Sarisosrwed65535 Birth Story - welcome Max!

sarisosrWed65535 · September 2014

Hi ladies - forgive me for this late post! First I want to say thank you to @reverey‌ for posting updates as I headed to delivery and to all of you for your well wishes. My little guy decided to make an early appearance - nearly 2 weeks ahead of schedule! Good news - it saved me from all the tests and monitoring I was set to have. Bad news (not really) - hubby and I were a little startled and unprepared for the exact moment that things happened. I am proud to announce that Max Isador was born on Aug 19th at 11:21am via vaginal delivery. He weighed 6lbs 8oz and measured 19 3/4 inches long. Here's how it all happened.... I was getting ready for bed around 10ish and noticed a little blood when I peed, so figured my mucus plug had gone. Ok - no biggie right? That doesn't mean labor is about to start per se. So I Started texting with my friend about having her come by the next night to walk through our "emergency plan" for our dog should I go I to labor in the middle of the night. We had doggie set up with a daycare and hotel but worried about getting her there if we had to leave for the hospital suddenly. So - an hour later, I was getting into bed and "burst" - that wasn't pee! I turn to my husband and say ummmm I think my water just broke. Hubby says - no way no way. Then another gush... Yes way!! Hollllly crap!! So I call my doctor who says to give it a few hours at home to see if contractions start. Then I frantically call my friend and say - doggie emergency! Spent the next few hours prepping my body (shower, makeup, started some mild contractions), packing my last few hospital bag items, and getting the doggie stuff ready. Called my parents and alerted them. Left for the hospital around 3am, by which time contractions were in swing. I was pretty shocked (I think everyone was) that by the time I was admitted and examined around 4:30am, the midwife assessed me at dilated to 4+ cm. They started antibiotics for my positive gbs test. I was going to try to hold out for the epidural but things picked up so fast, I went ahead with it. This definitely helped with the pain, but gave me wicked shakes and also nausea. My family arrived by about 8 or 9am and I allowed them to visit in my room for a little bit. Again I was shocked at how fast I was progressing and by 10am it was "everybody out" and time to push! Hubby was so wonderful and stuck with me, coaching through each push cycle and telling me what was happening. They say the epidural makes it hard to feel the contractions, but I sensed the pressure and the nurses were monitoring and we would agree on when I should push. I pushed for about 30 minutes and the little guy was coming down but then kind of got "stuck" right before he crowned. This is where I was introduced to a term I had never heard before - the "ring of fire." Ummm - that would be the sensation of insane burning and nerve pain in my va-j-j that the epidural doesn't help. So....they forced me to roll out the mirror and made me look at how I was pushing and where the head was to make it more productive. Craaaaazy! After 1 hour and 20 min of pushing.....Max made his appearance into this world. I sobbed as hubby fiddled with the camera and tried to snap a few shots. He was so discombobulated that he couldn't get the camera to work and the nurse ended up snapping photos on her phone for us. Cord cut, and then immediate skin to skin. Max was just beautiful. Perfect little nose and ears, rosebud lips, and a full head of hair (which turns out to be auburn brown like his dad). So....fast forward to almost 2 weeks later. The first few nights were pretty rough. Max wasn't latching to the breast but the lactation folks at the hospital kept pushing me to try. Then on my second night in the hospital, I sat up in bed writhing in pain - my right shoulder was in spasms. I guess I must have pulled it during the delivery. They had to medicate me with strong pain meds and a sleeping pill just to get it under control. Over the next several days home things got so bad that I ended up going for a massage and I'm still on some mild pain stuff now. By night 2 at home, I was so weak and shakey that I really was freaked out. Max still wasn't latching and my milk wasn't in, so we borked down and formula fed for a day. But....each day has been a little better and now we are getting into a routine. I had a fabulous consult with our pediatrician and her full time lactation consultant, that really put me at ease and helped me come up with a plan for feeding, etc. At this point I'm pumping and bottle feeding my breast milk. We are getting about 3 hour sleep cycles at night and hubby and I are sharing in care duties. We also had a bris (circumcision) ceremony on the 8th day. It was lovely and emotional. My mom came and stayed from day 3-8 with us and helped so much! So - now tomorrow would have been my EDD and I have a delicious 13 day old boy. Ok - time to "sleep when the baby sleeps" and call it a night. I look forward to hearing updates for all of you still on your journey to birth!