Thanksgiving Baby! (dobrydney birth story)

dobrydney · December 2013

Sorry I haven't been around much as of late, obviously our LO arrived!

Short Version: Mia Hope arrived at 5:32 on Thanksgiving morning weighing 7lbs 8oz and was 20.5 inches long!

Long Version: I had a Dr. appt. on Wednesday afternoon and was dilated to 2CM and 90% effaced, but my Dr. went ahead and made an induction appointment for Monday morning (since I would have been 41 weeks on Tuesday). He said he thought I still had a bit and sent me on my way, even though I had been having mild sporadic contractions and had started to lose my mucus plug. I think maybe feeling "relaxed" about having a bit made things speed up!

DH and I went to the grocery store and got supplies for an impromptu Thanksgiving dinner "just in case". Throughout the evening my contractions got more intense, but never really got super consistent. I could time them, but they would be 20 minutes part, then 30, then 10, then 15 etc. Around 10PM they started getting A LOT more intense, but since they were still all over the place with timing we headed to bed and tried to get some rest. By about midnight they were so intense I was moaning in pain and DH said that by 2AM we were leaving for the hospital whether I wanted to or not. I had this fear of being that lady that was sent home!

When 2AM rolled around I took a shower (because I'm weird and hate not being showered) and we headed to the hospital. I knew we were in business when I had a contraction on the way (5 minute drive), in the parking lot, in the ER and in the elevator on the way to maternity.

The nurse got me in a gown and when she checked me I was already 6CM. About 5 minutes later my water broke and shit got real. The pain was SO intense that apparently at one point I started yelling that I thought I was going to die and had no voice the next day haha. I wanted an epidural, but by the time the doc got there to administer one I couldn't sit still for 2 minutes let alone a half hour or so. My nurse checked me again while I was standing near the edge of the bed "slow dancing" through the contractions with DH and I was ready to go, no epidural for me.

They got me all situated to start pushing. I asked her how long it would take (like she knew haha) and she said she thought we might be in for a marathon. Basically that made me say (in my head) fuck that, we're pushing this baby out asap to get over this pain! Within 20 minutes she was telling me to stop pushing because my Dr. was in the hallway running in putting his gloves on. A couple of minutes later she was born! :-)

Since we came home: I have a 2nd degree tear and it's quite painful/sore. Breastfeeding is okay. We had a hard time in the hospital. I'm well endowed and I think her little mouth just isn't as compatible with my nipples as I'd like for it to be. The nurses were awesome though, since they're all trained in lactation as well. One of them got me set up with a pump and we actually pumped colostrum and syringe fed it the first day or so. Then she suggested that I pump for a few minutes to get my colostrum down and let the baby take over. That worked REALLY well. I rented the same hospital grade pump on our way home from the hospital just to make sure I have it on hand if I need it. Now we're just working through engorgement which is making it hard for her to latch. But--she had her first ped. appointment today and she had gained back 4 ounces already, so not too shabby! I've also been horribly hormonal and crying all the time/doubting myself. I become so overwhelmed. DH still has to help at every feeding because it's so hard to get her to latch, I'm so sore that it's hard for me to move around and do a whole lot and Mia hates being laid down so DH has been sleeping with her on his chest.

We're super happy, but it's definitely an emotional roller coaster that I'm sure will improve dramatically over the next few weeks!

Happy Late Thanksgiving Everyone!