Hellobee Boards

LO1- best: water broke the morning of induction.
Worst: my body didn't handle the epidural well and I passed out from it.

LO2- best: came out in less than a minute of pushing.
Worst: came during an ice storm m

LO3- best: she had tons of hair. Lol. She was also my rainbow
Worst: we tested positive coombs. All the effects they worried about her getting, I ended up with the day after I came home. That lasted for about 2 weeks. I was sooooo sick.

Best: My daughter was born.
Worst: It was supposed to be a scheduled C-section, but severe pre-eclampsia made it an emergency 2 days before the scheduled one so it happened at 4am. My family that lives on the other side of the country didn't even arrive till later that day (which would have been 1 day before the scheduled one), so it was just me and my husband at the time of her birth. The spinal didn't work so well so it felt like I was being disemboweled during my C-section. I had to be on a magnesium drip for 2 days after birth because they couldn't get my blood pressure under control, and they kept me intentionally dehydrated so I didn't get some sort of side effect (I think it was pulmonary edema?)). Also, I was massively swollen from pre-eclampsia, so there are very few pics of me with my daughter (I felt so huge and disgusting).

Hoping things go a little better with DS XD

LO1:
Best - When I finally got an epidural and it was like the whole world changed: the lights seemed softer, I was okay seeing people.
Worst - Being on a super high pit drip for hours and not gettin any break between contractions.

LO2
Best - Super fast! It was a picture perfect delivery. My favorite parts were when my water broke in the hallway and the nurse said “You go girl!” And when I got out of transition into pushing and was so excited about how cool it was to actually get a break between contractions. Also, recovery. No tearing and no pain.
Worst: Transition. It went pretty fast so I consider it just a “part” but I spent that 15-20 minutes on my side and refused to move or open my eyes (they had to manually move me onto my back).

@DesertDreams88: https://med.stanford.edu/newborns/professional-education/jaundice-and-phototherapy/the-coombs--test.html

“The two most commonly recognized forms of antibody-mediated hemolysis in newborns are Rh incompatibility and ABO incompatibility.

Rh incompatibility occurs when a mother who is type Rh - (and has naturally occuring anti-Rh antibodies in her serum) gives birth to an infant who is Rh+. If any mixing of maternal and fetal blood occurs during pregnancy or the birth process, the mother's anti-Rh antibodies will vigorously attack the baby's Rh+ rbcs by adhering to, and then lysing, the cells.

ABO incompatibility occurs by the same general mechanism. Type O mothers are most commonly impacted, since they carry both anti-A and anti-B antibodies. If the infant is type A, type B, or type AB, risk for incompatibility exists. This is frequently referred to as a "set-up". If mixing of maternal and fetal blood occurs during pregnancy or the birth process, these antibodies can also attack the baby's rbcs and cause hemolysis. In general, this reaction is less serious than Rh incompatibility (which can be fatal if severe and untreated), and usually only results in jaundice and mild anemia.

An important thing to remember is that the presence of a positive coombs' test in the lab does not necessarily result in hyperbilirubinemia in the infant. The risk of needing phototherapy is certainly greater, but there are many factors impacting bilirubin levels, and assessment of all of these elements is critical to making an appropriate decision about treatment.”

https://www.exxcellence.org/pearls-of-exxcellence/list-of-pearls/management-of-pregnancy-with-abo-incompatibility/

“In contrast to Rh incompatibility, which tends to become more severe with each subsequent Rh positive pregnancy, ABO incompatibility does not demonstrate any consistent pattern. Thus, the patient’s first offspring may have clinically important hemolytic disease of the newborn due to ABO incompatibility, while subsequent newborns may be unaffected or very mildly affected. Because of the rarity of severe intrauterine hemolysis due to ABO incompatibility, assessment for intrauterine fetal anemia is not recommended based on the mother having type O blood. Measurement of IgG anti-A and anti-B antibody may be considered part of the evaluation of unexplained signs of fetal anemia such as ascites or hydrops when the mother is type O. Collecting a cord blood sample at birth for blood type and direct antibody testing should be considered when the mother is type O and a previous child had hemolytic disease of the newborn due to ABO incompatibility.“

Sorry for the novel and thread derailment but DD2’s jaundice levels were much higher and I didn’t know enough about the Coombs positive test I had with DD1 to prep. So in my case, first two girls were Coombs positive and jaundiced. If you were Coombs negative and/or your kids not jaundiced, then not an issue! You would probably go back in their records and check.

Worst: Not knowing I was in labor or that my water had broken, so I just thought I was constipated (lol)! Looking back, the back and tailbone pain that I had experienced for the last 6 months was a little worse that day and was more intermittent, so I probably started labor around 5:30pm. At 7:30pm I was throwing up - that's when we realized that I was in labor. I couldn't open my eyes from the pain while we checked in and went to triage around 9pm- DH basically lead me blind. They asked me to lie down to check my waters because "I might not be in labor", which was excruciating on multiple levels.

Best: the epidural was awesome (could finally open my eyes and still move my legs) and I went from 2cm to 10cm in 45 minutes and pushed for maybe an hour? Honestly, I have no idea because the clock was hidden behind the monitor!

@Sams Mom: I lol'd at your postpartum poop comment. That was my worst with DS2. DH wasn't home and I was afraid I was going to have to call 911 from my bathroom while DS was asleep in his swing.

DS1:
Best: a great anesthesiologist and nurse team. I ended up having an emergency c section and everyone was great and so calming.

Worst: When DS's heart rate kept dropping they made me try a few different things (oxygen, laying on one side, etc). Eventually my epidural was wearing off on one side and they made me get up on my hands and my knees with my butt up in the air. I was so humiliated and exhausted and cried into my pillow.

DS2-
Best: we had a scheduled c section, the whole thing was pretty smooth sailing.

Worst: As I said before...postpartum poo. Worst moment ever.