Be A Good Mom

“The only thing I was sure of, prior to my daughter’s birth, was that I did not want to wear a hospital gown. Thank goodness for Binsi. I put my skirt on as soon as I got to the hospital, and I felt so good! What a difference from those hospital gowns.”

From www.birthinbinsi.com, which sells labor and birth apparel. You know, so you don’t have to wear those painful hospital gowns. Oh wait…maybe it wasn’t the gown that made the whole thing so painful. Anyhoo… they are only $38. So, I am sure everyone buys them. I heard JLo brought her own hospital gowns to the delivery, maybe these are the ones she had. But, back to my original prattle…”the only thing” you knew for sure is that you did not want to wear a hospital gown? Oh honey. Perhaps you should have paid more attention during your 15+ pre-natal appointments. If this was all you had going for you, I think you are lucky.

According to this website, you can also wear this skirt after a C-Section, because it will rest below the incision. Maybe its just me, but after my C-section I tried to hike everything WAY WAY up, not WAY WAY down. Sure, I did not want to touch the incision, but I had some other things I was trying to hold in, if you know what I mean. I am not even sure if could have kept up a pair of pants/skirt that sat below my incision. Mine is pretty low. If I wore my pants all the way down there, I would have 6 inches of underwear showing in the back every time I bent over and a crotch closer to my knees.

Although I sound negative, I must confess that I would totally have worn these skirts while I was actually pregnant…but not in labor and delivery! When its time for the actual labor and delivery, what I was wearing was the last thing on my mind. I, for one, enjoyed the paper underwear and droopy nightgowns they gave me. I brought my own stuff, but I never put it on. Why bother. I did not want to get too comfortable there. Get in, get out. Go home with baby. Get someone else’s stuff dirty, leave in clean clothes.

Just my humble opinion.

As I still slowly recover from Giggles’ birth, I would like to take the time to say Thank you to my Mother for agreeing to give birth to me. By the time I was born, she had already had one C-section and knew she was going to have another one with me. I have had one C-section and if BAGD and I were not “done” I would seriously consider declaring the baby-making factory closed, just to avoid going through it again. But, my mom did do it again. And that was in the 1970’s, back before the bikini cut, back when they ran the incisions vertically from belly button to pubic bone. In her case, right on top of the incision where baby #1 came out. And she knew that when I was born she was going to have to take care of me, herself and my sister (a great girl, but only 21months old at the time).

Now that I have done it myself, I have an appreciation for what she went through. I want to thank her and say sorry I did not come out the other way.

I went shopping today. One of the racks was overstuffed. As I pulled out a shirt, several fell on the floor. As I watched them fall, I realized that one of my perks of pregnancy was gone. Now that I have delivered, I have no excuse not to pick up the things that I drop. I can’t just kick those dropped items out of my way and walk away. I will miss that.

Having had both a vaginal birth and a C-section I am in the position to be able to decide which is better and less painful. So, in the interest of science, I am going to call it, so that all the world will know. Ready?

If you are afraid of labor, then maybe you think you would prefer a C-section. Labor is nerve-wracking. I had an epidural both times, so the pain was manageable, but the length of time it takes and the fear of the unknown is stressful.

If you plan on an epidural, then labor is not so bad. Sure, the contractions hurt. And they come every 30 seconds or so at the end. And the epidural hurts for a minute. But during the actual pushing out of the baby, all you feel is pressure and tingling. How serious of a pain this is, depends on your personal pain threshold. Episiotomies are great, because they prevent tearing. And if you can get thru it without developing hemorrhoids, that is all the better for your recovery.

C-sections do not (DO NOT) eliminate the pain of delivery. They often do not eliminate the pain of labor either. I went thru labor and then still had an emergency C-Section. During a C-section (local anesthetic) you will feel tremendous pressure and tugging and the Dr. cuts thru 3 or 4 layers of your innards to get to the baby. It hurts. In my opinion, more than a vaginal birth.

Most importantly, after a C-section you are looking at weeks and weeks of recovery time. I am one week post-delivery and I do not think I will be 100% for a long time; I am probably 25% right now. With a vaginal birth, I would have been 80% recovered by this point.

So, for me, vaginal is the way to go. I think its less pain up front, but even if it was not, I would rather have more pain during the labor and delivery and a shorter recovery time.

According to one of the nurses I met at the hospital, C-sections are more and more common and I was in the majority among the my peers in the Mother Baby Unit that day. According to this article, voluntary C-sections are increasing. While this number includes those who do not attempt vaginal after a C-section (the VBAC), it still includes those who elect a C-section for their first delivery when not medically indicated. I don’t know any thing about the VBAC, but did read that it is not as risky as woman perceive it to be.

During one of my days at the hospital, a different OB from my medical group came by to check on me. He looked at my charts and noticed that I had delivered the twins vaginally. I said yes, and I was happier with my recovery then than I was now. He said that if he had been the one to deliver me then, he would have “done a C-section.” (not “recommended a C-section”) Bold statement, since its ultimately my decision whether to try for a vaginal or not. But, to be honest, if the Dr. had recommended a C back then, I probably would have said yes, out of ignorance. But now, I know better. I have read that vaginal births result in lower infant mortality, shorter recovery time, less chance of complications and infections. If the pain during delivery is greater for vaginal then C-section, so what. To be honest, I have forgot all about the pain of labor and delivery….but I am very aware of the pain in my abdomen today. Everyone is different, but I believe that if I had delivered vaginally, I would have less pain today.

So, the answer to my question is: Unless you have a medical reason for needing a C-section, I would say go for the vaginal. Its easier in the long run.

It has been 4 days since the birth. I have the belly. You know the one. The “hey, the baby came out, so why is this thing still floppy and huge” belly. I am OK with it, it serves one very important purpose. It keeps me from seeing my C-section scar. The scar is so low that I really cannot see it under there at all.

I remember the belly after the twins were born too. I delivered vaginally then and my stomach was an impressively deflated balloon. When they sent me home, they told me to soak the tub once a day, for the benefit of my episiotomy scar. I did, and discovered that the skin on my stomach floated. I yelled for BAGD to come in the bathroom quickly! I guess he thought I fell or something, I just wanted him to see how cool it is to see your stomach bobbing by on the bathtub current, seemingly not connected to the rest of you. He thought it was interesting, but not the kind of thing you yell from the tub for.

So, of course, that belly went away and things returned to normal. Normal for me is average American woman normal. Size 10-14 depending on the clothing item. Able to do 25 or so crunches on the machine at the gym. Unable to rest a piece of pie on my stomach while I watch TV at night. Feeling good. That is my goal for this time around, but I am not stressed about it. I am, however, excited that if things do not go well, I can offer a medical reason for it.

Ready? According to my OB…..I have a big uterus.

My big uterus, created by Pookie and Geetle, is what led to my emergency C-section this time. Apparently with so much room to swim in there, once my water broke, the baby and her cord raced for the opening and the cord came out first. Prolapsed cord= emergency C-section.

So, my uterus is big and will always be big. Next time I can’t find a pair of jeans that fit, I will remember that. I am not fat, I am big-uterused.

I slept 7 hours last night! I took 2 pain pills before I went to bed and then none during the night. Today, I think I am alternating Ibuprophen and Norco (pain pill). So, I am in a good pattern for when I go home. I took a shower yesterday too. I walked alot again, but at the end of the day my feet got very swollen and I had to spend some time in bed. I did get to eat real food yesterday. I never “passed” the C-section real food test, but the doctor said it was OK. But then by the end of the day, after having eaten lunch, and still not having “passed” the test….I was pretty uncomfortable. With a little medical intervention, I had a break thru. (oh my, when did this become a blog about gas and suppositories? Where did I go wrong?)

To quote BAGD, the baby was very “boring” yesterday. We had a lot of visitors, Pookie, Geetle, Mamaw, Papaw, Grandma, Papa, Aunt Shel, and My Mark. She slept thru every single visit…except for making a few googly eyes at Mark. Yesterday’s patterns were pretty good. She slept 3-4 hours between feedings and then ate a 2 oz bottle. We missed out on some of our alert time yesterday. She just went right back to sleep. But I suppose it was a stressful day for her, she got a shot and had a hearing test. We are hoping for some staring contests today.

Its 6am right now. At 4 am she had a blood draw to see about her level of jaundice. She has some jaundice, but it looks like it will be minor. We will know more after the Pediatrician comes this morning and reviews the blood test.

Pookie and Geetle will not come over today. Its Saturday, but we thought it was important to give them some home time. For the past 2 days they have spent the morning at the hospital, ran home for a quick lunch and then got right on the bus for school. Pookie, especially, needs a good block of free time at home to just play. I think I have mentioned before how much he hates it when we pluck him off the school bus and throw him in the car for a trip to the grocery store. He truly enjoys his playtime at home and wants a good block of it every day. So, today they will stay home and BAGD will come to see them. there is a Hawkeyes football game on, that the 3 of them will pretend to watch together. (BAGD watches, Geetle eats the chips and either yells when BAGD does or makes observations like “Hey! there’s the band”and “Why are their pants so small?”, Pookie brings a pile of toys into the room and sits next to BAGD’s chair….its their thing.)

Aunt Kel is coming to visit today. Other than that, it will just be me and the baby until BAGD comes back.

I believe they call today P.O. Day 2, post operative day 2. Either way, today is Friday and we delivered Wednesday afternoon. I am waiting for BAGD to wake up so we can go get the baby. She slept in the nursery last night and I took a sleeping pill, trying to get more than the 3 hours of sleep I got the first night. I slept for 6 and only woke up once for a pain pill, so that’s pretty good. I could have the nurse bring the baby back in, but I want to let BAGD sleep too. He actually took a nap yesterday afternoon (the 4th one since I met him 10 years ago). So I think he is worn out.

Our girl still eats very well. She is taking 2 oz every 3-4 hours. We have learned a few thing about her already:

1. She likes to burp half way thru and at the end, like most babies. But then 10-15 minutes after finishing, she needs another burp.
2. She eats so fast that she likes a little pacifier after each meal. Babies need to suck and I think with her eating so fast, she was not getting enough of that. We gave her a pacifier for the first time last night. She latched right on and would not let go.
3. She is practicing for the Baby Stare-Off World Cup. She will look and look at us. Staring for minutes on end.
4. Right now, she is a good sleeper. We hope that lasts. She slept for almost 5 hours between her noonish and 5pm feeding yesterday.
5. When she is starting to get sleepy, she will stare with one eye open just a slit and the other fully closed.

Pookie and Geetle will come to visit again today. I am excited. I miss them too. Today I will make sure I am sitting in the chair and that they see me walk a bit. I really don’t like laying in the bed anyway. I walked alot yesterday and when we were in the room, I sat in the chair. My incision is doing OK. I am taking pain pills and wearing a binder. That seems to be enough to make it comfortable.

No real food yesterday. I am trying but I can’t seem to “pass” (haha - pun intended…those who have had C-sections will know what I mean) the test. But once I do, I am eating something good. I have had enough popsicles and apple juice.

Hello, I had a baby yesterday! I future-posted a bunch of stuff to fill in the gaps while I was out of commission, but this is a real one. Typed live from the hospital. The other things you will see over the next few days were typed weeks ago and are really not indicative of what is on my mind this week!

Now, on to the good stuff: The baby is almost 24 hours old. She seems to be enjoying life so far. She is pretty quiet and eats very well. She has a tiny little mouth and round face, just like Geetle. Her hair is brownish, like our big kids, but seems to have a touch of red in it. Her wrinkly feet have very long toes.

Mamaw and Papaw brought Geetle and Pookie over today. Geetle was very into the whole experience. She held the baby’s hand and petted her beanie hat. She asked several times “how is the baby doing?” She made me a picture to hang on the wall and brought the baby a stuffed bear they had made at a Build -a-Bear workshop yesterday.

Pookie was a bit cautious about the hospital. He looked at the baby and said Hello. Then he preferred to sit in the corner of the couch, holding on to BAGD’s arm. At one point, he seemed to get a little overwhelmed and whimpered a bit. I suppose its a stressful environment for him. And he could not come sit with me, due to my C-section incision. But he did very well, considering that he has never visited anyone in the hospital before.

The baby slept right thru their visit.

I have already been up and down off the bed several times. I have free reign within my room and have done 2 laps around the Mother Baby floor. I have also graduated to solo (no nurses) trips to the bathroom. No real food yet, but maybe tonight. Looks like we will come home either Saturday or Sunday.

BAGD posted some pictures on his blog.

Wednesday morning (10/24) I have to report to the hospital.  They will get a Pitocin drip started at 6:30am and then we will wait and see how long it takes for the contractions to push her out.  While I am not eager to sit around and wait for the contractions (oh wait, I have been doing that for 3 weeks), I am eager to have the baby.

So, the end is near.  I am going to bed in a few minutes.  Barring any naturally occurring incidents in the middle of the night, I will have the baby sometime Wednesday afternoon.    I guess its still possible that I will go into labor my self yet tonight, but I doubt it.

Pictures and details will be posted here or on Beagooddad.com.  Don’t forget that BAGD will be revealing the baby name as well.  Although we use fake names for our kids on the blogs, he has some sort of plan for revealing her real name.   He won’t tell me how, but assures me it will work.

I have a Drs. appt tomorrow afternoon.  I hope that the Dr. says I should go to the hospital that night, take the Pitocin, have it take affect overnight and then have the baby Wednesday morning.  Like I said before, I am not eager to be induced.  But things are getting harder.  I won’t bore you with the details, but I am pretty uncomfortable and stressed.