Baby Lillian Romy Has Arrived!

eryale · July 2014

Hello June mamas! Somehow I never got my act together enough to sign up for a labor buddy, so here I am sharing my own story albeit a bit belated... What a crazy crazy 2 weeks it's been. It's been both wonderful and a bit of a struggle learning "the ropes" of parenthood with a few "bumps" before things have finally begun to settle... I'm more than sure that all of you can relate!

Prepare... THIS IS LONG!

If you want the short version, here it is: Sweet Lillian Romy arrived at 7:18pm on 6/24/14 weighing 6 lbs, 8 oz., 18.5 inches long.

So, June 23rd, started out as an ordinary day... I worked out at 10:30am, came home, showered and had lunch with a friend at about 1pm then went home. My friend and I decided that if the nail shop had appointments, maybe we'd head over for a manicure... After all, I could use nice nails for labor, right? That, and I was pretty sure there would be little time for such luxuries in my near future... After getting us appointments, I hopped back into the car to pick up my friend for our pampering afternoon. When I pulled out from my driveway onto the street I felt a gush of liquid... I grabbed a napkin from the glove compartment, and with that, I was pretty sure the manicure was off! So I pulled right back into the driveway and ran up the stairs (with Starbucks napkins in my crotch, of course and yelled to DH, "I think my water just broke"! He thought I was yelling to him to grab my water bottle, which I had just filled up, but forgot to grab before I left! Um, nope! It was time to spring into action!

When I called L&D, I thought they'd assure me that it was okay to labor at home until my contractions started and eventually picked up (because part of my plan was to labor at home as long as possible), but they wanted me to come in. Even still, I stayed home a short while, cleaning and packing. I wasn't having any contractions at this point, nor had I felt any up to this point or through the entire pregnancy. Not even BH.

When we arrived at L&D (about 1 1/2 hours later), the OB at triage confirmed I had broken my water. However, I also had a sudden onset of high blood pressure and they were concerned of preeclampsia. So naturally, I was admitted. Luckily I was brought right to my labor and delivery room on the top floor with a view for miles! I was quite comfortable still, and was convinced that my borderline blood pressure was due to all the excitement and nerves... but it wasn't coming down and urine and blood tests indicated likely preeclampsia, though it wasn't until after Lillian's birth that anyone even confirmed the diagnosis. It took nearly 10 days for my BP to level off, and now I'm finally having normal numbers. All of this was so strange to me, considering my health and BP in general, as well as my low numbers throughout the pregnancy... but, it is what it is.

Okay, so back to L&D... My midwife was very uncomfortable with the elevated BP so she strongly recommended induction with Pitocin--also not in my plan, but safety came first. So... by 10pm they were starting Pitocin. I was still 0 cm dilated and very comfortable. Within about an hour, I started feeling dull, slightly uncomfortable contractions. They started me slowly, with 1 unit at a time, hoping my body would kick into gear on it's own. And it did! Fast forward to 4am when contractions were less than a minute apart and intense to say the least... The plan was for no epidural, but the plan was also no Pitocin or other interventions (unless medically necessary). With that said, I also went in with an open mind and didn't intend to suffer more than I could handle if either way it meant bringing a healthy baby into the world... So, with less than a minute break between contraction peaks, I asked about pain management... then they checked me and I was 7cm! I thought "now's my chance", otherwise there's no turning back. Then... I heard, hell, we all heard the lady next door literally screaming "Get it out! Get it the f--ck out!" like a damn movie... NO JOKE. I cried and my mom, dad, sis, and DH gave me the look that could've only meant "go ahead, get the epidural, it's okay". They were all very supportive, but didn't want to say too much, rather let me make the decision based on my needs at that time.

I GOT IT. Weird. Very very weird. I felt amazing, and simultaneously like a parapalgic which scared me. I quickly became consumed with concerns of not being able to push. Fortunately, and unfortunately the epidural stalled my labor to a near stop, which gave it time to wear off. Also, the epidural had a button that I could control and maintain my own level of comfort/discomfort. Eventually I was able to get back to a place of low level pain accompanied by control down below, without being miserable. But it took me a number of hours to get to 8 and a number more to get to 10cm. By the time it came time to push (9 hours later!), I was in a fair amount of discomfort, and could move my legs as well as feel to push--I was happy, if you can believe it. It was as if the "edge" was off, but there was enough pain and control to feel like an active participant in the labor.

The worst and best of my labor story is the epidural... Once it was time to push, I was at it for a long time. I got wonderful feedback from an amazing team (my nurse and the midwife) that I was such a good pusher. However, I also had a sensation in my shoulder that turned excruciating, each time I had to bear down with a contraction and push. It wasn't until after the epidural cath was removed that I realized that it was the issue--I'm pretty sure it was a nerve that was being hit each time I got into position to push... The pain was 100% gone when the epidural was out. So, after a great start to pushing, I became exhausted by the shoulder pain and I swear I could've gotten Lil out in half the time--but I ended up pushing for 3 1/2 hours.

Here's the most amazing part--once she was here, all pain ceased to exist and was nearly erased from my memory--what a strange and wonderful thing! In total, from broken water to delivery, I was "in labor" for 28 hours. However, active labor was much less. It's amazing how our bodies know how to do this, isn't it? It's also amazing how different each one of our labor stories is/will be. Mommies are remarkable, strong, beautiful people!

Postpartum-- after my labor I was told that I'd have to stay in bed for 2-3 hours for the epidural to wear off. I was out of bed within an hour following delivery of the placenta--no biggie, and of course, following skin to skin time). I walked to the restroom and peed about a gallon, then sat in a chair with my baby girl. Immediately following and these days after birth, I had little pain that a tylenol couldn't fix, and in the end I had a small internal 2nd degree tear that required 1 long stitch. The nurses and midwife were really pleased with my lady parts 1 and 2-days post delivery! I'm still quite comfortable and DH and I have been able to take long walks with the dog and Lillian 4 days this week.

We were home within 48 hours and a home nurse came to check me and the baby--me for my BP and her to monitor her bilirubin levels, which were slightly elevated before discharge from the hospital.. She ended up being quite jaundiced to the point where they had to readmit her (us) after less than 24 hours home. We were at the hospital for 48 more hours and she was put under the lights for phototherapy. Thankfully we were able to room with her but this was VERY DIFFICULT for me because I wasn't able to cuddle her except to feed her and she wasn't eating well (or shall I say, I wasn't producing well) so we had no choice but to supplement with formula

Now we're still dealing with feeding and production issues which is my main source of frustration and sadness, though I'm keeping on with the process and pumping, and still BFing. We've seen a number of lactation consultants between our hospital visits and a private pay home nurse our pediatrician recommended. It's a lot of time, money and effort but it's worth it to me... However, this is a whole different story and I'll save the bulk of it for the BFing thread...

The most important thing is that we're all home now, happy and healthy. Lillian is a great great baby--sleeps like a log day and parties half of the night, but we're madly in love. Thanks for sticking around long enough to read my novel! And now, for the pictures of our darling baby girl...