@cammie0526 What @kiddiesandkitties said, but also you might feel like there is nothing going on - that is why keeping track of new baby’s poops and pees is SO CRITICAL in the first couple days.
Also, I felt like nothing was coming out until the LC “expressed” from my nips 16h after birth and holy hell there was a sh*t ton coming out. So maybe ask your LC to show you how to hand express also.
@cammie0526 if your milk takes too long to come in (mine was verrrry long) LO might start to lose too much weight and your ped may want you to supplement as well. Some are more lenient about when a formula supplement is necessary and some moms may not want to but work with your care team because a hungry baby is a very cranky baby!! A lot of people have a lot of opinions about feeding babies (not that anyone has said anything here!) but always take well meaning advice with a grain of salt, work with your care team, and do your research!
@cammie0526 my milk came in on maybe day 3-4 as a FTM, and the most stressful part was that my son had severe jaundice. So I was stressed out! My colostrum was there though, and we were able to pump and get a tiny bit out. As a FTM though I literally just expected my tits to be like Niagra Falls the moment the baby emerged 🤷🏼♀️
Honestly, I didn’t realize how HARD breastfeeding is and can be. Every time you see BF-ing on tv or in public, it’s like a mom just raises a child to their teet and it’s magical and the mom is smiling and rainbows come out and unicorns start prancing. Once I got comfortable with it and we fixed his lip tie, I totally had a bit of a hormonal high from it, but that was NOT the first 3 months at all! Oh! Also! Breastfeeding helps your uterus shrink back to normal size soooo if you experience severe cramping while nursing the first week or so, that’s considered “normal”... YAY! Lol
@cammie0526 I was one of the unlucky ones whose milk never really came in (even though around day 4 my boobs were suddenly HUGE, engorged and hurt like a MF). I got drops only for weeks no matter what I tried/how many lactation appts I went to. We used donor milk while in the hospital, but since that is so ridiculously expensive, we started supplementing with formula pretty quickly. I honestly was not prepared for how hard breastfeeding would be and have been afraid to try again, but recently made the decision to go for it. I strongly suggest seeing the LC's at your hospital early and often during your stay. They are a wealth of knowledge and so supportive! I also recommend doing a weighted feed when you think your milk has come in so you know how much you're putting out. It really does wonders to ease the mind knowing whether you're producing or not.
*TW*
Me: 32 │ DH: 35 Married 8/16/13 BFP#1 DS 11/13/16 BFP# 2 MMC dx @ 13w 10/30/18 BFP# 3 Preemie DD born at 38w (IUGR) on 8/28/19 weighing 5.5lbs. Our little miracle
Thank you all! I really appreciate all of your responses. I’ve been so focused on the pregnancy part that I’m just now starting to think of all of my after birth questions. It’s crazy to me that we have so many prenatal appointments before the birth, then ultimately the hospital just sends you on your way with a baby.
Daughter 1: Weeks PG: 40w 4d Water broken: didn't break until the hospital CS or Vaginal: Vaginal Labor time: 12 hours Induced: No Must haves for L&D / postpartum care: Loaded up on those heavy duty pads and hospital underwear. I used one of those squirt bottles for a couple of days.
Daughter 2: Weeks PG: 39w 2d Water broken: No CS or Vaginal: CS Labor time: 0 Induced: No Must haves for L&D / postpartum care: Again with the large pads (not as much bleeding as vaginal) and hospital underwear. I wore the underwear for about a week then was able to use my own. I used a pillow on my scar to laugh, cough or sneeze because that hurt at the beginning.
Hi all - I’ve been lurking for so long...but trying to perk up. M/s hasn’t let up.
+1 to everything you guys said!
Ds1: Weeks PG: 41+5 Water broken: yes- to help move things along CS or Vaginal: vaginal Labor time: 30 hours Induced: yes, cervidil, pitocin and epidural
Must haves for L&D / postpartum care: my situation was not normal, so I want to make sure any ftm reading this: i was the 1%!!!
I got induced because of low fluid and the induction was pretty painful, so I opted for the epidural. I had a complication w the epidural and ended up w a spinal headache which was freaking terrible. Also, between all the drugs, forceps and vacuum- I had a bad tear. My son was great which is always all I care about but the recovery was tough. Being a ftm, here’s what I learned.
Start taking colace asap!!!
If opting for the epidural, make sure you ask tons of questions and understand all the risks. I was not mentally prepared to be in that minority!
if something doesn’t feel right, speak up! I had a nurse make me cry and I didn’t say anything right then and there. It’s such a vulnerable time so make sure you are advocating for yourself or you have your “team” ready to make sure everything is right for you.
+1 on the newborn diapers + ice and take your pain meds!
I know a lot of people bring cute going home outfit for baby, but I was glad I brought something easy - kimono gown with footsies and built in gloves. Handling newborns freaks me out (I may be alone on this hahaha)
bring a pillow from home - the hospital pillows kind of sucked and I was glad I made my husband bring my favorite.
Ds2: Weeks PG: 40 w exactly! Water broken: yes to speed things up CS or Vaginal: vaginal Labor time: 8 hrs Induced: no. unmedicated (see above experience)
Must haves for L&D / postpartum care: everything mentioned above but my recovery was easier this time around. The one thing I would change is to have a better strategy for the pushing stage (I didn’t take a birth class/didn’t bring any tools w me) and it was hard without a plan.
Oh and another thing for postpartum- look now and find a good tracking app for things like feeds, diapers, and sleep. Regardless of if you bottle or breastfeed. Those first few days/weeks are a blur and you may think baby is doing enough (diapers, bottles, sleep) or you may be worried and having that data on hand is so helpful! Plus, doctors will ask this information and sleep deprivation is real and it gets hard to remember how many diapers a day they have or how much they eat!
Plus it helps see patterns in schedules and life better/faster too!
I recommend the “Baby Tracker” app because it tracks all three and can do BF or bottle. There are many good ones out there but that’s my pick!
Me: 30 DH:31
Married 9/2010 TTC 10/2013 RE Help from 10/2014-10/2016 (11 failed IUIs, a corrective surgery, and a donor embryo cycle) 9/2016-transferred two donor embies BFP 9/29/26 EDD June 11
@rms924 Dressing newborns is definitely unnerving! And DS was sooo tiny. I swear I had a mini anxiety attack every time I had to put a onesie over his head until he was like a good 2 months 😬
@cammie0526 I second the baby tracker app!! I used it for DS and it was fantastic!! The free version wouldn’t save the data for longer than like 3 weeks (?), but that wasn’t too big of an issue.
Re: all the mamas asking about eating during labor. Check your hospital policies. I recently finished the book "Birth Without Fear" (highly recommend!) and she made a point to mention that most of the time hospitals don't actually have a written policy on eating during labor. They just go off of what has always been done. Feel free to challenge that if you think you need food to get through it!
Also, it's good to check in general. I'm going to be at a birth center with midwives and the rule is if you feel like you can keep it down and you're hungry...eat!
When I gave birth to our daughter I was allowed fluids so I had chicken broth and apple juice. But once hard labour started I didn't want anything until after baby was born. So at 3am my mom went and got me and my husband Macdonalds( it was the only place open)
STMs/STM+s - Care to share some quick details? Quick? What's that?? Weeks PG: 41 Water broken: It broke after I was admitted for my induction, but before pitocin started. Thats a fun experience! Its so uncontrollable (duh!) and warm! I called the nurse and was like "Uhhh, I think my water broke. I mean, I'm pretty sure. I dont think I could ever pee that much" CS or Vaginal: CS due to his positioning "kattywhompus" per my OB
Labor time: Ready for this? It's really hard to say as it depends how you count it. Here's the run down: 8pm: I arrived to be induced and they got me into a teensy triage room 9pm: I was hooked up to IV and given Cytotec to soften my cervix as I was only at 1cm, as I had been for the past 4 weeks! Fun fact! You can not start Pitocin if you're not dilated enough and the cervix inst soft enough! 12am: No progress, more Cyotec. My IV which had been bugging me all this time was finally redone as it was leaking into me, ick. 3am: Still no progress, 3rd does Cyotec. 4am: Water broke, but still no progress. 7:30am: I was having contractions on my own, about 3 minutes apart. Unfortunately it was a full moon and there were no open rooms. They had women in active, progressed labor on cots in the hallway :O! 10am: A room finally opened. My contractions had started getting sporadic at this point so we started the Pitocin which made them strong and regular. All afternoon: Contractions started getting sporadic again and I just barely, maybe 2cm. I stated to run a fever. They upped the pitocin and gave me a "peanut" for between my legs to help progress. Evening: No progress and the fever was back. They had me switching positions, but everytime I'd lay on my side the baby's heart rate would drop. At one point a nurse ran into my room, flipped me on my side, threw an oxygen mask on me and warned my family that doctors and nurses were about to rush in. We were like WTF?! Apparently baby had gotten really distressed. At this point my OB told me that she'd give me until 11pm to progress more before we needed to really discuss a C section. Between my lack of progression, fever, and the baby she was worried. 10pm: Still no progress, still rocking the fever, still a distressed baby. They said I could keep going, but they didn't want it to turn into a true emergency. We all decided to just do the c section at this point. They started prepping me immediately. The warned the meds will make you shake uncontrollably - they do! We're not entirely sure what happened, but my body reacted weird to the anesthesia and I kept passing out. Like, as I was being wheeled back. 11ishpm: I was struggling to stay with it in the OR and remember hearing the doctor say "thats a big baby!" and thinking to myself "WAKE UP! your baby is being born!" 11:30pm: Baby cried, my husband said "It's...It's a boy!" 9lbs 2oz and 21" btw. I'm 5'7" and weighed 125 before I was pregnant with him.
So, 26 1/2 hours? 13 1/2 hours? IDK how you'd count it.... I was very out of it for the next several hours, which is unfortunate
Must haves for L&D / postpartum care: Well, will really depends on if you have a C or not. I had made padsicles, but did not need them. Order a belly wrap/ band. I desperately needed one and you'll use it either way.
Milk: I had great colostrum which is typically good until your milk comes in. My milk came in on day 2, I believe.
They gave and I took ALL the things: Mesh undies, pads, lanisol, RTF formula bottles, pacis, blankets, onesies, diapers, nose thingy.... When I did the hospital tour I was the only one to ask Q's and my first one was "Is there food 24/7" they do have a cafeteria available all hours. However, I did not eat from the time I was admitted until the morning after I had baby. I wasnt hungry all that time either.
Weeks PG: 10 minutes into 37w1d Water broken: water broke at 36w6d. At work! CS or Vaginal: vaginal Labor time: 29 hours 😫 Induced: had to use pitocin because I want really progressing Must haves for L&D / postpartum care:
-Bring some snacks. DS was born at midnight and they didn’t let me eat all day. They gave me a crappy sandwich at 1 AM since they didn’t have any other food.
-Make sure to have your charger, Phone and iPad were important for me since I was in labor for so long with the epi so I couldn’t move.
-Try to hold out on the epidural. I think I got mine too early and it stalled out my labor. This time I want to wait until 6-7 cm this time
-I don’t plan on telling a lot of family when I go into labor this time. MH dad showed up at 3 am even though we told him to freaking wait. It pissed me off and wasn’t helpful.
-Definitely use the peri bottle when you pee. It stings.
@cammie0526 my milk came in at 6-7 day PP, probably because DS was so early. Usually colostrum is enough to feed time, but you really need to watch baby closely in the beginning if your milk doesn’t come in quickly. DS was apparently jaundiced and dehydrated. We didn’t really notice because we were in our dark apartment. But he also wasn’t really peeing much, but I didn’t know what was normal since it was our first. They should have a wet diaper every hour or so I believe. They caught the jaundice when we took him to the pedi at 4 days old and tested his bilirubin levels and they were high. So DS needed a bili blanket to process the bile. Luckily he was under the threshold for needing to go to the NICU.
@calliah I had a similar problem with DS coming at 37 weeks. I felt so bad. I should have been pumping to get supply going more. I ended up with supply problems and had to supplement from my SIL and a couple other friends. This time I have a lactation consultant on demand. Also need to have a skilled person (not necessarily a doctor) check for a tongue/lip tie.
Also, fun fact if you plan to breastfeed.. a babies stomach is the size of a MARBLE when born. Many moms panic they aren’t producing enough milk at first but you most likely are!!
the “labor signs” app is great for timing contractions. It will let you know when you’re in active labor too.
Just wanted to chime in and say thank you for sharing all the L&D/PP details on what's really needed pos-delivery. Just added so many useful things to my baby Amazon cart and feeling confident! So thanks!!!
I have a question for fellow RCS moms. DS was an early, semi planned csection. With DD, I was planning to try for a VBAC but never went into my own labor and they wouldn't induce. This time I have no choice other than RCS but I am scared I will go into labor and. I have never been in labor and don't even really know what to look out for. When were you told to call in? I suppose my ob will discuss later.
FTM here and have been following this thread, thanks to all you mama's who have shared! I feel like no one around me has really talked about post partum care and recovery and is something I have not even been thinking of! But I am the type of person that would much rather know some things to expect then feel totally surprised or in the dark because I had no clue about it.
I have also been curious on how many of you had your water break where it's the full gush and where you were if it wasnt in the hospital? I do home visits for my job and am so worried my water will break on one of their floors or couch when I am working in a home as that would be super embarrassing and have no idea how I would handle that haha.
@diner04, you can definitely start wearing some pads towards the end. For me, it thankfully happened at home, in the morning. Mine was much more of a “trickle” where I initially thought it was my mucus plug or that I had lost full control of my bladder and was just peeing. It was like every couple steps I took, there would be a little more, then a little more. It was also yellow due to DS pooping inside of me so yaaay meconium!
At our prenatal classes they said it could be a “gush” or a “trickle” and I honestly haven’t had any friends thus far tell me that they had a massive Hollywood gush that flooded the floor. Not saying it doesn’t happen, but maybe it’s a little less common than we are lead to believe? I don’t know!
@janat1717 they told me to start pumping after feeding after that appointment and we had to supplement with formula until he was back up to birth weight. I felt horrible. And I feel it probably did lead to my low supply. And I didn’t respond well to the pump. And pumping after feeding was horrible. Baby falls asleep and you just want to sleep because you are so tired, but no, you need to torture yourself with the pump.
Im really hoping this time goes better.
@diner04 My water broke at work. I worked at Target at the time. I was squatting and stood up and felt the gush. As far as I’m aware, it just soaked my pants but I didn’t really hang around to inspect the floor... I don’t think wearing a pad would hurt. I guess it would depend on how much came out if it would really help or not.
@calliah it was terrible! I nursed him, pumped and then gave him milk from the bottle for 4 months. I pumped every 2 hours to get my milk up including power pumping. That includes through the night for the first few months. It worked though. I tried herbs, accupuncture, was weighing after feeds. I'm hoping this time is smooth sailing but have a lactation consultant who does home visits lined up
@mommyshark13 I had a planned CS due to DS being breech, but went into labor three days early. I started feeling contractions but they weren’t painful, just uncomfortable so I started timing them with an app. They started about 15 min apart and then after a few hours were like 4-5 min apart for over an hour. That’s when I called L&D and they told me to come in within the next two hours. Nothing super rushed and I still had time to shower and tie up some loose ends. It was still a pretty relaxed experience. My water never broke and I was about 5cm when I got there.
*TW*
Me: 32 │ DH: 35 Married 8/16/13 BFP#1 DS 11/13/16 BFP# 2 MMC dx @ 13w 10/30/18 BFP# 3 Preemie DD born at 38w (IUGR) on 8/28/19 weighing 5.5lbs. Our little miracle
@diner04 I woke up in the middle of the night and thought I was peeing myself..but nope my water broke. I put on a over night pad and by the time I got to the hospital about 20mins away I was walking in with a towel between my legs like a diaper cause the pad was then doing nothing. (Not one of my finest moments and the nurses who greeted me laugh and said I was not the first person to walk in with a towel between my leg).
Mine was slow at first too. Since it was 3 weeks early I thought I might have peed myself too. I actually ended up using pH strips we had to test it so midwife could confirm. Then like 5 minutes later I had a big gush.
I am bringing this thread back just to say WOW all you mommas are so freaking incredible!! 1. For being warriors during L&D 2. For sharing soooo many amazing tips and tricks.
I literally read through this all twice and took out the tidbits and saved it all to a word document that I can print out and take with me, and use to prepare for L&D and PP care.
You women are all amazing and I appreciate the knowledge that you are so willing to share with us FTM's.
Water broken: yes - it was a gush after steady contractions at home
CS or Vaginal: vaginal
Labor time: my doctor defines labor as "productive" contractions, 2 minutes or less apart. Mine went from when my water broke at 1:30 am until my daughter was born at 5:30 (4 hours!). My passive contractions began around 6am the morning before and felt like bad menstrual cramps. I went into the hospital dilated at 1 cm. I think my nurse was pretty inexperienced because she panicked when I told her at 5am i was pushing and couldn't believe how quickly i had escalated. They hadn't even administered my epidural or pain meds. Unintentionally all natural here Haha. Actual pushing time was just over 20 minutes.
Induced: no.
Must haves for L&D / postpartum care: Colace and frozen pads with witch hazel, lavender and aloe on them. They were a savior for my poor swollen lady bits. I had 4 stitches.
Re: L&D and Postpartum Care Discussion
Also, I felt like nothing was coming out until the LC “expressed” from my nips 16h after birth and holy hell there was a sh*t ton coming out. So maybe ask your LC to show you how to hand express also.
A lot of people have a lot of opinions about feeding babies (not that anyone has said anything here!) but always take well meaning advice with a grain of salt, work with your care team, and do your research!
part was that my son had severe jaundice. So I was stressed out! My colostrum was there though, and we were able to pump and get a tiny bit out. As a FTM though I literally just expected my tits to be like Niagra Falls the moment the baby emerged 🤷🏼♀️
Honestly, I didn’t realize how HARD breastfeeding is and can be. Every time you see BF-ing on tv or in public, it’s like a mom just raises a child to their teet and it’s magical and the mom is smiling and rainbows come out and unicorns start prancing. Once I got comfortable with it and we fixed his lip tie, I totally had a bit of a hormonal high from it, but that was NOT the first 3 months at all! Oh! Also! Breastfeeding helps your uterus shrink back to normal size soooo if you experience severe cramping while nursing the first week or so, that’s considered “normal”... YAY! Lol
Married 8/16/13
BFP#1 DS 11/13/16
BFP# 2 MMC dx @ 13w 10/30/18
BFP# 3 Preemie DD born at 38w (IUGR) on 8/28/19 weighing 5.5lbs. Our little miracle
Weeks PG: 40w 4d
Water broken: didn't break until the hospital
CS or Vaginal: Vaginal
Labor time: 12 hours
Induced: No
Must haves for L&D / postpartum care: Loaded up on those heavy duty pads and hospital underwear. I used one of those squirt bottles for a couple of days.
Daughter 2:
Weeks PG: 39w 2d
Water broken: No
CS or Vaginal: CS
Labor time: 0
Induced: No
Must haves for L&D / postpartum care: Again with the large pads (not as much bleeding as vaginal) and hospital underwear. I wore the underwear for about a week then was able to use my own. I used a pillow on my scar to laugh, cough or sneeze because that hurt at the beginning.
+1 to everything you guys said!
Ds1:
Weeks PG: 41+5
Water broken: yes- to help move things along
CS or Vaginal: vaginal
Labor time: 30 hours
Induced: yes, cervidil, pitocin and epidural
Must haves for L&D / postpartum care: my situation was not normal, so I want to make sure any ftm reading this: i was the 1%!!!
I got induced because of low fluid and the induction was pretty painful, so I opted for the epidural. I had a complication w the epidural and ended up w a spinal headache which was freaking terrible. Also, between all the drugs, forceps and vacuum- I had a bad tear. My son was great which is always all I care about but the recovery was tough. Being a ftm, here’s what I learned.
Start taking colace asap!!!
If opting for the epidural, make sure you ask tons of questions and understand all the risks. I was not mentally prepared to be in that minority!
if something doesn’t feel right, speak up! I had a nurse make me cry and I didn’t say anything right then and there. It’s such a vulnerable time so make sure you are advocating for yourself or you have your “team” ready to make sure everything is right for you.
+1 on the newborn diapers + ice and take your pain meds!
I know a lot of people bring cute going home outfit for baby, but I was glad I brought something easy - kimono gown with footsies and built in gloves. Handling newborns freaks me out (I may be alone on this hahaha)
bring a pillow from home - the hospital pillows kind of sucked and I was glad I made my husband bring my favorite.
Ds2:
Weeks PG: 40 w exactly!
Water broken: yes to speed things up
CS or Vaginal: vaginal
Labor time: 8 hrs
Induced: no. unmedicated (see above experience)
Must haves for L&D / postpartum care: everything mentioned above but my recovery was easier this time around. The one thing I would change is to have a better strategy for the pushing stage (I didn’t take a birth class/didn’t bring any tools w me) and it was hard without a plan.
DS: 18 months
Dx DOR AMH .2
<a href="http://www.thebump.com/?utm_source=ticker&utm_medium=HTML&utm_campaign=tickers" title="Pregnancy"><img
Plus it helps see patterns in schedules and life better/faster too!
I recommend the “Baby Tracker” app because it tracks all three and can do BF or bottle. There are many good ones out there but that’s my pick!
TTC 10/2013
RE Help from 10/2014-10/2016 (11 failed IUIs, a corrective surgery, and a donor embryo cycle)
9/2016-transferred two donor embies
BFP 9/29/26 EDD June 11
Also, it's good to check in general. I'm going to be at a birth center with midwives and the rule is if you feel like you can keep it down and you're hungry...eat!
Weeks PG: 41
Water broken: It broke after I was admitted for my induction, but before pitocin started. Thats a fun experience! Its so uncontrollable (duh!) and warm! I called the nurse and was like "Uhhh, I think my water broke. I mean, I'm pretty sure. I dont think I could ever pee that much"
CS or Vaginal: CS due to his positioning "kattywhompus" per my OB
Labor time: Ready for this?
It's really hard to say as it depends how you count it. Here's the run down:
8pm: I arrived to be induced and they got me into a teensy triage room
9pm: I was hooked up to IV and given Cytotec to soften my cervix as I was only at 1cm, as I had been for the past 4 weeks! Fun fact! You can not start Pitocin if you're not dilated enough and the cervix inst soft enough!
12am: No progress, more Cyotec. My IV which had been bugging me all this time was finally redone as it was leaking into me, ick.
3am: Still no progress, 3rd does Cyotec.
4am: Water broke, but still no progress.
7:30am: I was having contractions on my own, about 3 minutes apart. Unfortunately it was a full moon and there were no open rooms. They had women in active, progressed labor on cots in the hallway :O!
10am: A room finally opened. My contractions had started getting sporadic at this point so we started the Pitocin which made them strong and regular.
All afternoon: Contractions started getting sporadic again and I just barely, maybe 2cm. I stated to run a fever. They upped the pitocin and gave me a "peanut" for between my legs to help progress.
Evening: No progress and the fever was back. They had me switching positions, but everytime I'd lay on my side the baby's heart rate would drop. At one point a nurse ran into my room, flipped me on my side, threw an oxygen mask on me and warned my family that doctors and nurses were about to rush in. We were like WTF?! Apparently baby had gotten really distressed. At this point my OB told me that she'd give me until 11pm to progress more before we needed to really discuss a C section. Between my lack of progression, fever, and the baby she was worried.
10pm: Still no progress, still rocking the fever, still a distressed baby. They said I could keep going, but they didn't want it to turn into a true emergency. We all decided to just do the c section at this point. They started prepping me immediately. The warned the meds will make you shake uncontrollably - they do! We're not entirely sure what happened, but my body reacted weird to the anesthesia and I kept passing out. Like, as I was being wheeled back.
11ishpm: I was struggling to stay with it in the OR and remember hearing the doctor say "thats a big baby!" and thinking to myself "WAKE UP! your baby is being born!"
11:30pm: Baby cried, my husband said "It's...It's a boy!" 9lbs 2oz and 21" btw. I'm 5'7" and weighed 125 before I was pregnant with him.
So, 26 1/2 hours? 13 1/2 hours? IDK how you'd count it.... I was very out of it for the next several hours, which is unfortunate
Must haves for L&D / postpartum care: Well, will really depends on if you have a C or not. I had made padsicles, but did not need them. Order a belly wrap/ band. I desperately needed one and you'll use it either way.
Milk: I had great colostrum which is typically good until your milk comes in. My milk came in on day 2, I believe.
They gave and I took ALL the things: Mesh undies, pads, lanisol, RTF formula bottles, pacis, blankets, onesies, diapers, nose thingy....
When I did the hospital tour I was the only one to ask Q's and my first one was "Is there food 24/7" they do have a cafeteria available all hours. However, I did not eat from the time I was admitted until the morning after I had baby. I wasnt hungry all that time either.
1st Baby 5/12/17, Henry
Water broken: water broke at 36w6d. At work!
CS or Vaginal: vaginal
Labor time: 29 hours 😫
Induced: had to use pitocin because I want really progressing
Must haves for L&D / postpartum care:
-Bring some snacks. DS was born at midnight and they didn’t let me eat all day. They gave me a crappy sandwich at 1 AM since they didn’t have any other food.
-Make sure to have your charger, Phone and iPad were important for me since I was in labor for so long with the epi so I couldn’t move.
-Try to hold out on the epidural. I think I got mine too early and it stalled out my labor. This time I want to wait until 6-7 cm this time
-I don’t plan on telling a lot of family when I go into labor this time. MH dad showed up at 3 am even though we told him to freaking wait. It pissed me off and wasn’t helpful.
-Definitely use the peri bottle when you pee. It stings.
-Keep on top of the stool softener!
Weeks PG: Exactly 40 weeks
Water broken: broke on it’s own at hone
CS or Vaginal: Vaginal- pushed for an hour.. would’ve been shorter but cord kept pulling baby back in 😣
Labor time: 4 hours start to finish
Induced: No
Must haves for L&D / postpartum care:
-frida baby mom washer 👍🏼
-pack of cheap undies you don’t care if they get ruined
- totally going “diapers” this time around instead of the mesh undies and giant pads. Always makes some postpartum ones I may look into
-ice chips during labor! Haha
-and these pants after labor & delivery are amazing!!! https://www.amazon.com/AMiERY-Palazzo-Pajamas-Joggers-Waisted/dp/B07FD25JYL/ref=mp_s_a_1_2_sspa?keywords=floral+pants+for+women&qid=1559416487&s=gateway&sprefix=floral+pan&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1
Also, fun fact if you plan to breastfeed.. a babies stomach is the size of a MARBLE when born. Many moms panic they aren’t producing enough milk at first but you most likely are!!
the “labor signs” app is great for timing contractions. It will let you know when you’re in active labor too.
I have also been curious on how many of you had your water break where it's the full gush and where you were if it wasnt in the hospital? I do home visits for my job and am so worried my water will break on one of their floors or couch when I am working in a home as that would be super embarrassing and have no idea how I would handle that haha.
At our prenatal classes they said it could be a “gush” or a “trickle” and I honestly haven’t had any friends thus far tell me that they had a massive Hollywood gush that flooded the floor. Not saying it doesn’t happen, but maybe it’s a little less common than we are lead to believe? I don’t know!
And pumping after feeding was horrible. Baby falls asleep and you just want to sleep because you are so tired, but no, you need to torture yourself with the pump.
Im really hoping this time goes better.
@diner04 My water broke at work. I worked at Target at the time. I was squatting and stood up and felt the gush. As far as I’m aware, it just soaked my pants but I didn’t really hang around to inspect the floor... I don’t think wearing a pad would hurt. I guess it would depend on how much came out if it would really help or not.
Married 8/16/13
BFP#1 DS 11/13/16
BFP# 2 MMC dx @ 13w 10/30/18
BFP# 3 Preemie DD born at 38w (IUGR) on 8/28/19 weighing 5.5lbs. Our little miracle
1. For being warriors during L&D
2. For sharing soooo many amazing tips and tricks.
I literally read through this all twice and took out the tidbits and saved it all to a word document that I can print out and take with me, and use to prepare for L&D and PP care.
You women are all amazing and I appreciate the knowledge that you are so willing to share with us FTM's.
Married 05/26/17
STM; DS 9/14/2019
EDD 6/13/2022
Colace and frozen pads with witch hazel, lavender and aloe on them. They were a savior for my poor swollen lady bits. I had 4 stitches.