Hey guys! Jenny you finally found us! I should be able to hang out here some since my husband is able to stay home with me and the baby for a few weeks. I'm not very mobile right now, so it's probably a good thing that he is here. My labour was really long and difficult for a variety of reasons that the doctors couldn't really explain. My contractions weren't strong enough, even with very strong medication, to push the baby into the birth canal or to fully dilate my cervix. After 50 hours of labour I was still only 90% effaced and 7 cm dilated. My water had broken first late Monday night, and then another large pocket needed to be broken by the doctor on Tuesday afternoon, so it was dangerous for me to continue to labour due to the risk of infection, and to the possibility of the baby going into distress from all of the medication they were using to help me have contractions. Honestly, I couldn't have kept laboring anyway at that point. I was just too tired, and pain for that long, at that magnitude, was hard for me to cope with.
Having a c-section doesn't bother me at all, but the baby and I are having some issues with breast feeding at the moment, which probably has a lot to do with how hard the process was for my body and hers. My milk didn't come in yet, so she has been frustrated. She lost 7 oz. within 24 hours so we started formula feeding her at around the 28 hour mark. I felt like it was the right decision, but the hospital staff makes everything so difficult. At first, we waited to formula feed as the pediatrician said that the weight loss was ok at that point (8% loss is the mark he said that causes worry and we were only at 6.5%). I trust the pediatrician, but some staff made comments about how hungry she was and that she needed to eat, which made me feel terrible. Then after we fed her, some people started to question how often I was pumping for my milk supply, how often I was putting her to the breast, what was I doing to latch her better, etc. which made me feel bad again! Yikes! People cause so much stress for new moms. It seemed like either decision was wrong, and that I somehow have to force my milk to come out, because the only 'right' choice is to somehow have milk and feed the baby. Once again the pediatrician said that it is normal for my milk not to come in after the trauma with labour and the c-section, so I trust him, but it is still difficult. I had to leave the hospital before I was physically ready because every different person who came into the room tried something new to 'fix' the situation. It was upsetting because I didn't know there even was a 'situation'. I mean, I have a healthy baby who has to formula feed until my milk supply comes in. And? Now I have a million things in my head about how hard it is going to be to switch her to the breast once she has gotten used to formula, and how often I should pump, even if nothing will come out. Ugh. People are the worst! Anyway, we are using a finger feeding technique at the moment which encourages her to keep her suck strength, and allows us to avoid using a bottle nipple. I got two drops of colostrum after a pump yesterday night, which made me way more happy that it really should have. Hopefully once I am rested it will work out. I feel like even if it doesn't, and she needs to use formula, life will move on. After things not going so well, you'd think people would be happy that I have a healthy baby, and not make me so crazy worrying about when I will have milk. Unfortunately, the public health nurse who called this morning at 9am and asked me about breast feeding might have been the straw that broke the camel's back, and might have gotten a few more choice words than she probably deserved.
Oh well. Rant over. I'm taking the day to rest. My husband has to make all of the trips to get things because every bump in the car is excruciating. Did anyone else have that after a c-section, or did I just leave the hospital too early?
I really am glad that things worked out so well for you Kiley. You sound so happy. Enjoy it! Yea it's funny that our babies are pretty much the same size, given that I was 1 week overdue, and you are two weeks early! I'm not sure why Regan is so small. She's really strong though! I hear the jaundice can clear up pretty quickly, but it's probably scary at first. All of the things these babies make us go through!
My money is on her. Yes, let's try to round up the others. I miss them. Hello hlynne. Nice to meet you. I'm having my first at 39...actually I'll be 40 in a week!...so you have an early start on things compared to me 
