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1st Trimester
PeonyPumps
member
2nd+ time mamas- what random things would you do differently?
PeonyPumps
member
I know there are really random, not the run-of-the-mill advice things that people give you about labor and delivery, and reading the post about sending baby to the nursery made me remember one of mine.
Someone posted about hunger and eating a sandwich. Well, I wish I would have known what time the cafeteria/food service hours were at the hospital I delivered (um, yep, where I also work) at night before I had the baby. I'd always just assumed that since the hospital was a 'restaurant-style ordering food service' where you just called whenever you wanted a meal, you didn't have to eat lunch at noon or whatever, that they'd be open at night.
Well, we got up to the room at like midnight or 1 in the morning I think, and I asked for a menu. I hadn't eaten since Saturday morning and it was already Sunday night/Monday morning at that point. She kind of laughed and said I'd have to wait until they opened at like 7 or something like that, or I'd have to send my family out to get me food. Well, the only thing open nearby was McDonalds. So, sadly, that is what I had for my first PP meal, because I was SO hungry.
So, long story short, I'd know when the hospital stopped serving meals, and have a back up plan if they would be closed when I was finished delivering. My parents sat at the hospital and waited for hours, they could have gone and picked me up a real meal while stuff was open, and just put it in the L&D fridge until then.
What is a random thing you wish you'd have done differently/or had known about?
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Re: 2nd+ time mamas- what random things would you do differently?
If I had to go back and change anything though, I would have brought something different to walk the halls in. I wore a robe. Never actually thought people outside of L&D would see me in it. My hospital lets us walk around the lobby area (they have a piano and a flower shop and some food places like subway and a smoothie place). Anyway, I got a lot of weird looks... And some weirdo actually asked me how far along I was and when I was due. "Really dumb ass? I wouldn't be walking around in a robe at the hospital if I wasn't in labor... TRUST me!" Then again when I was walking the halls and had a contraction a nurse (yes, someone who went to school...) asked me if I wanted a wheel chair.
Don't stress so much about putting baby on a "schedule" immediately. Follow his/her cues and sleep when he/she sleeps (if you can... 2nd time moms don't have this luxury in most cases) and relax. You can't make a bad habit with a newborn. It's when they get a little older (4-6 months) that habits really need to be an issue.
Bring home more mesh panties. Those things were made of fabulousness.
Mama to Mason (7) and Asher the Crasher (3).
Married to Topher (10 years). 32 years young in Oklahoma.
Whatevs. I did it all perfectly the first time. And the second time. And the third time.
Oh! Good one, I forgot about two more I had- get more nose bulbs from the hospital is one, the ones from the hospital are the only good ones! The second would be to get more than one lady wash bottle, what the heck were those things called again? That you use to squirt warm water on your lady parts? Mine had a leaky cap, plus I really needed one in every bathroom when I got home.
A peri bottle? I think that was what it was called. Something like that.
Peri bottle! I use mine for my no 'poo!
Yes, the peri bottle! I need a ton more of those!
ETA: We also used ours for wipe juice for DS's cloth wipes.
I will tell the nurses to shut up and leave the room to have their little social time.
I will tell the lc that I hate the football hold and I'm not even going to try.
I will put my hair in a ponytail so I don't puke on it (for a 3rd time).
I will get a new pair of glasses so they don't look terrible in pics.
Flame alert- I would have CIO a whole HELL of a lot earlier. I didn't want my precious to cry and swore I would never make her CIO.
Now she's 18 months old and still a crappy sleeper. She can't fall asleep while held, she can't sleep with us (just rolls around laughing until she gets exhausted and slappy) so our only choice is to put her down and let her fuss and cry, which she still does, all.the.time. I'm convinced if we had gone cold turkey and did full on CIO at 6 or 7 months she would sleep better and there would have been much LESS crying over time.
Hmmm.... what else. That was the big one. My labor was easy. The epidural rocked.
Oh, I would have raised holy hell when the nurse told my LOs bili levels were high and that she would tell my pedi. I trusted her to do that and 12 hours later when we found out she hadn't told him, they were even higher, and she was going to be admitted to the special care nursery instead of getting discharged I was devastated. We could have shortened her hospital stay if I hadn't been so trusting.
No flames here. We did at 5 months old with my son. Lasted three days and he's been STTN ever since. We'll follow this next one's cues and hopefully will have quick success again.
Hope your LO tackles bedtime soon. ((hugs))
Mama to Mason (7) and Asher the Crasher (3).
Married to Topher (10 years). 32 years young in Oklahoma.
This happened to me too!!! The food service closed about 30 min before I got to my room and the only thing they had was a crappy packaged sandwhich. I split it with DH since neither one of us had eaten along with a protein bar I had packed but that was all until it opened again at 7am! I couldn't send DH out to get anything since he had been up for over 48hrs (he was just coming off an overnight shift when I went into labor)....I stared at the clock ALL NIGHT waiting for breakfast! I ordered almost everything on the menu!
Next time I'm bringing in emergency supplies!
I would have labored at home overnight instead of going to the hospital as early as I did. I didn't sleep at all the night I spent in triage, and it was miserable.
I also would have chosen the floor that had a nursery. We told them when we were admitted that we wanted to room in, but after 21 hrs of labor and an emergency c-section, I was so mentally and physically exhausted that I was useless. I finally cried enough that the nurse with the night shift took C to the nurse's station for a couple hours so I could sleep.
WAITWAITWAIT. You're pregnant?! Yay! Congrats
I'm lurking from TTGP but I have two kids.
The lesson I learned that I was thankfully able to implement with #2 is that if your newborn is crying, s/he is hungry. Almost all the time. I was making life wayyyy too difficult trying to figure out why on earth DS was crying again because I *just* fed him. Yeah, he was just hungry. Again. Newborns eat all.the.time. I was changing his diaper, burping him, rocking him, and crying because I was so tired and I knew he couldn't possibly be hungry.
I tell all new moms, for the first four weeks (at least), if LO is crying, it's because they're hungry. Try feeding them again then reassess the situation if they're still crying. Oh, and supplementing with formula doesn't make you a bad mom. I was so, so tired and when I finally caved, DS ate way more than a newborn probably normally eats and then he not only stopped crying, he went to sleep. Hallelujah.
Also, I wouldn't be so judgmental about bed sharing (and a trillion other things). I thought it was insane that any (horrible) mother would ever consider that given the horror stories about smothering the baby; however, I finally caved out of pure exhaustion and LO slept like a ROCK (and so did I). He started off in his crib/bassinet every night but when he woke up in the wee hours, I just pulled him into bed and nursed him and he would sleep until 9 a.m. It was AWESOME.
The first eight weeks of motherhood included exhaustion that I have never known.
Oh, god bless the lady wash bottle. My extra I brought home is now a permanent bath toy and my kids love squirting each other with it. I would also suggest bringing an eye mask, so you can sleep any time of day. Did that the second time around and it was great.
Take it easy until you heal... I tried to do too much, too fast, and busted a stitch... And, no, I didn't have a C-section. I was trying to do some work sitting on the floor, as we had just moved. Bad idea. Made walking and sitting painful, and I'm pretty certain it tripled my healing time.
Also - accept help when it's available... In all likelihood, it won't always be there. I tend to want to do it all myself, when sometimes I need to LET people help and ease up on myself a bit.
It's called a "peri-bottle"
I will shower ASAP after delivery & wear my own clothes instead of a gown the entire time (as long as its BF friendly & a pair of pants/shirts that I will end up throwing out after my hospital stay).
Everything else was awesome.
BFP #1:10/31/10 DS born 6/22/11BFP #3:4/24/12 DD born 12/31/12
This, for some reason I have NO pictures of me and DS in the hospital!!!
And I second the Popsicle!!!! I think I had a good 5!!! And if they have a joke on the stick, make sure to read them to everyone
Thank goodness you left when you did!! 1 hour?! Holy mackerel! What a story!
Lol, thanks! He sleeps in the oddest positions, we often watch the video monitor just to see what funny position he is in next. The other day he pulled his blanket completely over his head (only, not his body at all) and while we were watching the motion monitor still ticking, H and I were arguing over who was going to go in there and pull the blanket off of his head. Thankfully, about a minute later, he did it himself, but I was like, really? Were your ears cold little man? Lol.
This. For some reason, I kept waiting for someone to tell me that I could shower. Just do it!