Labor Day

Now that my life has “wound down” somewhat, I want to share my labor story. I want to preface this by saying that my experience was unique because I had a large baby and no one expected this at all. (Well, no one expected him to be THAT large.)

Also, if you truly would rather remain blissfully oblivious, don’t read any further.

Six Week Postpartum Check Up

Even though I had a nine pound baby come out of me, the thought of going to my six week post-partum check up freaked me out. I had asked a friend about it and she said, “Oh yeah, it’s a full pelvic exam. It’s not pleasant.” Maybe it was the thought of having that area prodded and poked again that made it uneasy. Maybe it was the thought that it would be painful and I wouldn’t have pain killers. I don’t know exactly, but it freaked. Me. Out.

First the nurse took my weight and although I knew I hadn’t lost all the baby weight, it was still depressing to see how much more weight I needed to lose. As a person who has never dieted, this is a new concept to me and I’m really not sure how I’m going to go back to my pre-baby weight. In another one of my delusions, I thought all the weight would be gone by now. After all, freakin’ 10 pounds of it was the baby!

The nurse asked me my baby’s name, birth date, gender, and his weight. “Oh, nine pounds four ounces,” she said when I told her. “Did you have a c-section?” “NO,” I replied. “Ooooh, wow, you go girl,” she said. She asked if I was having intercourse and I said, “Hell no.” Then she asked about birth control and I said, “Yeah, having a baby.”

I Got Beat

Thomas Beatie, the pregnant man, gave birth a few weeks ago to a girl who weighed 9 lbs 5 oz and he didn’t have a c-section! He labored for 40 hours — and now I think that mine wasn’t so bad after all. (From time of inducement, mine was only 12 hours.)

Congrats to the Maddy! Uh, Dommy? Uh, new parent!

Fit Mom = Big Baby

When the shock of my big baby coming out of my body wore off, I asked — in great puzzlement — the dr and nurse how I could possibly produce such a large child when I am A) petite and B) took care of myself.

“It’s hereditary,” the nurse said. “You take after your mom.” I was eight pounds and my brother was nine, and since boys are larger, this is why I had a nine pounder myself.

Then recently I started reading a book about baby brain development. It has been long thought that exercise helps keep babies’ birth weights down. The thinking is that if the mom keeps her weight in the check, it would be the same for the baby. However, imagine my surprise when the book cites several recent studies that show the opposite! Exercise builds big babies!

So I guess I should’ve just sat on my butt and ate bons bons!

(Is anyone else sick to their stomachs knowing that Nicole Kidman and Matthew McConaughey’s girlfriend both have NO TUMMIES after only having their babies 2-3 weeks ago?)

Outta Whack

I had mentioned the BO in my last entry… well, I have never had BO in my life! I’m not just saying this — it’s true. So, you see, this new development has me taken aback. I’ve taken a shower and then still smell a little later, I know something’s wrong. I looked it up and, apparently, because my hormones are all over the place, it can cause BO! It can happen during pregnancy and afterwards. (Again, why didn’t any of the pregnancy books mention this?) Plus, you sweat a ton after having a baby (again, the hormones), which is what can cause the major BO. The thing is I’m allergic to antiperspirant! I have always been (gives me a terrible rash) and only use deodorant — which I have been using since this BO discovery — and it does NOTHING to mask the stink!

Speaking of my body being out of whack, here’s a list of aches and pains since labor:

• My abs are still sore from pushing so hard and long.
• The right side of my back is always hurting, mostly when I stand or sit too long. (I read it can be from my weak abs, so my back has to overcompensate.)
• My feet are still wide! (Not fat from swelling, but extended from the soft ligaments.) Now they really look like my mom’s duck feet. I hope they go back soon so I can wear my cute shoes again. (Of course, I could have fun getting new cute shoes…)
• My stomach is always making weird noises and I have no idea if it has returned to its lawful place.
• Sometimes if I walk too much, I get this weird stabbing pain in my right inner thigh.
• My fingers are still too fat for my wedding ring!
• And I can never sleep comfortably. I thought I would love sleeping on my back again, but it just feels weird now. I guess it’s just as well since I barely get any sleep anyway.

More Realizations

I have so many things that I want to share, but sleep is more important, so it’ll have to wait. But one thing that has been bugging me since I’ve been home from giving birth is why doesn’t anyone talk about how hard breastfeeding is and the recovery from labor?

I feel like those were the two big things that no one talked about. I was so preoccupied with labor, I never thought much about the recovery. In some ways, it’s almost as hard as labor because it lasts longer and you have to take care of a newborn. Anyway, late in my third trimester, I tarted reading this book, From the Hips, which I think really does touch on things the other pregnancy books didn’t.

And breastfeeding… it is definitely a learned skill for me & baby. As a mom, you want to give the very best, right? It’s been so emotional and draining, I wish the books I read didn’t make it sound so “natural” and easy. It’s complicated stuff and there is no one solution for each baby because it’s different for everyone.

I’ve resorted to seeing a lactation consultant who will come to my house at $150/hr. This makes me wonder — is breastfeeding a luxury? I went to a breastfeeding support group this week and every mom in there had used or is using a lactation consultant. If I were a sociologist, I’d be curious to see how many high income households breastfed their children and used consultants.

He’s Here… and Kicking Our Butts

Hello, everyone! I’m blissfully rested after a 2-hour nap (wow, never thought I’d say that) and wanted to just quickly update everyone on our status.

We arrived home Thursday evening with our new bundle of joy/terror, Peyton. I was lucky to have an extremely kind OB who recommended that I stay an extra day in the hospital. She even wrangled with my insurance provider after they questioned it. The extra day really helped. I don’t think I could’ve recovered as well had I gone home after just 2 days.

Peyton was born on Monday at 8:37 pm at 9 lbs 4 oz (!!!!!!!) after a very long and hard labor. Boy, I sure had some delusions about pregnancy and I certainly did about labor. (I’m sure I have some about motherhood too.) Like my OB said to me afterwards, “Well, we didn’t do everything on your birth plan, but vaginal birth.” Apparently, I was an extremely good candidate for a fast labor given my physique (I have a typical “oriental” pelvis) and at one point, they thought it would be over just like that after I went from 4 cm to 7 cm dilated within 15 mins of breaking my water. But, alas, no one expected the baby to be THAT BIG. I pushed for 2 1/2 hours straight — hardly resting — and the OB ended up vacuuming him out with me giving a few heave hos.

Just Chillin’

Woke up this morning and didn’t have the cramping anymore. I had a couple of instances of shooting pain in my lower back this morning, but that was it.

Good news is my sister and nephew are leaving tomorrow. I still had to argue with her last night about not wanting to risk contaminating the baby. (“I won’t touch him!” she said.) But you just never know how careful you can be, right? Then she criticized the OB’s credentials saying, “I’m not contagious. How can she not know this? Makes me wonder about her… what kind of OB is that?” Uh, maybe the OB was just being cautious? BECAUSE IT’S A NEWBORN! But I digress… Plus I’d like to at least clean the house before the baby comes. It’s been a mess since they’ve arrived and I definitely can’t clean up after they leave once the baby’s here.

Last night, my sister AGAIN rambled on about the hooks in the baby’s bedroom. I seriously think she’s kinda crazy. Then this morning I had to hear her lecture me about using plastic containers, her horrible experiences with epidurals, how I don’t eat enough veggies and meat, and my choice with putting the baby in daycare when I go back to work. Plus she’ll give little jabs, like when I told her I had lost a pound and she said the scale must’ve been broken. I’ve gotten to the point where I want to shake her and tell her to shut-up!

I’m starting to realize that much of the stress she experiences, she puts on herself and that’s why she got shingles. She obsesses about the strangest things, but at the same time doesn’t mind creating clutter for me. I hate it when people use things and don’t put them back where they belong, and she keeps doing that!

Well, I’m glad they’re leaving tomorrow. The hub and I can enjoy ourselves one more time as DINKS before our lives are changed forever and ever.

Seriously…

So I went in for my non-stress test and to check the fluid… pretty routine, right? The hub was going to go back to work after the appointment and I was going to go home and do some work.

The dr (not my OB, but a specialist) checked the fluid on a sonogram and said it was normal, but on the lower end. Then he asked me if I had any contractions and if the baby had been moving. I said I had been getting the menstrual cramping pain since last night and I thought the baby had been moving fine. He pulled out the results from the non-stress test and said, “Well, it looks the baby’s heartbeat went down three times and as a precaution, you should go directly to labor and delivery.” “HUH?!” both the hub and I said. “Hahaha, yes, go get admitted and we’ll send over the paperwork. We don’t want to risk anything,” he told us. “But I’m being induced Monday,” I said. “Oh, well I guess it’s today! ” the dr said. He asked how far I was effaced and dilated and I told him. “Ah, you’re in good shape then!”

So the hub and I quickly walked to the hospital (which is right next to the dr’s office) and I was blubbering about all the things I had to do and whatnot. As we took the elevator up, we met another pregnant woman who was doing her labor breathing. “Are you OK?” I asked. “Yeah, it’s not so bad,” she said. She told me she was also supposed to be induced on Monday but her water broke in the morning and the contractions started. She seemed remarkably calm. Then we all walked over to get registered and the staff were stunned that two pregnant women were being admitted at the same time. One of them asked, “Are you here together?”

Thirteenth OB Appointment

I arrived and many of the staff who already recognize me were like, “Oh, still?” The nurse took my blood pressure and she said it still wasn’t bad. Was weighed and had gained a pound.

The dr came in and said, “Nothing yet, huh!” We told her that we weren’t desperate enough yet to try the castor oil and Gatorade mix. “And the full moon didn’t work!” she said. She said my legs looked a little better. I told her I was drinking tons of water. She said my blood pressure was a little up but still within the healthy range, and everything seemed to appear normal. She told us that she had six deliveries on Saturday because of the thunderstorm!

She asked if I had noticed any changes and I told her there seemed to be an increase in the vaginal discharge. She said that’s probably still parts of the mucus plug and thinning of the cervix. I asked how I would know if it’s the amniotic fluid and she said that it can be a gush of water or constant trickles. Then I told her about the cramping I had felt this week and she said it’s a good sign my body’s getting ready.