RcdM
Mommy of 2
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- Mar 22, 2011
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Hi all! I feel bad for waiting so long to write my birth story, but having a newborn and a 2 year old is no joke! I was so active in the forums while pregnant and I practically fell off the face of the planet once he was born. Oh well, I'm sure you guys can understand! 
This will be long... I'm always very long winded, sorry!
Bryson was born at 39 weeks on October 3rd, 2014 at 7:07pm, by elective c-section (my second), and weighed 7lbs 4oz. My DD was born in April 2012 at 30 weeks by EMCS due to severe preeclampsia, and this pregnancy and birth was the completely opposite! I made it to full term with zero complications, no high blood pressure, nothing! We are so grateful. Having a full term baby and being able to take him home right away was so weird haha.
The day of my c-section I woke up feeling excited. My section was scheduled for 6pm, which sucked because it was late but that's ok. We had a big breakfast and then I wasn't allowed to eat anything else for 8 hours prior. I spent the day just packing last minute things and trying to rest. I wasn't worried or anxious or anything, just trying to get things done. My mom came over around 3pm to stay with DD and we headed to the hospital to get checked in by 4pm. They got me in the hospital bed, got my IV in, and we just waited. Drs came and explained things to me, the anesthesiologist came and talked to me, we signed papers, and we just waited. I remember just trying to really soak in all his movements and enjoy them because I knew I would miss them.
I was fine at first; me and DH just chatted, joked, played games on our phones... but boy that anticipation crept in by about 5:30pm and I started feeling extremely anxious. I don't think DH knows this but I kinda freaked out a little but I didn't say anything. When you know it's going to happen you have all this time to think about it - with DD is was a sudden emergency and I had no time to freak out! I starting thinking OMG, what have we done, we're about to have another baby, am I even going to be able to handle this?? Am I ready for sleepless nights, the pain of breastfeeding, going through everything with did with DD all over again? Seriously, what have we gotten ourselves into? Why did I think this was a good idea?? LOL... my nerves were definitely getting the best of me.
Then I got nervous for the surgery and started thinking what if something goes wrong? What if the spinal doesn't work? And I was just worrying myself. My first c-section went so smoothly but you can't help but worry a bit, with all that suspense and waiting. And of course there was another surgery finishing up so we ended up having to wait even longer which continued to build my anxiety. When they finally came and said they were ready for us, I was just thinking, holy crap holy crap. Haha. But the nurses and my Dr were super cool and nice and I was like, well there's obviously no turning back so let's do this!
I got wheeled to the OR and DH changed into his scrubs and waited outside while they did my spinal. I wasn't nervous for that part. I remember it being a piece of cake last time, and it was. It felt like a bee sting and I could feel the tube moving around slightly but it was just slightly uncomfortable, it didn't hurt. I laid back down and the anesthesiologist said to let him know how I'm feeling at any time. I started feeling numb and tingly very quickly but just on one side. I asked if that was normal and he said yes, it kicks in on one side first before it moves to the other. They got the curtain put up in front of me and got set up. Within a minute or so I started feeling so nauseous and extremely light headed like I was going to pass out. I felt so sick and I was really worried because that did not happen with the previous section. But the anesthesiologist calmly said ok I'll make that go away. I thought, what is he talking about, how can he know how awful I feel, I was so worried I was going to pass out and miss the birth. But he added something to my IV and literally in 10 seconds I felt AMAZING. I was shocked at how fast that worked haha! He said it's common after a spinal for your blood pressure to drop so they just put something in to raise it back up.
Then DH came in and they were starting. I was feeling good but still super nervous; I couldn't believe I was about to meet my baby and still had a lingering thought of what have we gotten ourselves into lol. DH held my hand and I felt lots of pressure, but no pain whatsoever. They did say there were some scar tissue they were cutting through so it took a bit longer than the first time. DH stood and watched the entire thing and he kept making faces like OMG... At one point he said OMG I can see your uterus. Lol.
In just a few minutes they said they were about to pull him out, and then he was here! They said it's a boy, and held him up for me to see! He looked SO big! And he had a lot of hair. I just couldn't believe it. They got him out and brought him right over and we did skin to skin right away, and we got to take a picture. But then he started turning a bit blue and they had to take him over to the table and suction lots of fluid out. They said that was normal for a c-section baby to still have a lot of fluid in their lungs and that he should be fine.
He fully passed his APGAR and peed on everyone while they were doing it haha. They kept suctioning more fluid out but finally they brought him back to me. We did skin to skin for a bit longer but you could still hear lots of fluid when he was breathing so they said it would be better if they could take him to recovery and get some more fluid out and I'd meet him there once I was done being stitched up, and I was fine with that. Everything went really smooth and I was back in recovery pretty quick. From the time I got the spinal to the time I was being wheeled into the recovery room was exactly an hour. It's so fast!
I got pretty much 0 sleep the rest of my hospital stay. But that's okay. They had me get up in about 10 hours after the surgery and had me walk down the hall with the nurse. It was pretty painful. With DD they had me on painkillers before the spinal wore off so there was no pain during that transition. This time they didn't do that, not sure why. But I pushed through it and was fine. I remember feeling really itchy, mostly my face. It was really annoying and they offered to give me something to stop it but I didn't want any more medication than was necessary. The itchy feeling went away in about a day and a half. Within 24 hours I was getting up and down on my own, they finally took the catheter out and going to the bathroom on my own. I got to shower and that felt great. I wanted to prove I was doing good so they'd let me go home ASAP.
I was bleeding pretty heavily and passed some huge clots... that part is pretty gross. But overall I felt great. I exclusively pumped for DD since we was in the NICU but I really wanted to breastfeed Bryson and he did pretty well! I was surprised at how well it was going and so happy. A lactation consultant came and helped with the latch and things were good. I convinced them to let me go home Sunday evening, so I was pretty much there about 48 hours. They said I could stay up to 4 days but I wanted to get home to DD and so my Dr approved my discharge.
Baby Bryson is doing great. He's already a month old and I can't believe it! All of those fears and worries about having a second child went away as soon as I had him in my arms in recovery. It's weird, because it took a long time to bond with my DD because she was so premature and was in the NICU for a long time. I felt like a bad mom because I didn't even feel like she was mine for a while. That feeling obviously came a few months after we came home, but it took a while. But with Bryson, I immediately felt SO close to him, I felt absolutely in love with him from the second he was in my arms. I wasn't expecting to feel "in love" right away like you always hear new moms say. But man am I in love with him!
As for my recovery after being home, it's been a little harder than the first time. I think that's because I'm doing too much. With DD, she was in the NICU for 5 weeks and it was stressful and scary and had so much going on that I think it really distracted me from any pain I was in. Plus I didn't have any other kids at home to look after. With this one, I've been trying to take it easy but you can't help but to chase after DD, even though DH has been absolutely amazing in helping and supporting me in any and everything I've needed in the last few weeks. I'm a lot more sore than I remember, and I went in to see my Dr about 10 days PP because I felt a hard lump on one side that was really painful and I was kind of worried. She said it was normal, that's where they tie off the suture so tissue forms around it there, but that it should dissolve on it's own. Other than that, I'm almost 5 weeks PP and I'm still sore. But it's getting better everyday. It's not to the point where I need pain meds, I don't feel limited on doing anytihng at this point, but I do feel sore still.
I'm also still bleeding/spotting... I only bled for 2 weeks with DD so I'm hoping this ends soon haha. Breastfeeding unfortunately didn't continue to go well once we got home though. He would latch just fine, but he would fall asleep within 30 seconds. My milk came in very fast, the second day, which was awesome. But he'd nurse for an hour sometimes but wasn't actually drinking, and as soon as I'd take him off my boob, he'd wake up screaming because he was starving. That cycle went on and on for over a week and I was getting like maybe 2 hours of broken sleep a night. I couldn't take it anymore. It was making me miserable! I tried EVERYTHING to get him to wake up and eat but it's like my boob was instantly putting him into a coma. He lost 8% of his body weight by his first Dr appointment, which was like 5 days old, and so I really wanted him to gain weight otherwise we'd have to supplement with formula and I didn't want to do that. Plus my boobs were getting painfully engorged because he wasn't emptying them at all.
So... I fell back on what I knew best... the pump! I wanted to just pump a bit and go back to breastfeeding once he gained some weight... I was thinking once he got a little bigger and stronger he'd be able to stay away to eat. But I've tried several more times since then and it still puts him right out. So I've accepted that it's just not going to work for us and I'll just exclusively pump. I did it for 5 months for my DD so I know what it takes. It's super hard and very exhausting because it's like double the work, but I'm okay with that. And now he's gaining weight like a champ! At his 2 week appointment he gained all his weight back plus a few ounces so they were happy with that and we didn't have to supplement! That made me happy. I won't fluff it up though - my nipples are on FIRE. They hurt so bad. Anything that even slightly brushes against them makes me want to cry. But I think that's normal, this happened when I pumped for DD, and eventually it gets better so I'm anxiously waiting for that day lol.
At first, I was so worried that DD was going to be jealous of the baby and resent him. She was very unsure of him when we first got home and kind of just ignored him. She acted up a lot, threw big tantrums, and was really testing us. I tried so hard to give her attention but then I felt like I was taking away from Bryson. It was so hard to balance! DH was amazing though and did lots of things with her. I can say now a month later, she has gotten used to him, she has stopped acting up as much and loves to help. When he cries, she says oh! He wants his binky! And she runs and gets it and shoves it in his mouth. Sometimes she tries to shove it in his mouth when he's sleeping and I have to tell her he doesn't need it lol. But she does it out of genuine love and it's really sweet. Things have gotten much better so for anyone who's worried about that with having another child, it does take some adjusting a first, for everyone, but it gets so much easier. DD loves giving him kisses and stroking his head, and she likes to help me feed him by holding his bottle.
Anyway... I think I covered everything LOL. It's been such a rollercoaster but I am SO happy. Looking back I feel super guilty for second guessing myself about having another baby. Now that he's here, he's just amazing, I love him so much and couldn't picture it any other way.
Here are some pictures! First is right after he was born (obviously), second is him in his going home outfit about to leave the hospital, and third is a few days ago when he turned 1 month old!
This will be long... I'm always very long winded, sorry! Bryson was born at 39 weeks on October 3rd, 2014 at 7:07pm, by elective c-section (my second), and weighed 7lbs 4oz. My DD was born in April 2012 at 30 weeks by EMCS due to severe preeclampsia, and this pregnancy and birth was the completely opposite! I made it to full term with zero complications, no high blood pressure, nothing! We are so grateful. Having a full term baby and being able to take him home right away was so weird haha.
The day of my c-section I woke up feeling excited. My section was scheduled for 6pm, which sucked because it was late but that's ok. We had a big breakfast and then I wasn't allowed to eat anything else for 8 hours prior. I spent the day just packing last minute things and trying to rest. I wasn't worried or anxious or anything, just trying to get things done. My mom came over around 3pm to stay with DD and we headed to the hospital to get checked in by 4pm. They got me in the hospital bed, got my IV in, and we just waited. Drs came and explained things to me, the anesthesiologist came and talked to me, we signed papers, and we just waited. I remember just trying to really soak in all his movements and enjoy them because I knew I would miss them.
I was fine at first; me and DH just chatted, joked, played games on our phones... but boy that anticipation crept in by about 5:30pm and I started feeling extremely anxious. I don't think DH knows this but I kinda freaked out a little but I didn't say anything. When you know it's going to happen you have all this time to think about it - with DD is was a sudden emergency and I had no time to freak out! I starting thinking OMG, what have we done, we're about to have another baby, am I even going to be able to handle this?? Am I ready for sleepless nights, the pain of breastfeeding, going through everything with did with DD all over again? Seriously, what have we gotten ourselves into? Why did I think this was a good idea?? LOL... my nerves were definitely getting the best of me.
Then I got nervous for the surgery and started thinking what if something goes wrong? What if the spinal doesn't work? And I was just worrying myself. My first c-section went so smoothly but you can't help but worry a bit, with all that suspense and waiting. And of course there was another surgery finishing up so we ended up having to wait even longer which continued to build my anxiety. When they finally came and said they were ready for us, I was just thinking, holy crap holy crap. Haha. But the nurses and my Dr were super cool and nice and I was like, well there's obviously no turning back so let's do this!
I got wheeled to the OR and DH changed into his scrubs and waited outside while they did my spinal. I wasn't nervous for that part. I remember it being a piece of cake last time, and it was. It felt like a bee sting and I could feel the tube moving around slightly but it was just slightly uncomfortable, it didn't hurt. I laid back down and the anesthesiologist said to let him know how I'm feeling at any time. I started feeling numb and tingly very quickly but just on one side. I asked if that was normal and he said yes, it kicks in on one side first before it moves to the other. They got the curtain put up in front of me and got set up. Within a minute or so I started feeling so nauseous and extremely light headed like I was going to pass out. I felt so sick and I was really worried because that did not happen with the previous section. But the anesthesiologist calmly said ok I'll make that go away. I thought, what is he talking about, how can he know how awful I feel, I was so worried I was going to pass out and miss the birth. But he added something to my IV and literally in 10 seconds I felt AMAZING. I was shocked at how fast that worked haha! He said it's common after a spinal for your blood pressure to drop so they just put something in to raise it back up.
Then DH came in and they were starting. I was feeling good but still super nervous; I couldn't believe I was about to meet my baby and still had a lingering thought of what have we gotten ourselves into lol. DH held my hand and I felt lots of pressure, but no pain whatsoever. They did say there were some scar tissue they were cutting through so it took a bit longer than the first time. DH stood and watched the entire thing and he kept making faces like OMG... At one point he said OMG I can see your uterus. Lol.
In just a few minutes they said they were about to pull him out, and then he was here! They said it's a boy, and held him up for me to see! He looked SO big! And he had a lot of hair. I just couldn't believe it. They got him out and brought him right over and we did skin to skin right away, and we got to take a picture. But then he started turning a bit blue and they had to take him over to the table and suction lots of fluid out. They said that was normal for a c-section baby to still have a lot of fluid in their lungs and that he should be fine.
He fully passed his APGAR and peed on everyone while they were doing it haha. They kept suctioning more fluid out but finally they brought him back to me. We did skin to skin for a bit longer but you could still hear lots of fluid when he was breathing so they said it would be better if they could take him to recovery and get some more fluid out and I'd meet him there once I was done being stitched up, and I was fine with that. Everything went really smooth and I was back in recovery pretty quick. From the time I got the spinal to the time I was being wheeled into the recovery room was exactly an hour. It's so fast!
I got pretty much 0 sleep the rest of my hospital stay. But that's okay. They had me get up in about 10 hours after the surgery and had me walk down the hall with the nurse. It was pretty painful. With DD they had me on painkillers before the spinal wore off so there was no pain during that transition. This time they didn't do that, not sure why. But I pushed through it and was fine. I remember feeling really itchy, mostly my face. It was really annoying and they offered to give me something to stop it but I didn't want any more medication than was necessary. The itchy feeling went away in about a day and a half. Within 24 hours I was getting up and down on my own, they finally took the catheter out and going to the bathroom on my own. I got to shower and that felt great. I wanted to prove I was doing good so they'd let me go home ASAP.
I was bleeding pretty heavily and passed some huge clots... that part is pretty gross. But overall I felt great. I exclusively pumped for DD since we was in the NICU but I really wanted to breastfeed Bryson and he did pretty well! I was surprised at how well it was going and so happy. A lactation consultant came and helped with the latch and things were good. I convinced them to let me go home Sunday evening, so I was pretty much there about 48 hours. They said I could stay up to 4 days but I wanted to get home to DD and so my Dr approved my discharge.
Baby Bryson is doing great. He's already a month old and I can't believe it! All of those fears and worries about having a second child went away as soon as I had him in my arms in recovery. It's weird, because it took a long time to bond with my DD because she was so premature and was in the NICU for a long time. I felt like a bad mom because I didn't even feel like she was mine for a while. That feeling obviously came a few months after we came home, but it took a while. But with Bryson, I immediately felt SO close to him, I felt absolutely in love with him from the second he was in my arms. I wasn't expecting to feel "in love" right away like you always hear new moms say. But man am I in love with him!
As for my recovery after being home, it's been a little harder than the first time. I think that's because I'm doing too much. With DD, she was in the NICU for 5 weeks and it was stressful and scary and had so much going on that I think it really distracted me from any pain I was in. Plus I didn't have any other kids at home to look after. With this one, I've been trying to take it easy but you can't help but to chase after DD, even though DH has been absolutely amazing in helping and supporting me in any and everything I've needed in the last few weeks. I'm a lot more sore than I remember, and I went in to see my Dr about 10 days PP because I felt a hard lump on one side that was really painful and I was kind of worried. She said it was normal, that's where they tie off the suture so tissue forms around it there, but that it should dissolve on it's own. Other than that, I'm almost 5 weeks PP and I'm still sore. But it's getting better everyday. It's not to the point where I need pain meds, I don't feel limited on doing anytihng at this point, but I do feel sore still.
I'm also still bleeding/spotting... I only bled for 2 weeks with DD so I'm hoping this ends soon haha. Breastfeeding unfortunately didn't continue to go well once we got home though. He would latch just fine, but he would fall asleep within 30 seconds. My milk came in very fast, the second day, which was awesome. But he'd nurse for an hour sometimes but wasn't actually drinking, and as soon as I'd take him off my boob, he'd wake up screaming because he was starving. That cycle went on and on for over a week and I was getting like maybe 2 hours of broken sleep a night. I couldn't take it anymore. It was making me miserable! I tried EVERYTHING to get him to wake up and eat but it's like my boob was instantly putting him into a coma. He lost 8% of his body weight by his first Dr appointment, which was like 5 days old, and so I really wanted him to gain weight otherwise we'd have to supplement with formula and I didn't want to do that. Plus my boobs were getting painfully engorged because he wasn't emptying them at all.
So... I fell back on what I knew best... the pump! I wanted to just pump a bit and go back to breastfeeding once he gained some weight... I was thinking once he got a little bigger and stronger he'd be able to stay away to eat. But I've tried several more times since then and it still puts him right out. So I've accepted that it's just not going to work for us and I'll just exclusively pump. I did it for 5 months for my DD so I know what it takes. It's super hard and very exhausting because it's like double the work, but I'm okay with that. And now he's gaining weight like a champ! At his 2 week appointment he gained all his weight back plus a few ounces so they were happy with that and we didn't have to supplement! That made me happy. I won't fluff it up though - my nipples are on FIRE. They hurt so bad. Anything that even slightly brushes against them makes me want to cry. But I think that's normal, this happened when I pumped for DD, and eventually it gets better so I'm anxiously waiting for that day lol.
At first, I was so worried that DD was going to be jealous of the baby and resent him. She was very unsure of him when we first got home and kind of just ignored him. She acted up a lot, threw big tantrums, and was really testing us. I tried so hard to give her attention but then I felt like I was taking away from Bryson. It was so hard to balance! DH was amazing though and did lots of things with her. I can say now a month later, she has gotten used to him, she has stopped acting up as much and loves to help. When he cries, she says oh! He wants his binky! And she runs and gets it and shoves it in his mouth. Sometimes she tries to shove it in his mouth when he's sleeping and I have to tell her he doesn't need it lol. But she does it out of genuine love and it's really sweet. Things have gotten much better so for anyone who's worried about that with having another child, it does take some adjusting a first, for everyone, but it gets so much easier. DD loves giving him kisses and stroking his head, and she likes to help me feed him by holding his bottle.
Anyway... I think I covered everything LOL. It's been such a rollercoaster but I am SO happy. Looking back I feel super guilty for second guessing myself about having another baby. Now that he's here, he's just amazing, I love him so much and couldn't picture it any other way.
Here are some pictures! First is right after he was born (obviously), second is him in his going home outfit about to leave the hospital, and third is a few days ago when he turned 1 month old!
