XP: July baby turned June baby (PIP)

EMF70 · June 2013

My June delivery of my July baby (PIP)

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Details of my June delivery of my July baby

**** Please forgive the typos and grammatical errors of this sleep deprived, first time mom.

First, some background on me. I am a FTM who became pregnant natural, twice last year at the age of 42. The first was a miscarriage and I got pregnant again pretty quickly thereafter. Sometimes, I feel like I didn?t fully mourn the loss of the first one but God had other plans. At any rate, since I would be delivering at 43, I was deemed high risk. Throughout the pregnancy, I had no real complications, thank God. I was terrified the entire time because of my age.

Water Breaking

The evening my water broke, I had seen my doctor that morning to schedule my C-section. I had an ultrasound and there was no indication I would deliver sooner than July 9^th. Well, that night, my water broke. In fact, it kept on breaking for the next several hours. As a FTM, I always thought that when you water breaks, it gushes once and that?s it. Not true, at least for me. It was completely out of the blue. No mucus plug, no bloody show, nothing. I put on my Depends (a life saver with all that fluid) and called the doctor. We went to the hospital at about 4 am. I was pretty calm because I wasn?t having any contractions. I also knew that at 35 weeks she had a relatively good change even if she had to go to the NICU. While there was still a risk, I tried to be positive since in real life, I?m a negative Nelly.

Triage

Once in triage, they hooked me up to a monitor. I felt some very mild, menstrual type cramps but nothing like the contractions I had heard about. Turns out, I had 3 contractions and didn?t even know it. At about 2:30 p.m., I walked to the OR where they prepped me for my C-section. My husband came in and we chatted a bit. Before I knew it, Ava was out. I didn?t hear her cry which freaked me out but my husband saw her wiggling around. I finally heard her weak cry. They evaluated her and determined she could go to the regular nursery even though she was 5 weeks early.

Recovery Room

I was taken to the recovery room and within an hour of her delivery, I was doing skin to skin and breast feeding her. Now, I was never too keen on breastfeeding but decided to at least try it for Ava?s benefit. If it didn?t work, I would have no problem using formula. I hadn?t had a chance to take a breast feeding class so we had to kind of wing it. She knew exactly what to do so I?ve been just following her lead with the assistance of the nurses and lactation consultants. I can?t say I enjoy it but it is tolerable. Right now I?m still in the painful stage. Ava has also lost weight so I have to supplement with pumped breast milk and occasionally formula. She hasn?t experienced any nipple confusion and has regained her birth weight. Oh, let me add that while I had heard about experiencing uterine contractions when breastfeeding, I didn?t know they?d be worse than they were when my water broke. Ouch! I have new admiration for women who undergo natural childbirth.

Side Effects From C-Section

Following the C-section, I experience a symptom I had never heard of. I had an alarming amount of swelling in my lower extremities. My legs and thighs were 3 times their normal size. I could not wear any of the shoes I brought with me to the hospital. Even the nurses were a little surprised at the swelling but said it was normal. I was completely freaked out. Luckily, I lost my Fred Flintstone feet and leg and thigh swelling within a week. I can now see my knees and ankles.

Weight Loss

As for general weight loss, I told the nurse to stop telling me my weight after I got to 30 weeks. I just didn?t care anymore and it depressed me. Of course if it was something I need to be concerned about, I told them to tell me. Anyway, I don?t know how much I?ve lost but since the swelling went down, I can finally fit into my pre-pregnancy tops although I fill out the top a little more. I can also wear my first pair of maternity jeans. It took about a week and half for my bump to go away. I think that has to do with my overall swelling going done.

To all of you waiting for your precious little ones, good luck and God bless you. You are stronger than you know.