cup of the three cups of water with the one cups of Echinacea tea).  Some also add colloidal silver--also a liquid, 1-2 TBsp.  Adding these two ingredients would make this a more 'overall' wash--more broad spectrum, as Echinacea is anti-viral and anti-bacterial.  Colloidal silver tends to attack STD-type microbes.  Remember, tho', hydrogen peroxide kills Strep B on contact--very specific.


**I'd suggest two washes, two nights apart.  Say your Strep B test was Thursday, do the first wash on Sunday night before going to bed, the second on Wednesday night and swab on Thursday. (**Alternate directions in first paragraph of this page.) I've done this for my whole career--vaginal washes, so I feel like it's simple.... I realize not everyone may agree with that!               from Jenny West, midwife, Albuquerque, NM