XP: river babies birth story
May 6, 2017 21:56:13 GMT -5
Post by river on May 6, 2017 21:56:13 GMT -5
We woke up early Friday for our scheduled section and headed to the hospital. We were fortunate to start right on time and both babies arrived before 8 am.
Baby girl Vio.let Patri.cia arrived two minutes before her brother. She weighed in at 6 lbs, 5 oz, and 19 inches. She has a nice amount of curly dark hair. She was brought to me for quick skin to skin while dad was talking to baby boy's team.
Baby boy Luc.as Mich.ael arrived quietly, at 5 lbs even, 18 inches. He wasn't breathing well, so after a quick look at him, they whisked him off to the NICU though I didn't realize it at the time.
I was stitched up, amazed at how quickly the process went, and taken to recovery. Once there, they filled me in that he went to the NICU, but only told me it was a precaution. I was a little out of it, so I didn't ask any other questions. V did not latch well, so they set me up with a pump and I was able to produce 5 mL of colostrum that was sent up to L. From there, we continued skin to skin and I eventually fed her a bottle, which she took like a champ.
I spent about three hours in recovery due to a problem with the catheter - I wasn't producing any urine and my BP was high. I was about to be sent to the high risk unit and began freaking out, still without my husband who was with L. I was unhappy about all of us being separated. A different nurse did a last ditch effort to adjust my catheter, and the urine flowed. My docs okayed me going to the mother-baby unit with V! They took her to get her checked in and took me in the bed to the NICU to see L. He looked so tiny compared to her peanut self, but was already off of the CPAP by that point (about five hours after birth).
And then things went sour. Once I got to my room, we had non-stop visitors (my ILs stayed for 4 hours and didn't leave when my brother and SIL came up with their three kids). Lesson learned: kick people out when they're acting like it's a social gathering rather than helping. As this was happening, there were apparently a ton of deliveries, because I didn't see my nurse. I missed the lactation consultant due to the company in my room. They kept talking about food, which sucked because I wasn't cleared for anything more than ice chips until almost 12 hours after the section. I kept asking, but my nurse was busy with others. I didn't have a pump, nor a lactation consultant, despite making my pump and provide wishes clear to every employee I saw. When I did see my nurse, and request more pain meds, she questioned if I was sure (mind you, I was "overdue" by hours at that point, still hooked up to an IV, and hadn't eaten or slept. I finally got pain meds and asked to go to the NICU. The NICU nurse was not good. She made me feel terrible, telling me I lost "precious hours" by not pumping, despite me asking for a pump repeatedly. Then I asked her for the explanation of L's status, and she was as uninformative as possible.
I learned this morning, 24 hours after birth, that he'd swallowed some fluid and was gagging but not producing spit up, hence keeping him on fluids because they didn't want him to choke. Flash back to the night before, when I told sucky NICU nurse that I'd rather have him take a bottle than be on fluids, and she incredulously asked why I'd want to introduce formula. My perspective was just let the kid eat something - I'm not tied to breastfeeding or pumping, but didn't realize there was a medical reason that was VERY simple for her to explain. I asked about attempting breastfeeding, and she said he had to be on fluids. I left his room confused and hysterical, feeling hopeless to do anything to help him, and now guilty that I'd lost "precious time" despite doing my best to advocate for a pump.
My SIL and bff's visits overlapped and they were horrified by all this, and then, both experienced BFers, attempted to help me with V. She didn't latch again, and the lactation consultant came in like an angel sent from above. She gave me a "fed is best" pep talk, got me a pump within five minutes, and told me that she would work to support me to make this a success as defined by me, for our family. She was phenomenal, and not at all what I was expecting but exactly what I needed. My SIL worked on getting my official orders for food cleared, while my bff got me a rogue sandwich, which was the best damn sandwich ever.
Flash forward to today, and while L is still in the NICU, he happily took the colostrum, latched well (my milk hasn't come in), and then took a bottle. V is the same - no nipple confusion at this point. They are champion eaters, burp well, and are producing lots of juicy diapers. L should be coming down to us at some point tomorrow, and I'm going to meet with the lactation consultant again to figure out what works best.
Tonight, I have one sleepy baby next to me, and another in great hands with kind NICU nurses, so I'm in a good place, looking forward to having both together tomorrow.
Baby girl Vio.let Patri.cia arrived two minutes before her brother. She weighed in at 6 lbs, 5 oz, and 19 inches. She has a nice amount of curly dark hair. She was brought to me for quick skin to skin while dad was talking to baby boy's team.
Baby boy Luc.as Mich.ael arrived quietly, at 5 lbs even, 18 inches. He wasn't breathing well, so after a quick look at him, they whisked him off to the NICU though I didn't realize it at the time.
I was stitched up, amazed at how quickly the process went, and taken to recovery. Once there, they filled me in that he went to the NICU, but only told me it was a precaution. I was a little out of it, so I didn't ask any other questions. V did not latch well, so they set me up with a pump and I was able to produce 5 mL of colostrum that was sent up to L. From there, we continued skin to skin and I eventually fed her a bottle, which she took like a champ.
I spent about three hours in recovery due to a problem with the catheter - I wasn't producing any urine and my BP was high. I was about to be sent to the high risk unit and began freaking out, still without my husband who was with L. I was unhappy about all of us being separated. A different nurse did a last ditch effort to adjust my catheter, and the urine flowed. My docs okayed me going to the mother-baby unit with V! They took her to get her checked in and took me in the bed to the NICU to see L. He looked so tiny compared to her peanut self, but was already off of the CPAP by that point (about five hours after birth).
And then things went sour. Once I got to my room, we had non-stop visitors (my ILs stayed for 4 hours and didn't leave when my brother and SIL came up with their three kids). Lesson learned: kick people out when they're acting like it's a social gathering rather than helping. As this was happening, there were apparently a ton of deliveries, because I didn't see my nurse. I missed the lactation consultant due to the company in my room. They kept talking about food, which sucked because I wasn't cleared for anything more than ice chips until almost 12 hours after the section. I kept asking, but my nurse was busy with others. I didn't have a pump, nor a lactation consultant, despite making my pump and provide wishes clear to every employee I saw. When I did see my nurse, and request more pain meds, she questioned if I was sure (mind you, I was "overdue" by hours at that point, still hooked up to an IV, and hadn't eaten or slept. I finally got pain meds and asked to go to the NICU. The NICU nurse was not good. She made me feel terrible, telling me I lost "precious hours" by not pumping, despite me asking for a pump repeatedly. Then I asked her for the explanation of L's status, and she was as uninformative as possible.
I learned this morning, 24 hours after birth, that he'd swallowed some fluid and was gagging but not producing spit up, hence keeping him on fluids because they didn't want him to choke. Flash back to the night before, when I told sucky NICU nurse that I'd rather have him take a bottle than be on fluids, and she incredulously asked why I'd want to introduce formula. My perspective was just let the kid eat something - I'm not tied to breastfeeding or pumping, but didn't realize there was a medical reason that was VERY simple for her to explain. I asked about attempting breastfeeding, and she said he had to be on fluids. I left his room confused and hysterical, feeling hopeless to do anything to help him, and now guilty that I'd lost "precious time" despite doing my best to advocate for a pump.
My SIL and bff's visits overlapped and they were horrified by all this, and then, both experienced BFers, attempted to help me with V. She didn't latch again, and the lactation consultant came in like an angel sent from above. She gave me a "fed is best" pep talk, got me a pump within five minutes, and told me that she would work to support me to make this a success as defined by me, for our family. She was phenomenal, and not at all what I was expecting but exactly what I needed. My SIL worked on getting my official orders for food cleared, while my bff got me a rogue sandwich, which was the best damn sandwich ever.
Flash forward to today, and while L is still in the NICU, he happily took the colostrum, latched well (my milk hasn't come in), and then took a bottle. V is the same - no nipple confusion at this point. They are champion eaters, burp well, and are producing lots of juicy diapers. L should be coming down to us at some point tomorrow, and I'm going to meet with the lactation consultant again to figure out what works best.
Tonight, I have one sleepy baby next to me, and another in great hands with kind NICU nurses, so I'm in a good place, looking forward to having both together tomorrow.
