What I Learned: Childbirth Edition

Howdy, friends!  I know what you're thinking - I can't believe she's managing to blog twice in two days.  A record as of late, I'm sure!  We have been lazy bums this morning. Hopefully I'm not jinxing it, but I have to tell you that my child slept GREAT last night - thank the Lord we're (hopefully) back to the business of being a good sleeper.  She was only up twice - 2:00 and 5:00 - and both times, she ate and went right back to sleep so we were only up for a little over an hour.  That means I got a three-hour stretch of sleep followed by a two-hour stretch and then another three-hour stretch for a combined total of 8 hours.  It is amazing how much better I feel today as a result, especially coming off of the previous two nights when she decided she didn't want to sleep.  We fed her at 6:00, 8:00 and 10:00 last night (she was an eating machine yesterday - must be a growth spurt because it was every two hours) and tried really hard to keep her awake in between those feedings.  I guess it worked, so we'll keep doing it!  Here's to hoping she keeps this up:

I always get carried away with the cuteness!  The point of this post is to tell you a few things that I learned about the birthing process that I didn't know beforehand.  As I'm sure you have all realized by now, I like to know what I'm getting into - hence all of the research, childbirth classes, books, documentaries, and badgering my friends for details among other things.  Even with all of that, there were still things I learned throughout the process that I didn't know before and thought might be helpful for others.  I guess I should disclaim that obviously all pregnancies and births are different, and these are just my experiences and observations, but here are some things I learned (also fair warning to any male readers, this will likely be on the graphic side, you've been warned):

• Pushing feels like pooping.  I know, that sounds weird.  The one thing you hear everyone say about contractions/labor/birth is about all of the pressure that you feel "down there" - as in, your lady parts.  And it's true.  There is a lot of pressure.  What I did not expect, however, was that when it comes time to push, you feel the pressure more towards your bottom, not so much your lady parts.  Literally, it feels like you are pooping out the baby.  I know that sounds gross and weird and it is hard to wrap your head around until you go through it - it's just something I didn't expect.  The nurse even told me when she was coaching me before my first round of pushing, "when you push it will feel like you're trying really hard to go to the bathroom."  She wasn't kidding.  You learn something new every day, yes?
• Oh, the blood.  There is A. LOT. of blood, not only during the labor but afterwards as well.  During the birth, I didn't really notice it as much (My mind was elsewhere I guess?  LOL) - they lay you on these pads and the nurses change them approximately every 30 seconds.  You may remember from my birth story post that my epidural had mostly worn off by the time my pushing started, so I felt everything there was to feel (Still totally worth it to get the epidural, though, in my opinion, as it helped me conserve my energy through the worst of the contractions so I was less tired for pushing.  Plus it is a miracle drug.).  I am not sure whether this is a result of the adrenaline having kicked in or what, but I honestly don't think the actual birth hurt as bad as afterwards when the nurses were still dealing with the blood.  They came into my room what felt like every 5 seconds to press on my stomach to get more blood out, and to say it was painful would be an understatement.  The other surprising thing about the blood is that it continues after birth - for a while.  My doctor told me to expect it for 4-6 weeks.  Invest in some good pads, ladies.  Side note: remember how I told you I ordered the hospital-grade pads like the ones we took from the hospital because I liked them better than anything else I found, but they only came in a package of 200?  Let's just say it was a good investment - although I'm hoping for closer to four (or less) total weeks of this than six.
• Pain after birth.  My bestie warned about this in her reflections post as well, but I guess maybe it didn't really sink in because I was still surprised.  In the hospital, there are all sorts of fun things they give you so that you don't notice, but since I got home I've been trying not to take the heavy-duty drugs and boy is it unpleasant at times.  I am just now, at two weeks after the birth, able to move around semi-normally and stand up and sit down without quite as much pain down there.  I did not have to have an episiotomy, but I did tear slightly and there were a few stitches which made the discomfort all that much worse.
• Contractions after birth.  That's right, you read it correctly...the contractions are most certainly not over after the baby is born.  I am not sure whether this is just for Moms who are breast feeding or not, but in the hospital they told me that was a good gauge of how to tell whether she was getting anything - my after-the-birth-contractions would be more painful when she was nursing (Everything is trying to get back to its normal place, and it happens more quickly I guess for nursing Moms?  This may or may not be medically correct - all I know is that there were still conractions and it had something to do with breast feeding, per the nurses.).  Now, these contractions were not nearly as bad as some of the ones leading up to birth, but quite a few times when Lilly was feeding or when I was pumping they were bad enough that I cried - as in, on a scale of 1-10, after the birth I was still having some 5s while nursing.  I never read one thing about that and was definitely not prepared for it in the least.
• The hormones.  I didn't really think I would be terribly hormonal, because overall I wasn't that hormonal during the whole pregnancy.  Of course I had my moments - more of them during the last 6 weeks (due to my arch nemesis, bed rest) than before - but overall I wasn't too bad (right, Dan?).  So, imagine my surprise that my hormones have been seriously out of control since Lilly's arrival.  All completely normal, I've been assured by my doctor, but again, I wasn't expecting to be quite as affected.  I feel like I cry at the drop of a hat these days.  Poor Dan! 

I think that's about it for the things I didn't know about the birthing process - if I think of any more I can come back and update.  Everything seriously goes by so quickly, and is so surreal.  It was amazing to me how I checked in on a Tuesday morning with no signs of any movement or labor and had a baby around 12 hours later.  And while the birth was not pleasant, it wasn't anything so terrible to the point of "I will never do this again ever, no matter what."  And seriously, this was worth every single bit of pain and suffering (and in the scheme of things there really wasn't that much pain and suffering...):

One more piece of advice that I can give: enjoy every moment, and above all, accept help.  Dan and I went through a phase where we thought, we'll let people come visit and help out for just a few days but then we'll kick everyone out so we can develop our own routine with our baby and get the hang of being Mommy and Daddy.  I will tell you right now that we threw that out the window almost immediately, and we are both so glad we did.  It was so nice to have our parents stay with us and help us for the first two weeks.  I cried at the end of the two weeks because I was terrified of being alone with Lilly sans help.  But you know what?  It hasn't been so bad.  :-)

I guess that's it for now - hope you've had a great Wednesday!  I can't believe it's Wednesday already.  I used to love Wednesday because it meant the halfway point to the weekend.  Now, I find myself wishing the days wouldn't go by so quickly.  I better go before the water works start. ;-)

Love!

Sarah

The Hospital Bag Revisited

Hey friends!  Hope everyone had a great Monday.  Things are going well in the Baum household so far, except for the fact that I'm fairly sure my child has her nights and days confused.  She kept me up all. night. last night, to the point where I did two things I didn't want to do: let her sleep in our room for a little bit (I wanted her in her nursery from day one if I could stand it, which is harder than it sounds - more on that later) and gave her a paci (more on breast feeding/why I didn't want to do this so soon later as well).  My mother-in-law is here for a few days and has been so helpful, so if it happens again tonight I will definitely be taking her up on her offer to help out so I can get some rest.  I honestly got no sleep last night, and it is amazing how after two 2-hour naps today I feel like a different person.  Sure does make me miss my pregnancy routine of going to bed between 9:00 - 10:00 p.m. and sleeping until 8:00 a.m.  :-)

I have gotten requests from quite a few of you for a follow up to my hospital bag post, which I wanted to do but had already forgotten about (so. tired.), so I figure while Lilly is being snuggled and loved on by Grandma Suzie, I'll update you all.  I got lots of excellent advice on this from all of you, but that combined with the fact that I am a severe overpacker anyway literally made it look like we were going on a long weekend getaway rather than to the hospital, ha!  I won't cover every single thing, but I'll hit the high points below.

Things I am 100% glad I took and couldn't have lived without:

• Suckers.  I picked a good time to be close to delivery, because all of the Valentine's candy was out so there was quite a variety of suckers to choose from.  You're not allowed to eat once you've checked into the hospital, and in fact you are supposed to be careful about what you eat before you're admitted because a lot of people get violently ill.  You are allowed clear liquids and frozen popsicles, both of which I took full advantage of (we may or may not have cleaned out their supply since I couldn't eat from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.), but it was a nice change to have suckers as well to take my mind off of my hunger.  I would highly recommend Watermelon Jolly Rancher suckers - not as good as pizza, but pretty dang close.  :-)
• A pillow from home.  I didn't use this during labor, obviously, but used it for the remainder of my stay.  Hospital pillows are not the most comfortable, so I took a pillow from home based on someone's advice and was so glad I did.  Another important piece of advice was to put a different pillow case on it - anything other than white.  When they are ready for you to go home they kick you out pretty quickly, so the idea is that you won't forget your pillow if it doesn't blend in with the white linens that the hospital uses.
• Chapstick.  Oh, chapstick.  My lips were SO. DRY. and I think I probably used a whole tube of chapstick during the 12 hours of labor alone.
• Extra clothes/a blanket for Dad.  We had a terrible time regulating the temperature in our room to begin with, and that combined with the fact that I was a hormonal, sweaty mess made both the delivery room and our after-delivery room extra cold for Dan.  We even asked for extra blankets for him the first night, but he still froze, so the next day my parents brought a blanket from home and he was much more comfortable for the rest of our stay.
• DVDs.  It is nice to have something to occupy the time spent waiting and keep your mind off of things.  We tried to pick really cutesy/funny ones.  As labor progressed, we didn't pay as much attention to it, but for around the first half of the day it took our minds off of things and it was nice to have something to do.
• iPod/music.  Although I didn't get to make a playlist like I'd planned, we listened to Pandora on the iPad for most of the day, and it was very soothing.
• Toiletries from home (Including makeup if you are vain like me and want to look nice for pictures.  I didn't end up wearing a lot, but just freshening up made me feel a lot better.).  The hospital will provide you with some, but there was just something really nice about having my own stuff there - and besides, the hospital stuff kind of stinks anyway.  It was nice to be able to use my things and really helped me to feel like a human. 
• In conjunction with the last one, shower shoes.  I know they clean the and sanitize vigorously every day - I witnessed it - but I am weird about my feet touching spaces other than those in my own house, so I liked having shower shoes.
• Camera.  No explanation needed.
• Pad and pen to write down gifts.  We had quite a few visitors who brought us wonderful gifts or sent flowers, and I never would have remembered all of it had I not written it down immediately.  I am a stickler for thank you notes, so this will come in handy when I am a little more rested and get back to thank you note writing.
• My Breast Friend pillow (if you're planning to breast feed of course).  Lilly hated it at first, but I think it's because we both had to get the hang of it.  Either way, it was nice to practice with it since it's mostly what I've been using since I got home, and was much better than just stacking the hospital pillows up, which is what we were doing at first.
• Chargers for phone, camera, laptop, iPad, etc. - no explanation needed, I don't think.  :-)

There may be more that I'll think of later, but those items listed above are the things that I'm so glad we took and will definitely be taking next time around (I just realized that I have already referred to my next pregnancy a couple of times over the past few days.  PLEASE do not read into that (Mom, wink!), as it will not be any time soon, y'all know I'm just a planner and like to think ahead.).  Now, to all of the crap I took that I didn't use.

Things I could have lived without/didn't need:

• Clothes.  I took several pairs of pajama pants, nursing tops, loungewear, socks, slippers, a nursing bra, and panties, and I took enough to have several days worth of outfit changes in case something happened and I had to have a c-section (the hospital stay is much longer with c-sections, and my doctors seemed to be worried that we may have to take that route because they kept bringing it up).  I literally did not use one single item of clothing that I brought from home.  I took it all because I thought it would make me feel more comfortable, and honestly it is a good thought and may be beneficial to some people, but I personally did not use one thing that I brought.  This was mostly due to two things: (1) the fact that there was so. much. blood. (sorry guys!) and (2) comfort.  I ended up staying in the hospital gown and hospital socks for my entire stay - never even put on a bra.  My breast milk didn't come in until after I got home, anyway, so there was no leaking or anything like that to worry about.  I guess if you are superwoman and your milk comes in ASAP, the nursing bra could come in handy, but I didn't use mine (same goes for nursing pads) until I got home (I would still take one since you do have to wear something home, but I meant to say I didn't use it at all during my stay other than when we were leaving).  As far as panties, they give you these mesh ones that are not sexy AT ALL but they are a serious godsend, and not only are they really comfortable and light on your lady parts, but they keep you from ruining your own undergarments.
• Pretty much everything I took for baby's bag - changes of clothes, socks, diapers, receiving blankets, etc.  The only thing we used from Lilly's bag were hats.  Babies can't regulate their own body temperature, so it is important for them to have a hat on.  The hospital gives them hats, and in fact in our case there are some ladies that knit hats and donate them and they are super cute, but we found that a lot of those were too big for her little head.  Plus, since we weren't changing her outfit, the hats were a nice "cute factor."  She literally stayed in the hospital onesie and socks and was swaddled the entire time we were there - she was either being held or sleeping in her bassinet so it didn't make sense to change her a ton.  Also, the hospital has anything you could possibly need to care for her, and you pay for it anyway, so we didn't need any of the "extra" stuff we took.  Next time around, I'll be taking a going home outfit and some hats, the end.  It may be a good idea, though, to choose a going home outfit in several different sizes (i.e. a newborn size and a 3 month size), because you never know how big baby will be.  I didn't buy a ton of newborn stuff because I figured she'd grow out of it all quickly, but as of right now newborn stuff is still too big for her (her going home outfit was 3M and that's why it swallowed her whole), but I wouldn't take too much outside of that.
• Snacks for Dan.  I actually did not get around to even packing any of these, even though it was an excellent suggestion.  At least in our case, several people brought us things, and also our hospital had a little lounge on the maternity floor which had all kinds of snacks, juice, drinks, coffee, etc. so if we were hungry between meals Dan just went and raided their supply.  I'd check with your hospital to see if they have anything like that first, but we didn't need anything we would have packed.

I think that hits the highlights for what I didn't use, which was a lot.  One other unrelated item that I wanted to touch on was the supplies from the hospital.  Quite a few people advised me to clean out my room on a regular basis, and I am SO glad they did because I honestly never would have thought of it.  We took this advice to heart and literally cleaned house in that room - there was not one thing left in there by the time we left.  There were a lot of things for personal care for me after delivery that I knew I didn't have at home and made me a lot more comfortable (ice packs, soothies for nipples, heavy duty maxi pads that I like way more than anything I've found in stores, numbing spray, flushable wipes, mesh panties, etc.).  There were also quite a few things in the baby's bassinet - mainly diapers, wipes, nasal aspirator, swaddling blankets - that we cleaned out every few hours and have been using ever since we got home. I am telling y'all, we had this down to a science.  We knew when the nurse shifts were changing, and also you have both a nurse and a tech assigned to you, so we played them all - every time someone new came in, we made sure we'd cleaned out what we had and squirreled it away in the suitcase and then told them we were running low and they immediately replenished for us.  You pay for all of the stuff anyway, so we figured why not, and it has all been a godsend at home.  I even made Dan take the water pitcher that they left by the bed - I've had to stay extra hydrated while nursing and it's been nice to have it on the table beside where I sit all day so I don't have to get up for a refill every five seconds.  We are still using all of the diapers and wipes we took for Lilly (you go through a LOT of them, so this was a nice bonus), and I am still using all of my supplies as well (again: so. much. blood.).  I even took stacks of the changing pad looking things that they give you to sleep on so you won't ruin your linens, and have been using them (on top of a towel just in case) wherever I'm sitting at home so as not to ruin our furniture.  The mesh panties have been KEY, I am almost out and I'm really depressed about it.  And the pads are the best ever - I HATE pads and have never liked wearing them, but you don't have a choice, and the hospital ones are both more heavy duty and a lot more comfortable than the ones we've bought at the store.  We brought home four packages of them, and even though we've only been home since Friday I've already gone through almost all of them, so I ordered more on Amazon. They only come in a package of 200, but I don't think I'll have any problem going through them as I've been told the bleeding will continue for around 6 weeks.  Sorry if some of the above was TMI!

Okay, this one got away from me again and was super long, but I wanted to make sure I got everything in for those of you Moms-to-be who are reading (and those of you who aren't Moms-to-be but know people that are).  Keep the questions coming, I'm happy to answer them - the point of this blog is not only to document for myself, but to (hopefully) help other people!  When i started this whole process, I wanted a blog that would tell me what to expect that people don't tell you, give me advice, etc. and couldn't find one that I totally loved and fit what I was looking for, so that's what I'm hoping I've created here for some of you.

More to come this week, hopefully!  Here's your daily dose of Lilly (don't expect this to stop any time soon, I have taken more pictures in the past week than I have in years - I can't get enough!).  Today they are Lilly and Layla themed.  :-)

Please excuse the "hot mess" factor of my look.  Looking pretty is basically last on my list of priorities these days, sorry Dan!

Sarah

Last Update (!!!!!)...37 Weeks

So we have some exciting/terrifying news: WE'RE HAVING A BABY TOMORROW!  Well maybe.  We're being induced tomorrow, so the doctor said it could be Wednesday but we'll see.  In a nutshell, my blood pressure was so high today (150/100) that they were like, okay let's get this baby out.  They checked my cervix  again and I am slightly farther along than I was on Friday but not much to write home about - 1 cm dialated (have to get to 10 before I push, for all of you non-pregos) and 80% effaced (effacement is the thinning of the uterus lining - 100% is where you want to be for labor) - so he must have gotten something moving by checking me on Friday.  We also don't have a time scheduled - the doctor said the hospital will call us in the morning.  She thinks they'll call around 6:00 a.m. and have us arrive at 7:30, but she went on to say they're very busy right now so it may be more like lunch time.  I am to eat a good meal tonight and get lots of rest (yeah, right), and only eat a little in the morning in case the medicine makes me throw up.  Then she went on to warn me that it could be Wednesday before we have the baby - since I am a few weeks early it's going to take a long time - and there is a 40-50% chance I'll have to have a c-section.  Basically they really don't know anything and can't make any predictions until we get in there and see how it goes, see how my blood pressure does, see what's up with baby, etc.  She said that hopefully at 37 weeks baby girl will be able to go home when we do, but not to be surprised if she has to stay a few extra days - they will pay lots of extra attention to her since we're early.  I am both excited and terrified, and just anxious in general...I can't believe it's actually happening!  Perhaps we should use the next 12 hours wisely and try to agree on a name...??? 

I figure I should do one last set of stats, for consistency's sake.  So here goes:

Size of Geronimina:  She is now measuring at 19 inches, head to heel - about the length of a stalk of Swiss Chard:

We are full-term today, and her lungs will likely be mature enough to fully adjust to life outside of the womb.  It says she could have a full head of hair, with locks from 0.5-1.5 inches long!  If my heartburn is any indication, it will be the latter.  Guess we'll find out soon enough.  :-)

Weight Gain So Far:  +30 lbs as of today's doctor visit.  Hopefully 25 of it is fluid and 5 of it is baby and all will just melt off when she's born...yes?  :-)

Cravings:  I want pizza for our "last supper," but Dan wants to do something nicer so I'm compromising and we're settling for a nice Italian restaurant - one of my favs.  He has also vetoed Bojangles in the morning, gasp!

Aversions:  Nada!

Symptoms:  The usual: high blood pressure, headaches, swelling, frequent urination, not sleeping well, heartburn, random aches and pains, some nausea (new one) inconsistent contractions.

Movement:  Still going strong - except when we had the stress test today for literally a whole hour and she was napping.  Hopefully that means she's going to be an excellent sleeper! 

What I Miss:  Can't really think of anything, I'm too excited.  However, I have already told Dan that I want my first post-pregnancy meal to be an entire bottle of wine.  Hospitals are cool with that, right?

Things I Am Thankful for:  Wonderful friends and family.  An amazing husband.  A great (for the most part) pregnancy.  And that we get to meet our baby girl SOON!

What I'm Looking Forward To:  No brainer here - meeting Geronimina within the next day or two!  And finally naming her.  And seeing what she looks like.  And giving her lots of kisses. And the list could go on and on and on...

Signs of a Bump:  Still there and still huge:

Next Doctor Appointment:  For the first time ever, I can say I DON'T KNOW!  I think it is maybe 6 weeks after baby is born?  But I'm not positive.  I will not miss going 2-3 times/week, though.

So, off to the last supper we go.  Bags are packed and we just have to pick out some funny movies (per the suggestion of a labor and delivery nurse today) to get us through the day.  Grandparents have been notified, and all are very excited.  I am not sure Layla is amused, but hopefully she will be at some point.  :-)  Thanks for all of the support - continued happy thoughts and prayers for a safe (and easy LOL) and healthy delivery would be greatly appreciated!  Stay tuned for pictures...

Sarah

Adventures in Hospital Land: Part Deux

We've had yet another adventurous day!  If you'd asked me this morning whether I thought I would be back at home right now, I would have said no way.  Here's how it went down:

We went to the doctor.  Since Wednesday's appointment, my headaches have come back in full force and I haven't been able to keep my swelling under control, so I figured my blood pressure would be way up.  In fact, I woke up at 1:00 am to go to the bathroom and had a headache so bad I could barely sleep, and had to come downstairs to take medicine.  It would have freaked me out enough to call this morning had I not had an appointment today anyway.  Also, I was up 2 pounds just since Wednesday due to swelling/retaining fluid.  My blood pressure was really high - 150/90 - and they found protein in my urine.  Awesome.  They put me on the FHM for the stress test and baby was fine and dandy, but doctor did not like the looks of me so she sent me to the hospital for monitoring and to have more tests run.  They were worried that the sudden increase in symptoms means that my preeclampsia is worsening, which they don't want.  In a nutshell, she told us that she was 99.9% sure that I would not still be pregnant at this time next week.  She said if I made it through the weekend, it would more than likely be next week.  So at least we have a time frame!  She said best case, I go in for monitoring and they release me today with instructions to take it easy and I come back Monday.  Option 2 was that I stay overnight for another 24-hour urine test (SIGH), and option number three was delivery.

We checked into the hospital for more tests:

Everything came back okay with the exception of my platelets, which have dropped even since my last bloodwork was done on Wednesday.  This is likely just as they thought - preeclampsia is worsening.  The only tricky thing about platelets is that if they get below 100,000 you can't get an epidural.  Mine are currently just above 100,000.  While I am still on the fence about an epidural and would like to see how it goes before making the call on whether to get one, I would like to have the option, so let's hope they stay there.  They also checked my cervix today for the first time - NOT comfortable, in case you're curious.  I am not dialated at all - maybe 1/2 centimeter they said.  They told me that this just means induction and getting labor to start will be a little trickier.  My blood pressure stabilized enough for them to feel okay about letting me come home, so here I sit!  I was discharged with the instructions that I am only allowed to leave the bed for three reasons: bathroom, food, and doctor.  Joy.  By the time I checked out of the hospital today, my OB had already closed for the weekend, but the doctor said I should come back Monday, so they told me just to call first thing Monday morning.

So, at this point, yet again it's a waiting game.  At least the doctor said she is 99.9% sure it will be this week - we just don't have a day yet.  I am hoping they will give us one on Monday.  Someone asked earlier if I am disappointed that it wasn't today.  My answer was no - but only because my OB shares "on call" days with another practice, and this weekend that other practice was on call.  I was not a fan of the doctor I had today from that practice, so I am happy to wait until next week and deliver with someone I know (and hopefully like).  :-)

I will try to get caught up with all of my shower posts over the weekend in case Monday is go time.  Hope everyone had a great day!

Sarah