Delivery

Part 2: (If you missed part one you can read it here)
Once I got past the rude paramedic woman making me feel awful about not feeling the baby move. I was rushed to delivery.
I was asked a bunch of questions about family medical history and my current lifestyle (eating and fitness). It felt so unreal that I was actually in a delivery room, but alone. My mom hadn't arrived yet since the ambulance had to turn on the sirens to rush me to the hospital. I didn't know exactly when my husband would get there as he was trouble finding the spare set of keys.

Finally my mom arrived and I had someone to provide moral support. Next thing I know they have me hooked to monitors and am getting an ultrasound. Within a couple minutes my husband shows up and finally I can break down and share how nervous I was. The tech starts measuring and we are told our baby is measuring at 36 weeks. (How can this be? I just had back pain.)

We get told by the nurse that I was going to be there a while since it was my first baby. So we better get comfortable. I shortly then have the doctor come in and she lets me know they need to break my water since my contractions are irregular. (I'm still thinking they are back pains.) The only thing logical thing for me to do was ask for my epidural. I mean come on isn't that what everyone gets? The nurse kindly let me know that I had 3 other women in front of me and we would have to see how far along I was before I got mine. (Basically told me SOL sister you're too far along!!!)

I had another "back pain", contraction, and the nurse told me I better practice pushing. I reminded her that I never had a "lamas class", so I didn't know how to push. So I just started pushing. I guess I was a natural because she let me know I needed to stop that the baby was coming. She ran out the door to call the doctor. Another one was coming on while she was out. The only natural thing was to push. I could hear the doctor coming in and was slowly getting her gloves on. She only had time to get them on and the nurse to get the pad down and our little girl was born.

And most importantly: MY BACK PAIN ENDED!!!

First feedings

The first time I tried breastfeeding it didn’t go so hot. My daughter didn’t automatically latch by just placing her head up to my nipple. Holding her was actually really hard for me. Not how I imagined it.

The next several times I tried breastfeeding was a fail again. I think Izzy Mae only ate her first 1 ½ of life was the bottle she was fed in “transition” from the NICU.

I finally got the nerve to ask for help from the nurse. One thing we got sorted out was my milk hadn’t come in yet. Next I learned I had inverted nipples. My sweet nurse the second day at the hospital got me a lactation specialist right away.

The session with the specialist went great!

I was set using my nipple shield and breast pump. The nipple shield helped my daughter latch to my breast. While the breast pump helped my nipples not be inverted. It also helped bring in my milk supply. The breastfeeding holds I got help from pillows and later on the Boppy.

Izzy Mae used the nipple shield till November. I kept trying to get her to latch without the shield and then one feeding time she didn’t and that was that. I can remember feeling ecstatic that we did it. This may sound weird, but I felt like a real ‘mom’. I no longer had to worry about making sure I had the nipple shield with me when we went out or where was the last place I set down.

Looking back on my experience I’m so grateful for the lactation specialist and my nipple shield. Breastfeeding was one thing I really wanted to be able to do. I’m so grateful I was able to workout some kinks and successfully breastfeed my daughter. Every day that passes I’m thankful that I still can provide milk.

One benefit with using the nipple shield was my breast never cracked or bled. I did use the same nipple shield that the specialist gave me from the hospital. It’s important to wash it in soapy warm water. Having a clean shield helps from it slipping. Here is an article with more information about nipple shields.

Part 1 of My Story

Saturday:

I went on a 2 mile run with the husband.

Sunday:

I went on a 5-mile bike ride in the rain. By the end of the bike ride my back was hurting. I began to have mucus discharge when I went to the bathroom.

Monday:

My ‘back spasms’ were far and few between. Monday night was stressful event with our shepherd.

Tuesday:

I was slow in moving. I forced myself to eat a PB&J sandwich. Went to work at the spa.  By the end of my shift I could barely bend over and pick things up. I also was going to the bathroom I swear every 15 min. I swear the trek to my car took a good 45 min. My ‘back spasms’ were pretty intense. Once I arrived home I got an ice pack from my freezer and went upstairs to bed.

Tuesday Night:

I was only asleep for about 30 min after getting home and I was in full pain. I ended up going to another room to try to sleep because I was keeping up Mr B. 

Again, I was going to the bathroom every time I got up. My mucus discharge was pretty heavy and my ‘back spasms’ were so intense my mother says she could hear me groan.

Midnight Tuesday:

I’m frantically searching to see what hospital our insurance was accepted. I was to the end of my whit with these ‘back spasms’. I woke up Mr. B to ask him if he would be willing to take me to the emergency room because I couldn’t handle this pain anymore.

He asked if I could hold off till the morning to get seen by my doctor, but if I needed him he would take me.

Wednesday at Dawn:

I made it through the night with some more groans and have Mr. B inform that he could not feel my back spasms when I had him feel my back. At this point I felt like I was going crazy. Thinking to myself “How can he not feel this?” I call my doctor office to find out that they weren’t open till noon. I had to be at work at 10 that morning. I decided the best thing was to call in and go to an Urgent Care to see what was wrong with my back. By 8:30 I’m out the door slowly dealing with the ‘back spasms’ as they came closer. I finally make it to Urgent Care by 9:15.

Arrival to Urgent Care:

I don’t really remember the drive to the next town over, but I made it. The doctor sees me and she determines that I just over did the bike on Sunday and would need to take some painkillers for my back. She too couldn’t feel the spasms. She’s about to discharge me, but I ask her to check me since I had the excessive amount of discharge.

Once she gets the spectrum inserted she pushes really hard on my stomach and the runs out of the room to get another tool. Once she came back in the nurse pops her head in to say that the test came back positive. She feels my stomach a little more and then takes her gloves off and informs me that I am totally effaced and fully dilated. She informs me that my ‘back spasms’ were labor contractions. She lets me know that my next stop would be the emergency room.

I quickly call my mom who worked down the street from Urgent Care and let her know I needed her to take me to the ER. I then called my husband crying and apologizing that I was pregnant and letting him know I was in labor.

Next came the firefighters and ambulance. Somewhere between there my mom arrived. The only part I remember is the EMT asking me how I couldn’t feel my baby move?