Rolly and I learned so much today! :) As stated in the class outline I shared in my Day 1 post, for Day 2 the topics for discussion include presentation, position, and station; stages and phases of labor, and breathing techniques, among others.
According to Ms. Rome, the baby's presentation in the uterus could either be cephalic/vertex or head-first, breech or butt-first with flexed hips and knees, or transverse where the shoulder, arm, or trunk is first.
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| Photo from http://medicinembbs.blogspot.com |
As many of us may know, the normal presentation is cephalic which occurs in 97% of pregnancies. If the baby is in a breech or transverse position, CS is inevitable. =\ We don't want that mommies, do we? Thank God our little munchkin was head-first the last time we checked. Hope she won't do a somersault and get stuck butt-first anytime in the next several weeks. =S
How will mommies know when it's almost labor time? Among the early stages are cervical effacement and dilation. Effacement refers to the thinning of the cervix, measured in percentage; while dilation refers to the opening of the cervix, measured in centimeters. Around the 37th week of pregnancy, the doctor will already begin to look for cervical indicators that labor is near.
Today, the class also learned the phases of labor.
1) Early Labor - this is the longest and the least intense phase. The cervix begins to thin (efface) and start to open up (dilate) from 0 to 3cm. The bag of waters may break and the mucus plug might come out. Contractions will be mild to moderate lasting 30-45 seconds and are spaced 5-20 minutes apart.
What to do during this phase? Relax and rest, save your strength for later on! :)
2) Active Labor - by this phase, the cervix has already dilated to about 5 to 7cm. If the bag of waters hasn't ruptured or the mucus plug hasn't come out, they may happen now. Contractions are now more frequent, coming every 3-4 minutes and lasting for about 40-60 seconds.
What to do during this phase? Walk or move about to keep the labor moving; go to the bathroom often.
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| I can relate!!! Photo from http://suzyz.blogspot.com =D |
Before the class ended, we did our routine exercises again.
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| That's me trying to stretch as far down as possible. You could see I'm not that flexible, hehe. |
The husbands were also tasked to "inflict pain" on the wives by pressing a portion of our shoulders, just so we could simulate the discomfort of labor (but of course that pain will be 100x more!) and practice our breathing with it. And so that the boys could feel it too, they did the same among themselves! Pero bakit parang hindi sila nasasaktan? =))
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| Ang saya pa ng asawa ko. It seemed like only the girls were affected by the shoulder pinch! =D |
And that's about it for Day 2! :) Next week ulit!
#BellyBlessed,
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