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2014 April Rainbows

Kasey - I guess I have been very lucky with my incision - they didn't use staples, which I think just cause more problems from what I have heard. They used stitches and skin glue on me. I still have some tenderness, usually when trying to get from laying to upright, but other than that I am pretty good. I have a feeling I will learn about the limitations post section once I get back to my yoga routine and trying to work out.

Lisa - your mothers group sounds fun! I want to join one as well!
 
Kasey, i had dissolvable stitches. The two edges to longer to heal but are looking pretty good now. Sometimes the scar feels a bit tight on the sides but I'm sure that will go. Im surprised how good its looking so far. Id be happy to post a picture if anyone wants to see.
 
She smiles at me now!!!! <3
 

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Hey ladies! Sounds like everyone is doing well! Here's our birth story:

I started feeling regular contractions Saturday night at about 10:30pm, and over night they were close enough to time and keep me up. At 6:30am on Sunday, I had the bloody show, and contractions were 5-7 mins apart for an hour straight and that's when the dr wanted me to go in. I woke up dh at 7am and hopped in the shower and called labor and delivery. They told me they'd prefer the contractions to be 2-3 mins apart, told me to try taking a warm bath, tylenol, and relaxing to see if they slow down.... and sure enough they did. I was able to take two solid naps during the day. The contractions started up again Sunday night into the morning, preventing me from sleeping again. They became painful and closer together on Monday, and I was timing them again in the afternoon, and by 5pm I had one that brought me to tears so dh said enough is enough, we need to go in.

We got to the hospital Monday at about 6:45pm, they hooked me up and started everything fairly quickly. I was already at 4cm and 90% effaced. I eventually got an epidural and went from 6cm to 10cm fairly quickly. I was able to doze off a few times which was nice since I was so exhausted! Tuesday morning at about 4:30am, I started to push and she was born at 7:44am!

Baby Madison was 5lbs 11oz, 19.5 inches long.. and so adorable! Shes breastfeeding like a champ and only cries when shes hungry. We are on cloud 9!!

We get to go home from the hospital today, so we are looking forward to getting into the swing of things. Ill attach a picture of our sweet girl!
 
KLMenke: Congrats! I was surprised in my situation how quickly I fully dilated once I got the epidural. I always thought it would potentially slow things down. Did you have any tearing during delivery? If so, how did they treat it?

Vietmamsie: I give you a lot of credit cosleeping with your LO. The last few mornings though I will admit I have woken up, fed her in my bed instead of taking her to her room and then just placed her on my chest and fell back to sleep for a short while. The problem with her being there is I just don't want to move. She's so nice and warm and comfy. :)

Lisa: It's all good about the terminology. I know the States here usually are a lot different words we use to describe something that the majority of the world might use. At least I had a slight inkling as to what you were talking about. But we did end up trying a pacifier yesterday during one of her crying sprees. It did help a bit, but she doesn't keep it in her mouth fairly long at all.

Kasey: Hope the infection goes away quickly. That doesn't sound fun at all. :(

AFM: After last week's appointment where Amber didn't gain as much weight as the physician wanted, we've been adding some rice cereal to her bottles (expressed breast milk mostly with maybe a bottle of formula a day). Since the change, I can see she is gaining some weight, but it has definitely increased her gas issues. This has been making for really hard nights. Last night was the first time DH got to experience her crying for 2 hours and he looked panicked. I told him it wasn't the first time she's been like that and I took over so he could get to bed. Poor LO. She looks like she's in such pain.

But I'm also finding she does not like it when we're not holding her for short periods of time. I can barely get myself something to eat because she wants to be held all the time (she's too small still for a front carrier at this point).

I've also been noticing my milk supply is decreasing slightly, and I'm not sure if that's because I'm mostly expressing my milk vs having her latch and eat. We are also having to give her a vitamin drop because she is mostly on the breast milk instead of formula, and I really don't think she's a fan of it.

The other thing I noticed this week was the lovely vaginal delivery hemorrhoids that come with it. I was wondering when going to the bathroom why I had a burning sensation after going with a little bit of blood, but then when in the shower I felt it. Luckily with my job I've done research about hemorrhoids so I knew what they looked like without having to find a mirror to look. So I got myself some Preparation H to try to treat it. Thankfully it's gotten better. The day I realized the issue I had a hard time sitting all day before I tried the cream.

And tonight I get to leave the house for a few hours. When we went to this baby resale event a week before Amber was born a marketing group asked if we'd be interested in signing up to be part of marketing research projects/trials/etc. I got a call yesterday that they're looking to do a focus group tonight about how new mom's did pediatrician research before their babies were born. It's paying $75 USD for two hours of time. Figured that money could definitely be used for diapers or whatever we need for her.
 
KLMenke- Congrats!! She's beautiful!! Glad to hear all is going well. Hope your all settled away at home now :)

Lisa- What a smile! So cute! That would melt anyone's heart!

Karina- I had some issues with hemmrhiods during pregnancy so I feel for you! Not fun at all. Glad it's getting better.

AFM- Left the house for the first time today since my trip to the ER for the infection. We went to have some professional newborn photos done. Cannot wait to see the results! It did wipe me out though.

When did you section ladies feel you could safely bend over? I'm still having trouble with that so if I drop something it has to stay there until someone else can pick it up. So frustrating!
 
KLM - She is beautiful! Congrats! Can't wait to hear more! Keep us posted!

Karina - I have ha hemmrhoid problems as well. They started in early pregnancy, but i kept them under control with a high fiber diet. Post section, I have been very irregular and in the last few days they have become a painful issue again. Unfortunately they had to take out my intestines during my section (not sure if they do this for everyone) and it has caused some problems in the whole pooping department... none of it very fun!

Kasey - I think it was at about two weeks that I was doing everything again... squatting, bending over, dancing with Lucy, doing the stairs easily.
 
KLM, Congratulations! So glad the breastfeeding is going well. Enjoy your going home with her and let us know how you go.

Karina, my doctor gave me a drug called domperidone to help increase my milk supply... it didn't work for me but I'm told its usually pretty good. My supply was crap to begin with.
Sorry about the haemorrhoids. I hope they clear up soon
Thats pretty good getting $75 for a bit of research. Well done. I won a wallet from a brand i like the other day from doing an online survey!! :happy dance:

Kasey, Cute avatar pic!! :)
Looking forward to seeing your pics if you're going to share any. I still have rec'd mine yet. We have picked which ones we want but she hasn't sent them out yet.
I think it was about a week or two also that i was fairly comfortable bending over. From what the nurses have said to me though i think mine incision is healing very fast. When the midwife came out to our house on day two home she just assumed i had had a natural delivery because i was up and doing things when she arrived.

Vietmamsie, How are you and the lovely Lucy going?

AFM - Elena is getting more fussy and harder to settle now that she's getting older. Im trying to implement a routine to help her not get over tired. She seems to have trouble staying asleep now.
I ordered a baby monitor today so i can start putting her in her room. She seems to wake up to certain noises now so her room will be quieter.
 
Thanks Lisa! Lucy is wonderful. However we have fussy nights as well. I try to start our bedtime routine around 6, but sometime it starts later. Need to get more consistent with that... After her bath we usually feed for HOURS. I try to do massage and to settle her other ways, but there is usually a lot of crying and boob time. Once she's out (anywhere from 10-12 pm) she sleeps until noon with maybe 2-3 short feeds. I don't mind it for now. I usually get up at her last feed, so then have a few hours to do things around the house before she is up. there are usually 2 wakeful alert 4 hour periods for her... the early one we play a lot, but the later one before bed is the fussy one. I think I just need to learn more methods of settling her for bed...
 
Vietmamsie, I'm currently giving the "save our sleep" book routine a go. The routine it recommends is very similar to what she was already doing naturally so its working well for us so far. The book has a lot of info but i can send you a few little snippets of the routine it recommends for BF baby of lucy's age if you like and see if its something you would be interested in.
Can i ask what stuff you use to wash her? i keep getting told different products to use an then someone else says don't use that it has (insert bad ingredient here) use this. I don't know what to use anymore!!
 
We are interested! Last night she went crazy until 1am! I felt like a zombie doing the "happiest baby on the block" methods... nearly collapsed i was so tired! but it worked! however we ended up sleeping in the living room on the sofa AGAIN which I hate to do. Hoping tonight goes better, but really glad that DH only works one morning this next week in case we have a bad week. not complaining about the 10 hours of sleep i got... just wish they had started earlier without all the crying!

As for soap... we are using pureen head to toe wash right now. can't get good stuff here, but my mom is bringing burts bees products when she comes in two weeks.
 
Hi ladies
We are so busy. Finalizing the things for the new house and major cluster feeder. Last night she slept for 4.5 hours ate then slept 4 hours... So I'm refreshed today!
Karinama - yep no meds at all totally natural birth.
This second time around recover seemed so quick. Hardly no pain down below after a few days. I thankfully didn't gain any weight while pregnant. 5 days after giving birth I was under my prepregnancy weight but I'm a curvy girl so I have been on a weight loss journey for years. Overall since 2009 I've lost over 130lbs and kept it off (even after having 2 babies in those years).

Hope you all are doing ok!

Question for you moms that are using formula... How much do your babies drink at a feeding?

I'm making breast milk but cannot pump worth anything. Only mLs come out.
 
Vietmamsie, I've attached the schedule for Lucy's age. I know you sleep with Lucy so I think the book says you don't have to let your baby self settle. That's just what she recommends. I never read the BFing ones. They are a bit different to bottle fed babies.
I bet you're excited about your mum coming!!

Ice, congrats on being back to your pre pregnancy weight!
We are bottle feeding... Elena is 7 weeks and I make up 180ml per feed and she will drink about 100ml at a minimum but average is about 150ml. She might fully finish one bottle a day. She definitely varies from day to day though. Some days she won't drink much and then the next day she will finish nearly all 5 bottles a day.
 
Ice- Hope the final preparations for the new home are going well! Right now Luke is taking 60ml every 3 hours. We've had some issues with gas, vomiting and constipation, so we've had to switch formulas and very slowly increase his intake.

Our photographer sent us a sneak peek of Luke's professional photos! Love it!
 

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Kasey-Beautiful picture of Luke! I haven't done any professional pictures for my lo yet, but seeing yours might just make figure out how to get the extra money! sorry to hear about your long recovery. Every c-section is different and healing can take varying amounts of time. Although my first was a horrible experience and took ages to heal (I couldn't even walk up steps after 6 weeks) my second was better for me, but seems to be worse than other people I have read about. I can't bend over and feel a burning pain above my incision line and numbness underneath (probably nerves). I also have sharp stabbing pains every once in awhile out of the blue when I turn certain ways and if I overdo it I definitely feel it, but it is hard not to overdo it, lol! I only got 2 days of pain meds but have been taking ibuprofen as often as I can, which is crazy for me because I usually HATE taking medicine and will avoid it at all costs normally.

Iceprincess- Congrats on your birth and your weight loss (not just with this baby)! I have always struggled with weight so understand how hard that is. I am glad you had such a great recovery too! Keelan is doing a lot of cluster feeding now so I understand how that is.

Lisa- Has Elena settled into any schedule? I will have to look up the "save our sleep" book because I let dd run the show when she was born but now that I have 2 that is not really an option and we have to do something so we can get a bit of sleep, lol! There are lots of soaps out there that don't use parabens, sulfates and other icky stuff so it is so hard to chose! DD had really bad cradle cap so after trying loads we settled on "clean kids naturally" https://www.gabrielcosmeticsinc.com/index.cfm/category/4/clean-kids.cfm and used the pink bottle, mainly because it can be used as both a body wash and shampoo and it is not insanely expensive, but that is just what works for us.

Vietmamsie-I am bedsharing too, but I really never thought I would do it again, lol. I didn't start with dd until she was 4 months old, but either Keelan sleeps in my arms or right next to me! I have tried putting him into his bed but he will have none of it,lol. Lucy sounds similar to Keelan about being fussy at night for several hours. I can't figure out what is wrong and he ends up attached to my boob for hours before settling too. Sometimes it ends up being gas but sometimes I have no idea. It sounds like Lucy is getting a schedule too with being awake which is great because then she will start interacting more which is so much fun! I have to admit that I would not get up early like you though, lol. If Joemy and Keelan are both asleep at the same time I am taking a nap instead of doing housework, lol. I am still bfing my dd which has made it hard. She always wants to nurse at the same time as ds and it is hard to explain to her that he needs it more.

KLmenke-Thank you for the birth story! Congrats on Madison and I am happy breastfeeding is going so great! I hope everything is going great for you at home, the first few weeks can be crazy!

Karina-Congrats on the 75$! Sorry Amber isn't gaining weight fast enough. Keelan gets gas sometimes too and it is hard trying to figure out what I am eating to give it to him. I feel so bad when he screams and screams then lets out a big fart and is fine so I know it was gas. What do you do for gas?
Keelan likes to be held all the time too. I "spoiled" (I know it's not really possible to spoil a baby) him for the first few weeks because at the hospital he was in my room the whole time and always slept in my arms and when we went home he slept in my arms in the recliner because I couldn't get up by myself easily or lie down in the bed with my incision so it was easier to hold him all night in the recliner. Now even though his bed is next to ours he doesn't like being anywhere but in my arms and I can't even get up to pee without him screaming! Do you think Amber will like any slings or wraps? She is still little, but maybe the moby would work? I have a moby, seven sling and mei tai and so far Keelan doesn't like any of them but I am going to have to get him used to something because I am not able to do anything all day (except hold and feed him) and I feel so guilty things aren't getting done. As for the vitamin drops, for dd I used something called "Ddrops" https://www.ddrops.ca/baby-ddrops400ic.php which is only vitamin d without all the artificial colors and flavors some of the stuff has, plus it is only one drop! I put it one on my nipple and she never had any problems. My doctor told me to start after dd was 6 months old, BUT I live in Texas where we all get sun exposure just by going outside to check the mail, lol. I used kellymom.com a lot for any breastfeeding issues https://kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/vitamin-d/ (I linked to the vitamin section, but the whole site is great) and also the breastfeeding section on this site.

Lindsay-I am glad Rowan is gaining weight. It seems so hard to manage with no sleep but somehow we do it! It is fun when babies start to get more alert and interactive!

Ebony-Hopefully you get some sleep soon! It is hard to do, but a happy baby means a happy mommy!
 
Brienna, if you have an iPhone or iPad i bought the "save our sleep" book on the ibooks app for $11.99. The routine is working well for Elena but she was on a very similar routine naturally so it was quite easy to just adjust the times. If i stick pretty much to the timings it recommends she is an angel all day and night but today she had a bit of gas pain which stuff up our night time routine and she took two hours fussing to go to sleep. Elena has always slept well in her bed as well so that made the routine a lot easier.
Thanks for the recommendation on the wash to use. Ill have to see if they sell that one here. I tried just using coconut oil in the water last night but i didn't like how slippery it made her and she didn't smell like my baby.
Sorry your c section recovery isn't going so well. I hope you heal soon. I have trouble getting up off the couch with my stomach muscle separation... it does make life hard.

Kasey, What a beautiful picture!! Cant wait to see the rest. I should be getting all of mine tomorrow!!

AFM - i was watching game of thrones last night... i can't handle seeing babies cry on TV anymore. I can tell what kind of cry it is and i know the baby is really upset. Their cries hurt me and i want to go and pick them up.

Is anyone going to take their baby to the hair salon? i have appointment on Friday and I'm feeling a little uneasy about taking her but i feel more uneasy leaving her with someone.
 
lisa- thanks for the attachments. i feel like that is a bit too structured for us... we are really letting lucy dictate what she needs and doing the whole baby led thing. however, it did give me some insight on how much sleep she needs and gave me a few ideas... so than you!

kasey and brianna - i am sorry your recovery has been so intense. I hope it gets better from here. I have my first follow up appt at the hospital since surgery on thursday. I hope i get the go ahead for everything, but also worried about some tenderness i have had on one side. Are you all still bleeding? I wasn't much the last week or so, but then yesterday i had some bloody discharge. Wondering if it was just from having such a big day yesterday or what.... can't help but be a little worried!

btw - luke looks so cute!

We made it out to one of the mothers groups here and it was so nice just to get to talk about my girl without feeling guilty... very few of my friends have babies, so i don't want to be "that friend" that just goes on and on about her kid! After we met up with my girlfriend that has a baby... good times! it felt so nice just to have a partner in breastfeeding in public and talk about our girls. I think it will be a new monday routine!

oh got to weigh lucy at the mothers group... she is up one kilo from her birth weight! She was back at her birth weight at day 9... so that means she is eating like a champ!
 

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