I have been meaning to write this post for ages and I finally sat down to share my birth experience with my first baby, Brynn.  I personally enjoy reading birth stories from other bloggers and I am happy to share this with you guys.  It would be a good to note somewhere other than ever forgetful my own brain.  I am warning you though, this post will be super long...

My due date was 8/4/14.  Though, I and my OB doctor decided on induction at 39 weeks.  Though, it was more my choice I guess.  However, my OB doctor suggested it as well, since baby seems to be bigger for my size ( I am only 5'2", and weighed 125lbs at 39 weeks/ pre-pregnancy weight was 91lbs).  I was excited to be induced thinking my horrible 3rd trimester will be over and finally get to meet my baby girl.  Though, I know that induction is very hard on the body and can be tougher labor and delivery than when you go into labor naturally.
Anyhow, I went to the hospital on 7/29/14 5:30 am to get started.  I was admitted and induction started.  By that night, I was having strong contractions and I started to have a lot of pain.  I was given stadol for pain control which made me so oozy and dizzy for such a long time.  The nurse initially told me that the medication will wear off in about 2 hours but heck, it stayed with me for about 8-9 hours.  The contractions were very regular and strong but my cervix had hard time dilating.  I was at 2cm when I was admitted and it was still 2cm until the next day.

On Wednesday, 7/30, due to the strong contractions and pain, I had to ask for epidural which relieved my pain tremendously but at the same time, I was so nervous about not being able to move until the birth.  I was more worried about how long it was going to take to be in actual delivery.

My hubby got a first teddy bear for Brynn.  I was still in labor, taking a nap.

Since I wasn't progressing very well, my doctor changed the med from Pitocin to Cervidil which is more like cervix ripening med.  Throughout the day, I was dilating slowly.  Though, I was very uncomfortable being in bed, not being able to eat.  It was just totally a waiting game.  On top of this, my OB doctor told me that she had to leave the town for emergency situation so she can't deliver my baby.  I understood the situation but I was very disappointed that she can't deliver my baby.  (So, my family doctor ended up delivering my baby.)

Finally, around 7pm, I was dilated to 6-7cm and 100% effaced.  (Oh, also, I think my water broke around noon on wed.)  I was upset and nervous that I wasn't making good progress and I was exhausted as well.  At that point, I was even up for a c-section if my doc suggests.  Though, he never did.  My doctor came back at around 9pm and he finally said, I am ready to push!!! I was so excited!! The nurse got ready for the delivery, I called my in-laws, my mom was there already, and I started doing some practice pushes with the nurse.  He came in about 20-30min later and I started pushing for real.  I was pain free and was very comfortable.  Though, he decided to use the vacuum and did episiotomy.  I think I only pushed for less than 30 min and my baby girl was born!
I was so happy and excited, I held her while my husband cut the umbilical cord!  I think her apgar was 9/10 and she cried as soon as she came out!  She was a healthy baby!

One happy family!

My hubby got me a 'push present'! Good job honey, what a beautiful necklace!

She was less than 10min old at that time!

Everyone was busy doing their thing.  I mean nurses were taking care of the baby and my doctor was busy repairing the episiotomy.  Then, I started feeling very dizzy and nauseated.  I knew something wasn't going right.  Then, my doctor told me that I bled quite a bit.  yes, 700ml blood loss which is a lot!!! I did get some med which helped with nausea and we took some pictures with my mom and in-laws.  By the time everyone left the hospital, it was about midnight, I was so exhausted and tired that I wasn't sure if I can take care of the baby.  I felt like I literally had no energy left in me.  I really wanted to nurse the baby and hold her skin to skin but that wasn't going to happen.  So, the nurse took the baby to the nursery until the next morning.

Meanwhile, two nurses came in around 3am to assess me and to take me to potty.  The nurse thought I might not be able to ambulate to the bathroom yet due to the epidural so she brought a bedside commode.  As I was getting up, I was very dizzy but was able to sit at the edge of the bed for literally 2 seconds.  And I passed out.  Yes, I did.  I woke up with buzzing and pain in my both ears and nurses shaking and screaming at me.  Same thing happened again at around 6am that morning when we tried for the second time.
Well,  so a long story short, I ended up getting blood transfusion that afternoon.  My blood count was so low.

I went into the hospital on Tuesday, had my baby late Wednesday night, and blood transfusion and recovery on Thursday and finally came home on Friday.  So, I ended up giving her formula meanwhile.
Anyhow, I am thankful for not having a c-section, but I would definitely say that the labor and delivery wasn't easy for me.  I feel like the induction was very hard on the body and one thing I would do differently for my next baby is not getting induction.  That's for sure!!  Recovery was definitely not easy.  Though, I did quite well. 

Even though, it wasn't an easy L & D, I am so happy to finally welcome my baby girl to the world.  I am looking forward to experiencing amazing times with my baby girl Brynn!

Love, Jo

Hello, guys~







It has been over one week since I gave birth to my first lovely sweet little baby girl.  Baby Brynn turned 1 week old last Wednesday!  It has been quite tough with the newborn but I am enjoying her every single moment!  For those who don't know, she was born on July 30, 2014, 9:57pm weighed 7lbs 9oz by vaginal birth after 25 hours of labor!

Brynn sleeps a lot just like any other newborns in general.  The only problem I face is she wakes up a lot at night and she is wide awake when I desperately need some sleep.  I slowly getting used to the sleepless nights but I really need to figure something out before I go back to work.  This will be beneficial for me and for the baby as well.  I don't ask a lot of help to my husband, especially at night since he needs to work during the day and I am home with the baby which I don't mind for now.  Though, he knows that once I go back to work, he will need to do much more work for the baby as well.

For feeding,  I semi-breastfeed her.  I pump mostly and I supplement with formula once or twice a day.  I try not to give her no more than 2-4 oz of formula a day.  I will write another post on breastfeeding and why I pump mostly.  I would love to exclusively breastfeed her but that is not happening right now.  At the same time, I am dealing with bad mastitis on both breasts.  I will also update you guys on that as well.
She now can take about 1 1/2oz to 2 oz at once in general, sometimes she can take up to 3 oz at once.

Her umbilical stump came off at day 8 mark and now we can give her a regular bath!

Another exciting thing happened this week was getting her newborn pictures taken by a professional photographer!  It was a long session but I really enjoyed every moment with her during the session!







Oh another thing I want to mention is I am cloth diapering at the moment and I am hoping to continue.  I think I might have to use disposables once she goes to the daycare when I go back to work but I still want to use cloth diapers.  I will have to wait and see how things will turn out.

I think that's it for the first week of Brynn's life update.  Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions for me!
Thanks for reading!

Love, Jo


 

Hi, Beautiful!

Officially, today is my last day of pregnancy!  I am getting induced tomorrow! So today I will share my hospital bag and diaper bag! I wasn't able to take a lot of pictures but I will go through everything I am going to take with me!

I have several diaper bags but the one that I'm going to carry this time is from Kate spade. 
So here is the picture of the content of the baby stuff!

Do you need any explanation? ;-)  I have 2 newborn onesies and 2 footed sleep wears.  Also I am just taking two 0-3months onesies as well.  Oh, and there is one outfit just in case they take a picture of her.  Otherwise, you can see what I packed for the baby..

For me, I have more stuff obviously.   And yeah, there were a lot to pack.  (Sorry, I don't have any pictures of them).
Toiletries, makeup (yes, I am taking makeup, I want to look good!), 2 sleep wear, 3-4 underwear, 2 nursing bras, going home outfit, socks, ipad, phone, camera, chargers, my brest nursing pillow, snacks, and hospital documents.  Also, importantly I am taking the Lansinoh nipple cream and the new mama bottom spray.  I think these will be very helpful afterwards. 

38 weeks pregnant...

I really wish I had started this blog a lot sooner.  I really wanted to document  every little things about my first pregnancy with Brynn but things didn't work out as I hoped...(excuses and excuses..)
I started a new job in early December and several days later, I found out that I was pregnant! what a timing right?  It was hard enough to get used to the new job but on top of that, I had to deal with the horrible first trimester symptoms! (which lasted until 20th weeks!)

Anyhow, I am 38 5days pregnant and I can't believe that I will see her very soon.  I just stared my maternity leave this week due to too much leg swelling and too much stress from work.. Also, I am getting induced on the first day of my 39 weeks! Other than that I have been feeling pretty good.  The anticipation is quite hard though.  As a first mom, every little contraction worries me, thinking that I might go into labor.

Side view - Literally looks like a basketball!

Front view! ;)

During this pregnancy, I have been craving a lot of french fries, haha, because I've never crave french fries.  Still eating copious amount of fruits and vegetables though!
Sleeping is quite hard and I can't wait to sleep on my back again!

It is really getting close! I will see my baby in several days!
Again, I missed the whole journey of my pregnancy but I can't wait to share the parenthood and my baby stories here!

Thanks for reading!

Love, Jo