Baby boy is here!! Actually, he has been for since the end of the summer. I am starting to get a hang of this mom thing, and the routines are becoming a bit more predictable at his age. While I had hoped I'd really enjoy motherhood, I don’t have the words to describe how happy I am and how much I love being a mom. I look at this boy everyday, just in awe of this adorable little human, astounded that I gave birth, and so so happy to be creating my own little family.
My birth story, while ultimately pretty positive did not go as expected. My various social media algorithms seemed to only serve me the negative (read: scary) birth stories so I feel inclined to share a more positive, but still honest, take.
99th Percentile
Around 36 weeks, my doctors noted that my baby was looking to be in the 99th percentile. This came as a total surprise, since his size had not been mentioned at all throughout the first two trimesters. I had a few ultrasounds showing he was ~8lbs, ~10lbs, and then back down to ~9lbs. The reading can vary by practitioner, and I was told the rate of deviation could be as much as 20%, so I wasn't totally convinced I was truly having a 99th percentile baby. Ultimately my doctors recommended I be induced ASAP to avoid complications, and the soonest appointment they could make for me was at 39 weeks. I had discussed the possibility of a c-section with the maternal fetal medicine (MFM) doctor since she specializes in higher risk pregnancies and I was totally game for this plan; at that point I just wanted what was safest and best for baby (and me) but the doctors noted we could attempt a traditional delivery as long as everything continued to look ok. My main concern was avoiding shoulder dystocia. While I was open to it, I think I had it my mind that a c-section wouldn't be in the cards, I had really only bought and prepared aftercare products for a traditional labor. My doctor made a comment at my last ultrasound that it wasnt as if they expected my baby to weigh 11lbs at birth.
Induction
I decided to work right up to my induction, so I went about my last work day as normal, calling in for meetings and saying my goodbyes to my coworkers. I wrapped up my day at 5pm, made sure my bags we're packed, ate dinner, and around 8pm I was checking into the hospital. My advice is to make sure you have a good meal, and maybe even a snack on the way to the hospital, once the induction process begins you aren't able to eat, and I think being hungry would have made this process a lot more difficult.
Check-in was smooth, and my doctors opted to go with both the foley balloon and Pitocin to get my labor started. The balloon wasn't a fun experience, but it was more uncomfortable than anything else. I used a yoga ball in my room to keep myself moving and take my mind off any pain or feelings of discomfort. I initially was not dilated enough to labor, and a c-section was brought up once again but I asked if we could try using the peanut ball in the hopes I could change the outcome. My husband helped me change from side to side every half hour or so, and it worked! And sometime around 5am I was told we could begin labor.
Epidural, and Pivoting my 'Birth Plan"
I opted for an epidural, but I eventually felt I was at a crossroad. I could sense that the baby wasn't moving any further, and pushing didn't seem to be effective. Seemingly, very suddenly I was in a lot of pain. After quickly discussing with my nurse who along with my husband had been coaching me through the contractions, I requested the attending doctor to see if we could transition me over to a c-section. I'm not quite sure how much time had passed, 15 minutes? 45? It felt like forever, since this was my least favorite part of the story, but the attending doctor seemed to take ages discussing the risks and almost seemed to be trying to talk me out of it despite recommending it just a few hours prior. Unfortunately for me this also came at the time of shift change (~7am), so the nurses and anesthesiologist were buzzing, briefing in the next shift. At this point I had learned that my epidural had fallen out, which explained why the pain I felt seemed to come about so suddenly. I don’t fault anyone for that, your hormones are in overdrive, you're pushing, it's a very sweaty process and I believe the tape that held the epidural catheter in shifted enough to dislodge.
The same doctor that mentioned the c-section earlier was still on staff, and I'm sure the pain I felt in that moment wasn't helping but it felt like she was taking forever to go over the risks and what I needed to know. Granted none of this was new information, I wanted to sign off and be wheeled into the OR as soon as possible. In the moment I felt like she wanted me to continue traditional labor, but the pain was too much to bear at this point, and I repeated that I wanted to go with the c-section. I believe at this stage they redid my epidural to help with the pain, and so the catheter could be used for the spinal tap I would need for the c-section.
The Operating Room
A new group of nurses came into the operating room to let me know they were beginning to prep the OR, and had been briefed on my labor, and history so far. Shortly after I was wheeled down to the OR. I was instructed to sit on the edge of the bed for the spinal tap. It went very smoothly, and even though I was nervous, a deep breath and the reassurance of the nurse and anesthesiologist greatly helped. I was assisted and laid back on the table as the nurses begun their prep work, and the drape was setup. During this time, my husband was given disposable scrubs to put over his clothes, and he was prepping outside of the room. Once the drape was up, he was allowed to come in and sit next to me. My husband was on my left, and the anesthesiologist was on my right, slightly behind me. She was wonderful and was chatting with me about her son, who's birthday was the same day I was giving birth, and how much she liked my eyelashes. I did a lash lift the night before to keep myself busy and get my mind off the upcoming hospital visit.
8:28am
At 8:28 my baby boy was officially earth side, weighing 10lbs 11oz. So... not quite 11lbs haha I guess the doctors were technically right. He skipped right through newborn clothes, thankfully I brought a 0-3 month onesie just in case.
NICU
Baby had to be taken to NICU, as c-section babies are commonly born with fluid in their lungs. I was sad to not have skin to skin right away, but I was happy he was otherwise healthy and had arrived safely. He was put on an oxygen machine, but was quickly brought to room-level which was reassuring. After 2 days of going back and forth to the NICU from my room to help feed and change him he was brought to my hospital room.
The first few nights
I ended up being in the hospital for 5 nights total from induction to discharge. The first few nights with the baby were difficult. A c-section is a major surgery, and the abdomen incision can make it very difficult to even get yourself out of bed. I needed help from my husband, or tilted the hospital bed to assist me. My baby also seemed to hate the hospital bassinet, so getting him to nap seemed almost impossible those first nights. He'd fall asleep so easily on me or my husband, but once he was transferred to the bassinet he was not so happy. I don’t blame him, of course he wanted to be in our arms, but we were discouraged from co-sleeping, rightfully so since I was recovering and on medication. I learned so much from the nurses throughout my experience, especially the NICU nurses, and those that had lactation certifications, I was really impressed and happy with the care that was provided.
Feeding
Because my son was born a little larger than average, he seemed to be incredibly hungry. I had collected colostrum starting at around 37 weeks, but it wasn't enough to really make a dent in his hunger and seemingly because of the c-section it was taking a while for my supply to come in. I opted to supplement with donor milk in the hospital since I had a specific formula (Bobbie) I had researched and planned to use once I was home. I unfortunately did not think to bring a can to the hospital with me, but I think that's something I will do in the future if we do have another child. 💛 At the end of the day whether I breastfed or gave him formula didnt matter to me as long as he was fed and satisfied.
Heading Home
We were finally discharged the morning of what would have been our 6th day in the hospital, the hospital was busy so it seemingly took a few hours to sign off on what we needed to, have baby's hearing test administered, have his car seat checked etc. I sat in the backseat with my son on the drive home, and was so overwhelmed with happiness to have him and to be heading home. My husband had stopped home earlier to check on our dog (who his mom was watching), and I was so excited to see her and to have her meet the baby. She had done so well with the swaddle my husband brought home, and was immediately enamored with our son.
Recovery
Since we own a 2 story home, it was a little rough the first few weeks to go up and down stairs, get myself out of bed, and even lift the baby. It can be difficult healing and dealing with physical pain while recovering from a c-section, let alone running on little sleep and learning to care for a new member of the family. The first two weeks we're the absolute hardest in terms of pain, and adjusting to our new life. We ended up sleeping in our living room the first month to ease recovery. I had a pack and play with bassinet and changing table for the baby downstairs, my husband slept on our pull out couch, and I had a bed that was borrowed that had a remote to adjust the mattress (similar to a hospital bed), so I could pull myself up a little easier. Obviously your core is a very vital muscle, but I don’t think I really noticed how often it's engaged until I had to entirely rest that set of muscles.
Thoughts
While my birth didn't go exactly as I thought it would, It was really helpful to have an open mind. I think this helped me be flexible and just focus on what would keep baby and I safe rather than be hung up on what I may have expected.
Nesting In NY
I attempted to transition my blog to include more mom content while I was pregnant, but never fully made it what I wanted to. Mostly out of pure exhaustion, and trying to balance preparing for the baby with my full time job. My hope is to continue blogging, bringing some mom content to the blog, while still talking about other lifestyle topics. I plan to keep my son's photo and personal details off of my social media and blog for his privacy at this time.
What's your opinion?
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