Parents Visit and Max Comes Home

Max left on a business trip to China on May 1st. He was gone for 18 days. While this was one of his shorter trips it was long enough with a new baby at home. To make the time away a little smoother my parents came to stay with me whole time he was gone.

While they were here we did so many things. We caught up on some shows, went out to restaurants, went shopping, and even got me some new clothes for my new body. It was so nice not to be alone.

We also celebrated my first mother's day! It was so surreal. I was so glad to be able to celebrate it with my mom but it was a little bittersweet that Max couldn't be there. At least he will be home for his first father's day.

18 days later Max finally came home!! I got Jack all dressed up in a Team Dad onesie to make sure he knew how much we missed him and how excited we were to have him home. We can't wait to get back to being our little family of three even though Jack sometimes tests us :).

My Hospital Bag

I forgot to take a picture of my bag so this is an example pulled from Google

When I was pregnant (so weird to say WAS) I remember scouring pinterest for lists of things to include in my hospital bag. So I thought I would throw my 2 cents in before I forget what I packed and what I used.

Packed:

• Going home clothes
• Nursing bra
• Flip flops
• Headbands
• Bobby pins
• Deodorant
• Robe
• Toothbrush
• Toothpaste
• Nursing pillow
• Breast pump
• Baby's going home outfit

Used:

• ABSOLUTELY NOTHING

Now I know what you're thinking, how could I possibly not have used anything?! So let me explain:

I did use the going home clothes for me and Jack obviously but that was it. The hospital gown was deciently soft and had snaps all down the shoulders for nursing so a bra and my robe were not necessary. Now if you felt uncomfortable in the hospital garb then by all means use what you want. But I warn you, you will be bleeding and nursing a lot. Fluids will be coming out of you that you swear couldn't have all fit inside of you. So getting their clothes messy and not mine was really appealing to me.

I walk around barefoot everywhere...well pretty much. I toss of my shoes when at home, I kick them off under my desk at work, and don't even consider putting them on when I run outside to grab the mail. So wearing shoes or the non-slip socks they gave me wasn't even on my mind. I walked the couple feet to the bathroom barefoot and took a shower barefoot. But again if you are scared of germs or anything this might not be your preferred choice.

The toiletries I probably should have used but I was so exhausted and everyone had already seen my post-birth matted hair that I just didn't care enough to do anything about it. I did take a quick shower with the provided shampoo/conditioner/soap they provided but made no attempt to do anything after like brush my hair or teeth or anything.

Remember you are only in the hospital 24-48 hours after a vaginal birth or 3-4 days after a C-section so it's really not that long in the grand scheme of things.

What you should really bring to the hospital is whatever you damn well feel like. If you want your own clothes because that's make you comfortable and forget about the terrible horrific things that are going on down there then by all means. If flip flops makes your in hospital shower that much better then pack them in. Whatever will get you through those moments grab it.

I know this is not what you were expecting but I hope it puts all those lists into perspective.

Jack 1 Month Update

Weight: 8.8 lbs - gained roughly 1lb.

Length: 22" - grew 1"! (assuming I measured correctly haha)

Loves: Tummy time and sleeping on our chests

Hates: Diaper changes, being put down

Milestones: He makes a sorts of crazy faces and likes to kick and move his arms. He's learning to grasp things but not really there yet and he hasn't quite figured out playing with the hanging toys off his play gym. He's also learning to focus his eyes and move towards sounds.

Food: Breastfeeding every 2 - 2 1/2 hrs.

Teething: Nope.

Jack's Birth - Part 2

There isn't much left to say about his birth but I thought some women might like to know how the recovery process starts in the hospital since that's the part no one will ever talk to you about.

They put Jack in my arms and wheeled me up to my room. This room was much smaller but still comfortable. It had a few chairs, my bed, bassinet for Jack, and a private bathroom.

Then the nurses come in and get you all set up. They take you to the bathroom where you have to pee into a cup like thing in the toilet so they can measure it. Then the nurse bends down and sprays you with a bottle of hopefully warm water. Now I knew they were going to be in there with me to make sure I didn't fall or do something stupid but I was not aware she would be face deep down there spraying me with a bottle. Then they put a GIANT pad in some amazingly comfortable mesh underwear and load it up with all sorts of numbing and soothing pads, sprays and foamy stuff. This may seem like over kill at the moment but OMG it's so helpful. They also fill a baby diaper full of ice and put it down there. I was super nervous for this because I don't do well with cold but it actually felt amazing.

Every once in a while the nurses will come in to "check" you. What this really means is they'll come in ask about your pain level, then proceed to push on your uterus as they look at your lady bits as if they are expecting another baby to pop out while they push. They also ask about your bleeding and if you have been farting regularly. Now I thought this was weird. Not to say I wasn't farting, I was surprised how much I was and even felt a little embarrassed but apparently the lack of farting can delay your discharge from the hospital. Needless to say I didn't have that problem. They also ask if you have gone poop yet. I just had a baby less than 24 hrs. ago lady, no...pooping is not on my priority list. Also it's likely that I already went giving birth to that little worm and now you want me to do it again so soon! This did not happen.

As far as things related to baby care; it was a bit up and down for us. Jack was a pretty easy baby, he passed his hearing test, did fine on the Jaundice test, and even slept pretty great at night. But the boy just wouldn't pee! Newborns are supposed to pee at least once in the first 24 hrs. This didn't happen. The pediatrician that came to check him out said that if he didn't pee in the next 4 hrs. they would have to do an ultrasound to make sure everything was in working order. Of course this meant he peed 3.5 hrs. later; giving us all a heart attack.

The hospital also gives you a feeding schedule sheet where you track when and for how long you are feeding him. It also has a place to mark down dirty/pee diapers. Now don't think that if you don't breastfeed you don't have to do this. It has a space for formula and how much too. They take this sheet and mark it when they take him for weight checks. Also be warned that if you ask for help with breastfeeding; that will mean a nurse will grab your boob, sandwich it, and rub your nipple across your baby's mouth. They will also move and adjust his lips and your nipple if his latch isn't perfect. They will also show you how to hold him for the best latch. This is super helpful but super awkward. Though after having some spray water on your swollen lady bits as you bleed out and pee on a toilet, I guess this isn't so bad.

All in all the recovery process was a lot better than I thought it would be; and that's all because the nurses were WONDERFUL. They answered all my new mom stupid questions without a smirk or giggle.

Jack's Birth - Part 1

Sorry for the long hiatus but our little one decided to come 9 days early and I have just now gotten some quite time to write :).

IT'S A BOY!!

Jack Christopher Wilson was born 4/9/15 at 12:51 in the afternoon. He was 7lbs 8oz and 21" long. I can't believe this moment has already come and gone.



So for all the other soon to be mommies out there or curious friends and family below are all the gory details of his birth; if things like vaginas, blood, and poop make you squeamish I suggest just scrolling through to find all the cute baby pictures :).

So it all started on 4/8/15 around 1AM. I woke up with contractions. They were uncomfortable but not unbearable and they lasted for a few minutes. But I only got one or so an hour so there was no immediate need to rush to the hospital. After about 4AM they stopped. I woke up that morning and headed off to work like I always did; maybe just a little sleepier.

Once I got to the office and had my "second breakfast" (oh pregnancy) I started to feel contractions again. They didn't last as long or feel quite as intense as the night before but they were coming every 5-15 minutes. Since the timing was so sporadic and they were bearable I went on with my day. However by the end of the day at 5PM I was really over them. I text Max and said we were going to triage (maternity ER) when I got home. Once I arrived we grabbed the go bag (which I had just packed like 2 days before...cut that one close) and headed over to the hospital.

They got me in a triage room and set me up with a monitor for me and baby. It was so nice to hear it's heart beat going strong. They also strapped a monitor on to track my contractions. That's when I knew it was real. My contractions were, and I quote the nurse, impressive. The peaks of them registered off the charts; literally it was kinda scary but also made me feel a little like super woman. I kept trying to breathe through them and Max was great at supporting me through each one. He would watch the monitor and let me know when it was almost over, which was super helpful. But even though my contractions were impressive they were not exactly productive. Which is every laboring woman's worst nightmare. All this god forsaken pain for not much gain. I was only 2.5cm at this point.

Needless to say I laid there and tried to watch some tv and eat a little bit of dinner but to no avail. The pain was terrible and I was really starting to get frustrated. And no one ever told me how painful the dilation checking would be but OMG WHAT THE HELL! So the nurse comes in and it's like ok after this next awful painful contraction I'll reach up inside you until I can't go any farther and then push past that to see how open you are; oh and then I'll rub my fingers all around to see how thick your cervix is. Oh and if it's thick I'll sorta pinch it to make sure. Dirty nurse whores.

Since I wasn't dilating a whole bunch we weren't sure if we were going to be admitted. We arrived at the hospital during shift change so we got several different opinions on my status. Quite frankly at that moment I wanted to grab the nurse by her stupid scrubs and tell her that if she didn't admit me I would personally make her life hell when I came back. Luckily for her she conferred with a Dr. and he decided to admit me even though I was only 3cm at that point.

As I was getting ready to be moved that damn nurse came back in and said that even though I was being admitted I wouldn't be given an epidural until I was dilated to at least 4cm. It had taken me from when I arrived at 5:30PM to then, which was 11PM, to move 1.5cm. Five and half hours to only move 1.5cm and she wanted me to move another 1cm until I got an epidural; I started to cry uncontrollably, Max was probably embarrassed but I didn't care.

They wheeled me up to the magical happy land of labor and delivery. The nurses, the room, the everything was amazing. I showed up they got me in bed and hooked me up to all the machines. A few minutes later the anesthesiologist came in and started prepping for an epidural. I assumed they had talked to the silly nurse downstairs and knew how far along I was; but I wasn't saying ANYTHING! I will admit I was a little scared of how much the needle would hurt and I even asked the nurse what it would feel like. That's when she gave me the wonderful news that you get topically numbed first...amazing! Max left the room while they did the procedure as he is deathly afraid of needles. So the nurse held my shoulders as I leaned on her so that my bff anesthesiologist could do her thing. It didn't hurt at all just felt sorta warm, tingly, and numbing. After that the world opened back up. I could focus on things other than my body trying to rip in two.

But after that I started the shaking, which is apparently normal but I didn't know that. I was shaking like it was -100 in the room. I couldn't control it which also meant I couldn't relax my muscles. And which ultimately meant I couldn't sleep while my body did it's thing...great. However Max slept like...well like a baby.

Sometime that morning my Dr. came in and broke my water. That was really weird. It was this sudden gush of fluid and you felt sorta embarrassed like you were peeing on them but you knew they didn't care but you wondered if they were judging you anyway. It was all pretty awkward.

After several position changes, cat naps, cervix checks (which still suck even with awesome nurses and an epidural) I was finally 9cm and like 95% effaced. There was one stupid part of my cervix that just wouldn't budge. But by this point the sensation to push was unbearable. It was getting to the point where my body was doing it involuntarily; kinda like when you're pooping and body forces you to push without your consent...like that. I told the nurse that if she didn't let me start pushing I was going to anyway.

She set me up and let me have a "practice push" to see how to progress. Since I was oh so swollen they didn't want me to push until I was a good 10cm and the baby's head was way way way down there...but that didn't really seem like an option anymore. I was pushing whether they wanted me to or not.

I got a few good pushes in on my side before they called for the Dr. Once she came in they rolled me on my back and things really started to move. Everyone in the room (which is more people than you would imagine) was cheering me on and counting for me. Also the nurse that was counting to 10 was taking her sweet freaking time. I didn't know counting could take so long! After a few pushes I already started to feel defeated. I didn't know if I was really doing them right. Pushing something out of your lady bits is not a normal sensation. And even though everyone was telling me how good my pushes were I knew they were starting to panic. I could hear in their voices the urgency to get him out. So I broke down. I decided instead of trying to push out my vagina I would push like I was going poop. Now I wont say whether or not that actually happened but I think you can make an educated guess. But at that moment I didn't care what happened; I wanted my baby out and healthy. And the panic in my Dr. and nurses voices pushed me to push him.

After about 15min the Dr. called for the vacuum. To be honest I was a little disappointed that I couldn't get him out on my own but I was so thankful that I wasn't rushed into an emergency C-section. She suctioned onto his head and pulled while I pushed. Not going to lie it almost felt like she was going to pull his head off with how hard she was tugging. But soon after he slipped out. The Dr. started yelling that it was a boy and she was just as excited as we were. Waiting was such a special thing for all of us.



He was placed on my chest and Max cut the cord. They dried him off while I held him and stared into his beautiful eyes. Once they took him over to weigh him and do whatever is they do my Dr. cleaned me up. I was nervous about delivering the placenta because I thought it would take some effort but it just kinda plopped out; it was kinda strange.

Now the question on every woman's mind...did I tear. The short answer is yes; but not in the usual place. Generally speaking woman tear between their vagina and their but hole...essentially ripping themselves a new one (I couldn't resist that). But I didn't tear there. I even asked the Dr. if I did as soon as they took Jack away. Instead I had some radial tearing all around the opening. 5 small tears that she stitched up pretty quick, thank god the epidural was still working at that point.

Once I was cleaned up and Jack was back in my arms we tried nursing. I was so excited and nervous. What was it going to feel like? Would it work or would we have to change to formula? How do I know if I'm doing it right? How do I hold him? There were so many things going through my head. But soon my questions would be answered. They placed him on my chest and a nurse grabbed my boob and ran my nipple over his mouth. Not going to lie...all I thought about at that moment was "That nurse just grabbed my boob". But nursing felt just like how you would think it feels. Kinda weird but normal at the same time.

Then the family came in to meet the little guy and we played hot potato with him; passing him around. And then they moved me up to me recovery room. More on that later!



Hope that wasn't TMI. If there is anything else you would like to know just ask; I clearly don't mind sharing.

Until next time!