[Catubodua]

Yes, he is finally here - a very brief birth story -

We went in on Friday to start an induction. They did an overnight cervidil treatment (probably spelling that wrong!) and I started having light, irregular contractions Saturday morning.

At 10 am they started the pitocin and things got moving along. I got to 4 cm by 3pm and boy oh boy it was hard! I know it's not very natural or MDC-ish,
was I ever happy to hear I could finally have an epidural!

They got the epidural done right before 4pm and told me to take a nap b/c they needed me to rest up for the hard stuff. So, I sent hubby away to get some food and lay down to relax.

I was woken up about 20 minutes later by a swarm of medical folks - two of whom flipped me on my other side and another who threw an oxygen mask on me and another that was attaching more monitors to me and who broke my water to get another monitor directly on him. His heart rate had suddenly crashed although I didn't know what was going on right away. They also realized at that point that he had meconium in the fluid.

Turns out, once the epidural kicked in, they pumped up the pitocin, and it caused Kiwi's heart rate to crash. Every time they turned up the pitocin his heart rate became unstable. But, if they turned it off, labor stopped completely. They tried to stabilize the medication / heart rate stuff, but it wasn't working.

The DR decided not to keep trying for a vaginal birth b/c it didn't seem safe for the baby. So, without further ado.... Andrew James was born at 6:59pm Saturday, Feb 6th. He is 8lbs 4 oz and is 21 inches long.

now, someone tell me how to get the baby to sleep so i could try the "sleep when the baby sleeps" advice!

 

[Kidzaplenty]

Congratulations on your new arrival!

So sorry that the birth did not go the way you intended, but I hope things smooth out quickly and you can settle into that "sleep when Baby sleeps" stage.

 

[AfricanQueen99]

Yay!!

Welcome to the world, Andrew!!

He'll start sleeping soon.

 

[jtrt]

Congratulations, momma! Welcome to the world, Baby Andrew! Enjoy your babymoon!

Amy

 

[Faliciagayle]

congrats!

 

[akat]

congrats!

 

[Gray's Mommy]

andrew!!

 

[kitteh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Catubodua At 10 am they started the pitocin and things got moving along. I got to 4 cm by 3pm and boy oh boy it was hard! I know it's not very natural or MDC-ish, was I ever happy to hear I could finally have an epidural!

I don't blame you one bit for feeling that way after laboring on pitocin without pain medication for 5 hours. I labored naturally for 22 hours without even the slightest urge to ask for pain meds--in fact the anesthesiologist came by and asked a few times and I had no problem sending him away. But then I stalled at 8cm and they had to pit me, and after 4 hours of that I was practically begging then to give me an epidural or cut the baby out or just plain knock me over the head with a lead pipe to put me out of my misery. Luckily my LO was handling the stress of the labor really well so my midwife was able to talk me out of the epidural, but I certainly tried my best to get it. So I totally understand your point of view and don't blame you one bit for welcoming the sweet relief! That pitocin is nasty stuff!

Congrats on your litte one!

 

[aloya]

Congratulations! Welcome to the world, sweet little Andrew James!

And may you recover quickly, mama!

 

[marinak1977]

Congratulations and wishing you a quick recovery!!! It's so nice to see another one from our TTC thread to make it here!!!

 

[Catubodua]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kitteh I don't blame you one bit for feeling that way after laboring on pitocin without pain medication for 5 hours. I labored naturally for 22 hours without even the slightest urge to ask for pain meds--in fact the anesthesiologist came by and asked a few times and I had no problem sending him away. But then I stalled at 8cm and they had to pit me, and after 4 hours of that I was practically begging then to give me an epidural or cut the baby out or just plain knock me over the head with a lead pipe to put me out of my misery. Luckily my LO was handling the stress of the labor really well so my midwife was able to talk me out of the epidural, but I certainly tried my best to get it. So I totally understand your point of view and don't blame you one bit for welcoming the sweet relief! That pitocin is nasty stuff! Congrats on your litte one!

i am laughing reading this - i know exactly what you mean! i was all trying to be "in the moment" and just riding the contractions out but i went from light labor to 40 second contractions two minutes apart fairly quickly.

hubby thought i was going to break the hospital bed at one point. i was pushing the handrails out during the contractions and he was amazed at how far i was getting them.

and thank you all for the well wishes! it is so good to have the little guy here finally!

 

[seaheroine]

Congratulations mama! Enjoy your babymoon!

 

[Mulvah]

Congrats!

 

[hakeber]

congratulations, Cat!

Sounds like a really scary situation, I am so glad you are okay, and Andrew is okay, too.

I have found that a good tight swaddle, white noise (I use my radio on full volume between stations), and a jiggling motion ( nurse in my rocking chair or bounce my butt on the bed as I nurse and burp her) and sleeping close to me helps her sleep. She catnaps a lot during the day in her wrap, but will still have a 5-6 hour stretch at night, nurse for 30 minutes and then I get 3 hrs more, another feeding and then one or two more hours before it's time to get up.

I swear I am way more well rested now then I was teaching the last two years. Hopefully you'll get lucky too! I'll send you some sleepy vibes.

 

[Oceanone]

Congrats on baby Andrew! I hope your recovery goes well and enjoy your baby!

 

[Catubodua]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hakeber congratulations, Cat! Sounds like a really scary situation, I am so glad you are okay, and Andrew is okay, too. I have found that a good tight swaddle, white noise (I use my radio on full volume between stations), and a jiggling motion ( nurse in my rocking chair or bounce my butt on the bed as I nurse and burp her) and sleeping close to me helps her sleep. She catnaps a lot during the day in her wrap, but will still have a 5-6 hour stretch at night, nurse for 30 minutes and then I get 3 hrs more, another feeding and then one or two more hours before it's time to get up. I swear I am way more well rested now then I was teaching the last two years. Hopefully you'll get lucky too! I'll send you some sleepy vibes.

thank you!

sadly, i've figured out why he wasn't sleeping - he was starving.

i'm not producing enough milk to feed him, so i have too supplement with formula. so, i'm pumping and adding what little i get to the formula. and, he's sleeping better - from 3 to 5 hours at a time.

 

[hakeber]

Oh that sucks! Have you got a good pump? And have you tried a Nursing tea? (I have an extra box I can send you if you want -- pm me) That really helped my milk come in with DS.

 

[Catubodua]

i'm quite upset about it. i knew things might be hard but it never occured to me that i might not be able to.

i'm going to do a post in the breastfeeding challenges forum to get some advice too.

i did get a good hospital grade electric double pump, but it's so depressing to see barely anything in the collection bottles, even after 30 minutes on it.

thank you for the offer of the tea, but i'm weird about giving out my information even though i believe most of the people you run across online are good folks.

 

[hakeber]

No worries, I understand...but do you have access to a good healthfood store that might sell this stuff? It really did work wonders for me last time. Even with four different kinds of pumps I got very little until I started drinking the tea.

In case you want to make your own the ingredients are: Fenugreek seeds, Anise seeds, Fennel seeds, Caraway Seeds, and lemon Verbena leaves. It's actually really yummy! Makes an awesome Iced Tea.

Good luck! I'm sure you will get some awesome advice from the ladies in BF challenges.

 

[marinak1977]

Catubodua

breastfeeding struggles are tough...
Will he take the breast? It is better a stimulating supply than pumping and then you can supplement with formula after? If he's getting any milk it is great.

Sending you milk thoughts and hoping that things work out.