February 2017 Moms
Xstatic3333
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Baby Xstatic is here!
Xstatic3333
member
The little man decided to beat the induction and chose his own holiday birthday! Full story and pictures coming tomorrow, but we're both doing well and things went smoothly aside from the big surprise that instead of being normal-largeish like we expected, he's ginormous. He's healthy though, he's out now, and passed his first size-mandated blood sugar check so hopefully it's just how he is 
Re: Baby Xstatic is here!
I'm so happy for you! Congratulations, friend!!
First BFP: 12/16/13
EDD: 08/23/14
Baby BOY born: 08/29/14
Married: 9/2013
Love my LEO!!
TTC #1: 9/2015
BFP: 2/1/16 MC 2/8/16 @ 5wks
BFP: 5/22/16 RAINBOW BABY
EDD: 1/30/2017 *IT'S A GIRL!!!!*
Kirsten Grace 1/20/17
Here's a pic-will probably poof after a couple of days.
Ben and Maggie - 4/10/09
Mia - 6/16/11
Surprise! due 2/23/17
- BFP: 3/10/16 — Baby Girl born 11/20/16
TTC#2 April 2019Samuel arrived at 41+1, on Valentine's Day and one day before our scheduled induction. I had a membrane sweep on Monday, and it seemed to immediately do the trick. I was crampy all day, and timeable contractions started after the Bachelor. I was pretty sure it was go time by 1:00 am but decided to let H sleep and see how things played out. I know many love laboring at home, but I found it stressful. I couldn't get in a good rhythm, couldn't tell the difference between a cramp and a contraction, and couldn't get comfortable. I was relieved to hit 5-1-1 at 7:00 and head into triage, and thrilled to learn I was already at a 5-6 and fully effaced.
Early labor was so uncomfortable that I was on the verge of immediately giving up on my unmedicated birth plan, but when I learned that the birth center room at my hospital (there is only one) was actually open I decided to go for it. Once in there, my H, doula/friend, and an awesome nurse all got me in a great rhythm. The on-call MW was one of my favorites, so that was also a great comfort. Minus the contractions, it was a pretty enjoyable day. At around 3:45 my MW said I was almost fully dialated and broke my waters. There was some time in the tub, transition (awful) and then I was go for pushing.
A lot of the birth education resources I experienced had given me the impression that after transition, pushing would be a nice relief that comes naturally and quickly results in a baby. This was not my experience at all, and I bring it up because I really wish I had a more realistic idea about what to expect and I know other FTMs may be lurking. It didn't come naturally for me, I didn't like any of the positions, and I had a hard time switching my focus to holding my breath to push after months spent practicing breathing through contractions. It was an hour before any meaningful progress was made. After two, my MW was able to start seeing his head. We were making progress, but it was slow and I was exhausted. My contractions were actually starting to space out, and I truly feared that I could not do this. Luckily, my little champ was tolerating each contraction fine, so we could keep plugging ahead.
As we approached hour three, the mood really shifted. I heard my MW page the OB on call and anesthesiologist and try to hide it from me to keep my spirits up. He was SO CLOSE, but I just couldn't get him there. MW said at that point that from what she could see of the head she thought I had a pretty big baby, and that she'd feel more comfortable transferring me to a regular hospital room for delivery. Once we got there, we'd try one more big push, then an episiotomy, and then investigate other options.
Once we hit the next room, I immediately asked for an epidural, thinking that I wanted to be awake if we had to go for a quick CS. It didn't get that far, however. By some miracle the next push did the trick. Not just the head-the whole baby came out, all at once. It was crazy. I was soooo happy and got to do skin to skin and BF while I was stitched up (2nd degree tear. I'll take it). He had a good latch right away.
Once it was clear we were all ok, the nurses immediately started placing bets on his weight. It was clear he was quite a bit above the 76th percentile estimate that we got from US. They took him to test his blood sugars after about an hour (he passed this and all subsequent tests) and weighed him at that point. 10 lbs 7 oz. Holy moly. I feel like a huge idiot for poo pooing the big baby concerns that dogged me all pregnancy, but at the same time, I was cleared for the birth center by my MWs and their strict policies. I think it was a fluke of data and genetics. I'm just glad he's safe and healthy-tolerated a tough delivery, no shoulder dystocia, no blood sugar issues, no meconium, and just perfect in every way.
I'm grateful that I had a chance to try out the unmedicated birth I planned for and have a good experience, but I don't think I will do it again if this is the size of baby that I grow. I've been haunted by the might-have-beens every time I look at his sweet face for the last few days. I'm so lucky that he's all head and narrow in the shoulders or my story could have been far less rosy.