Plus-Size Pregnancy

KEsliner- get your rest!! I was induced at 37 weeks with my daughter and things went perfect I was induced because of blood pressure and they thought she was ginormous (she wasnt) I am sure if you have to deliver early all will be well for you too.

I think we have settled on names if its a girl Shelby Emmeline ( emma-lyn) and if its a boy Merton (DH's name) Blake and we will call him Blake. We find out on Tuesday so excited!!!!

I wanted a girl name as Emmalynn Loraine or Emma Raine :)

I'm about to piss myself. I tried calling Kaiser ahead of time to "see if my results are in" (also known as trying to get results before I go in)... I said I wanted to be sure they were in because they weren't sure if they would be on time. They transferred me to a nurse (bad sign) then the nurse says "let me see"... and continues with "if they're abnormal I can't tell you anything about them..." Then she says "yes the results are in... you have a nice appointment, now.." WTF does that mean?!?! Maybe I shouldn't have called. OMG. 'Cause if they were normal then she wouldn't said it was normal riiiight? AH! Update to follow, of course.

OMG! Baby time!!

My little man is 2 weeks old today! In some ways it feels like each individual day drags on and on, and then altogether it feels like its totally flown!

The Dr's are very pleased with his weight gain- they want the baby to be at birth weight again by 2 weeks old. By 10 days he was 2.5 ounces over birth weight and today at 2 weeks he is 5.5 ounces over birth weight, at 7lbs 1 oz :)

As for me, I tried very hard to breast feed, after a few days it was obvious that I wasn't producing as much as the little guy wanted and he and I would sit up all night being so frustrated with everything. Gradually I was supplementing formula and finally two days ago I pulled the plug on breast feeding. I attribute his awesome weight gain to the formula. Honestly, my theory is if baby is happy and mom is happy, that there is going to do more good for this child than the bond of breastfeeding, especially when it isn't really a bond when both mom and baby are irritable, tired and stressed. My demeanor and attitude has changed a 180 since I went to formula and it allows dad and grandma more freedom to come and help me out when I need a break and we don't have to work our lives around each feeding.

I'm glad I stopped when I did because I haven't totally ruined the idea of breast feeding. When we try for another I will give it another go. If I would have tried for a few more weeks I could have ended up hating it so much that I wouldn't have given my future children a go at it. Luckily I found a lot of support on BnB for mothers who gave up on breast feeding for whatever reason (I haven't pumped or breast fed in over 24 hours and I'm not even engorged, just a little sore, which means I am really not producing anything at all) and my family supports me 100%. I have had a few snarky people make comments about formula feeding but honestly I gave him my colustrum when he was first born which is the best stuff for him, and when I get really engorged I will manually pump enough to take the pain away and maybe have some stored to give him a breast milk bottle every now and then. But I am happy with my choice.
 
Kendra- you really have to do what's best for you and the baby.

Keslinger, I'm so happy for you. :)
 
I hope she isnt mad I post this but she is probably super busy with her baby girl!

This was from someone on her facebook:

She is here! I am a grandma! Alyssa Lynn Eslinger was born May 19th, 2012 @ 10:41am. 7 pounds 6 ounces, 21 inches long...and 3 weeks early.
 
Thanks for sharing Kendra, that's fantastic news. Congratulations on the birth of your beautiful baby girl Keslinger :happydance:

Kendra, with regards your bf I think you sound like you have done the right thing for both of you. I don't see the point in persisting with something that is making you both miserable. Don't worry about the snarky comments, you know you tried your best and that's all that counts xx
 
Alright ladies!
Thanks, Kendra. I didn't have the time of day to update this thing...

Alright... well baby is under the bili lights right now, OH went to feed the animals and I have about 30 minutes left until I go get her to feed her so here it goes!

I went in to my appointment Friday knowing my results from my 24 urine protein, and that they'd most likely be keeping me for the induction. The preeclampsia was proven true and the only thing to prove it was the 24 urine protein. So, at 37 weeks they decided to induce, at that point it's safer to deliver than to continue on with the preeclampsia. I went from my appointment to L&D and they started induction. I was already 2-3cm (depending on the doc) and 75-80% effaced, baby was at a -3 station (someone else later said -1 but that's highly doubtful)... Anyway, they went ahead and started the Pitocin slowly... no big deal and I was already having contractions on my own. The baby didn't like the Pitocin and would have decels after the contractions... we'd back off and then bump it back up when she adjusted. The labor pains that I felt in my abdomen/pelvis were NOTHING. But, I had severe back labor (I don't think those beds help at all!)... so, at about 3 in the morning I asked for an epidural, I wanted to be able to rest knowing that most inductions take 24-48 hours. They went ahead and started the epidural at about 3:15, I think by then I had only dilated to 4cm and effacement was still the same. Right before 3:45 my blood pressure dropped crazy low and they could no longer find the baby on the monitor, her heart rate dropped super low. My nurse called and said she had a decel in room 10 and that she needed assistance... in about 30 seconds there was a swarm of people who said their name and started doing something. In a matter of about 2 minutes they rolled me on to my back (I couldn't move being so numb from the epidural...) broke my water, put in internal monitors and rolled me on to my other side. Scary stuff. OH was kinda in shock, I was too but I think I understood a little bit more of what was going on off the bat. Oh, they put me on oxygen, too.

After everything got squared away I was able to rest some...

BTW, if you end up with pre-e and go on magnesium, be prepared to feel like shit. At first it feels like you're flushed or almost burning up (if you've ever had anesthesia and felt that warming feeling before, it's similar to that...) Mind you, I had an epidural and couldn't move much at all... Then I started feeling super nauseated. Right before that I told OH to bring a chair over and sit by me. Next thing you know I'm telling him I'm about to puke and need something "pronto". I made him sit the head of the bed up more because I couldn't move at all (roll over, etc) and needed to barf. Repeatedly. =( I didn't know that I had puked on his arm, he told me later last night. Haha. I thought that was done, but no. It came off and on for a little while and finally went away. I hadn't eaten since 12:30 Friday afternoon so everything I was vomiting was clear liquids (juice, water) and a ton of bile.

I couldn't really move still but they had me leaning more towards my left at that point... Epidurals work with gravity so if your head is lower it creeps up your body, one side lower, it goes there. If you're sitting, it's your butt, etc. I was waiting for them to come check me so OH could go feed the animals and let the dog out (again, inductions = 24-48 hours)... waiting and waiting for the doctor to come in from a change of shift. I let OH know that when the nurse comes in I wanted to change positions because I was feeling some pressure on my right side and my left was completely numb...

Finally! The doctor!!! So, the doctor goes to check me after asking how I'm feeling ... he said, "uhm, you're ready. I feel the babys head." And, he let the nurse know that there was no lip or anything left of the cervix... He told her to get stuff ready. OH asked him if he should call people now. The doctor said yeah and explained to him that in first time moms it can take up to 3 hours to push, etc. So, OH calls our contact people and lets them know that it'll probably be about 3 hours.

The nurse changes the bed around (it's like a freakin' transformer!) and gets my legs in the stirrups. She asked if I could feel her hands or pressure, I said yeah. She told me we were going to do a couple of practice pushes, she how I push, make sure I know where to push... She put her fingers there and told me to try and push her fingers out with the next contraction. She told me I was a rockstar. She called the doctor and told him to come back right away that we were having a baby... apparently when I did my practice push it actually made the baby crown, the nurse told him that her head was in the palm of her hand. A bunch of people came in and finished setting up rather quicky. We didn't push for one contraction because they were getting stuff ready. Next contraction: 1 push and her head was out, 2 pushes and her shoulders were delivered and out came baby!

I ended up with 1 suture... the nurse asked what she could write aside from "1 suture" He said "I guess you could call it a first degree tear but really, it's just 1 suture". Apparently I'm O+ and baby is B something... so we have a coombs positive baby. At some point in the pregnancy our blood mixed and my body developed antibodies against hers, attacking it. The good news is that her bone marrow/reticulocytes are good. But, it makes her more susceptible to jaundice and what not. Fortunately, her levels are low. Unforunately because she's not a 38+ week baby they decided that they want her under the bili lights. Hopefully her levels come down and she can go home tomorrow. I was in tears, I thought I was being discharged today and that she had to stay... I should be going home tomorrow. Because of the preeclampsia I was given Magnesium and that messed up my liver values some, and my platelet count is a little lower today. They'll redo my bloodwork tomorrow and see what's going on. If mine isn't better then I don't get to go home either. =(

Anyway, Alyssa was born on May 19th, 2012 at 10:41am, 7 pounds 6 ounces and 21 inches long.

So far she's breastfeeding well but falls asleep quickly at the breast because of the jaundice. Best hold for us so far is the football hold, it's a lot more comfortable. I've found myself with more patience than I thought I'd have. We HAVE to do skin to skin or she's not stimulated enough to nurse long enough. The hospital is going to have me start pumping to establish more of a supply because I won't be holding her as often with her in the Well Baby Nursery. They're trying to get us a bigger post partum room when people are discharged so that we can have her in there with us... if not, we just go get her every 2-3 hours to breastfeed and try to flush that bilirubin out. We did approve a supplement of formula if need be to flush it out... formula has more protein in it than colostrum/breastmilk and that really helps bind with the bilirubin. She's had PLENTY of dirty diapers though, pee and poop. She's a pooping machine.

And, of course, pictures. There's a ton on my facebook page that other people took but I'll show you guys a couple from my phone. =)
:cloud9::cloud9::cloud9::cloud9::cloud9:
alyssa 5-19-2012.jpg

Alyssa 5-20-2012.jpg
 
shes beautiful! congrats and hope yall get to go home soon!
 
Oh she's so lovely!! Thanks for sharing your birth story. I hope you and Alyssa are doing well today and coming home.
 
Congratulations! Happy birthday Alyssa!

Kendra - you are doing what is best for you. Anyone who says differently needs to take a long walk off a short pier. Breast, bottle or both, what is best is between you and your little one.
 
Thank you for sharing your story! She is beatiful
 
What a beauty, huge congratulations to you! Sorry you're both stuck in the hospital, that must be hard. Hoping you guys are home and getting cozy soon.

I am enduringly jealous of your short pushing time, I am so afraid of prolonged pushing! I will use your story as inspiration. :)
 
Had my scan we are having a girl!!
CONGRATSSSSSS!!!!! Is that what you thought it would be?

This is girl number 8 for my dad lol 4 daughters and this one makes 4 granddaughters. I figured it'd be a girl. it seems all the girl cousins in my family have girls and the boys have boys, so far anyways. It's kinda funny.
 

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