Hellobee Boards

@Silva: Interesting that your labors were so similar! I also had BP issues from the epidural and needed epinephrine, though just once...as far as I can remember haha. It was weird because my BP was elevated when I arrived, but then the epi caused it to swing in the other direction. I also appreciate what you said about feeling love re: your daughter. I feel like for the first little bit, it almost felt more surreal to me than anything, like I'd look at F and think, "Oh wait, that's MY baby." Like it just didn't even feel like real life. It took my mind a little bit to adjust to being a mom and I felt kind of bad about that.

@agold: I felt the same way in the beginning. For me it was partly the "baby blues" I think. I felt really down for a bit, at least the first week or so, and I also felt like my husband was so good at everything -- changing the diapers, getting him dressed and in the carseat, etc. while I was overwhelmed. Now at almost three weeks, I feel noticeably better. Hang in there!

@OldpuebloJenn: thanks, looking forward to reading your story!

@MrsSCB: it took me weeks with my daughter before I felt this total love for her. I felt an urge to protect her and take care of her but the love part came in bits and pieces and little waves. I had a feeling it would be different this time because I felt more connected to the baby during pregnancy. Sounds cheesy, but it's kind of like my heart knew how to love that big already....
I remember thinking I was a bad mom because I didn't feeling it right away the first time. Luckily I'm the kind of person who talks about everything, all the time- because I quickly learned a lot of moms have similar experiences!

@MrsSCB: great birth story! I'm so glad your husband made it back in time. I can't believe you had your phone with you!! And sorry the pushing was so hard. Did you say how long you pushed for? I only pushed four times and still burst blood vessels in my right eye. Pushing id definitely intense. And are you serious that this may be your only baby? My husband keeps saying one and done after my baby girl's delivery.

And thank you for telling me about your "baby blues". I definitely had that. I managed to collect myself yesterday and go to my moms. Baby girl did great and it gave me some good confidence. We are going to the lactation consultant and I'm praying that outing goes well also. Staying in my house all day every day was beginning to feel like ground hogs day.

@Silva: @katsupgirl: I'm thankful for some real talk here it can be a weird adjustment, but I feel so much better than I did even a couple weeks ago. Glad I'm not alone.

@agold: I pushed for maybe 45 minutes -- felt like longer though haha. And I doubt this will be our only, but for a few days I wasn't sure! Glad you had a good trip to your mom's house. I know what you mean about groundhogs day. Getting out of the house, even for just a walk, really improves my mood.

@OldpuebloJenn: thanks! That's good to know that spitting up can even be good for their esophagus. Interesting because my first never ever spit up as a newborn and then developed silent reflux at around 9 months... I wonder if she'd have been better off spitting up as a newborn! He's definitely gaining well - 4oz above his birth weight at 12 days after losing 7oz the first few days! He's also straining a lot to poop, and i'm wondering if that's causing the vomiting (the spitup i agree is just overeating).

@MrsSCB: my husband is naturally great with babies - he has a huge extended family and had tons of young cousins around all the time. I was so intimidated with my first! I'd never even been around a newborn. Plus with the c section recovery he was much more hands on the first few weeks than i was. But once we got into a groove, i felt so much better. It takes time!

I finally just decided to quickly type up my birth story so I could share it here. It's not perfect because I had to type it hastily while my kids enjoyed a show this morning - but here you go!

On August 17th, I had my 41 week (a day early) appointment and a non-stress test to determine that baby was doing just fine. My midwife saw no issues with the NST and asked me what I was thinking re: induction. I signed up to be induced on the following Monday at 41 + 4 because any later than that and there was the possibility I’d share a birthday with baby girl and that didn’t thrill me. I was only 2 cm dilated and 80% effaced at my appointment, which was totally mentally defeating to me because I had been 4-5cm already and 90% effaced with my previous baby when I went to my induction and it had gone really smoothly. I was afraid that I would have a longer induction on Monday. At that point I fully expected to make it to my Monday induction, and I told my midwife that would be the case. She asked if I wanted a cervical sweep - so I went for it. It was a GOOD one in that it hurt really bad and she kept sweeping it for a minute or two. I had had two sweeps with my previous pregnancy and neither had worked but neither had hurt so this made me hope a bit that maybe I’d have a baby that upcoming weekend. I spotted off and on after getting home and was crampy but didn’t have any contractions.

The next morning, August 18th, I woke up at 5:45am to a MAJOR contraction. It felt like my back was being hit with a sledgehammer. After it passed, I walked to the bathroom and felt a huge glob of mucus fall out and I started bleeding off and on. I bled from that point on through the rest of the day. My husband got up to go to work at 6 and I told him that we would be having a baby that day – I just knew it! He asked if he should stay home from work and I said to go and finish up anything that he needed to finish. I started having awful back labor contractions every 5-6 minutes. This continued for a couple of hours and, when I took a shower, they actually went to every 2-3 minutes.

My kids woke up and they started to space out gradually. I got the kids dressed, fed them, and got ready to head to my chiropractic appointment. More mucus and blood was coming out at this point even though contractions had pretty much stalled out. I texted my husband and asked him to come home and drive the kids and I to the appointment. He came home and we went to the appointment.

Afterwards, we called my mom (even though contractions were gone) and asked her to pick up the kids after her shift at work ended at noon. We got the kids packed up and ready for a stay at grandma and grandpa’s and then headed to the park for one last park date with just two kids! Afterwards we took the kids out to lunch. I had a rare contraction here and there but nothing crazy.

After my mom picked up the kids, my husband and I headed home and deep cleaned our first level. He put away all of the laundry, swept and mopped, vacuumed; I did dishes and cleaned the kitchen, etc. Then we laid down and watched a show before deciding around 3pm it was time to get this show on the road. We headed out to go walk at a local park. My husband bought me an iced coffee on the way. It almost felt a bit like a date.

At the park I had horrendous back labor every 15-20 minutes or so. They didn’t want to seem closer together. I could tell she was hanging out posterior which bummed me out because my first baby was posterior and it ended up being a 36 hour birth – 12 hours of which was TRUE transition with unmedicated contractions every 2-3 minutes. Horrible. We hung out at the park for about an hour and a half and then went to the grocery store to pick up some beer for my husband. At this point I thought the joke was on me and that baby wouldn’t be coming that day. I almost considered calling my midwife to see if they could get me in for an induction the next day.

We went home at about 4:30 and collapsed on our bed and I started to cry. I was so upset. I was picturing how this labor was going to go – just like my first birth! I knew it was going to be super painful and my hopes for an unmedicated birth were going out the window. The contractions went away while I was lying down.

I decided to get up and pace around our upstairs to try and bring the contractions back. My husband, doula extraordinaire, did some research on Spinning Babies during this time and found this: http://spinningbabies.com/learn-more/techniques/other-techniques/abdominal-lift/

He encouraged me that we should give it a try during a contraction for ten contractions like the article described. Keep in mind that I was only having contractions every 15 to 20 minutes or so. I anticipated that we would be doing ab lifts all night with no success.

A contraction came about 15 minutes later at around 5:15pm, and my husband did the abdominal lift as written on the web page. 10 minutes later another horrific back contraction came, and he did it again. This time I felt a HUGE shift inside, and felt her drop down even lower. Suddenly, contractions came on every TWO minutes. I was messaging pregnantbee at this time and I remember that one of my messages was something like “I had anticipated we’d be at the hospital by now! ☹” and my next text was “on our way!!!”

The contractions were every two minutes, but they were no longer back labor. They were normal contractions like I had had during the entirety of my second labor and delivery with my second baby. I could handle this! My husband wanted to head for the hospital right away, but I told him I was sure I was just entering active labor (due to the fact the contractions weren’t super painful and they were only lasting about 40 seconds) and I thought we should wait a bit. He told me to get in the van because he wasn’t comfortable delivering a baby at home – ha!

At 5:45 we left for the hospital. My legs started shaking in the car, and I had contractions every few minutes, but it truly wasn’t awful so I assumed I was about 4-5cm dilated. We got there at 6pm and the nurse was about to send me to triage when my midwife heard who was there and assured the front desk nurse that I wouldn’t have come in unless it was the real deal. I felt so good at that point (despite the frequent contractions) I was nervous that I would be sent home. They whisked me back to an L&D room where my midwife did a quick check and said “uh, you’re 8cm and fully effaced and there’s a head!” Both my husband and I were in SHOCK. It was about 6:15pm before I was admitted and they quickly had me put on a hospital gown. I declined an IV and at that point things were moving along so quickly they weren’t concerned about it.

I sat on the side of the bed and had probably 4-5 more contractions before I felt the sudden urge to jump off the bed and squat down. I squatted super low and felt my water break! I was thrilled – I had never had my waters break naturally during delivery! It was a fun experience. I climbed back into bed and was 9cm and just waiting for that last cm before I could begin pushing. It was a very relaxed birth. My contractions started to space out at that point to about 4-5 minutes apart and never lasted more than 45 seconds. (I know, because my husband counted through them with me.) I laid down on my back and waited to progress that last cm and was able to start pushing at 7:05. I pushed about 4 or 5 times over the next 17 minutes and made quick, easy progress. It was actually fun to push at that point – I felt so accomplished! Sylvia Jane was born at 7:22pm – 8lbs, 9oz and 19.5 inches long. I tore a bit along where I had torn with my first birth, but didn’t even feel the ring of fire so it wasn’t a big deal. I think I was just so hyped up on adrenaline and natural endorphins that I can truly say pushing was pain free.

It was my dream birth – and not because it was unmedicated. Rather, I finally kept my cool through labor and delivery. I’m not able to say the same about my first two births where I completely lost it during transition (I legitimately begged for epidurals at 9cm both times previously). I prepared a lot more mentally for this birth with hypnobirthing techniques and the book Mindful Birthing and I really think they helped me. I never felt out of control, I never felt like the pain was too much, and I actually enjoyed nearly every single moment of the birth! The nurses and midwives were in awe – “you were so calm!” One of the nurses said it was amazing and a joy to be in the room while I delivered. I honestly have to give full credit to the prep work I did this time around because that is NOT me at all.

After the birth, they brought her right up for skin to skin and she was there for several hours. Unfortunately I hemorrhaged and so I immediately needed a shot of pitocin to my leg and then I had to get put on an IV with more pitocin for 5 hours or so. It wasn’t fun, but they took great care of me and had blood ordered in case I had needed a transfusion. Thankfully, all turned out okay but it was scary – I’m grateful I had a baby to enjoy at that point.

@Pirouette: My daughter also never needed to be burped. My little man is so different! I burp him costantly, and he has bouts of painful gas (although he is getting better and better at getting rid of it--and the frequency seems to have decreased some as well (he will be a month old this coming weekend). I have also noticed that he physically gags although he doesn't spit up as a result. I will mention it to the Ped this next week at his 1 month appointment. I wonder if he has reflux. But. He eats well and is gaining beautifully. And he sleeps well for a newborn.

The swelling is much better-thanks! I sill have some over the incision though. And it's a little uneven-there's more on the left than on the right. I am assuming that's because my scar is tighter on the left side than the right . . . ? It gets better if I wear my belly binder all day, but man, it's super uncomfortable to wear it all day! I always wear it at night.

@pwnstar: wow, sounds so similar! That's a relief to hear, and I'll be interested to hear what your ped says about it. I'm having a hard time adjusting to all the burping, especially at night - it was so nice being able to just put my daughter down after night feedings! It's really cutting into my already minimal amount of sleep. Hopefully it will improve over the next few weeks.

@pregnantbee: Notice my shout out to you in my birth story above. I actually took a screen shot of our IG chat so that I could include with the official birth story in the baby book just to show how quickly things can change.

My little guy has been having some painful gas in the last few days as well He doesn't seem to burp a ton, but he farts a LOT and it seems painful sometimes -- like he'll cry and squirm and then let out some gas. It's so sad. I think I need to get better at my burping technique. He spits up a bit, like once or twice a day, but that doesn't seem to bother him. I was told if they don't seem to be in pain due to spitting up, it's more of a "laundry problem" than health problem, e.g. no big deal.

Also, are you giving your LO vitamin D? No one has said anything to me about it, but I just read we should be...and now I'm worried I've been neglecting something important

@MrsSCB: no to vitamin d for us. The drops taste nasty. I take a supplement, and I live in one of the sunniest cities in the US, so I make sure we get out and get vit D the old fashioned way!

@OldpuebloJenn: @katsupgirl: Thanks ladies! I feel extremely grateful for how it all went.

@MrsSCB: The ped wants us to give vitamin D but we live in the north west and don't see a lot of sun this time of year. I haven't started it yet, though.

We do give vitamin d... When I remember. We didn't get the kind they prescribe (tri-d or whatever), we get sun drops (I think that's what they are called) from Amazon. I put a drop on my nipple before nursing.
We live in New England where basically everyone has a vitamin d deficiency.

@OldpuebloJenn: omg I'm with you!!

@Silva: im so sorry my first had mspi (diagnosed around 5 months due to blood in the poop, but she was never gassy or anything from it). Separately, after she outgrew it, she developed silent reflux, so I've been through both, albeit later on, not with a newborn. In my opinion, eliminating dairy is likely unnecessary. This is likely either silent reflux or just showing the symptoms of it due to an undevelopd digestive tract and will resolve with time. We did eventually need medication for my lo at around 13 months and she was almost instantly better. I regret waiting so long, but your lo is still brand new, so different situation obviously! Fwiw, i never gave up my nightly ice cream (except during the blood in poop phase) as it didnt seem to help.

I hope you figure things out and get some rest! My lo isnt doing great at night either, but hes only 2 weeks so i am trying to be patient!

@Pirouette: yeah my logical brain keeps telling me I'm going to just have to wait it out until his systems mature... But holy hell im tired and it's in my nature to want to "DO" something. And I do worry if it's something like dairy it's just going to get worse. My husband is leaning toward trying Zantac before eliminating dairy if there isn't an improvement- mostly because I already can't eat gluten, and have been having trouble with low appetite/not eating enough as it is

I may be on to something with the positioning and if I can get a little caught up on sleep (I had two brutal nights with like two hours of sleep earlier this week) I'm going to try the swaddle/side car co sleeper again- maybe he'd do better with a little space and less temptation to just nurse all night. My husband has the last week of this month off, and we are going to try to get him out of our bed then

@Silva: my first had reflux badly for the first year of life and the difference between medicated and Unmedicated was like night and day. I think it can't hurt to cut dairy but reflux medication can do a world of good especially in terms of helping them rest. Just my two cents but it might be a good idea to try Zantac and see. Usually it takes about a week to see a difference.