Postpartum Hospital Stay

One thing I was not prepared for after I had William was the hospital stay in the Mom & Baby unit after the birth. I spent all my energy preparing for labor and delivery that I went into postpartum completely blind. I was lucky that since William was very healthy, the recovery was really only for me. Immediately after giving birth I had to learn how to breastfeed while also going through physical recovery. Because I had a third-degree tear, I had a lot of bleeding and pain. I had to take care of my bleeding and stitches while also attempting to breastfeed and caring for the baby. I think between all of that, I only got an hour of sleep in two days. I am glad the postpartum nurses gave me and Wesley the freedom to room in and take care of William ourselves. However, we both were exhausted and could've used some help to get some rest. I also struggled with breastfeeding. When I asked one nurse about pumping, she completely shut me down. I developed anxiety around breastfeeding and already felt so guilty over whether William was getting enough nourishment. I made it less than a week with breastfeeding because his bilirubin levels shot up at his first pediatrician appointment. When we started getting giving him formula, his weight and jaundice immediately got better. There was a lot of unnecessary anxiety that I think developed during my hospital stay. If I were to do it again, I would put that I was breastfeeding and using formula. That way the nurses would not be so strict about breastfeeding. That would have removed a lot of the anxiety. I would also have asked for a lot more help so I could actually get some rest. It was all worth it for William though and I will write about him next week.

William Birth Story

I gave birth to my baby boy on Monday, August 12th. It was both an eventful and uneventful birth. I had my membranes stripped the Friday before but never went into labor. I made it to my induction on Monday. Wesley and I arrived at LDS Hospital at 6:30am and I was hooked up to pitocin. Things were all good until the contractions got really intense around noon. The anesthesiologist was unavailable for another two hours and I started screaming at the top of my lungs. Luckily he got there eventually and I got an epidural despite my scoliosos. The laborist at the hospital arrived to my room at about 3:30pm to break my water. He checked me and to my shock, said I was ready to start pushing. I was shocked it was happening so fast. I did practice pushes with the nurse until Dr. Shinn arrived. When Dr. Shinn arrived, I pushed for about 90 minutes total until William arrived. He was absolutely adorable and we got to do skin-to-skin for the first hour. That distracted me through delivering the placenta and getting 30 minutes of stitches. I also got a medication because I was bleeding a little too much. I am now home just recovering from the third degree tear and loving on my precious baby boy. Wesley and my doctor were absolute champs and got me through the birth. I know Heavenly Father was watching over me and William. I also want to write about my postpartum hospital stay, but I will save that for next week.

39 Weeks

I am 39 weeks pregnant in two days and still no active labor. I may actually end up being induced! I am just trying to keep my anxiety in check in the mean time. I will update!

38 Weeks

I am 38 weeks pregnant today and baby boy is still hanging in. He had his third non-stress test at the hospital today and had one heart rate deceleration which was a little scary. This happened right at the beginning though when the computer glitched. An MFM doctor looked at it and wasn't worried, so I am trying to not be. We'll see if this baby will be born in the next week!