Sad Subject But I have to ask.... and Thanks

First - thanks for all the great Yeast advice.  My OB called me in a script for some creme and my hubbie will pick it up soon.  The vinegar bath, keeping a pad on, etc HAS made me feel much better, but I will use the cream too as I want to knock this out before baby comes.

Now --- my sad / have to ask question. 

I am reading labor stories (insead of working) on another site and found one that mentioned having a "full term stillbirth"   This poster focused on her 2nd pregnancy, not the first one with the stillbirth.... so there were limited details.

How does a stillbirth happen at this point?  Anything I can do to watch for problems during delivery?  (I know, I know....trust the nurses/doctors....)    I guess I'm just curious how often a stillbirth at full term happens and what can be done, if anything, to avoid it!

Thanks for hearing me out!

Cindy

Step away from the labor stories you are going to make yourself crazy!!!!!

I don't know that there is a darn thing you can do.  It's a horrible thing, but again outside of your control.  You need to continue to do what you are doing already - take care of yourself and the baby.

I don't know the statistics on stillbirths - my best friend's third died in utero at about 7 1/2 months - he was diagnosed with down's but no reason ever determined as to why he died.  It was a terrible time for her - but she went on to have another child, perfectly normal.  Plus she had two before that, so who is to say?? 

Please relax.  You are making me nervous LOL.  You (and baby) are going to be FINE.

Sharon

Full term stillbirth is very uncommon. If your baby is in trouble, the warning signs to watch for are bleeding (more than enough to soak a full-size pad), preterm labor, and decreased fetal movement. If you want to reassure yourself that your baby is doing fine, I'd suggest a daily "kick count".

After a meal, lie quietly on your side without any distractions such as TV, reading, conversation, etc., and count the number of separate movements you feel. 8-10 or more in a hour is good, in fact once you have felt 8 you can get up and do something else. If you don't feel at least 6 separate fetal movements over a one-hour time period call your OB, who will likely send you in for a non-stress test

OMG Cindy....  You sound like me when I was so close to giving birth.... I went thru this thought process too about "What if".... I drove my b/f nuts with it I am sure (although he says no).... But please dont drive yourself nuts with the "What ifs"... Just monitor how things are going and you will know if something isn't right... Your intuition will tell you...

I can only tell you that I had a sister in law that this happened to... In the case of her, she had gestational diabetes very bad and Garrett was a huge baby... He had very little room inside by the time she was full term... And when he was born the cord was wrapped around his neck several times so he had suffocated they thought... It was the most horrendous situation to watch happen to someone, I can tell you that much... The bad part was that they knew he had no heartbeat and still made her go thru the L/D process... I will never forget it, as long as I live... I cannot even imagine her pain....

But sweetie, you ARE going to be fine & so is your little guy!! Don't think about all those things that could go wrong... Or you will drive yourself crazy with worrying... My suggestion (and I did this) is to watch his activity and if you notice he's not moved for a while or you are worried in any way -- go get checked... My doc also suggested that I eat something with higher carbs in it if he wasn't moving and then lay on my left side for a bit... He said this would make Zander move around all over... I had problems towards the last 3 weeks of my pregnancy and they put me on the NST monitor 2 times a week... Zander wasn't very active during the day time at all but at night he was a wild man so a lot of the time when being monitored he was very calm... they would put this buzzing thing against my tummy to get him stirred up and moving... It put my mind at ease each time I heard the "whoosh-whoosh" sound on the monitor... I knew he was ok then...

But just RELAX and enjoy the last few weeks of your pregnancy... Keep an eye out for anything you feel is abnormal and ALWAYS ask if you feel something isn't right... It never hurts to call the doctor or ask around on here... (((HUGS)))

A friend of a friend lost her baby at 8 months due to a true knot in the cord.  I don't know how one gets thru that!

Sandy

This is one of my huge fears, and it doesn't help when I read too much either.  I have a blood clotting disorder and on one message board they talk about stillbirths alot that happen at like 37-38 weeks.  It freaks me out and I have pretty much stopped looking at that site.  I have to just keep telling myself that I have faith that God will protect me and this baby, and everything is going to be ok. 
So my Dr tells me that when that happen, there isn't much that you can do to prevent it, so it isn't something to worry about.  Yeah right, easy for a male dr to say.
Your baby is going to be fine, we just have to have faith.
Chrissy

Thank you everyone for your stories , answers and reassurances....

I know that worrying doesn't help -- and I'm not worrying per se.  It's more of just being aware of possibilities so I'm mentally prepared.

Prepare for the worst - hope for the best, right? 

My docs have been great.  I've had NSTs every week this last month and have one today....  so I feel like I'm in good hands!

Thanks again everyone!

Cindy

I just wanted to say that my original thought on "how does it happen" would be a cord issue such as wrapped around the neck or the knot...which seems to be a common theme here.

I understand wanting to be "prepared for the worst but hope for the best"...although I'm not sure that there's anything that can really prepare you for that kind of worst.

Hang in there...you're getting closer!

Pam

I can only share my experience with stillbirth.  For me I had a stillbirth at 30 weeks but it was due to a blood clot in the cord.  They found out after the fact that I had a blood clotting disorder.  I was also 160 pounds heavier and didn't really feel the baby move that much so for me it didn't help doing a fetal kick count.  The fact that your doing weekly NST's I don't think you have anything to worry about.  I've been doing them for the last 5 weeks and also losing the weight I'm able to feel the baby move every day.  What I do is the baby is most active after dinner so I lay down on my left side and if I don't feel him move 10 times in 2 hours then I need to call my doctor.  I usually get 10 kicks in less than an hour.  I've got 3 weeks to go before they induce.  Just hang in there and relax.  You don't have much longer to go.

Hugs,

Patty

This subject totally freaks me out. My daughter Bailey was born 5 lbs 9 oz at 38 weeks due to cord issues. Everyday I remember how thankful I am and thank God that she here - because it could have ended up very different.

Bailey's cord was in a true knot, wrapped around her neck twice, and had developed very, very thin. She was basically starving and I am fortunate that she did not have oxygen deprevation. She could be an angel in heaven right now.

It is hard for me not to freak out about this -  they say it is such a slim possibility for Isabella  to have a true knot - but since it has happened to us before it is always on the back of my mind.