Saturday, October 27, 2012

Mommy tip: Diaper Rash

When Emily was 2 weeks old I got an infection. I subsequently went on antibiotics. This gave poor Emily a horrible diaper rash.

We tried everything:
    - both types of desitin
    - butt paste
    - air drying

Nothing was working. So after 5 days when it was just getting worse I went to the doctor. He told us to use 1% hydrocortisone cream. After 3 uses the diaper rash was practically gone. It was amazing. Once I was off the antibiotics it went away completely but the cream defiantly made her feel better.

Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional and this cream will not work for all rashes (example: yeast infections)




Mom Tip: The hospital part 2

Disclaimer: I gave birth at an inner city hospital. According to some other moms I have spoken to the hospitals in the suburbs are not like this.


Tip: Be prepared for surprised hospital staff

I was too swollen to wear my rings on my hand at the end of my pregnancy so I wore them on a necklace. While in labor and delivery I had this conversation:
      Nurse: "Oh, Are you married?"
      Me: "yes"
      Nurse: "That is so great! Congratulations!"
      Me: "Thank you?" confused face, this is kind of hard to respond to. One I have been married for almost 3 years and I am currently in labor.

This is a different conversation with a different nurse. Also, while in labor.
    Nurse: "Do we have a name?"
    Me: "Yes, Emily Paige"
    Nurse: "Oh good! A normal name!"
I heard later from a mom who works at the hospital that random crazy names are typical, one example she gave me was a child named Chlamydia.

Tip: Be prepared to be visited by social services, several times

Yes, I was visited 3 times. I had conversations/lectures about if we had a car seat, post-partem depression, if I needed help telling the father, about domestic abuse and about not shaking the baby and tips if I feel like I want to.

Tip: Be prepared to have the WIC person really try to push signing up.

She did not believe we did not qualify. At least I hope we don't qualify. Was stupefied that I did not want to sign up.

Tip: Be prepared to have unrelated medical advise shoved on you.

I am the type of person who gives my whole medical history. Apparently this is a mistake. I have asthma. It is very controlled but I needed to start using an inhaler while pregnant and only during exercise. This means that I received a visit from a respiratory specialist to teach me what happens to my lungs during an asthma attack, about peak flows, and how to take my inhaler. She was very surprised to learn I already knew all of  this.

Now all of these things are really funny. But when you are sleep deprived and in pain it is really annoying. This also means that while I really like my doctors I will be going to a hospital in the suburbs for any other children we have.

Mom Tip: The Hospital part 1

Everyone told me not to over pack for the hospital. So I tried really hard to make sure I only had the essentials.

I failed.

Now I am going to give some wisdom on what I used, what I didn't, and what I wish I had.




Electronic Devices: I packed our phones, camera (small digital), the Ipad, my kindle, and all of the chargers. We used our phones the most. While we used the camera some we mostly used our phones for pictures because they were easier to reach (you always have your phone) so I would not bring the camera next time unless I have an extra family member at the hospital to be in charge of pictures. We used the ipad but I did not have time after my epidural for my kindle. I think it would be useful to someone who is being induced but otherwise you have other devices you can utilize. All of the chargers were used.

Clothes: You only need one nursing bra, if you are going to put it on right away either put it on before they give you an iv or bring one that clasps and does not pull over your head. I brought a cheep pair of pajamas. I totally suggest this. Way better than wearing gowns, I suggest ones that button up the front for easy nursing access. Pack maternity clothes, though I suggest yoga type pants for several reasons (some explained next) but mostly because you will be in pain in your girly region and you don't want jeans rubbing.

Shoes: I packed slippers. Mine are really nice ugg ones that do not have an open back. This means I was unable to get my foot in them. Yep see I did not swell that much while pregnant but with in an hour of giving birth I swelled up till I felt and looked like Jabba the Hut. (This is also why you want stretchy maternity clothes). I suggest forgoing all foot wear except what you wear to and from hospital. Just use the socks they give you.

Toiletries: Bring your own. Either pack your own or buy travel size of your favorites. One of the best things after giving birth is the shower. You feel disgusting and having something that smells good will make you feel wonderful. They will give you some so you could just use that. I wanted to smell like me not like patient. I have a big aversion to patient smell.

For Baby: only bring an outfit to go home in. Make sure it has legs and is not a sleeper, otherwise you cant buckle them into the car-seat.You don't need to dress them while there. You don't need swaddlers either. Most hospitals use Halo swaddlers instead of receiving blankets. By the way I love this type, way better than the other ones.

Don't bring your boppy pillow. They will give you about 10 pillows which will be easier to use than to carry your boppy in and out of the hospital.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Breastfeeding troubles

So I have always known that I wanted to breastfeed and if possible to do it for at least the first year. There are many reasons why I decided this but most likely the main one was a wonderful nutrition class I took in college (favorite class: anyone currently at VT I suggest it, its called Nutrition through the lifespan). This is what I decided for me and I am not saying that it is the best choice for anyone else. This post is about my experience so far.

I knew a head of time that I may not be able to exclusively breastfeed for the first year and that I may need to supplement. This is because I had a breast reduction. I found a surgeon that knew my wishes and worked hard to make sure I would still be able to breastfeed. Knowing this I went into the situation with an open mind.

At the hospital I first fed my daughter with in the first hour. She latched but did not feed long. I was told this is normal, she is just a "sleepy baby". This continued for the next day. I had a lactation consultant from the hospital visit me. She helped with positioning and recommended I use a pump to help stimulate my milk due to my reduction. I asked her if Emily had a tongue tie because when she latched I was in extreme pain. I was told no and that this is normal. I didn't question it. I had never had a baby before and these were the experts.

Emily still refused to latch for long periods of time through out our stay. I saw a different consultant and asked her about the tongue tie. Again, I was told she was fine because her tongue came out of her mouth. Before leaving I asked the pediatric team, again I was told everything was alright.

At our first Pediatric appointment after the hospital. I asked again and was told she was fine because her tongue came past her gums. She was 3 days old. I had rented a hospital grade pump and was pumping to stimulate before nursing. That afternoon she started refusing to latch. she would scream and arch away from me. Luckily I was still pumping and my milk started to come in. We fed that to her in a bottle and continued to try to latch.

The next day James went to work and I was at home with a 4 day old baby who refused to latch and was becoming lethargic. By 2pm she had not had a wet or dirty diaper for over 16 hrs and was still refusing to latch. In desperation I called the lactation consultant from the hospital. She told me to feed her some formula. Well duh! My sleep deprived brain coupled with my fear about Emily becoming dehydrated seemed to not come up with this solution. She also wanted me to come into the hospital to work with them about latching. Well I couldn't. I was alone and still on pain meds so I could not drive. I fed a bottle to Emily and 20 minutes later a wet diaper.

Over the next few days we continued to try to latch. She refused. We fed her pumped milk and formula because I was not producing enough at that time. I was holding out for Saturday. My mom was coming and Moms know how to do everything right? Plus she had nursed 4 babies. I was sure she would help. Nope, it stumped her too. So by Sunday Emily was 7 days old and we were out of options. I started calling people on the long list of experts the hospital gave me at discharge.

No one answered at the hospital. But the message said to call the La Leche League. I called them, no one answered. I continued down the list. And there was a random woman's name. It seamed out of place but it said she was a LLL leader. So I called. It was her house number and she answered. In explaining I broke down. I was tired, overwhelmed and ready to give up. She told me it would be alright. Do you know how amazing it is to hear that? Then she came over. One of the first things she said was "You are a great mom". I wanted to cry. Here I was so worried and someone told me I was doing everything I could and that I was a good mom. I really needed to hear that and it made everything better.

after working on positioning she asked me if irt hurt when she did latch. Why yes it does. It feels like someone is clamping my nipples with pliers and twisting. But that is normal right? That is what they told me at the hospital. WRONG! So she stuck her FINGERS IN EMILY'S MOUTH. She was the first one to do that. And guess what! She had a tongue tie and an upper lip tie.

We were refereed to a specialist, Dr. Amy Grawey. Who is a family medicine doctor as well as a lactation consultant. She did the laser procedure to remove the ties. Afterwards Emily would still not latch. So at our follow up she suggested a nipple shield. Emily latches wonderfully with the shield.

I also asked about ways to increase my supply because at this point I had gone over 2 weeks with out a baby nursing and my supply was low. I tried fenugreek which did not work so I moved to Reglan. A prescription my OB gave me. It started to work with in days but I discontinued use after having feelings of depression. Reglan is known for increased risk of Postpartum Depression.

Right now we are nursing with the shield. Some people have suggestions for removing the shield but James and I have decided we don't want to put our daughter through that trauma right now and maybe will try later. Using a shield is not so bad. I am also pumping. We still have to supplement but I am fine with that. I have done my best for my daughter and that is all I can do.

I suggest finding help if you are having problems as soon as you notice them. Stick with it you will find what works for you. And if that means you need to stop, do it. A happy mommy makes a happy baby and feeding your child formula is not the end of the world. You still love them and they will know that.

Friday, October 12, 2012

hello baby!

Around 8am on Sunday September 16th I woke up with a few contractions. They were not that strong or that fast so I just started playing Soduku and let James sleep. A little bit later James got up to make cinnamon buns and I got ready for the day. When you are pregnant everyone tells you these horrible stories about being in labor for like 30 hours and how the first baby always takes a long time so I figured I would probably get to watch part of the redskins game. So I prepared for it.


Well I was wrong. By the time James brought me a cinnamon bun I was in active enough labor to go to the hospital. You are supposed to have contractions every 5 minutes, that are 1 minute long and have them for at least 1 hour. Mine were only 2 minutes apart but were lasting only about 30 seconds. I decided to call the triage number to see if I could come to the hospital. They acted like I was not in labor but might as well come in anyway.

So we called the kennel, packed the car, loaded up the dog and got ready to leave. Unfortunatly Slider did not agree with this plan. Slider must have picked up on something because he went a little crazy. He ran around the house keeping away from James so he could not put the leash on. Then he decided he wanted to sit in the baby seat. Every time James got in the driver seat he jumped over the back seat into the baby seat and tried to climb up to the front with me. After 6 times of putting him back, we were able to keep him there and we were able to leave.

After dropping off the dog we headed to the Hospital. At this point we were still joking around and having fun. I mean it takes a while for babies to come right? I decided I did not want to walk in by myself. so we parked and walked together. We made it to the triage area of OB around 12:30 pm. They checked me in and I was 5 cm. Then they freaked out because my blood pressure was high. I wanted to say maybe it was because I was nervous BECAUSE I AM HAVING A BABY! After taking my blood pressure a few times and it not coming down the nurse says "well if it does not come down you might earn yourself admittance". I was like "WHAT!" I am in labor. What is required to gain admittance to Labor and Delivery? Then I was given an iv and they left us for a while.

James having fun

After about an hour of waiting around my contractions have gotten a lot worse and my hand hurts really bad. James finally listened to my complaining about my hand when I said something about it during a contraction And look! My iv infiltrated (for those non medical people that means that the fluid was not going into the vein) so James turned it off and found a nurse. That is when everyone picked up pace because they realized I was progressing faster then they thought I would. All of a sudden everyone runs into this tiny room and they are wheeling me to labor and delivery. I had 5 nurses there, 2 were trying to find a new place for an iv and every one else was getting things ready and calling doctors. After 5 sticks they got an iv and everything was set.

My board. James added the "Go Redskins" 
Side note: Why would you ask a woman her medical history when she is having a contraction. Talking does not really work at that time. Also they had my history on file already. They asked if I have had surgery during a really bad contraction. I have an extensive surgical history. So instead of trying I point to James. He starts listing things off and then started adding procedures I have never had. Luckily my contraction ended around then so I could correct him or he would have kept going. He had already gotten rid of my appendix, who know what would have come next.

As nurses were starting to clear out James mentioned that the game was about to start. The nurse practically yelled at him "She is in labor, she does not have to watch football!". Lucky for James I defended him saying I was the fan and she said it was okay then and showed us how to turn on the tv. So the game came on but to be honest I was not watching much.

I had to wait about an hour for an epidural because there were 2 emergency c-sections happening. The Anesthesiologist also accused James of making me watch the football game. It was kind of nice to have so many people watching out for my viewing pleasure. Once I got my epidural life was nice again and I could watch some football :)

Before Epidural
After Epidural
Football game
They checked me again I was 7cm and they broke my water. 30 minutes later I was ready to push. I called the nurse and she was like "It has only been 30 minutes I don't want to check you again yet". About 10 minutes later they came back in because Emily's heart rate was erratic. And low and behold I was 10 cm and ready to push. They got everything ready and we started pushing. Everyone was joking and having a good time and 20 minutes later we had a baby girl!


I held her while James cut the cord and then after a while they took her to clean her up and weigh her. After getting her foot prints she kicked James so he had a new tattoo for the rest of the day.


Before being moved to postpartum I was told by the doctors and nurses several times that I need to make sure to get to the hospital fast for my next one because I was only in active labor for about 5 hours and it will go faster next time. Then in the next 2 days I was told again at least 4 times. They are really worried I am going to have a baby in the car.
Snuggling with Daddy while mommy ate Jimmy Johns

By the way I was really distracted by my new baby so I did not see the end of the game but I was told we lost. But I wasn't too upset about that :)

And then there were 3!

So if you have not noticed I have not posted anything in the last month. That is because I have been slightly busy with our new daughter!


Our baby girl was born on September 16th at 5:52pm
       *yes in the middle of the Redskins game. Sorry Berger family I guess that means she will be a Skins Fan!

She was 6lbs 11oz and 20.25 inches long.

Emily a few minutes after she was born
I have lots of blog posts I am waiting to post once I have time so bear with me ;)