I’m just worried about going there to pick up/sign for the minivan because the place we bought it from is at least half an hour from where we live/the hospital. I’m nervous about going down there and going into labor. There will be other hospitals in that area, but I have no idea where it is. I’m not actually going to drive it home, but since the loan has to be in my name, I have to be there to sign the paperwork. If she comes today maybe I’ll be out of the hospital by the time the car is ready and just travel in the car with [name_f]Magali[/name_f] to go pick it up.
Hopefully you have the baby within the next two days so your midwife can be there with you! I won’t know who is delivering my baby until I get to the hospital. I won’t have an appointment this week because there are too many OBs on vacation/leave and they only had appointments available in a different town like 20 mins from me. So my next appointment is for the day before my due date. I might not even get there because I’m guessing she will be born by then. I can’t believe there are only 4 more days in [name_u]July[/name_u] including today!
Homebirth went really well. I got so many of my wishes for this final birth of mine and it was beautiful. She is perfect. Time to aleep now. Type more when I get the chance.
@hyacinthbucket I’m not crying. Not at all. sniffles I love your name choice so much! I have too many feelings about this baby girl on the other side of the world. I’m so happy for you, my friend!! xx
My husband was able to concentrate on me the entire time (last time he got dragged into logistical things and didn’t make it into the birth tub with me. Glad I had my doula then but this time was really special and my doula’s main focus was doing all the things that would/could distract him so he could just focus). Connection for the whole family was my number one goal for this birth so that was great. Slow-dancing, giggling, and he was in the tub the whole time that I was, rubbing my back and doing hip squeezes.
Because it was a day birth, the kids were able to be there. They were both sooo good, but obviously H was able to be far more involved. He rubbed my shoulders and gave me kisses and told me what a good job I was doing and that Bao would be here soon (super motivating). Once she was born he proudly announced her sex (“Bao has a vulva!”) and mostly clamped and cut the cord (it was a bit too much resistance for him to manage entirely on his own). H kept asking why I wasn’t making big, loud noises as all through early labor and transition, I was breathing through the contractions. We had watched a few homebirth videos together and many animal birth videos and talked a lot about the different noises I might make during labor, but I was still trying to moderate how intense my noises were so as to not scare the kids (or the neighbors, lol, as we had to have the windows open on the hot summer day). I didn’t start moaning at all until I started pushing, and then I definitely screamed for the last couple pushes, lol. But the kids were totally fine with that at that point. They were so sweet with her from the first moments. A was so gentle with her even though he hasn’t ever interacted with other babies. They seem quite pleased with her so far and thanks to the sibling doulas, the day went really smoothly start to finish. They were well cared for with all their needs met and we were able to be together when togetherness made sense and to not be distracted when it didn’t make sense.
My golden hour was golden. The hardest part about H’s birth was how relatively disrupted my golden hour was compared to what I had envisioned. I bled a LOT more with H, so I had to get out of the pool right away to try to pass my placenta before I was really ready. It took a long time to pass the placenta, then I was still bleeding and passing clots even though the placenta was whole, so I had to try to pee right away, and then take my postpartum herb bath to try to aid the clotting… everything was fine after that but all that took over the first hour and my husband was holding H skin to skin that whole time. Then H was too sleepy to try to latch during those first couple hours really, so things just really didn’t go according to my plan. But this time she was with me the whole time. I got to stay in the pool as long as I felt like… latch her to aid in delivering the placenta, and then take my sweet time with the placenta itself so I could wait until I felt the urge and readiness to push. I’ve been skin to skin with this baby nearly every minute so far since she was born. I love her and her snuggles.
This baby can latch!!! That in itself is huge. She clearly has a tongue and lip tie. Her frenulum is super tight so we are going to get that addressed. She is clicking everytime she nurses and the latch is not entirely comfortable and WILL cause me severe pain if I can’t address it asap. But she is transferring milk (I have sooo much more milk already this time) and able to actually nurse. Comparitively it is just such a win so far. I know we have a lot of challenges ahead but you have absolutely no idea how inordinately happy I felt that she was able to latch and get milk within about 20 minutes of being born. There’s so much healing in that for me.
It was my midwife! Yay! She was super happy about it, too.
Perhaps this makes it sound like my first birth wasn’t so hot, but I LOVED H’s birth. Also a magical homebirth and I say that I got 95% of what I had wanted out of my first birth. It was a super empowering experience where I was in control of my body and my choices and felt really good about the whole thing. This time I just got that extra 5%. Still, that 5% was at the expense of a couple lows.
Lows:
Long ring of fire. P just spent a long time crowning with me completely open. Super not comfortable (hence the screaming for the final couple contractions). In total I pushed for half the time (40 minutes with P vs. 80 minutes with H) but man I did not like that ring of fire.
Tearing. Only first degree but I didn’t tear at all with H so… not fun. It’s OK. It’s not stinging when I pee so I doubt I’ll continue to notice it at all, but just wish I hadn’t torn at all. Then again, pretty sure it was from that long ring of fire.
Nuchal cord. She had the cord wrapped around her neck twice and draped around one shoulder. So even though the golden hour wasn’t disturbed at all because she screamed and pinked up right away before they were about to start resuscitation, I still wasn’t just able to “claim” her the way I had envisioned. Holding her under the water for a few seconds before bringing her right to my chest. Still, that had the potential to be somewhat traumatic but it didn’t feel it. I knew she would be alright and it was less than a minute of the day.
Questions about the wholeness of my placenta. It was pretty friable this time. Not nearly as robust as H’s. I blame the Hashimoto’s as they were exactly the same gestation. Minor calcifications and just didn’t look at all like the super healthy beautiful one I made first time around. We are now sure it was whole. I’m not hemorrhaging and don’t have any symptoms of retained placenta, but thinking for a couple hours that maybe I’d need to transfer wasn’t so fun.
Afterpains. I was ready for them but they suck. The tinctures I’m taking help but just… cramping is awful.
Anyways… it was beautiful. I loved it. I’d do it again for that oxytocin high. But I won’t… all done with babies now. What a finale it was… I’m so happy to have had the opportunity for such an amazing and unforgettable experience.
@hyacinthbucket [name_f]Beautiful[/name_f], beautiful! Thank you for sharing, my dear. I’m so glad you had a good experience (despite a few lows). [name_m]Just[/name_m] lovely xx
Well I kinda have been having a rough time postpartum.
The baby has been great besides me wondering if she may be colicy. [name_f]My[/name_f] mom came over today and she immediately stopped crying. I think she may be getting bored of me.
On [name_f]Sunday[/name_f] I had a bit of an accident. I went to soak in the bath. Probably made my water too hot and then cut my finger opening a new razor. When I went to get out of the tub I fainted and hit my eye on the baby gate we have up on the bathroom door for the dog. I came to a couple mins later with my SO calling 911. I told him to hang up I was okay I just needed Gatorade.
That night when I got up to get the baby I had a big gush of blood running down my leg. I ruined our carpets.
Everytime I stood up I was pouring blood out. [name_f]My[/name_f] midwifes put me on rest and fluids for the day and the bleeding went down.
So my SO stayed home with me [name_f]Monday[/name_f] and [name_f]Tuesday[/name_f] and went back to work [name_f]Wednesday[/name_f] and [name_m]Thursday[/name_m].
Last night I passed two huge apple sized blood clots.
[name_f]My[/name_f] doctors put me back on bed rest again.
[name_f]My[/name_f] So and my mother want me to go to the hospital but I really do not want to leave the baby. Everytime I have to call the doctor I cry thinking about leaving her
I’m so sorry you are going through all of that. If the bleeding doesn’t stop with the bed rest, I think you should probably be seen either in the hospital or by your OB. It’s a shame they don’t have doctors that come to your house so you wouldn’t have to leave your daughter. When the doctor put you on bed rest, did you have an appointment and get checked out, or was it just over the phone?
[name_m]Just[/name_m] over the phone. I wish someone could come here! I’ve been checking my blood pressure and I have the finger pulse thing too because elevated heart rate is a bad sign.
[name_f]My[/name_f] doctors is an hour away so even going in for a check up takes a good part of the day.
Oh wow that’s quite a distance away. I didn’t schedule my 39 week appointment because they didn’t have anything available in the usual office location, and the other location is 30 mins from where I live. I didn’t even send [name_f]Kiana[/name_f] to her summer program today because I don’t feel comfortable driving that much any more. Definitely don’t drive yourself if you are still bleeding, someone else should take you or you could pass out again.
I’m in more pain the last couple days, just waiting for [name_f]Magali[/name_f] to get out. I’m having a hard time breathing while laying down and my contractions have gotten stronger and last longer, but still irregular. They’ve been about every 8-10 mins for the past hour. [name_f]My[/name_f] feet are still really swollen. And I think worse than the contraction pain is when her feet are digging into my ribs, especially at the same time as a contraction. I have 5 days left before my due date, and my other two were born before their due dates, so we will see what happens.
Thank you so so much for all the love and well wishes and welcomes for [name_f]Petra[/name_f], everyone!
Your week sounds so intense, @jenileigh. It’s no wonder you’re having a rough time of it now. I truly believe bed rest is so important and that bleeding is a vital sign that will show you when you’ve gone past your limits. I hope that you are able to just rest as much as possible. It sounds like that is really what your body may need, but I hope that doesn’t need to mean a hospitization away from [name_u]Salem[/name_u].
It sounds like you’re super close, @jenni_lynn91! I can’t wait to read the news of Magali’s arrival. So many little girls!! @PrincessShannon one of your twins is a boy, correct? And @pennysola you’re having a boy. @jky86 are you still team green? But everyone else has girls, right?
Things are still doing really well over here so far (nearly 72 hours in… 68 hours now). Milk is in. Dealing with engorgement has been the work of the last 36 hours and just trying to stay on top of the nipple pain. We have a [name_f]Monday[/name_f] am consult with the ped dentist for laser revision of her ties, and my first postnatal IBCLC consult (a home visit this time, thankfully) for [name_f]Tuesday[/name_f] so I’m hoping we can deal with these issues straight out of the gate, but just making due for the moment and getting through the weekend. She is doing so great, and the boys, too (though I’m seeing so little of them as they’re in their own little world downstairs). Everyone needs more sleep but I feel way more emotionally stable than during my first days with either of the big kids. The other shoe will drop at some point but it has been nice cacooning for the time being.
xx
xx
