Birth Story

Starting on Friday I was having pretty bad back pain and an occasional contraction. Overall I was just uncomfortable but thought it was just more false labor or Braxton Hicks contractions because I had been getting them almost every night for 2 weeks. So I took Eve to my dad’s house and we went to a fish fry. Eve wanted to spend the night with her best friend (my dad) so we left her there. Adam and I stayed up late playing the Wii. He went to bed at midnight. I stayed up until about 2:30 am. I went to bed and woke up at 5am feeling like I was peeing myself. I told Adam, “Either I just totally pissed myself or my water broke. I need towels now.” As he rushed to shove a towel between my legs I had another huge tidal wave come through. They told me I had extra amniotic fluid but I guess I never realized how much. I ran/waddled my way to the restroom and took a shower while Adam stripped the bed and started packing the hospital bag. The contractions were starting to come a little closer together but they were totally bearable. I got dressed and threw on a pad. I sat down on the couch to add a couple of songs to my Ipod and felt another gush. I stood up and it completely soaked threw my pad and there was a huge puddle on the ground. I ran to the bathroom and Adam cleaned up the mess and brought me a new change of clothes. I got dressed again and out the door we went. I had Adam put a garbage bag on my seat because as we were getting off the exit I had another huge gush and it looked like I peed my pants again. Luckily the hospital was pretty dead because they lost my registration and I had to run through all the information with them. They sent me right to triage and as I got in our little room I had another huge gush and left a huge puddle on the ground. I changed and they checked me. I was 5cm and the contractions were starting to get more painful. I was BGS+ so they started penicillin and as they were putting in the IV I had another huge gush. It seriously sounded like someone turned the faucet on and so much came out that it started running down the side of the bed (all the bedding was soaked through completely.) Once I had all my IVs hooked up I went to the labor room. The anesthesiologist came in as we were still getting settled so I decided to get an epidural right away. The contractions were still manageable but were becoming increasingly uncomfortable. I had the epidural around 7am. Adam and I laid around watching movies. They kept coming to check on me and I was progressing pretty consistently. By 12pm I was 10 cm and he was sitting pretty low. The nurse called Dr. K to see what she wanted me to do. She wanted me to practice pushing. I practiced for 2 sets of contractions and he was coming down and was pretty much ready to come out. The nurse called Dr. K and that I was ready. I had to gently push to keep his head down but couldn’t push all the way until the Dr came. The Dr. got there at 12:45 and we started pushing around 12:55. I pushed through 2 more sets of contractions and he was here at 1:11pm. He was super healthy and I only needed 3 stitches for a superficial tear. Honestly his birth was so easy. I feel great and recovery has been awesome. I have a bit of a backache that won’t go away but overall I feel awesome. Milo is an awesome baby and only cries when he is hungry and is breastfeeding like a champ. He is so much different than Eve was. He makes being a mom so easy. Eve has been a little attention starved but overall is adjusting well. I am in love with my family. I feel like I am floating on cloud 9.

Milo is here!

Introducing Milo Finn.

5.2.09

9lbs

20.75 inches

Everyone is doing wonderful.

Birth story to come once we get home.

38 weeks 4 days.

I have been having back pain and contractions on and off all day. I really just want this show on the road already. All the false hope is making me miserable. I just wish my water would break so I would know already. I don't even care about being uncomfortable at this point. I actually feel pretty good besides the backache but even that I can live with knowing what a real contraction is like. I am officially a day more pregnant than I got with Eve. She was born at 38 weeks 3 days. Isn't the second kid supposed to come earlier? Apparently Milo is on his own little schedule and will be stubborn like me. I also have a really bad case of insomnia lately and can't seem to go to bed before 2:30 am. I think I am just excited and have so much anticipation that I have to wait to go to bed until I literally pass out.

38 week appt.

Well I had my appointment today. Everything is looking great. His head is lower and locked into position. I am 4-4.5 cm and 65% effaced. I will get induced a week from today. I will start the induction May 7th at night (I need to call to set up a time.) and depending how quickly labor goes have him the 7th or 8th at the latest. She isn't sure I'll make it that far but said she actually is surprised I have made it as far as I have so we will wait and see. I am so excited that in about a week (or less) I will be meeting my big handsome baby boy.

2nd Opinion u/s

Today we had a second opinion u/s done. I am very thankful our Dr. allowed us to get one final look at him. He was measuring at 8lbs 4oz. So he is still big but we are feeling more comfortable in the idea of having an induction over a c/s. I totally understand it doesn't mean I won't end up with a c/s but the idea that I can comfortably say I am at least willing to try and have him vaginally makes me feel so much better. I called an left a message for the Dr. that we are interested in an induction for as soon as she thinks is safe. He is going to be a chunky little monkey but he is cute for sure. I saw him doing practice breathing and his what appear to be ginormous feet being grabbed by his chubby little hand. He looks as though he has a lot of hair and I could see it floating around. Now hurry up Milo and make your entrance so we can meet you!

The beginning fears.

Disclaimer: What I am about to share took me a long time to realize and is not my proudest of memories but it is what happened. This is going to be really really long.

Eve's pregnancy was really hard on me physically and emotionally. Probably not more than a normal person but it wasn't all sunshine and daisies like I thought it would be. I felt so overworked and overwhelmed that all I wanted to do was to get some sleep before she came. I dreamed of getting a good restful sleep. I decided to take off 2 weeks before my due date to get her things in order and more importantly get some extra sleep. I figured I would get at least 2 weeks if not more to accomplish all the tasks I had set forth. Well on my very first day off of work my water broke at 5 am. All my plans for some leisure time were thrown out the window. We went to the hospital and Eve was born at 3:42am the next day. I was in labor for about 23 hours and was exhausted. I spiked a fever right after having her so I was put on antibiotics and they wouldn't let me breastfeed her right away because I was in pretty bad shape (I was shaking from chills and kind of was in and out of consciousness.) They ended up giving her a bottle before I was given the opportunity to breastfeed. When it came time for me to breastfeed Eve wanted no part of it. She refused to be placed into any sort of position to be breastfed and whenever there was a boob in her face it would result in an all out meltdown. I had lactation consultants try and help and nothing was working. I wanted to breastfeed so desperately. We tried to get her on the boob the whole time I was in the hospital but it just wasn't happening. I decided to start pumping and supplement when needed with formula. While we were in the hospital I got next to no sleep because I had the IV in my hand the whole time and honestly that was the worst part of my recovery because it hurt so bad. Eve slept pretty well while we were in the hospital. We came home a loving family and I was so happy to be out of the hospital. When we got home I was pumping every 2 hours for 20 minutes in hopes of getting enough milk to not have to supplement and to help ease my engorgement. I felt like I was being strangled by my enormous breasts. Eve decided to go from sleepy all day baby to inconsolable all day where nothing makes me happy not eating, rocking, cuddling, gas drops, or a clean diaper. She wouldn't nap longer than 20 minutes and she had to have every light on and the TV on to hopefully stay calm enough to sleep or just not freak out. We tried everything. Adam and I would take shifts Basically he would take her from the time he walked into the house at 3:30pm-12am. I would try to sleep during that time but I still needed to pump every 2 hours, eat dinner, and I was desperate to spend time with him. I felt like a walking zombie and there were times I seriously had to put Eve down and go in another room and scream my head off just to let the frustration get out. This went on for 2 months. I wasn't sure if we were going to survive. I loved her more than anything but this was more than I had bargained for. Well when she was 2 months old she went 10 days without pooping. I was constantly talking to the Dr. office about what to do because my already fussy baby was getting worse. On top of all of this my breasts started hurting so bad I couldn't even walk because brushing my arm against them would make me start to cry. I continued to pump through the tears thinking it was just a clogged duct but as the pain became so unbearable we packed up and went to the hospital (because of course this all came to a head on a Saturday.) My parents took Eve and we spent 9 hours at the hospital for them to tell me I had mastitis in both breasts. While we waited in the hospital I confessed to Adam that I couldn't stand breastfeeding. I loathed it and wanted to quit. He was really supportive and said it was my decision to make. He was fine with just giving her formula. I had such mixed emotions on it. I went back and forth on the issue. I wanted to quit but I wanted to do what was best for her as well. Well I continued to pump for a few more days but as the mastitis began to clear I got a clogged duct and that was my final straw. I really couldn't do it anymore. Having a happy mommy was more important than being breastfed because I wasn't being the mom I wanted to be to her because I felt so miserable. The night we switched her to formula for good she finally pooped and the next night she slept 8 hours straight. It was a miracle and from that point forward she was a wonderful child and we started to bond.

When I look back at those first few months I am so sad because I don't think I bonded with her like I wanted to and I think I suffered from depression. I was so upset with the fact that I didn't get my time off before she was born. I was upset that I wasn't sleeping. I was upset that she wouldn't go to the breast. I was upset that I had to pump. I was upset that Adam had to go back to work when we had only been home a few days. I was upset that the first months weren't how I dreamed them to be. I have a lot of regret from her first few weeks and although she is a wonderful child I wish I had a better start with her.

With this pregnancy I felt a lot more prepared. I wasn't scared of delivery. I set it up so I could take a month off before he came. Adam would take off more time to help transition (although this might not happen.) I would be ok from the beginning if breastfeeding didn't work out. I would still give it a try but if he didn't latch on I would not guilt myself over it and just go directly to formula. I wouldn't feel bad asking for help from my parents or Adam's parents. I felt like I had a plan for everything that went wrong with Eve so we could have a better and more calm start with Milo. Then I got thrown the curve ball of a possible c/s and I felt those plans starting to fall through and was scared I would have the same really rough start I had with Eve. I don't want to feel regret or resentment towards him since things didn't work out like I planned them to. I know it will all work out in the long run but in the short term I think there might be some struggles. I hope that by realizing these feeling now I will be able to face the challenges that lie ahead. I know that it took me until Eve was almost a year old to realize how miserable I was those first few months and the impact that had on my relationship to Eve and Adam.

God has heard me.

I have some issues that I am constantly working on. Like I am not good at standing up for myself when it comes to medical issues. I also HATE talking on the phone. I am really proud of myself and leaving a message for the Dr about the possibility of a second u/s. I know it might not be a big deal and I said I was going to do that but the fact that I actually followed through on it makes me really proud of myself. Unfortunately the Dr is out of the office today so I won't hear back until tomorrow.

Last night as I lay in bed I was praying that I would go into labor soon so that this decision would be taken out of my hands and placed in God's instead. I fell asleep praying and when I woke up I felt this sense of peace come over me. Even though he didn't answer my prayer in the way I asked he did answer it. I am completely convinced that I just need to let nature take its course and God will take care of us. I still want the other u/s to just get a better idea of what we are facing but I don't think I will schedule a c/s. God made this baby for us and I trust that everything will happen the way it is supposed to and I really have no control over it even if it results in a c/s. I am choosing to enjoy my last moments of this miracle. Baby Milo we can't wait to meet you.