May 2017 Moms
Kipperoo
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Estelle's Birth Story and 1 week update--Born 4/12
Kipperoo
member
Modified copy/paste from the induction thread...here's the birth story (plus first week update) of Estelle Ruby, born 4/12 at 1:29am!
I checked in around 7:00 am Tuesday for a scheduled 36 week induction (due to cholestasis), started cervacil treatments to ripen my cervix at 9:00--just a tiny pill under my tounge and a cervical check every 4-5 hours. I got to a 3 with the first pill, took the second around 2:00 and got to a 5. I had to do A LOT of walking around the hospital to help kick start everything. Had my cervix check again around 7:00 and had made it to a 6. The nice thing about this piece of the labor was that I could still eat/drink 1 hour after taking the pills, so I was able to have breakfast and lunch and a variety of snacks.
We delayed starting the pitocin because there were a few labors progressing really quickly and only one doctor on duty (literally, I could hear 2 different woman screaming at the top of their lungs in labor...it was legitimately terrifying). They started the pitocin at 9:00 pm , checked cervix at 11:00 and I was at a 7. At this point, I got the epidural and fell asleep from 12-1. There was a slight complication with the epidural--the numbing shot was actually pretty painful and continued to hurt for like 5 days after birth, but that pain was totally worth it because the contractions had started picking up (pitocin contractions are said to sometimes be more forceful) and the pain was pretty bad. It took about 30 minutes for the epidural to fully kick in--I had forgotten how weird it is to have the bottom half of your body totally numb, but it was really nice to relax. Thanks to the epidural, I literally slept through the roughest part of labor!
The doctor came in at 1:00am, checked my cervix, and I was at a 10 and ready to push--they turned down the epidural so that I could feel the contractions (not painful, but so that I could feel the pressure and know when to push). Pushing commenced at about 1:10 and baby was born at 1:29 am on Wednesday (so 16.5 hours total from start to finish). The actual birth was pretty easy, actually. I was chatting away with the doctor and nurse between pushing...night and day from my labor with DS (3 hours of rough pushing...). Baby was quickly checked while the doctor dealt with the messy post-birth stuff and stitched me up (I needed 2 stitches). She was 6 pounds 2 ounces and 19.5 inches.
Everything looked good with Estelle and she was passed to me for skin to skin. We hung out in the delivery room for a couple of hours with the nurse (she was monitoring a number of things)...once we got clearance, we were moved to the PP wing.
Our hospital stay was totally (blissfully) uneventful. Because she was so small/gestationally young, we decided to supplement with formula on top of my BF attempts. So, the pattern looked like this: BF for max of 30 mins (to avoid tiring her out), pass her to DH for a formula supplement, and simultaneously pump to help establish supply. Estelle passed every test with flying colors--multiple nurses remarked how great she looked for a 36 weeker. I felt really, really good at discharge. Got home and definitely overdid it the first day (picking things up, etc)...so the first full day at home was rough, but when I went back to prioritizing relaxing, I went back to feeling great.
Since being home, we have continued the BF/formula supplement routine (minus the pumping) during the day, and at night, DH feeds her a bottle while I pump. Our first visit to the pediatrician at 48 hours post discharge (on Easter!) revealed that she was still losing SLIGHTLY too much weight, so we used a fortified supplement formula for 1 day and returned for another weigh in the next day to discover that her weight gain was right back on track! I'm really happy with this feeding plan, although I know it's not for everyone. Trying to exclusively BF last time nearly sent me over the edge, so this combination feels a lot more doable and I'm happy that she's still getting some of the BF benefits.
She's been sleeping pretty well, although the first 2 nights home she was WIIIIDE awake from 10:00 pm-2:00 am after sleeping the whole day. We have gently been trying to reverse her sleep schedule by keeping her awake from 7:00pm to 11:00pm. Obviously, we can't force her to stay awake, but we put her in a non-cozy position (on the floor on a blanket with a play bar above her or flat on her back in her bassinet without a swaddle. We turn all of the lights on and the TV (for noise), and take turns interacting with her to keep her alert. I'm pleased to report that in the 2 nights we've tried it, it's been really successful! She's fallen asleep after her 11:00 bottle and slept until around 1:30, then took a bottle and slept until around 4, then took another bottle and slept until 7:00! She pretty much just toggles between eating and sleeping and hanging out...she's really chill and so far the family is adjusting well. DS is back at daycare and showing no ill effects of the baby (at least yet, haha)...
So, there it is! The long winded birth story plus first week update!
I checked in around 7:00 am Tuesday for a scheduled 36 week induction (due to cholestasis), started cervacil treatments to ripen my cervix at 9:00--just a tiny pill under my tounge and a cervical check every 4-5 hours. I got to a 3 with the first pill, took the second around 2:00 and got to a 5. I had to do A LOT of walking around the hospital to help kick start everything. Had my cervix check again around 7:00 and had made it to a 6. The nice thing about this piece of the labor was that I could still eat/drink 1 hour after taking the pills, so I was able to have breakfast and lunch and a variety of snacks.
We delayed starting the pitocin because there were a few labors progressing really quickly and only one doctor on duty (literally, I could hear 2 different woman screaming at the top of their lungs in labor...it was legitimately terrifying). They started the pitocin at 9:00 pm , checked cervix at 11:00 and I was at a 7. At this point, I got the epidural and fell asleep from 12-1. There was a slight complication with the epidural--the numbing shot was actually pretty painful and continued to hurt for like 5 days after birth, but that pain was totally worth it because the contractions had started picking up (pitocin contractions are said to sometimes be more forceful) and the pain was pretty bad. It took about 30 minutes for the epidural to fully kick in--I had forgotten how weird it is to have the bottom half of your body totally numb, but it was really nice to relax. Thanks to the epidural, I literally slept through the roughest part of labor!
The doctor came in at 1:00am, checked my cervix, and I was at a 10 and ready to push--they turned down the epidural so that I could feel the contractions (not painful, but so that I could feel the pressure and know when to push). Pushing commenced at about 1:10 and baby was born at 1:29 am on Wednesday (so 16.5 hours total from start to finish). The actual birth was pretty easy, actually. I was chatting away with the doctor and nurse between pushing...night and day from my labor with DS (3 hours of rough pushing...). Baby was quickly checked while the doctor dealt with the messy post-birth stuff and stitched me up (I needed 2 stitches). She was 6 pounds 2 ounces and 19.5 inches.
Everything looked good with Estelle and she was passed to me for skin to skin. We hung out in the delivery room for a couple of hours with the nurse (she was monitoring a number of things)...once we got clearance, we were moved to the PP wing.
Our hospital stay was totally (blissfully) uneventful. Because she was so small/gestationally young, we decided to supplement with formula on top of my BF attempts. So, the pattern looked like this: BF for max of 30 mins (to avoid tiring her out), pass her to DH for a formula supplement, and simultaneously pump to help establish supply. Estelle passed every test with flying colors--multiple nurses remarked how great she looked for a 36 weeker. I felt really, really good at discharge. Got home and definitely overdid it the first day (picking things up, etc)...so the first full day at home was rough, but when I went back to prioritizing relaxing, I went back to feeling great.
Since being home, we have continued the BF/formula supplement routine (minus the pumping) during the day, and at night, DH feeds her a bottle while I pump. Our first visit to the pediatrician at 48 hours post discharge (on Easter!) revealed that she was still losing SLIGHTLY too much weight, so we used a fortified supplement formula for 1 day and returned for another weigh in the next day to discover that her weight gain was right back on track! I'm really happy with this feeding plan, although I know it's not for everyone. Trying to exclusively BF last time nearly sent me over the edge, so this combination feels a lot more doable and I'm happy that she's still getting some of the BF benefits.
She's been sleeping pretty well, although the first 2 nights home she was WIIIIDE awake from 10:00 pm-2:00 am after sleeping the whole day. We have gently been trying to reverse her sleep schedule by keeping her awake from 7:00pm to 11:00pm. Obviously, we can't force her to stay awake, but we put her in a non-cozy position (on the floor on a blanket with a play bar above her or flat on her back in her bassinet without a swaddle. We turn all of the lights on and the TV (for noise), and take turns interacting with her to keep her alert. I'm pleased to report that in the 2 nights we've tried it, it's been really successful! She's fallen asleep after her 11:00 bottle and slept until around 1:30, then took a bottle and slept until around 4, then took another bottle and slept until 7:00! She pretty much just toggles between eating and sleeping and hanging out...she's really chill and so far the family is adjusting well. DS is back at daycare and showing no ill effects of the baby (at least yet, haha)...
So, there it is! The long winded birth story plus first week update!
Re: Estelle's Birth Story and 1 week update--Born 4/12
1st Baby 5/12/17, Henry
DS2 5/17
#3 Due 9/20
Married 8/27/2011
BFP #1 9/28/2011 DS born 5/22/2012
BFP #2 4/24/2013 m/c 4/25/2013 at 4w
BFP #3 1/31/2014 DD born 10/14/2014
BFP #4 1/20/2016 m/c 2/12/2014 at 7w2d
BFP #5 8/19/2016 DS2 born 4/29/2017
BFP #6 3/7/2018 EDD 11/18/2018
DS2 5/17
#3 Due 9/20
I love the part where you said once you re-prioritized relaxing, you felt better. Good reminder for us all!
Sweet Baby H 12.21.11
Sassy Baby P 03.26.14
Little Brother Due 05.22.17
DS1 7/24/15
DS2 5/7/17
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