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Elliana Grace came early! Birth story and PIPs!
My DD decided she wanted to show up before her EDD, so that's why I didn't post the Green Beans Check in!
Elliana's Birth
The story starts at 10:35 PM. I was deep in sleep when I felta warm gush, I woke up and laid there for a second, thinking it was just a little bit of the Evening Primrose Oil I had inserted before bed. There was another gush!
I jumped out of bed and raced to the bathroom, thinking maybe I had just peed myself (it's happened before :P ) After I finished on the toilet, I stood up to another gush and a good stream going back into the toilet. I sat back down and just sat there for a minute. After a minute I called my husband and asked him what he thought it was, if it was what I was thinking. We called MIL and let her know, but decided to stay home and wait for the contractions to start and then go to the hospital.
Of course I try to go back to sleep and toss and turn, but only manage another hour of sleep before I get worried and decide to try jumpstarting the contractions around 7 AM by pumping. Absolutely nothing.....
I called my doctor around 8:15 (they opened at 8) and they want me in immediately and off we go! She confirmed it was my water (well duh! I had a constant leak!) and sent me to the hospital, calling ahead to make sure my room was ready and they would start me off on pitocin.
Let me just say this, I was really upset at this point because I didn't want any medical interventions I wanted to go completely natural.
Of course we get lost at the hospital and end up walking around trying to figure out the signs and what we remember from the tour. We end up asking a food service worker who escorted us to the right place. I think I was admitted around 9:45 am.
My first RN was awesome, she hooked me up to the monitor and we saw I had been having contractions around 4 minutes apart. She called my doctor and they decided to start pitocin at 12:30 if I wasn't making progress. The nurse checked me and I was still at 1 cm. She hooked me up to pitocin and the contractions actually became painful, but not horribly so. Shift change came at 330 and my next RN was great! She was very pro natural and let me off the monitors for awhile to labor.
My OB came in after awhile and checked me for progress. I was still not going anywhere fast and they were getting nervous because I was getting closer and closer to the 24 hr mark of my water breaking. She decided to put an internal contraction monitor in (super uncomfortable! I hated that thing!) and upped my pitocin. I was ok for awhile after that, being able to breathe through the contractions and shift between leaning against DH or my Mom (she arrived around 8), against the bed, or in the rocking chair.
Around 10 the contractions started getting closer and closer together and were lasting longer and longer. At one point, my internal wasn't transmitting and the RN came in to nudge it back in. As soon as I stood up to get into the bed, it fell out and they decided maybe they better check me to see how far I had dilated in case that as the reason the monitor fell out. I was a 4! Yay! At least it was progress!
Another shift change happened around 11, and while the next RN was nice, she was a little pushy. She upped my pitocin without my permission and nobody had noticed until later. I began to start wearing down. The contractions were almost on top of each other and I was having 3 in a row with less than a minute break. Then I began dry heaving! So fun! Then I couldn't stand it anymore when it felt like the contractions weren't ending, I told my husband our code word and he looked amazed and tried to talk me out of it. But I was not going to be able to go much longer since my nurse was positive that I was no farther along than 4. But finally agreed. I asked for the epidural and the nurse requested the anesthesiologist. Those 20 mins felt like they took forever!
After the epidural I was able to get about an hour of sleep before the contractions were getting closer together and the nurse came to check and see if I felt the pressure, which I had been for awhile now and being a FTM didn't know to say anything. She helped me push her into position before going to get the doctor. After about an hour of combined pushing, Elliana Grace was born at 7 lbs 3 oz and 19.5 inches long!
We're dealing with some jaundice issues, which lead us to having to supplement with formula, but now that my milk is coming in I hope it's over soon!
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Re: Elliana Grace came early! Birth story and PIPs!
Posts on cloth trainers/PLing
You don't have to supplement with formula for jaundice, that is very old advice. Having the wee babe get some sun by a window is so much better than formula!
Congrats!
I just wanted to add about the supplementing too, that it isn't necessary a lot of the time. You can supplement with pumped milk if you are able to express. We ended up supplementing with formula with my daughter because she wasn't nursing well and I wasn't able to pump much at all. I was able to stop when she was a few weeks old though.
So the first preferred option is always supplementing with breastmilk. You want the baby to still be sending the signal to your body to produce milk. If the baby isn't sucking your milk may not come in as abundantly as it would otherwise. Breastmilk is also easier to digest and as such will clear the jaundice quickly.
So don't be afraid to stop the supplementing when your cutie is in the clear. She may fuss a bit not having the bottle at first and having to work harder to nurse, and also your body will be playing catchup to produce what she needs. Usually it only takes a few days of this adjustment. You can also slowly lessen the amount in the supplementing if you don't want to cold turkey quit it. Patience is key. Good luck and enjoy your baby!
Thanks ladies! Actually we've been offering the bottle after feedings so that way she's still stimulating me, but she hates the bottle! She'll take two swallows and just let it dribble out of her mouth!
My milk just came in and she's having enough wet and poopy diapers where DH and I feel comfrotable not even offering it to her anymore.
Now we have a biliblanket that she's on, and we have another blood test today which if it doesnt go below 18 we have to admit her to the hospital for more phototherapy. I'm hoping its low!
Big E (6) & Little E (2.5)