4 Weeks Postpartum

After my incredibly fast delivery I thought it would be a good idea to talk about my recovery before starting monthly post on Adrian.

During my hospital stay I felt very helpless by having my nurses and techs doing everything for me. I was definitely not counting on that but I'd take it any day to have such delivery again. When my Mag was turned off and I got up to see how I felt I saw the difference from the first time around right away. I wasn't as sore (probably due to all the ice packs) or as weak and boy you have no idea what a nice hot shower would do to you. It was like nothing ever happened. In all honesty I was in the shower for an hour just letting the water run down my body as I was able to acknowledge my toes again :).

On discharge day I walked to the car instead of being wheeled which was a great start. Later that day at home I did experienced some intense abdominal pain that I did not have in the hospital. I called the nurse that discharged me right away to make sure that it was normal and she confirmed me that it was since I was breastfeeding. I knew I would have some cramping but I underestimated the intensity of it since I didn't remember how it was the first time around. What I did remember was getting an infection inside my uterus that started with cramping after being home and that sent me to the emergency room and had me on treatment of antibiotics. I also got a UTI from the Foley and I recall it both being horrible while caring for a newborn. I wanted at all cost to avoid that again. Hence why I opted not to get a Foley while on Mag.

On Sunday night I came across another issue I seemed to had forgotten and that I apparently paid little attention to during my research and classes on breastfeeding, Engorgement. Holy cow is this painful! I could say painful enough to make you think twice about breastfeeding long term or even at all. Luckily that only lasted that night and the next day. When I thought the worse was over and Adrian got the hang of latching correctly I end up with cracked, sore, and overly sensitive nipples. Hay Hay Hay. After a phone conversation and a meeting with two lactation consultants things got much better. So ladies please do your research thoroughly, educate yourself, and take advantage of all the help available on this topic before and after baby's arrival.

With my older son my mom wanted me to stay with her but hubby didn't want to because according to him we would be just fine at our place. My mom also didn't want to stay at our place because it was only a one bedroom. She was pretty upset about it and didn't come around much the first few weeks I was home. This time however she was at our place every day for the first two weeks. She took care of me, cooked for us, kept the house nice and clean, and basically spoil me in every way possible. Thank Heaven for mommies like mine :). These last two weeks she's been coming 3-4 times a week, usually on days I have class to babysit for us and help around the house. We, or rather I, owe her big time.

At two weeks postpartum I was to return to school and it had me with some anxiety, though it wasn't as bad as I imagined, crazy from my part but not as bad. The hardest part was leaving my sweet newborn at home but I knew he was in good hands. I just made sure to give myself plenty of time to walk slowly and leave enough milk for baby. I honestly felt good right away. Like nothing ever happened. I did minimized the amount of time I went up and down the stairs and walked as little as possible, only when necessary like on school days. I napped as often as I could when Adrian slept. I refrained myself from any chores and cooking as long as I could those first two weeks, especially from stressing unlike the first time. Now however I feel like I could run a marathon :) ok maybe not quite but I am ready to return to the gym again and tighten up this little body ;)

The point of this post is to let the new mommas out there know to take advantage of the help being offered. There's nothing better than to only worry about yourself and your baby the first couple of weeks. It makes for a happy mother and happy baby. It also gives your body time to recuperate at its own pace while also making for a faster recovery at home. Don't forget to drink plenty of fluids and maintain a healthy diet especially if you are breastfeeding.


xoxo

Adrián's Birth Story

Right around midnight on Wednesday night I started to have contractions (ctx). But it was no biggie since I've been having them since like ever. I figured I would go to sleep and if I was in real labor then I would eventually wake up from the pain. On Thursday morning when I got up I called the doctor because I was still contracting and wasn't feeling the baby move. I went to the office and didn't send my son to school because he had been feeling sick from the night before.

I arrived at the doctor's office around 9:10am and I kept having ctx so they checked my cervix and I was 3-4cm with ctx every 6 mins. I was monitored for about 20 minutes and things were still the same. My midwife told me that I was in the early stage of labor and that I should go home and wait till they get closer together or stronger. Instead, I decided to walk a bit so I headed to the lab to turn in a 24 hr urine sample I had to do last week because they found protein in my urine when I was in L&D with the flu and I needed blood work with it. Then we, my son and I, headed to target and we walked all over the store for about 2 hrs. I was very excited at the thought that this could be the real thing and I wanted to do everything in my power to make sure my contractions didn't stop like in previous days. After gathering a few items for the house we ate pizza and headed home. Contractions  were coming faithfully at 5-6 mins apart and I was trying to play it cool by working on the finishing touches in the nursery to kill time before I took Steven to his doctors appointment at 1:30p.

Now if u remember my birth plan was to have a natural delivery and the winning game plan was to try and labor at home as long as possible.

By 1p I was in a lot of pain. So I canceled the appointment I had with Steven called Steven Sr. to tell him to try to get home fast because I wanted to head to the hospital already (I had talked to him earlier and we agreed to wait till he got out to go to the hospital). He said to call my mom and have her take me that he'll meet me there. I said its ok I'll wait. But by 2p I was crying through my ctx and they were still 4-6 mins apart. I didn't think there was much progress so at that instant I decided that if I was less than 7cm I was going for the epidural. I called my mom and decided to jump in the shower in the mean time. Steven jr. was such a great help. He kept rubbing my back and saying its ok mom it's ok. While in the shower I felt like I was going to die! (Later I would realize that at this point my contractions started coming every two minutes) I had learned that the warm water would help me relax a bit and relax my muscles. Freaking liars! I told my son to call my mom and tell her to hurry up, he did so and by the time I got out of the shower my mom had arrived with my younger sister and helped me get dressed. I was in so much pain I could barely move, breathe, walk, or do anything at all. I did not remember the pain being this bad the first time around and I started feeling defeated. She grabbed my hospital bag and slowly walked me to the car, soon were on our way. It was a little after 3pm when we left. Last time I recalled seeing the clock it was 3:11p and we were in a small traffic about 15 mins away from the hospital. We made it to the hospital and she wheeled me to triage. My doctor was waiting for me because I had called them saying I was coming in right after I had called my mom and they also got a heads up from the office earlier that morning. Again the pain was so unbearable that at this point I thought I was going to die! Again. lol I was so nauseous too. I lost track of how close and long the ctx were, all I wanted was to be checked to get the epidural. Everything was getting to me. My mom trying to help change me into a gown, the nurse trying to put monitors on me and getting an IV line started. I was just so annoyed and wanted nothing more than for all this to be over. The doctor came in and checked me then said "you're 7cm and fully effaced. Lets get you to a room". I asked about the epidural and she said that she didn't know if we would have time to get it but that if we didn't she would coach me through. Not to worry. She was so sweet.

So anyways. We get to the room and I'm like the exorcist. They kept saying you're doing great keep breathing etc and all I wanted to say was " Shut the hell up! You're lying I'm not doing it right! I can't handle this. I can't do this just give me the drugs." I have seriously never experienced so much pain or even imagined such pain to be this bad. Once they switched me over to the new bed the doctor said that she wanted to check me again. I guess they can tell when a woman is progressing rather fast by her actions and pain. She checked me and said that I was 10cm that she was going to change and break my water so we can push a baby out. I'm like "Wait. Wait. What about the epidural?". She's said "we don't have time." So she did as she said and she talked me through what she was doing and before I knew it we were ready to push. I kept asking where my husband was and my mom said he was on his way pushing 80 on the highway on a tractor truck. No time to wait tho. So we started to push. Omg HELL ON EARTH! Worse pain/pressure in the world. I even forgot how to push. I was screaming more than anything and the nurses kept saying "you're not pushing, you're screaming. Push with your bottom. Put your chin on your chest. Lets try again."

Once I felt the baby's head right about to come out and everyone one saying "he's coming, I see a head full of black hair" I knew I had to compose myself. As nauseous as I was and as painful as it all was it was either do it wrong and have all those feelings even longer or start concentrating and push that kid OUT! So I grabbed my thighs and pulled back. Put my chin on my chest. Waited for a contraction. Pushed and pushed until a head popped out. Then I heard "good that's good. Now keep on pushing to get those shoulders out. Take as many small pushes as you can even if you don't feel a contraction" and so I did. Then I felt two of the most amazing feeling in the world, relieve and happiness. The pressure was gone. My baby was out. I had done it. I had a natural child birth like I wanted. It felt amazing. I was overflowing with happiness. They placed my baby on my chest and I just looked at him and thought "so you're my little baby. The one that I've been waiting for for almost 10 months to meet." He didn't cry at first but my doctor assured me he was fine with an apgar score of 8 and 9. My mom cut the umbilical cord and they took the baby to the warmer to clean him up and assess him. Time of birth was recorded as 4:04pm. You do the math but that was one hell of a fast delivery.

My doctor stood there pressing on my belly and explaining what she was doing. She said that when she broke my water there was a small tint of pink and she thought there was something up with the placenta. I kept waiting for her to say ok one more push and it will all be over but she didn't. Instead she said, "I need to put some pressure on your belly to get the placenta out" and just like that the worse part was over and the birth stages were complete.

She said I didn't tear much and I just needed 1-2 stitches. After that and examining the placenta she said that the placenta ruptured prematurely and that was the reason why I was in so much pain (What?! so you're saying it could have been less painful?). That she got it all out (that was the reasoning for her pressing on my belly and me not pushing it out) and she was going to send it to the lab. It was protocol to make sure all parts of the placenta was out.

About half an hour later I was given my sweet baby boy to nurse (something else that I wanted to do was nurse within the hour, thank god there were no major complications that prevented me from doing that) and he latched on like a pro. My mom went to get my son and sister in the waiting room and shortly after my husband too walks in. Yes, he missed the birth :(. He was so upset and I felt so bad. He would of been so proud of me, us.

Off the record, He told me that when his mom called him to say I had given birth he didn't believe her. After hanging up he said his eyes got so watery and he felt so angry for not making it on time. I don't think he'll repeat that to anyone again but I thought it was so sweet. I couldn't imagine the feeling of not being by your wife's side through so much pain and emotional moment let alone missing your son's birth.

About an hour later my nurse sat down with me to work on my admission since there was no time for any of that when I arrived. She also expressed her concern about my high blood pressure. My pressure kept rising with no sign of slowing down. It was at 161/101 when I looked and she said it had not been below 150 since I delivered. She told the doctor and they kept monitoring me for another hour. Then they diagnosed me with Pre-Eclampsia and the doctor came to talk to me about the treatment for it and what was going to happen next. As my nurse drew my blood she we talked about it and it all made sense. My retaining water the last couple of weeks. My rapidly weekly weight gain. The protein in my urine during my flu episode. The weird thing was that every time at my appointments and even earlier that day my blood pressure had been normal. Luckily I had gone for blood work and to return my 24hr urine earlier that day and results were in. It was official I had preeclampsia and had to be put on Magnesium. Which meant bed rest for the next 24 hours, compression boots, IV lines, and vital checks every two hours. Awesome!

I was told that I would feel like crap and like I had the flu all over again. So I asked for no visitors for the next 24 hrs or at least for traffic to be kept at a minimum. The good thing was that I didn't feel like crap at all and it was all because I was diagnosed with it after delivery making my treatment time shorter. The only other bad thing that happened was that I got a fever during my hospital stay and it kept coming and going with a slight headache. Other than that Saturday afternoon we were ready for discharge and we started a new chapter in our life as a family of four.

More adventures, more of the unexpected, more wonderful moments. Motherhood is truly an amazing feeling and I'm so honored to be given the opportunity to experience it.

A special thanks to all the fabulous nurses and techs that took care of me and our sweet baby.

Adrián Joel

6lbs 3oz

20 in

1/3/13 4:04pm

Baby Loving

xoxo

Adios 2012, Bienvenido 2013

Wow! What an end to 2012 and beginning to 2013. Lots of catching up to do. Let's see, where should I start.

Well at 38 weeks I had my appointment and was 3cm dilated with 50-60% effaced. I asked my doctor to strip my membrane and she did slightly. I was positive that that was going to be THE weekend. I kept contracting day and night but unfortunately not in a pattern well enough to send us to the hospital. So the weekend came and left and nada.

Christmas Eve we had a very nice time at my mothers. We had a delicious diner surrounded by family and some friends. Then we opened some gifts and headed home right before midnight.

Christmas Day we spent it at my mother-in-law's. Again we opened presents and had another delicious diner. I had to work that night so I headed to work around 6:30pm. That night I started with a cough that only got nastier by the end of my shift. I made it home with chest pain, a cough, and feeling awful. It was my only day to work until the weekend so I had planned to stay up. Yeah, that didn't happened. I hit the covers and slept till 1pm at which point I had another appointment. I remember it snowed that day and it had just started as I left.

Merry Christmas! 

At my appointment I felt awful and couldn't wait to get home. I called my OB and asked what I could take for my symptoms and I napped. I woke up feeling worse and with a fever. I called in again and my doc was convinced I had the flu so she called flu meds for me and asked to see my family doctor the next day. I started my meds and had a horrible night.

The next day I made it to my family doctor with my mothers help. I was officially diagnosed with the flu and shortly after started having contractions. I was sent to the ER but on our way over the transporter got a call to take me straight to L&D. There they measured my contractions and concluded that they were due to me being dehydrated. Go figured. It wasn't all that bad though because as much as I wanted my baby boy to come out I surely didn't want to welcome him with the flu. And after day 3 of meds I felt so much better. I Also had to miss work for the weekend which had its good and not so good perks.

New Years Eve we spent it at my moms and then we went home and were in bed by midnight. For the record lets just say that being 39 weeks pregnant over NYE and being pregnant and that far along for the holidays is no fun at all. Note to self, plan next pregnancy to be as far away from the holidays as possible.

January first rolled in and I couldn't stop thinking that this baby was as stubborn as they get. I just new I was going to go past my due date and I was going to have to skip out on this school semester which would put me behind a full year for graduating nursing school. So the next day I called the doc again and tried to convinced them to induce me by Friday. Ha! Who was I kidding. It was not going to happen. Not at least until the 11th. Omg, mini heart attack going on at that point (school starts on the 14th).

Happy New Year!!!

So that night I went to bed a bit sad and sorta depress. Yet, little did I know that the next day was going to be full of unprepared adventures, long waited excitement, and so much happiness.

And so I continue to believe that everything has a purpose and things always happens for a reason.

To be continue....