Quick update

I really don’t have much to report, which is kind of nice!  Little Eleanor appears to be gaining weight, which is great to see.  I hope to have some new pics up soon.  BFing is going much better: I no longer have any pain beyond the first latch-on, at least when I use the nipple shield.  We’ve tried a couple times without the shield, and she just doesn’t seem to get it.  It’s also quite painful for me.  I have a feeling weaning her off of it is going to be very difficult! 

We have her second ped appt tomorrow, then we’re going to go out with my parents for dinner.  They live about four hours away, and are in town for one night before flying out of here for a vacation.  It’ll be our first outing to a restaurant, which should be interesting!  We went to BRU the other day and she did very well, so I hope she does as well tomorrow.

I’m feeling pretty good and seem to be healing well from the c/s.  I’m down to just taking an ibuprofen every four hours now, which is great!  I hate taking meds  but I also kind of like walking without an inordinate amount of pain, so it’s a trade-off.  : )  As of this morning I’ve lost exactly half of the 36 lbs I gained, which I’m quite happy with.  I only look about four months pg now too, instead of seven or eight, haha!

Breastfeeding update

The day Eleanor was born, she BFed really well for about an hour right after the c/s.  I had plentiful colostrum, things were going very well.  Well, things took a turn!  Eleanor was really sleepy the rest of that day, though all the nurses and docs assured me this was normal and she was fine.  She woke about every four hours to eat, which was deemed good enough for those first 24 hours.  She lost 5% of her body weight in the first 24 hours, and needed to lose no more than a couple more % in the next 24 hours.  She did manage to stay just at that threshold, however her sleepiness got worse on day two: she pretty much slept from 1:30am until 6pm!  We woke her up every three hours to try to feed her, but she just wasn’t interested.  Finally, about mid-day, they brought in a pump and I was able to get some colostrum out, and we fed her that from a syringe.  Then she woke up that evening and seemed to nurse well through the night and into the next morning. 

I was hoping things were going to be fine then, but another problem cropped up: bad latch.  Every nurse who watched her latch on claimed it was great, yet I’ve been in horrible pain.  It makes no sense!  We thought maybe it was just sensitive nipples, and the pain would get better in a couple days.  By the time I was discharged, the pain was pretty bad with every latch and persisting through the feed, but Eleanor seemed to be getting enough to eat and the pain was manageable.  My milk also hasn’t come in yet, and she’s so hungry that she just chomps down on me.  I figured everything would improve when my milk finally came in. 

Then she gave me a blood blister this morning on my right which led to quite the meltdown from me (I feel like I can’t feed my baby!), and we made an appt to see a lactation consultant.  We just got back from her.  She took one look at my breasts and told me she really thought it would be best to give them a few days to heal, use a hospital-grade pump in the meantime and give her whatever I can pump, and supplement with formula as needed until we can transition her back to the breast.  She was down 12 ounces (about 11%, which is bad), though the lactation consultant remarked that she only looked a little dehydrated and we had come in in good time.  Another day or two and we might have been looking at bigger problems.  We’re using a syringe with tubing and daddy’s finger to supplement, to avoid nipple confusion issues.

I’m really bummed that we need to supplement, though I feel even worse that my baby has gone down so much in weight in such a short time.  I know I’ve done everything I can, and the LC kept telling me that, too.  She thinks the c/s is what’s causing this (both Eleanor’s sleepiness in the first, vital days for bringing the milk in, and also my body’s inability to heal any minor breast wounds while healing from the c/s, leading to more and more damage.)   She took 10mL of formula at the appt, and was so content and happy afterward.  She should be taking more than that at her age (three days at 9:23am), so it’s so sad that just that small amount was enough to make her happy.  I haven’t seen her content after a feeding from me since her first day of life! 

I hope the pumping works and my milk does eventually come in.  I also hope the pumping doesn’t hurt just as bad as having her on the breast.  It hurt quite a bit in the hospital, but I didn’t have the same amount of pain while BFing her then.  I have to say that I read everything I could find on BFing, and knew all of this could be an issue after a c/s, but I failed to anticipate just how painful it can be!  I’m over-tired and hormonal of course, like all new mothers (and fathers), and I have pain from the c/s itself to boot, but the BFing pain has been the worst.  On top of everything else, it has been almost too much to take.  I don’t think being forewarned of this would have helped, though seeing a LC earlier may have.  I had an opportunity to see one yesterday before we left, but I thought we were ok at that point, and I was so anxious to just get home with my new baby.  : (  My first mistake as a new mom, and I hope it doesn’t make BFing an impossibility now.  I’m determined to stick to it, but I can’t force my milk to come in.

Bob is here!

BFing is now not going well, and we have an appt with a lactation consultant in half an hour, so I only have time to post the same message I posted to the iVillage boards:

Bob made a surprise appearance on the morning of March 15th, and it’s a …

.!!!!!!

Here are the stats: She was born at 9:23am, weighing 6 pounds and 13.4 oz, and measuring 18.25″ long! She is beautiful and perfect!

I woke up at 2am from a dream that I was on my period and I was leaking. Of course, my water had broken! I managed to wake up in time to tell John, then run to the bathroom before making a mess of our bed. We then quickly packed some last minute stuff, called L&D, and were out the door by 2:25. I started having early ctx on the way, basically just BHs with some light menstrual cramp-type pain.

When I first checked in, they thought I would probably have a c/s within an hour. However, since the baby looked great on the monitors, my ctx were still those of very early labor, and there was another woman in the unit who was possibly headed toward an emergency C, they decided to postpone mine until 8:30. They also did another u/s just in case, and of course Bob was still breech!

Since I went through almost seven hours of labor before the c/s, of course the ctx got worse and worse. I don’t know how much I progressed since they never checked me, but I don’t think the rate my ctx were going would have made for a speedy labor. Even at that many hours into it I still wasn’t having regular ctx, though they had gotten fairly painful. I have a feeling I would have ended up getting pitocin.

Honestly the worst part was the gushing fluid: I had no idea how much there would be, and it was crazy! It felt really gross. I also found it difficult to move around for the first few hours, since they had me hooked up to fetal heart and ctx monitors, an IV for fluids and abx, plus I had to manage the darn robe, a towel between my legs, and the constantly trickling or gushing fluid. Finally the MW on call unplugged me from the monitors, got me a birthing ball, and snuck me in some ice chips to boot! I love my MWs!! The birthing ball was awesome, and really helped make the ctx more manageable.

So finally around 8:30, they walked me down to the OR. Overall, the c/s went wonderfully! Everyone was so supportive in the room, and kept commenting on how calm John and I were. They were happy and cheerful, and made it a great experience.

The spinal took a while – maybe 15 minutes – since I apparently had some swelling in my lower back, and also a very small “space” that he had trouble finding. He finally did find it and the spinal took effect almost immediately. It was the weirdest thing ever! I could feel pressure, but no pain, cold, even touch, from about mid-belly down. Mid-belly up was a gradient from feeling just the roughest touches to feeling everything again. Even the bottom half of my bbs were a little numb! I didn’t feel them put the catheter in, nor did I feel the doc start operating. Both times I only knew because someone told me.

The thing that surprised me most about the c/s was how slow the part before they took the baby out went, and how quickly the closure and cleaning up part went! I’m sure it was all mental: the ten minutes you’re waiting for your baby feel like an eternity, while the 30 minutes you’re laying there kissing and talking to your new baby feel like nothing. : ) When the first person said they saw the bottom, it was incredible. Slowly other parts were visible to various people, and then next thing I knew John was leaning over my head telling me it was a girl! My baby was finally part of the world and had an identity, and it was the most amazing I have ever felt! I teared up, of course, and craned my neck to see her the whole time they were dealing with the cord and her lungs, and wiping her off at the little warmer. She took a little bit to cry – maybe 30 seconds – as they had to suction her out. She’s not much a crier in general though, which I’m hoping lasts!

So far I’m feeling pretty good, though I don’t know how I’ll feel tomorrow: they gave me Duramorph in the spinal, which is a 24 hour morphine derivative. It takes the edge off the pain, and makes me a little tired, but I’m completely lucid. Plus I’d be tired anyway, I didn’t exactly get a good night’s sleep last night! They also have me on an IV version of a strong Ibuprofen-like drug. Since the IV comes out tomorrow, the next thing is Percocet. I hope it works as well for the pain! I already have a bit of pain at my incision site, kind of a dull aching, and I have to be careful when I laugh, cough, or move.

I’ve been able to BF successfully once, right after the surgery was completed, and with limited success a couple more times. Eleanor seems more interested in sleeping than eating today, and the nurses aren’t concerned. They want to see her eating every 2-3 hours after 24 hours after birth, but the first 24 hours they just want you to offer the breast every four hours at least, and let the baby take what they will. The nurses have been incredibly helpful with BFing, and I feel pretty confident that we’ll be able to make it work. She seems to mostly get how it works, when she’s interested. : ) I also seem to have a lot of colostrum: one of the nurse’s expressed some onto the tip, to entice Eleanor to feed, and it came out quickly and easily. She said that was a great sign. I’ve also already started to leak on the left side, which I hadn’t done during pgcy. Yay!

I am so excited and so amazed to have little Bob/Eleanor here already!! It’s been a wild ride with her, and I’m sure it will continue to be. She is the cutest baby I have ever seen, naturally, and we truly love her to pieces already. I didn’t expect to feel such an incredible bond so quickly.

Here are a couple pics:

Last day of work!

Yesterday was my last day of work. I’m going to be a stay at home mom (SAHM) once Bob gets here, and it’s incredibly weird to know I won’t be going back to work for many years! It was a good day, though pretty tiring. I spent all day doing last minute things to get my notes and things in order, and explain parts of my main project to the woman who is taking it over. They all took me out to lunch, which was great, and gave me some things for the baby! A couple of books, a little t-shirt, and a picture frame. I’m going to miss them all and the experience: this was my first real job straight out of college. I’m looking forward to staying home with the baby though, so it isn’t all sad. : )

As for the baby, Bob is still breech, though I think I may have dropped. I’m 38 weeks and one day today. I can feel his/her head just north of my belly button now instead of up in my ribs, and I feel a lot more pressure down low and in my hips. I also seem to be taking trips out of the bathroom instead of to the bathroom these days, haha! I hope this means I’ll go into labor before the c/s date! It’ll still be a c/s of course, but I’d like to go into labor first.

C/s scheduled

We tried an EVC again yesterday, and no luck. Bob moved to transverse at one point, but popped right back up into breech! Grrr….. I spoke with the c/s scheduler today, and we have a date set: March 28th! I’m not too thrilled about needing a c/s, and I’m still hoping Bob will flip before then, but I’m happy we were able to schedule it for after my due date. Bob will have a chance to birth him/herself, and also have an extra week or so beyond the typical time frame to flip. (They typically do the c/s at 39 weeks.)

Bob is breech

Bob has been in a frank breech position since at least 28 weeks, and refuses to budge! We tried an external cephalic version on Monday, Feb 25th, and it unfortunately failed. I’ve been doing breech tilts and other uncomfortable positions trying to get him/her to flip, but with no luck so far. None of the OBs or MWs at my birth place perform vaginal breech births anymore, so unless Bob miraculously decides to flip over in the coming weeks I will have to have a c-section performed. That will preferably take place after I go into labor. Little drama baby! : )

Here’s the latest u/s image, from 33 weeks and three days:

And my latest belly pic, from 36 weeks and three days: