Getting Better? Breast Feeding Tips and more

So needless to say the details aren't necessary, but recovery for the first 7 days was difficult. Try compounding that with the pain of an infected tooth.

Day 6 I woke up with a sore jaw and aching tooth. I called the doctor because I am no stranger to dental problems. I made an appointment for 2 days from then. I still couldn't imagine sitting on a hard dentist chair. By day 8, it was too late. My mouth was so infected, it was difficult to recognize me. I was only consuming liquids and taking a lot of Motrin.

That is what lead me to call a lactation consultant. Day 7 I found Mary. She is a God send. A guardian angel. I knew when I went to the dentist that I would be getting some kind of serious procedure. I knew that invo;ved medication, so I wanted to speak with an expert about the effects on breastfeeding. Mary came to meet us that very day. She weighed Sophia and helped with latching on and feeding positions. But it was the plan she offered that was so helpful. She left a pump with me. She explained that I would have to pump and dump for 6 hours after Novacaine. She also explained how long to pump for, how long to leave in between pumps and how to get back into feeding with the pain killers. I couldn't have done it without her. I was very nervous about all of the dental work and medication effecting Sophia. Her plan and information put my mind to rest.

Here are some tips I learned about breast feeding in general and being on medication while nursing. Hope you find these tips helpful:
If you are nursing:
1. When in pain, Motrin, Tylenol, Percocet are all safe. It won't effect the baby or your milk.
2. If Novacaine is administered, wait 6 hours before resuming feeding. Pump and dump.
3. If you have to pump, pump for at least 10 minutes on each side. The more you empty your breasts, the more milk you produce.
4. Pump every two hours.
5. I found this website about medication and nursing.Hope you find it informative.
http://www.babycenter.com/0_drug-safety-during-breastfeeding_8790.bc

I have learned so much more about breast feeding from Mary. Fill you in tomorrow.

The First Week Home After Baby

Family. That is what God provides us with to get through the hard times. Then they are there to celebrate your good times. To my surprise, the pain from my episiotomy increased. I was taking more Percocet and Mortin than planned. I could not sit at all and laying down wasn't fun either. As a result, the pressure fell on Jeff and my family. I just rested and fed Sophia. She was my only job!

Because the house was still on the market, my mom cleaned every day so we could allow our realtors to schedule showings. She also cooked all our meals and did our laundry for one week. It was such a blessing to see my mom still taking care of me while I was taking care of my new daughter.

My sister visited everyday to see Sophia and tend to my bottom pain. Jeff made sure everything else ran smoothly.
Listen women, the pain doesn't last forever, but prepare that the first week home after delivering baby is NO walk in the park.

We took Sophia to the doctor the next day to get her collar bone checked. Needless to say, I was shocked and worried to find out she was Jaundice. We had to supplement every breast feeding with formula for 48 hours. We returned on Monday. The doctor said the collar bone was healing well, but she wanted us to see a specialist. She also sent us to the hospital to get blood work on Sophia to check her Bilirubin levels. Not how you envision your first 72 hours home with baby, and that's not how it looks on TLCs "Bring Home Baby".

Good news about the blodd work. She was out of the woods. Now I could focus on healing and breast feeding.
Or so I thought...

Hospital Stay

Once we were settled into our hospital room, my mom and sister left for the night. The feeling that came upon me was remarkable. I looked to my right and there was my wonderful and loving husband. To my left was my beautiful, new baby girl. We talked a little and looked at her a lot. Dinner came and Jeff decided he better get something more suitable. After Au Bon Pan and late night cookies we hit the hay. It wasn't until 3 am that I woke up. My baby nurse came in to wake me, so I could feed Sophia. That is when all the questions started.

I realized I didn't know enough about feeding. How often? How? What position? What can and can't I eat? How long does it take? WHat should it feel like? How much does the baby get at each feeding? I kept asking these questions of my baby nurse, my nurse and my lactation nurse, but I was getting conflicting answers. That's why I hired a lactation consultant. I wished I did it sooner. After I could sit up, day 8, I called Mary. I'll tell you more later.

Thursday was a new day. We were told Sophia had a broken collar bone from the delivery. The worry, fear and anxiety of motherhood came crushing upon me. My baby had a broken clavicle. The pediatricians in the hospital said to let it heal naturally. I immediately called my pediatrician and they said the same, but wanted to see her ASAP after discharge.

We spent the day together looking at Sophia, feeding Sophia and talking about Sophia, OH how this peanut changed my world. My sister came to help with the episiotomy care because the pain was unbearable. I started the percocet and was sure to get a prescription for home.

Friday we went home, and I still had so many questions about breast feeding and her collar bone and my pain, but off we went.
We came as two and left as three. That's magical!

Onto Postpartum

Sophia and I had a nice amount of time to bond. The nurse allowed me to hold her while the cord blood procedure was complete. Once the blood was packaged, my doctor had to close up shop if you know what I mean.

No one explained how many stitches one may receive from the episiotomy. No one told me one could be in excrutiating pain after the episiotomy for weeks. No one told me that one would bleed for a month! Ladies...why haven't we all been honest. I have to say... I would do it all over again to have Sophia, but that recovery was horrible. Almost crippling.

Ok, enough about that. The positive...Jeff and my mom watched as Sophia was weighed and measured. They got to see her get dressed and receive her first vaccine. Jeff caught it all on video which makes me very happy because I was unable to see it.
Right after the nurse was done with Sophia, she made sure I started to breast feed right there! It was amazing. It seemed so natural for Sophia, and yet it was weird to think that my breasts were ready to sustain a human life. Anyhow, more bonding. It was great! Then Jeff and Mommom, and Aunt Maria demanded some bonding time too.

Shortly after they wanted me to get over to my new and beautiful room in the postpartum wing. First I had to go to the bathroom. That was frightening, but I was able to get by with the help of my sister, the nurse. It was at that point that I knew the recovery would be difficult. I had an epidural and local, and I still felt a decent amount of discomfort. Oh No!

Once those steps were successfully completed, we were off. Mom and Maria carrying bags. Jeff pushing Sophia's bassinet and Nurse Vicki pushing me. Sophia went to have her check up in the nursery. My family got me situated into my new room, and the bliss began.

I will fill you in our two day stay and breast feeding in my next post. Sophia is doing great and so are we. Keep reading:)

PUSH

Vicki grabbed my feet, told me to take a cleansing breath, then she said it. "Deep breath in and push!" Before I knew it, I was pushing. It was so empowering. In an instant I was in a place no one else could be. My breath was strong, my legs were limber and my baby was coming. There is no way pushing can be described, so all I can say is that giving birth vaginally is the most amazing experience ever.

After three pushes, my doctor was in and shocked. He couldn't believe how quickly things progressed. I looked up to ask him how long he thought it would take, and his response was, "I don't like being hot." At that moment I realized he was all suited up with his "garb". After watching nine months of a baby story I knew this was minutes away. Breathing and pushing was my only memory. It was easier yet harder than I thought it would be. The only time I entered back into reality was when I felt IT! I could feel the snipping of scissors. The cutting had began, but more about that later. I caught my mother's eye and she was jumping out of her skin and shaking her head yes. Suddenly I knew I was nearing the end. She gave me that last push to push. Like a champ, I gave two more pushes and Sophia was born!

That moment...that moment is like none other. When they put my daughter on my chest my whole world changed. From the trauma of birth, infants are wide awake. Her yes locked on mine and I became a new woman. She was gorgeous. No real cries, just blue eyes, a tiny mouth, a button nose and lots of love. I was a mom. No more pushing or cutting, just me and my daughter.

Birth is a gift!

OK comfortably numb

From noon until 2 Jeff and I passed time by talking to our nurse, visiting with my sister, getting checked by my doctor and listening to music. Around ten minutes of two, my mom and Maria called from the waiting room to say they were getting lunch. I encouraged Jeff to go with them to get a bite to eat. Everyone kept telling me it would be a long wait, so I figured one of us should be well nourished. Off Jeff went to Au Bon Pain to get lunch. I sat quietly reading my book. I wasn't nervous, scared or anxious, until...

I felt a pounding down below that no one prepared me for. I rang for my nurse, but I had to wait for her. Waiting wasn't an option. I rang again as the pressure increased. i have to admit, now my concern level was increasing. Once Vicki, my nurse, came in everything happened so quickly it's actually hard to recall.

Vicki examined me and said, "This is it. You are ten centimeters." She wanted me to start pushing, but I had to get Jeff. I called his cell and told him to come quickly and to bring my mom. I hadn't said hello to her yet that day and I didn't want to go into labor without seeing her.

While I was waiting for them, Vicki ordered the tray for delivery, and started to prepare the room. My mom and jeff came running in with their food. I have to say, it did make me hungry. We said a prayer and before I knew it, Vicki said I should start pushing. It was at that very moment, and only that one moment, that I got freaked out.

I never, through the entire pregnancy or the morning of induction, felt scared or nervous. When she said, "Push!" I got really frightened. I couldn't conceive how I was going to push a human out of my body.

Yet, before I knew it, it was happening. I went within to a place where I didn't even know where I was, and I just pushed with a force I hoped I would have. The only thing I said to Vicki was, "Let's top off my epidural."

To be continued...

Pregnancy, Child Birth, Hospitals, OH MY!

In my last post, I was 9 months pregnant and preparing to be induced. Now our beautiful baby is 14 days old! It has been very long since I posted, but I promise I will be writing a lot. Today, I'd like to tell you about the day of my delivery.

Jeff and I woke up and were perfectly on time to the hospital on that cool Wednesday morning. I wasn't nervous in the slightest. We had everything packed, and my mom and my sister were on their way for moral support. Jeff was unbelievably cool and loving. Everything seemed simple enough.

Once admitted by my wonderful nurse, Vicki, my doctor strolled in with his coffee. In a matter of minutes in the hospital, my water was broken and we were on our way.

NOW, this is where y post gets interesting. From here on in, I plan to tell you exactly what the birthing experience was like. Because no one was truly honest with me, and they should have been. When he broke my water, I thought I was going to feel my brains drain out with my amniotic fluid. It was way intense. Jeff was silent for 20 minutes after that because he just had no words to describe what he had seen.

Things quieted down and the waiting began. I spoke to my sister and she recommended that I get the epidural ASAP. I waited longer than I should have, but I did order it around noon sometime. Thank goodness I didn't wait longer because I would have been delivering au natural. Jeff was allowed to stay in the room for the shot, but he was banned to a corner of the room. I must say, I was most worried about that needle in my back, but that proved to be the easiest part of everything. I did flinch once but not from pain. The sensation was just odd and eery. Once all was done, the numbing was wonderful.

I will have to leave you hanging for now. Sophia is rousing and it is time to nurse.

TO BE CONTINUED...