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The BelgianSheepPuppy is here! UPDATE post 24 - Page 2  

post #21 of 34
6/16/06 at 11:09am
Congrats!!
post #22 of 34
6/16/06 at 12:38pm
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

(and, look at you, posting the same day and all!)

Can't wait to hear the birth story - in the mean time, rest up mama and enjoy your baby moon. Lots of love to that little girlie from all of us
post #23 of 34
6/16/06 at 5:29pm
congrats mama and papa !!
post #24 of 34
6/19/06 at 4:43am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for all the congrats! And hi to my ddc-crashing friends.

Monday was my due date and I spent the day being a complete emotional wreck, fearing I would never go into labor. Tuesday morning before I got up I started feeling what I suspected were my first "for real" contractions, they felt sort of like my lower half was trying to twist itself off my top half. I decided if they were real, they'd stick around even if I did nothing so I made a concerted effort to be as lazy as possible all day. I gave the midwives a preliminary heads up. Around 2:30 things picked up enough I was sure I was in labor, and at 6 the intern midwife showed up to hang out. Around midnight she suggested that it might be a long night and I should try to rest for a while. I went into the bedroom to do so and as I was pulling the curtains shut...POP!!!! My water broke explosively, all over the dog's bed, which I was standing on.

We all laughed together about the event, but then the very next contraction meant business. I tried getting in the shower but it didn't really make me feel any better. I think I was in transition not too long after that but all I remember is being completely miserable no matter what I did. The other midwives arrived around then. At 2:30 the supervising mw went to check me for dilation but announced that it wasn't possible...there was a head in there.

I pushed for a LONG time, and I was starting to get exhausted so the head midwife kind of stepped in and coached me through. I ended up delivering flat on my back on my bed, kind of the last thing I expected to do but it worked, especially as I was getting so tired I was sleeping between contractions. It was 5 am at that point when our big baby girl made her appearance. Her name is Aurora. We had some trouble getting the placenta to come out, and I lost enough blood that the mws immediately gave me a shot of pitocin, but I was just so ecstatic not to be hurting anymore and to have my girl that I didn't even really notice what was going on.

I would have updated a little sooner but this weekend turned out to be a little too interesting. At the 3 day followup my midwife detected a really severe heart murmur in baby. This combined with some other things we had noticed (episodes of rapid breathing and purple extremities, unusually large loss from birth weight) added up to a transport to the ER and an overnight stay in the NICU. Initially they thought she had a fairly large VSD (hole in part of the heart) that might need surgery. It turned out to be a lot smaller than what they first thought though and we were discharged today with the hope that it will completely resolve on its own! We just have to follow up with a cardiologist in a month to see where she is. I feel very lucky that she really is OK, but I am still feeling pretty traumatized at the moment. She's doing great, my milk is in and she's eating like crazy, but I'm going to worry for a long time, I know.
post #25 of 34
6/19/06 at 5:16am
Sorry to hear about the hosp trip, I can't imagin how hard that must be, but I'm glad to hear she's home now and you're both doing well. Birth is quite an adventure, isn't it?!!
Congrats again, wishing you the best of luck and speedy healing for you both.
post #26 of 34
6/19/06 at 8:09am
Wow! What a birthing adventures, indeed! Love the part about your water breaking over the dog's bed

I'm sorry about the the NICU stay and the heart murmur scare. If it helps, my dd was born with a heart murmur, too but it has taken care of itself as she has grown and for the past few years we've only had to see the cardiologist once a year for check-ups to make sure that all is well. By next year, when she's 6, we will hopefully be going for our last visit. It is VERY scary, I know ... especially when they are so fresh and so new ... hearing anything is wrong, especially with a vital organ like the heart, is just crushing with worry and fear. As I'm sure they told you, most murmurs are "innocent" and will close up on their own. And, something no one told us at first is that a louder murmur is usually good (although you wouldn't think that) because it means the hole is smaller and the blood has to really rush through the hole, whereas a larger hole makes a soft, quiet sound. So, a nice loud murmur they picked up on right away is actually a good thing compared with one they maybe didn't detect right away because of being soft sounding and large, you know?

Anyway, all that to say so sorry for the NICU stay and SO VERY glad that all is well with your sweet Aurura Who has such a beautiful name.

Best Wishes! Enjoy that babymoon, mama. you've earned it!
post #27 of 34
6/19/06 at 8:54am
Congrats and best wishes!

-Delany
post #28 of 34
6/19/06 at 9:06am
FOUR TIMES I had to read that sentence to figure out that you weren't, in fact, standing on your dog's head. :

Congrats again and some more, BSD!
post #29 of 34
6/19/06 at 10:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by BelgianSheepDog
I ended up delivering flat on my back on my bed, kind of the last thing I expected to do but it worked, especially as I was getting so tired I was sleeping between contractions. It was 5 am at that point when our big baby girl made her appearance. Her name is Aurora. We had some trouble getting the placenta to come out, and I lost enough blood that the mws immediately gave me a shot of pitocin, but I was just so ecstatic not to be hurting anymore and to have my girl that I didn't even really notice what was going on.
This sounds like a carbon copy of my last stage of labor! I had Mikey at 4:15am. I ended up out of the birth tub and pushing flat on my back with help from my MW and mom holding my legs back "hospital style" as I say. I lost about 2 pints of blood more than normal but while I was bleeding, I just remember thinking it felt so good (not realizing I was hemorraging) and only stopped after my MW said, you're losing a lot of blood you need to tell your body to stop bleeding now! Then lots of trouble pushing the placenta out (which was about twice the size of a regular placenta so no duh!)

Anyway...just had to commiserate. I ended up with some bad anemia and am only now getting back on my feet. But I just keep telling myself better me than problems with the baby...your post confirms that! I'm so glad it looks like it'll resolve itself though.

Bless you and the pup!
post #30 of 34
6/19/06 at 11:15am
Great birth story, i bet you freaked when she was in the NICU, i would have. glad things were not as bad as they first thought.Cant wait to see pictures.
Beautiful name!!!!
Kaitlin
post #31 of 34
6/19/06 at 11:30am
congrats mama what a beutiful name! sorry to here abuot your nicu scare weve been there its no fun... best wishes
post #32 of 34
6/19/06 at 12:24pm
Wow, I'm glad things are better now, that must have been scary - will keep a good thought out for all of you!!
post #33 of 34
6/19/06 at 12:29pm
Congrats! Thanks for posting your story! Sorry to hear about yoour ER/NICU trip! That must have been so frightening. But glad to hear you all are safe and sound at home!
post #34 of 34
6/19/06 at 3:21pm
Congratulations again, and best wishes to little Aurora. What a pretty name. :
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