My (big) baby boy's birth story! (@blythemiles)

blythemiles · July 2014

Hey ladies! This story is long overdue, and might be lengthy!

Short story: John Allen was born at 4:08am on Tuesday, July 8 by vaginal delivery. He weighed 10 pounds, 9 ounces and is a sweet, curious baby boy!

Long story: Being 3cm dilated, 80% effaced and past my due date of July 2, my ob recommended that we induce on the morning of July 7 (she thought he might be a *little* on the big side). I arrived in the morning at the hospital at 7am, quickly had my water broken, and was sent on my way to wander the halls in hopes of getting labor started.

I was having about one contraction every 45 minutes for 3 hours, so I decided to start some pitocin to get the contractions going - they started slowly and kept upping the pitocin throughout the day to try to get my contractions to be regular. They were strong, just not consistent. By about 3:30pm I decided to get my epidural - I wasn't in absolute agony at that time, but was uncomfortable, and wanted to make sure I got some pain relief before most people left for the day at 5. Epidural went in great, the needles didn't bother me, and for about 2 hours I felt amaaaaaazing. Unfortunately, I was progressing more slowly than they would have liked, so they continued to increase the pitocin by large increments throughout the day (at the end of my labor, my pitocin drip was actually above the recommended level, and had to be approved by the doctor).

Throughout the early evening I tried to rest, but was becoming more and more uncomfortable - it seemed like I was starting to feel my (strong) contractions through my epidural, starting low, and spreading throughout my entire body. Eventually, by 10pm (despite the medication being increased several times), my epidural was no longer having any effect on me, besides making my right leg numb between the knee and hip - not very helpful!!! My nurse said that sometimes your body stops responding to the pain medication, and that it seemed that was what I was going through - greeeeeeat.

So I labored without relief until 2am, when I seriously thought I was going to go insane from the pain - I was rolled onto my left and right sides, but every move made the pain worse. My poor husband tried to talk me through the pain, but I - not so kindly - asked him to refrain from speaking.

At 2am my nurse checked me, and I was 10 centimeters! She had me start pushing, but I only made it through a few pushes before I asked for some sort of alternate pain relief. We took a little break, she ordered some lydocaine for me, and I managed to push in relative ease for about 45 minutes - the only downside of lydocaine being that it only lasts for an hour!

Sometime shortly after 3am my pain medication wore off again, and my nurse tried to give me more through my IV, which was too little too late. It never took effect, and I labored all the way through my delivery at 4:08am feeling EVERYTHING (except in my right thigh). I literally felt like I was being ripped apart, that I was pushing so hard that my lungs would explode, and I was pretty sure I was dying. By the time the doctor arrived and I got through the last pushes, I pushed constantly for about 2 minutes, and John Allen was born! He was big and beautiful, and immediately after being put on my chest he started lifting his head and looking at his parents. He didn't cry much until they started doing his tests, but instead quietly looked at the world around him.

After our skin-to-skin time, the hospital pediatrician came in to weigh him, and we were laughing and guessing - 9 pounds, 3 ounces? 7 ounces? She finished weighing him and he came in at the admirable weight of 10 POUNDS, 9 OUNCES. We were all stunned. We knew he would be a big boy, but had never guessed him to be that big! I only had a second degree tear from pushing him out, and my physical recover has not actually been that bad. I can sit without hurting, I'm off all my pain meds, and my legs no longer look like I'm wearing a fat suit. (The swelling from the IV was HORRIBLE.)

My mental state after delivery has not been great. I hardly slept for about a week, resulting in anxiety that caused me to have my very first ER visit. I felt like I couldn't get a deep breath, and I could sleep for fear of my throat closing while I was laying down. I went to my regular doc on Monday, and it turns out I have anemia - something totally manageable and comforting to know that I can live with easily.

Breastfeeding has also been like hell - my milk kind of came in on Monday: almost a week after birth. In the meantime, he lost almost a full pound, which made me feel like the worst mother of all time. In the last 9 days I've been through lack of milk, SNS feeding tubes (which are the WORST), supplementation, and we are now dealing with low supply/almost non-existent let-down, and nipple confusion. Motherhood is HARD - if my mom were not here to help, I would never have made it through this last 9-ish days. The stories and reassurances of the other mothers dealing with BF issues, anxiety, and the comforting words from other STMs on here has really helped me to feel that I can make it through this, and eventually be OK.

Sorry for the looooooooooooong post - apparently I really needed to get this all out! Here are some pics of my baby boy:

Aaaaaand the images will only show up huge, and my brain is tired. Sorry! Above: just born Below: getting out of the house for an hour!

acohin · July 2014

So cute!! LOVE those chubby cheeks and arms! Congrats!!

Jennik30 · July 2014

Congrats'

ADC1979 · July 2014

Sorry you've been having a rough time of it, but he is adorable! I hope you're able to get the BFing back on track, or do whatever is best for you and the little cutie.

Ekzerr · July 2014

Congrats!!

Skeemer · July 2014

What a chunk face! I love it! Baby rolls & chunkiness are the best ever! Congrats.

I laughed at you telling your husband to stop talking. Lol. I had to tell my husband to stop rubbing my shoulder. He would get nervous bc of the level of pain I was in so he'd rub the same spot over & over. I swear I thought he was going to rub a hole in the gown I was wearing.

shamyfowler · July 2014

Congratulations! What a sweet little man you have!

NugsMom · July 2014

What a handsome boy! Congratulations, and I am so impressed with how you handled the delivery of such a big baby.

I can really relate to the fat suit (still have mine on) and the nursing issues. We are dealing with them as well. I hope it gets better for you!

brewbecks · July 2014

Congrats on your big bundle of joy!!

I hope everything gets better!

Katieryan13 · July 2014

Congrats!!

lowen83 · July 2014

Congrats he is adorable! As someone who's birth story with DS1 was almost as rocky as yours, I can say it does get better. Your doing all that you can as his parent and that's the best mom you can be to him. Take it one day at a time and remember to breath and enjoy this time as it will fly by!! Good luck!

clebl24 · July 2014

You may win the award for biggest July14 baby. He's precious. Congrats.

[Deleted User] · July 2014

So cute!! Congratulations!!

brooklynesque · July 2014

Congrats on your adorable baby boy!

beff12 · July 2014

Congratulations!! I hope things continue improving for you guys. He is an adorable little man!

gooliahank · July 2014

Congratulations on your "big" little man. I had a tough go BF with DS for a long time. It is definitely a labor of love and doesn't come as easily to many as KT is hard. It does get better!