I appreciated these boards so much during my last weeks so wanted to thank all the mamas out there for posting and connecting.
Salila Aria was born January 2nd at home. It was an incredible experience. Excruciating and hard, and we made it! 6 1/2 hours of labor after an herbal, nipple stimulation induction as her hind waters had broken. Amazingly though she was born in the caul, in an intact sac. My husband caught her and opened the sac after her head was born, and her body slipped right through it.
It was the hardest experience of my life. And I have an amazing gorgeous baby girl now. Breastfeeding was also really hard, as I transitioned from colostrum to breast milk, my breasts were almost engorged and she couldn't latch on for upto 6 hours at a time. Fortunately we got the help of a Lactation Consultant and our midwives and after 4 or more home visits and 2 nights of crying, both her and me! we turned a corner.
Also postpartum has hit me hard. My husband and I got completely exhausted after 5 days of non-stop work. Cleaning up from the birth was a huge job. I had a 2nd degree tear and lost enough blood that I needed full time care the first few days. After I began hallucinating on night 4 and my husband was just about on the verge of collapse I found the number for a postpartum doula and she came immediately.
All in all, reaching out for support at the earliest moment is so important. And thankfully all is moving on an upward path right now. I have finally rested a bit and can walk around the house. I made my first foray out of the house, one week postpartum, to the mailbox today! It felt great.
I will post my birth story soon!
Kristin
Salila
Follow Mothering