Birth Stories
nerdbaby
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Post-birth stories?
nerdbaby
member
Call me ridiculous, but at this point I'm actually more interested in hearing what went on after you gave birth. No offense intended, and don't get me wrong - I loved reading birth stories during 1st and 2nd tri, but now I have a better idea of what's potentially going to go on and I'm really curious about what you did after the baby had been delivered. How long did your LO get skin-to-skin time with you before being whisked off to the nursery or wherever, how long until you took a shower or were even able to stand or walk? What was that first night in the hospital like? Hubs seems to think we'll be watching a movie in bed like a happy little family while I breastfeed with no problems whatsoever and our new LO sleeps soundly in the hospital bassinet. He's a silly moron sometimes.
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Re: Post-birth stories?
With DS I held him right away, they cleaned him off on me and I got to soak him in for a few minutes and then they weighed him, and gave him to DH while I delivered the placenta and got fixed him. I held him on and off while waiting for a post partum room. He wasn't regulating his temp well so they would try skin to skin or add some blankets and then take him under the warmer. We were pretty much left alone once we got to our room. I was up and walking around probably 2 hours after birth? (no epi, that might have changed things). Showered the next morning, i was a pretty sore for about a week but I moved around fine. And that night was pretty easy. Breast feeding the first couple times was way easier then doing it when my milk came in. I believe we watched the world series that night. DS stayed with us the entire time except for when he was circumsized and his his first bath and shots.
DD's birth was a little different. She had swallowed a lot of fluid on the way out and I bleeding more then they would have liked. They held her up for me for a second but hold her until after I was cleaned up and nicu had seen her (they were in the room). I held her for about 10 minutes before they took her to the nicu to be monitered. She was born at 4:45pm so after she was taken and the Dr was done on me the nurse brought me a dinner menu and I was up and walking while waiting for my dinner. I showered and was in my lounge clothes by the time family came to the hospital. DD came back around 9pm and the first night she pretty much just slept. The second night got a little rough because of her latch. She was taken to the nursery twice (at 24 and 48 hours old) for a check up, otherwise she was in our room. Honestly for the most part with both of them we did just kind of hang out and watch tv. Her birth was easier on my body and I wasn't sore or anything.
I had a Csection. The minute LO was out she was rushed over to the table for oxygen and to suck out her nose and mouth. She had inhaled some meconium. She was ok within a minute. DH ran over to the table with video camera with her. I heard her cry. They were all telling me she was ok. Then within 5 minutes they brought her to me. It was hard to hold her b/c I was lying flat on the table but I managed. They snapped a picture of DH LO and I and then DH carried her off to the nursery for weighing, bath ect.. I was then stapled up and had to sit in recovery for about an hour. Half way through I asked the nurse to go get DH and LO b/c I wanted to feed her. She obliged. I nursed her and then they put her back in her wheeling bassinet and wheeled us both to our room. Family was there so we took pictures everyone held her and then they all left to give us some time alone. We chose to let them take her to the nursery at night. I had not slept at all the night before and I really needed to rest. We had a no pacifier rule but quickly after she was in the nursery the nurses called and asked to break the rule. I said sure and she was fine. The first night the nurse on duty said she would bring LO in every two hours to feed. LO wouldn't even wake up most of the time to feed she was so tired. So I spent about 30min snuggling with her and then they would come back and get her.
The next morning they took her for pictures and checkup with pediatrician. That is when they took out catheter and helped me get up. That was painful but once I was hope it was so nice. I showered and put on my nightgown and a little makeup. It felt nice. We had a lot of visitors that day. It was really a blur. That night the nurse said she would only bring LO if she woke up. At about 1:00am they brought her in and then she was done the rest of the night.
The next morning we had final checkup with my doctor and Pedi to get the clear to leave. I showered while DH sat with her in our room. He was so nervous it was cute. We got the clear to leave. I got LO all buckled in her carseat and we headed for the waiting room. It was freezing outside and DH had to let the car warm up. I remember an old woman wanting to look at LO and I was about to freak out thinking she must be here sick and I don't want her near my baby
We got home. DH left right away to fill my prescription(which I never took) and get us some food. We had visitors within almost an hour of being home. It was nice to have everyone around but also stressful. LO would cry and I didn't exactly know how to calm her yet. (pacifier, diaper, boob?) So I felt a little nervous having everyone watch me struggle. They all brought food though which was great. Then they all left and we just settled in for the night. LO slept through the night our first night home. I woke up the next morning thinking she was dead, I know morbid. I felt like there was no way she slept that long. I screamed and sat up and scared her awake. DH looked at me like I was crazy
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After our first night home it was as if she had always been in our life and I couldn't remember life without her there. It is a really weird feeling.
I do remember watching a lot of TV in the hospital and being a little bored at times. She slept a lot and when visitors weren't there it was just us and the TV we live 5 min from hospital so DH would leave to go home and shower and get out from time to time. He was going stir crazy.
LOL Wait till the crazy anxiety dreams enter.
I kept having dreams, when I pregnant, that she was a month old and was crying and someone said maybe you should feed her. I didn't know how to feed her and then realized I had never fed her since shes been alive for a whole month and would try to fake that I knew how to feed her.
After LO was born I would wake up frantically looking for through our covers saying where is she where is she. DH would finally get me fully awake and say she is in the bassinet.
After birth, well, DS had inhaled while in the birth canal. His cord has stopped pulsing before he came out so he had fluid in his lungs. He was coughing alot but not getting any out. I'd requested that he be wiped off before he was handed to me so after a few mins he was given to me to hold. His hands were so pale, they looked white. He was still coughing up goo on my chest. The doc was stitching me up and although I had a low intervention birth they gave me drugs for the stitching.
I was able to hold him for 15 or 20 mins then he was taken to the nursery for observation as the pediatric nurse though he was having trouble breathing. He was gone for two hours. DH went with him and our doula stayed with me. I took a shower and called my mum. I had some numbness in my leg from pushing. I pushed on my back. I was so tired from first stage labor where my contractions came every 3 mins or less. When I started pushing they spaced out to 5 mins apart so i took a little nap between each one. Crazy.
Other than those two hours he roomed in with us. We listened to the radio. The nurses thought that was so odd. They said that no one turned the radio on after the babies are born. They thought that was great. For some reason more nurses showed up in our room after that.
We didn't have a ton of visitors. People called before they came and we would only have one or maybe two people over at a time. It would have been too overwhelming otherwise.
It was surreal. I remember thinking that it was odd that the world just continued even though mine had changed so drastically. I felt so young.
When LO was born, I didn't get to hold her until after they had cleaned her and such. umbilical cord was way too short. I don't know how that happens! I didn't take a shower until the next day and couldn't do much. I had 2 epidurals so it took a while before I could function and standing was not great. I didn't walk, I waddled very slowly, hunched over. The first night was pretty great. I was happy they kept me for a couple nights because I had a lot of recovering to do and a lot of anxiety about actually having the baby finally. I was terrified, but the nurses were amazing! I had some breastfeeding issues so I had to give her formula and attempt to breastfeed, she kept falling asleep and nothing would wake her up. She had high levels of jaundice so the formula was supposed to help with that. The second night I asked if the nurses would just keep her in the nursery all night and feed her because I needed some sleep and she wouldn't breastfeed anyways.
My mom and MIL were at my housee waiting to help. I was so appreciative of that! I think that having a mother there will really help with the transition from being pregnant to having a human life to take care of for the rest of your life! The first night at home there was no sleep. At all. LO was still trying to get her days and nights sorted out.
There was meconium in the fluid so after letting me hold DD long enough to cut the cord, they wisked her away to be checked out. She was fine and the on call pedi gave her the all clear within minutes. I had a 3rd degree tear and episiotomy that had to be sewn up before they gave her back to me to BF however. It felt like forever, but was probably around 20 minutes before they gave her back to me. We nursed for a while and had family time and then they took her to the nursery for more measurements and to get fully cleaned up. While they had her in the nursery, I was able to get up and go to the bathroom and the nurse brought me food. DD was born at 1:38am and by the time all that was over it was like 5am, and they finally let us sleep some. We were never moved off the delivery side of the maternity floor since there was very few women in there. With the couple videos we had to watch, visitors throughout the day and a very demanding baby BFing wise, there wasn't much down time. We left about 10/11am the next morning (so like 32 hours after DD was born.
5:48 a.m. After my daughter was born, she was placed immediately on my stomach for a few minutes. Then they took her to the other side of the room and checked her out while they finished me. My husband got to pay attention to her and watch while I was being tended to, but it was all right there for me to watch as well.
6:30 a.m. By now I was nursing her and we got to snuggle while we waited for some more. The Dr had to come take out my epidural line before I could be transferred up to the Mothers floor. Once that happened, we all moved up and got settled into our new room for the next few days.
7:30 a.m. We were in our room and had the inlaws came and left (which will NOT happen so quickly with my next birth, they can wait a darn minute longer)
8:30 a.m. nursing and cuddling again, pain management, and started to get drinks/foods down throughout the day
- 1 pm tons of nurses/doctors in and out for various things: bath for baby in room, testing for baby and me, checking me, and working on getting me up/around to bathroom. Peed successfully after having cath so they took out IV and such.
1 - 2 pm - my parents came, mom helped me shower and change into clothes
2 - 5 pm - some much needed time with husband and daughter. We figured out there was a sign we could put up on our door to keep away non-essential nurses/doctors visitors. HEAVEN really, will do sooner next time and before visitors.
5 - 7 pm - inlaws return for longer visit
9 pm - sent husband home to sleep with list of things to return with in AM. sent baby to nursery and requested she be returned for demand feedings - she came back every few hours throughout the night.
I don't think I watched a single minute of TV during my hospital stay. It seemed if I wasn't resting there was always something going on.
As soon as she was out they put her right up on my chest, skin to skin & they toweled her off, rubbed her down & pulled a hat on her head while she was still on my chest. I got to hold her all while the dr delivered my placenta & stitched me up (2nd degree tear). Then they took the baby to the heated bassinet to measure, weigh & do apgars while a nurse came to clean me up and change the bedding and put the bottom of the bed back up. They gave her back to us & we spent another 1/2 hour with her while everyone cleaned the room up, before we let family in.
It was maybe another hour before I was ready to move... I REALLY had to pee and it was so uncomfortable. They tried giving me a bedpan because I wasn't sure I had the muscle control to hold anything to try walking to the bathroom, but I just could not get positioned or comfortable enough to go, so they finally got me up to use the toilet. I couldn't stand upright- I walked hunched over like the hunchback of notre dame for a good 24 hours actually- but I hobbled to the bathroom fine. They gave me a squirt bottle filled with warm water & told me to squirt it over myself as I peed to lessen the burn. I still stung a bit, but not as bad as I expected. While I went they changed the bed pads for me, but when I got back I realized how bad my tailbone was hurting from laying inclined on it for so long and I really just wanted to sit up in a chair, so they put a pad on the rocking chair and I sat there for another 20 mins or so until they moved us to our postpartum room.
The baby stayed with us the whole time. A nurse came in and gave her a bath at one point & my parents stayed until around 7. The cafeteria was closed, but a nurse brought me a sandwich to eat & we tried to watch Terra Nova on TV, but neither of us really remembers watching- just staring at the baby. We did lots of skin-to-skin, but didn't even think about feeding her until much later that evening when a nurse came to check her blood sugar. It was off and they had me try to nurse her but she had no desire. they kept checking her sugars every few hours and had me pumping and trying to feed until her sugars got to the point they made us give her formula.
DH stayed with us the first night & went home in the morning to shower & bring some stuff back for me. We spent all day together & I got to shower that morning when DH came back & then put on actual clothes. They kept up on my meds- every two hours I got a pain pill, alternating tylenol & vicodin until I decided just the tylenol was fine. I also got a vitamin once a day & stool softener twice a day. The dr came in to see how things were healing up with me 24 hours later & a couple times throughout the day nurses would come in with ice packs or stuff and would check my stitches and my out-of-control monster hemmorhoid.
We also had someone come in to help us fill out her birth certificate info & another lady came to do her newborn pics in-room.
Everything was cool until visitors started showing up after work. I was so frusterated because I was trying to coordinate visit times with everyone, but some people were running late, some got off work early and some came unannounced so we ended up with 4 big groups of people who all showed up within 5 minutes of eachother packing our room and playing hot potato with the baby. I was beyond stressed. I finally got our nurse's attention and she could see I was stressing so she said she had to take the baby for some "tests" and everyone left... and once they were out I just cried and shook. It was SO overwhelming. I was really thankful for that nurse stepping in.
DH went to sleep at home that night, and I kept the baby in our room until around 11 when they really DID have to take her for her hearing test. They offered to keep her in the nursery for a couple hours after until her next feeding so I could get a bit of sleep and I agreed. I woke up pretty upset around 4:30am though, realizing they never brought her back. I called the nurse and I guess there was some miss-communication and they fed her in the nursery and thought she was there all night. They brought her right back in to me though and she never left again.
The next morning DH came back with her car seat & outfit. A lactation consultant FINALLY came to see us, after 2 days of fighting to nurse and supplementing formula. The Dr checked me out one more time and DD's Pediatrician came by, and then we were cleared to go home. We ate breakfast, loaded everything up onto a cart & a wheelchair, and off we went.
This is pretty much how we were (except we didn't have DS in a hospital). We had immediate skin to skin contact, he latched w/in 1 hour. I took a shower at 3 hours. We were discharge at 4 hours. We laid in bed and watched movies the rest of the day while DS slept soundly in my arms (no issues breastfeeding).