Breastfeeding

I'm going to jump in with a post about breastfeeding because 1. I've found the other posts/comments helpful and 2.  it seems fitting to start the new year with a post about something that pretty much rules my life right now!

Here is what this amateur has learned but there is still much I'm learning each day!
GET A LACTATION CONSULTANT TO COME TO YOUR HOME, better yet skip the bonding time at the hospital and get the breastfeeding help instead--- just kidding!  I must say that the lady at the hospital only wanted to rent me a pump and answer any questions... at that point I didn't know what questions to ask... not helpful.  The consultant from our hometown that came to our house and watched everything I did... I could have spent hours with Dr. G.oogle and not learn what I learned in that thirty minutes!!!

Most important thing I learned in that amount of time...

• Latching on:  Support the baby's neck, hold your breast with the other hand and bring the baby to the breast.  Rub their lips with the nipple and wait for a big wide open mouth before you fill it with boob... and get all that you can in there!  Make sure their tongue is down and the lower lip flanges out.  If you feel instant pain, put your finger in the corner of their mouth to de-latch and try again.  If this part doesn't go well, breastfeeding may not even be an option because the nipples can become cracked (this happened to me in the hospital) or lead to lots of pain. 

So, we master the latch even if it takes multiple tries.  But then we ran into two issues.  I have a strong let-down and (I think) an oversupply.  Those sound like good problems to have, but instead it's caused issues for my little guy like gagging, gulping, major gassiness and (sorry tmi) greenish frothy poop... ugh, ugh, ugh and major ugh!  The oversupply means that our baby is getting too much of the milk that comes out first, which is higher in calories but not enough of the milk that comes out last, which is higher in fat.  So, he is not getting a balance and it leads to stomach irritation.  To work on these issues, we're staying on one side for a long time, expressing a little bit of the milk in the case of a too strong let down and I'm making sure his head his elevated above the breast.

Next I want to figure out a time for pumping and how to store breastmilk for future feedings.  But will that only make my oversupply problem worse?  The tummy issues aren't completely resolved either so I'm not sure what else to do if those problems continue.  Whew!  No one could have told me how much work breastfeeding is!  But I know it's good for our little man and "nothing good comes easy!"  Back to the boob baby :] 

Happy New Year!

First Two Weeks

Wow, life with a newborn.  There is not much time around here to be on a Mac or PC!  We have been trying to settle into a new normal the past two weeks.  We're working through two issues right now... a case of thrush and some slightly bloody stools.  We've been to the doctor and have medicine for the thrush (and I'm taking a probiotic and not drinking any milk) and, because our little guy is otherwise very healthy and not running a fever, we just have to monitor his poopy diapers right now.  Life changes when you have poopy diaper pictures on your phone... and send them to people for second opinions!  Both issues are possibly connected to the strong antibiotics that our baby had in the NICU.  Although I do want to remember the details of this precious time and everyone says "it goes by too fast" it's also very scary.  Your mommy and daddy love you very much sweet Hampton and wouldn't hurt you for the world!  We're trying to make every decision with your best interests at heart! 

Question:  Does anyone have any advice for thrush or have you had the experience of blood in the stools?  

Things I want to remember...

How you sleep with both hands in tight fists by your face, one by your chin and the other under your chin

All of your funny faces and stretches when waking up

When taking a bottle, you make these cute little noises... eh, eh, ehhhhhh

After breastfeeding, you smack your lips

You are so happy with a full tummy

You start out in the pack-n-play at night but end up next to mommy, we both get our best sleep that way

Your "little" cry sounds like a car idling

Your "big" cry sounds like a laugh

The sweetest dimple on your right cheek

The way you open your mouth in a crooked way and stretch your neck when hungry... like a baby bird

How strong you are!  I think you're going to follow your daddy on the mountain bike trails as soon as those strong little legs will reach the pedals!

The wide open, curious blue eyes that love to look in a mirror and stare at the fish on the swing and the Baby Einstein aquarium.  

The laughs & shouts from mommy & daddy getting pee'd and poop'ed on, you'll think that's funny too one day but now you just stare at us like "get on with it and change my diaper!"  (By the way, we are getting better!)  Dad has been the laundry King!  He is extremely anal about using Shout and getting everything to the wash ASAP.  

You are a little guy with some major gas... I feel so bad when you're straining but the doctor said that he would be very rich if he could solve baby gas issues... so mommy will just have to be careful about what I eat!  

I just keep thinking, is this for real?  This is our baby... a baby that very much has stolen our hearts and changed our lives in a way we never thought possible.  

 Special Moments

Singing...

Baby, All I Want For Christmas is YOU!   

Merry Christmas from Mac & PC and our sweet little miracle! 

The Birth Story

I have already written NICU...which is a part 1... but here's what happened prior to that scary wake up call Sunday morning.

The Start
On Friday morning, I woke up about 7:00 a.m. with a crampy feeling.  At this point, I had stopped getting excited over cramps and decided they were just gas pains.
Went to the bathroom and looked in the tp as I have every single day of this pregnancy and there was the mucous plug!  I walked out of the bathroom and said to PC "OMG (and I'm not even a big fan of text lingo) OMG, I just lost my mucous plug... it could be hours now!"  PC said "I thought it could still mean days."  Me:  "Let's think hours.  Good grief, I have to go to the bathroom again."  But I couldn't hold it and didn't make it... my water broke at 7:15 a.m.  For me, it started as a trickle and then the "gush."  It was the strangest feeling ever!  And it kept coming... and kept coming...and kept coming... I  yelled to PC  "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh... my water just broke!  We've got to go!  But I need a shower... and to put a few more things in the bag... go ahead and put everything in the car...gotta call the doctor... I can't believe it!"  PC by this time has jumped out of bed and was worried about a few work things that need to be resolved... one was a pie delivery.  I asked him why he didn't have a back-up plan and that we were going to have a baby and could not be worried about pies!!!  Anyway, we rush around for about 45 minutes making phone calls, showering and getting the car ready and finally we're off.

The Car Ride
I tell PC that I want to get a biscuit.  He told me he didn't want to deliver a baby in a car and I told him everyone's advice was to eat something before labor & delivery and I was hungry!  PC was irritated and driving 85 mph.  I told him I really wanted to actually make it to the hospital.  About 10 minutes into the drive (hospital is 30 minutes away), another gush.  I had a mega pad on and a towel but it didn't help.  So, I had PC make another stop at the Dollar General (one on every corner in the Southeast) for a pair of jogging pants and underwear.  I was not walking into the hospital with wet pants, priorities lol.  I had to change in the hospital parking lot.  He also got a mega lollie... more about that later.

The Mega Lollie

 The Arrival
We arrived about 9:30 a.m. and checked in.  The nurse had to go with me into the bathroom and make sure my water broke.  I was thinking... seriously?  Confirmed and off to lucky room #7!  They did my first check and I was at 2 cm.  So much for the movie scenes where the water breaks and the couple barely makes it to the hospital in time!  A nurse peeked into the room and told me my mom was in the hallway and asked if she could come in.  We had specified to family that we didn't want them there during the labor... I just wanted the time for focusing on baby.  But I'm an only child and we had one really excited grandma-to-be there so we let her in for a few pictures and hugs and promises to send updates. 

The Labor
I was not feeling contractions that morning.  So the walking began.  We walked and we walked and we walked.  At 6:30 p.m., I started feeling contractions and we didn't leave the room after that point.  During this time, I wanted dark and complete silence.  During each contraction, I was telling myself "closer to baby, breathe, closer to baby."  I remember (and so does he) telling PC that his shoes were squeaking.  I told him he was getting off easy with my need for dark and silence!  I snuck in a few graham crackers and had a few of those during this time too.  I disagree with the 'absolutely nothing to eat' policy... definitely a time that strength and energy is needed!  I labored from 6:30 to midnight and just knew the next check would be a "10 and ready to push!"  No such luck.  I was 4 cm. Bring on the epidural.

Walking, walking, walking

 The Epidural
I knew we had to speed things up with my water breaking.  Epidural lady came and she was no nonsense.  I remember telling her I was scared of this because I had scoliosis and she said everything would be okay.  She talked me through each part and I remember her popping the top of the needle with her mouth, putting it in her other hand and tossing it across the room to the trash can, hitting it spot on.  Funny the little things you remember but I was thinking "I'm in good hands here!"  I didn't want the epidural for different reasons, but, in my case, I really believe it would have ended in a c-section if I had not because things were just not progressing and I was getting close to the point of being at risk for infection because of my water breaking. 

From 4cm to 10 cm
From midnight to 4 a.m., they added pitocin

off the charts

Pushing
I remember telling the doctor "let's do three pushes and get him here!"  He laughed and said that it might take a few more than that but we would try.  He had to get a mirror for me and coach me through pushing where I needed to push but when I saw the head and hair, extra motivation kicked in!  Hampton was born at 7:21 a.m. and then the room became a blur while PC and I cried and looked into the sweetest face I've ever seen.  I remember telling him how long we had waited on him and how much he was worth it.  Then he pooped, lol.  But at least he waited until outside the womb, such a gentleman.

Welcome to the World

The "Push Present"
A sweet card and necklace from PC.  It means eternity.  Perfect gift from my P.rince C.harming:]

Little details
In conversation before the pushing, it came up that this was an IVF baby and we had tried for years.  One of the L&D nurses said she had one unsuccessful IVF and adopted a baby girl and that we were giving her hope that they might just try one more time.  She stayed through shift change to help deliver the baby and cried with us.

That darn mega lollie... it caught my eye several times during labor and I told PC to get rid of it... looking at it made me sick!

After I got the IV, they looked for the baby's heartbeat.  It took her a long time and PC and I shared a look of sheer panic.  It became the first of several and I remember saying later in the week "why can I not just get a baby home?!?"

I still had my bra on for some reason and it needed to come off.  The nurses were having a hard time getting it around the cords and IV and I said "cut the bra."  They were like "no, we'll help you save the bra."  Totally a female moment!

Advice for packing for moms to be...

• Lots and lots of socks!  Some for walking on the nasty hospital floor, some for comfort, and cheap ones you can cut if your feet swell afterwards like mine did!

• Disposable panties... they don't give you enough of these things but they worked during the walking/labor part and after labor because they stretch and-best part- you just toss them in the trash!  My ob/gyn said we could purchase those in the lingerie department, another funny detail I remember.

• Snacks... I wouldn't have had any strength without a few graham crackers here and there.  I know the reasoning because you don't know if surgery will be necessary but sometimes people need emergency surgery and they haven't fasted... I was thankful for those crackers!

• Cottonelle and colace to prepare for that first bm.  Enough said. 

HOME

Thank you blog friends for your thoughts and prayers during my stay in the NICU.  The doctors and nurses helped me to get healthier and stronger every day and I am happy to say that I am HOME!
Love, Hampton