WoooHOOO!
Okay, I'm calmer now, and can share details
Darren John Oster was born Thursday, Feb. 1st, at 11:16 am, via c-sec. 9 lbs, 8 oz. Here's the link to the hospital pics:
http://www.averasacredheart.com/ash/...d-3bb9586ab939
I started having major back labor Monday night. Of course, while the contractions were regular, every 15-20 mins, they weren't nearly close enough to go to the hospital. Finally, mercifully, my water broke Wednesday night at 11:30. (I said to Ryan, "My water broke." He said, "Are you sure?" Well, sweetie, it's either that or I'm wetting my pants uncontrollably...)
We got to the hospital about midnight. And about an hour later, I pussied out. I was going to go natural. I was going to be strong and not have any pain killers. I was sure there was no pain so bad that having a needle stuck in my back would sound like a good idea.
I was wrong. By 1:30 or 2:00 am, I was begging them for an epidural. I can honestly say it didn't hurt that bad. It was the most glorious thing ever and I am NOT sorry I did it. I just could not handle the contractions. Mea culpa.
I dialated quickly, and started pushing at 4 am. At 5 am, the doc told me to stop and rest a while, as I had a cervical rim that he thought would go away on it's own.
At 7:30, I started pushing again, until 10:30. The last hour, there was no progress whatsoever. They could see about a quarter sized bit of his head, but that was it. The doctor was willing to let me push for another half an hour, but at that point, it seemed silly, given that nothing had happened for an hour. And that's how Darren came to be born c-sec.
He's currently on an apnea monitor (for a month), which is driving me crazy, but the doc says is necessary. I guess his oxygen levels were low the first day. He's been fine since then, though, so it appears we have nothing to worry about.
Breastfeeding is not going so well. Apparently I have "flat nipples" (who knew?), so the nurse immediately started me with a nipple shield. That worked, but then Darren's doc came in and told me to ditch it. (Easy for you to say, lady...) Fortunately, he seemed to be doing okay without it...for while. Then, he wouldn't latch on at all, with or without it. So the nurse brought me a supplementer, which, mercifully, worked great. Then the next morn, the doc came in and told me to lose it. I did, and he did great with out, while we were at the hospital, but as soon as we got home, it was like "Eh, I'm not doing this anymore." He'll latch on for about 5 sucks, and then stop. Needless to say, the poor kid has been on formula since Sunday afternoon. I continue to try to get him to latch on, but to no avail. And now my milk came in, so my boobs are so hard he can't latch on anyway. I'm renting a breast pump today, so hopefully that'll soften things up enough that it'll work.
AND the doctor kinda freaked me out, b/c apparently he lost more weight than what they'd like to have seen, so even if I WERE successfully breastfeeding, she wants me to supplement with a bottle after ever other feeding.
: 
I guess I'm just sad that things aren't working out quite the way I had hoped.
At any rate, I have a beautiful, healthy baby boy. Even if NOTHING went the way I planned
, it all worked out in the end.
Okay, I'm calmer now, and can share details
Darren John Oster was born Thursday, Feb. 1st, at 11:16 am, via c-sec. 9 lbs, 8 oz. Here's the link to the hospital pics:
http://www.averasacredheart.com/ash/...d-3bb9586ab939
I started having major back labor Monday night. Of course, while the contractions were regular, every 15-20 mins, they weren't nearly close enough to go to the hospital. Finally, mercifully, my water broke Wednesday night at 11:30. (I said to Ryan, "My water broke." He said, "Are you sure?" Well, sweetie, it's either that or I'm wetting my pants uncontrollably...)
We got to the hospital about midnight. And about an hour later, I pussied out. I was going to go natural. I was going to be strong and not have any pain killers. I was sure there was no pain so bad that having a needle stuck in my back would sound like a good idea.
I was wrong. By 1:30 or 2:00 am, I was begging them for an epidural. I can honestly say it didn't hurt that bad. It was the most glorious thing ever and I am NOT sorry I did it. I just could not handle the contractions. Mea culpa.
I dialated quickly, and started pushing at 4 am. At 5 am, the doc told me to stop and rest a while, as I had a cervical rim that he thought would go away on it's own.
At 7:30, I started pushing again, until 10:30. The last hour, there was no progress whatsoever. They could see about a quarter sized bit of his head, but that was it. The doctor was willing to let me push for another half an hour, but at that point, it seemed silly, given that nothing had happened for an hour. And that's how Darren came to be born c-sec.
He's currently on an apnea monitor (for a month), which is driving me crazy, but the doc says is necessary. I guess his oxygen levels were low the first day. He's been fine since then, though, so it appears we have nothing to worry about.
Breastfeeding is not going so well. Apparently I have "flat nipples" (who knew?), so the nurse immediately started me with a nipple shield. That worked, but then Darren's doc came in and told me to ditch it. (Easy for you to say, lady...) Fortunately, he seemed to be doing okay without it...for while. Then, he wouldn't latch on at all, with or without it. So the nurse brought me a supplementer, which, mercifully, worked great. Then the next morn, the doc came in and told me to lose it. I did, and he did great with out, while we were at the hospital, but as soon as we got home, it was like "Eh, I'm not doing this anymore." He'll latch on for about 5 sucks, and then stop. Needless to say, the poor kid has been on formula since Sunday afternoon. I continue to try to get him to latch on, but to no avail. And now my milk came in, so my boobs are so hard he can't latch on anyway. I'm renting a breast pump today, so hopefully that'll soften things up enough that it'll work.
AND the doctor kinda freaked me out, b/c apparently he lost more weight than what they'd like to have seen, so even if I WERE successfully breastfeeding, she wants me to supplement with a bottle after ever other feeding.
: I guess I'm just sad that things aren't working out quite the way I had hoped.At any rate, I have a beautiful, healthy baby boy. Even if NOTHING went the way I planned
, it all worked out in the end.
:
congrats on your boy! Sorry to hear about your c-section though. I totally feel you on the flat nipples thing. That was a huge obsticle with my first dd. I used the sheild, but got pretty dependant on it util about 3 months. I h ope the nursing gets easier for the both of you.
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