My Birthing Story - present time

Kara - posted on 06/30/2009 ( 1 mom has responded )

Alright, this is the first time i'm putting my story in writing - please bare with me a little :)

May 11th I went into labour. My contractions woke me up at 3:30am and they were about 5 mins apart. By the time my sitters got here (I have a daughter who is 2.5 years old now) we managed to make it to St.Boniface for 4:00am, where i was then told i was already 6cm dialated. I didn't stay in the triage area for long until they moved me to a labour/delivery room, where they attempted to fill my request for an epidural. Contractions were comming on faster and they offered me some other means of pain control while waiting for the anesthesiologist to arrive - I kindly declined, and said i would wait for the epidural - I can hold out.

By the time the anesthesiologist got there, he administered the first part of the epidural, and the doctor arrived and broke my water. At this point, the contractions came on harder and the epidural hasn't kicked in, and the doctor also explained to me that they had to have the pediatric crew in for the delivery as Meconium was present in the amniotic fluid (A pooper right from the start!) So after that was discovered and they broke my water, it wasn't long until i was 10cm dialated (maye 7 mins) so then I pushed! Within 6 minutes of pushing, I had a baby boy (Judah Thomas Jones) 8lbs 2oz born at 7:53am, 21 inches long. I didn't get to see much of him right away, as he was taken to NICU to get treated for his inhalation of the meconium.

We were both put on antibiotics to clear up the infection that the meconium caused and needed to be on them for 24 hours. During that time - i didn't breast feed, i was lost, and unsure of what to do (despite it being child #2). The nurses were oh so nice - especially since my boy was in NICU they were very helpful and comforting when my husband wasn't around (They got me out of bed and walking by 3pm that day). I grabbed a pump, and started to pump. During his stay in NICU we were able to come and go as we pleased (My husband and I) and were allowed to designate 4 people who may enter with us (2 at a time) to visit with Judah. We were in and out a whole lot, but despite my attempts at breast feeding, it just didn't work out to well, so he was being formula fed as well - but not very well!

After Judah's antibiotics were done, they kept him in NICU as he had some respitory issues and feeding issues, as he wasn't feeding from me, or a bottle.

The respitory issues cleared up within the 48 hours, but the feeding was trickier.

They had to gavage feed him. This was very hard for us, as we never expierenced anything like it. Sticking a tube into his belly, and letting the formula drip into his belly. After watching my son go through a couple of those feedings, my husband could no longer be around to watch, as it wasn't a pleasent thing to watch. I stayed there for each of them and hugged him/calmed him down despite it being hard to watch..what else could I do?

On the wednesday (Judah was born on the Monday) he was released from NICU and able to stay in the room with me. I cried when he was leaving the NICU. He had such great nurses - but it was so wonderful to know that my boy was strong enough to come and be with me now.

After the discharge from NICU - he was boarded with me where we continued to work on our breast feeding, but Judah just kept getting fustrated, he didn't want to work for the food. He was so use to just getting it, and being full, he didn't know how to work for it. So the nurses brought in some formula so i could mix the breast milk that i pumped with it.

By the time we got discharged from the hospital (thursday), he was breast feeding a little better, but still needing the formula supplements After a few days of being home and working on the brest feeding, he did good, but was fussy with all the feedings.

He got back to his birth weight in no time, but the doctor still wanted to check up on him at the 4 week mark to make sure that he was still gaining weight.

Well during that 2 week time from when the doctor saw him last, he had only gained 6 oz, where he needed to gain anywhere from 10-14oz. He mentioned going to a breast feeding clinic and seeing what they can do about it, teaching me techniques and what not...But the technique wasn't the issue. I discovered a few days after our doctor visit, that Judah had thrush. We talked to our neighbour (She's a lactation consultant) and confirmed that it was a case of Thrush and we should see the doctor to get it treated. So during that time I had contracted the thrush as well, so it was painful to breastfeed, and it was painful for him to eat. I pulled out the bottle and switched him to a full formula bottle (he was drinking formula after breast feeding anyways, and the pumping wasn't helping much at all) When we went back to see the doctor 8 days later, he had gained 15oz!! He double the weight the doctor wanted to see, he was very pleased. So now my son will continue to be formula fed as it seems to be the best thing for him now. I gave him 4 weeks of boobie milk time, and that's the important part.

I'm proud to say that now, Judah has been growing, more alert, up between feedings, and is quite the happy camper despite the circumcision he just went through today.