I think the hospital stay almost made the epidural not worth it.... almost. Because I delivered Caisley 40 hours after my water broke, the pediatrician was concerned about an infection. It's typical to see a c-section preformed after 12-24 hours if there is not enough progress being made, however I showed no signs of infection and mine and baby's vitals were great though labor. Just some background information, studies have shown that waiting for up to 48-72 hours after the water breaks does not increase the risk of infection to babies. Even so, they wanted to do blood work on her to be sure. Watching your couple hour old baby get blood drawn is horrific, even though it didn't seem to bother her so much. But it was even worse since the first nurse who tried it couldn't get enough blood for the test, so Caisley had to go through that TWICE. The other heel prick test they preformed was even harder to watch since she cried while they did it. I did too. I held her hand and stroked her hair and tried to comfort her through it as much as I was able. I just wanted people to stop touching my brand new baby. It was also impossible to get any rest and we were both starting to get cranky there. Unfortunately, the pediatrician who saw us for a total of no more than 2 minutes wanted us to stay for another night of monitoring even though she never had a fever, was eating perfectly fine, her blood culture came back negative, and she wasn't at risk for jaundice.
Our inability to get any rest was starting to effect our nursing relationship and I KNEW we needed to go home. I had the nurse call her again later in the evening to see if the doctor would let us go and schedule a follow up appointment the next day. She said she wouldn't release us and that if I signed an "against medical advice" form to leave that she wouldn't do a follow up appointment - which made me want to leave even more.
At first I struggled making the decision to sign an AMA, especially because they warned me that my insurance might not cover me if I left against medical advice (total myth by the way) but I am SO glad that I did it. As we were wheeled past the nurses' station on the way out of the hospital, I felt like I was wearing a giant scarlet A on my forehead. I guess hospitals aren't used to being told no. But I knew that I knew what was best for us. I was completely confident in my ability to monitor Caisley's temperature and pulse at home. That's all they would have been doing at the hospital anyway. So off we went!
Caisley HATED her car seat and screamed for the first half of the ride home which stressed me out so much. I was so nervous she couldn't breathe in there so I turned on a light and watched her the rest of the way home. We've since learned she hates getting put IN her car seat but she totally passes out once we get moving.
Our first night was a little rough. We were both exhausted and she was gassy since she was adjusting to eating for the first time. Daddy did a really good job of burping her and then we were finally able to settle down and get the rest we so desperately needed. The next morning, I called the pediatrician that I wanted to see. We went in that day and the doctor said "She's perfect!" which I was so glad to hear and I felt validated in my choice to leave the hospital early.
Since our little rough patch the first night, she's been a dream baby. She wakes up every 2-3 hours at night to eat and she really only cries if she gets too cold when her diaper is changed or we put her in the car seat - and sometimes she's perfectly fine with both of those things. It's hit or miss!
I've been feeling great & I'm loving being her mama! A lot of people commented on how soon I was up and about so I wanted to share some of my new mama must haves that have really helped me feel normal again. Honestly, I think I've just been extremely lucky but I'm sure these things have made my after-birth experience much more pleasant!
Breast-feeding hurts at first. This makes it so much better! Most moms I talk to say they have pain for the first two weeks, we're one week in and it I'm already pain free. I used this instead of lanolin so I can’t really compare the two. All I know is I felt so much better after putting this on the first few days. It doesn’t have to be rinsed off, the ingredients are organic, and it doesn’t come from the oil glands of sheep - it’s all plant based!
2. Belly Bandit
I got this because I was hoping it'd help get my tummy flat again, which it totally has. But it made me feel so much more comfortable once I put it on. I had this empty feeling inside and it was so strange. This helped squish everything up tight and cozy!
I've been so thirsty so I've been drinking tons of water and I feel like that had really helped me bounce back so fast!
The hospital gave me numbing spray but I brought my own spray to use. The nurse who helped me to the bathroom the first time loved how good it smells! It's so fresh and the coolness feels AMAZING.
I've been using this on baby at night to protect against extended periods of wetness, but I also used it on myself where I was a little extra sore and it really helped!
6. BabyTime App
Keeping track of breastfeeding is so easy with this app. I love that it tells you the time since the last feeding and it's easy to edit each feeding when I forget to stop the timer! At night I let her nurse whenever she wants since we are snuggled up together anyway, but during the day it gets easy to forget the last time she ate (we shoot for every 2-3 hours but sometimes it's every hour or so) so this has been super useful!
If you're having a baby, you want these. I promise. Witch hazel feels nice and cool but it also helps reduce swelling.
This has let me do so much with a tiny babe! We have a convertible car seat which means I can't rely on an infant carrier for taking her out and about. But I'm totally okay with that because this wrap is 1,000,000 times better!! She passes out so hardcore in it that I have to mess with her every little bit to make sure she's okay. She's so comfy cozy all snuggled up to mama & I'm more than happy to have her close to me. Bonus points because it counts as tummy time!!
9. Peri-Bottle
Another necessity for a new mom. Using warm water is the perfect compliment to the coolness of those other products!
I felt pretty great by the second day so we did a few fun things while my mom was still in town but now that it's just the three of us we are taking it easy. I chose to encapsulate my placenta and I just started taking those pills so we will see if those help with my energy levels. I feel really blessed to have had such an easy time adjusting to motherhood but I'm sure I'll pay for it during the teen years! For now I'm just enjoying snuggling my tiny little perfect babe.
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