Our little guy has been part of the outside world for 3 weeks now, and those 3 weeks have been quite an adventure. I actually started writing this when he was only a week old - he definitely keeps me busy!
Little man's arrival was not like I expected at all. After spending 3 weeks at 1.5 ish cm and 70% effaced, I was pretty sure baby was sticking around until at least his due date. At my 39 week appointment (6/17), I had finally made progress - 2 cm and 90% effaced - but I still wasn't convinced. My OB, on the other hand, was very confident that I would not need a 40 week appointment. The next day, I had a couple of friends ask if I felt like baby would be arriving soon, and my answer was a very definite no - I had maybe had a few contractions, but overall I felt fine and baby seemed comfortable. Apparently those friends knew something I didn't, because that evening, around 10:30, I started feeling contractions. They were pretty mild at first and very sporadic, so I didn't pay much attention. After an hour or so, it was a different story. I spent a lot of time in the bathroom (sorry for the TMI), and the contractions were getting more uncomfortable, so I focused on timing them, and B woke up and started getting ready to head to the hospital. I called the after-hours call center to let them know I would be coming in soon, and then started throwing up from the pain (sorry for more TMI). We left our house shortly after 1 a.m. and drove about 15 minutes before I realized I didn't have my photo ID on me, so we went back home, grabbed my wallet, then made our way to the hospital (spoiler alert: I didn't even need the damn ID, because of course). The ride was very uncomfortable because all of my contractions were in my back, so sitting in the car was pretty painful. We arrived at the hospital around 2 a.m., and at my first check, I was 3 cm - not what I wanted to hear. The nurses mentioned possibly sending us home, which we REALLY didn't want to hear (the hospital is about a 40 minute drive from home), but thankfully I was leaking amniotic fluid so I was admitted. The request was put in for an epidural, and then we waited. One of the nurses came back after a bit to give me some meds to take the edge off the contractions until I could have the epidural, but I needed to be less than 8 cm in order to safely get it. After she checked, she had another nurse come in to double check - I was already 10 cm, so it was too late - no epidural for me. (B likes telling people this part of the story because when I heard I couldn't have the epidural, I said "oh no" in a very Winnie the Pooh like voice. I couldn't help it, I was disappointed and in pain. B was kind enough to take a picture of that moment as well. Good man). The on-call doctor was called in, the room was prepped, and the doctor broke my water so I could start pushing. It didn't take long at all - maybe half an hour or so - before our little guy made his way to the outside world. At 3:52 a.m. on June 19, we welcomed our little man, and on June 21 - Father's Day - we took him home to start this new adventure.
*Birth Stats: 7 lbs, 14 oz, 21 inches long*
His fast and furious entrance into the world caused quite a bit of damage to my body, in the form of 4th degree internal tears - ouch (if his birth had a theme song, it would be Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus). He's lucky he's so cute :). My recovery hasn't been that bad, considering. I spent the days in the hospital mostly in bed, but once we got home, I tried to be a bit more active. I'm not sure if that helped or hurt the healing process, but it made me feel more like myself. My tailbone is pretty sore, but the lady bits have felt fine. My postpartum appointment is scheduled for early August, hopefully things are healed by then.
I won't lie - this little guy is pretty demanding so far. He's kind of a fussy baby. I'm still learning his cues, trying to figure out when he's over or under stimulated and tired. I can tell when he's hungry, mostly because it seems like he's hungry 24/7. At night he goes 3-ish hours between feedings, but during the day, it's usually closer to 1.5 - 2.5 hours between feedings. I'm hoping this is just a growth spurt and he'll make it longer between feedings soon. I have been exclusively breastfeeding him, and that has been a learning experience. In the hospital, the lactation consultant said we were naturals - she gave me a few pointers, but said we would be fine. And then my milk came in and all hell broke loose. I have an awesome supply so far, which is great, but also caused problems. I was so full of milk, my skin was too stretched out, and there was nothing for baby to latch onto. At his newborn appointment, the PA we take him to watched as I tried to feed him, and recommended using a manual pump to get some milk out and relieve the engorgement, and then try to latch baby. He ended up eating okay on Monday, but then on Tuesday, I felt like I was starving him. I talked to a lactation consultant from the hospital and I had a nurse from the county come to the house to help figure out how to feed him. He ended up drinking expressed milk from a bottle a few times until the lactation consultant recommended a nipple shield. We've been using it ever since. My sister in law came to help support me through the breastfeeding challenges just in time - she had problems with low supply and has become very passionate about breastfeeding - so it was nice to have someone at the house to help out. I'm hoping to wean little man off the shield by 6 weeks - we try latching without it at almost every feed, but I have a very strong let down that he can't handle yet, so we haven't had much luck. One of my friends on Twitter said it perfectly - "breastfeeding is the hardest thing I have ever done. It may be natural, but it isn't easy!" It's absolutely the truth, it is not easy at all, but it's been so worth the effort. (I am not at all trying to make formula feeding or pumping seem like an easy out. Formula feeding isn't always easy, either, especially when you plan to breastfeed but can't for whatever reason. And formula is soo expensive! And exclusively pumping is hard work! Props to all moms who feed their babies using whatever form of milk - as long as baby is fed, it's what is best for baby!)
I still have moments when I look at my little clone of B and think "is this really mine?" He's absolutely perfect and wonderful, and I'm loving every single frustrating, exhausting minute of motherhood.
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