Emily Charlotte is here.....

Submitted by davemayamom on January 30, 2009 - 10:30am
Body: 

Hi everyone,

Just thought I'd let you know that I had my baby girl on January 25th. She is lovely and is a healthy 7lbs, 3oz. I had a quick 5 hour labour during which I laboured mostly on my hands and knees. When I got to the pushing stage, I did it mostly in sidelying. I was careful not to push too hard and keep breathing. She came out much easier than my son, and with minimal tearing (only 1 stitch) and swelling. It was also a wonderful surprise to have a girl. I had assumed I was carrying a boy because the baby had swollen kidneys on ultrasound. This is primarily a male problem and is taken more seriously in females. The doctors all took a relaxed attitude to it, so I just assumed it was a male (my son had the same problem). Anyway, was I ever shocked to have a girl! It took us days to pick out a name because we only had boy names. She will go for an ultrasound in 2weeks to ensure her kidneys are draining properly, but she is peeing just fine!

As for my prolapse, I can still feel it and I'm guessing I've also developed a rectocele during pregnancy. I don't want to go looking for anything until I"m at least 6 weeks pp. It was easy relaxing in the hospital, but much harder doing that at home. I'm trying to stay in posture when I'm up and about, although my sacrum is a bit sore. I"m trying to nurse in tailor sitting during the day. At night I was lying with her, but my nipples just can't handle that right now, I have to make sure she is latched properly, so I sit at the edge of the bed with a pillow. I'm hoping that my prolapse will resolve slowly as time goes on, I really miss walking with my dog (something I did when my son was a baby). Being housebound is no fun, but I'm enjoying the precious time with my daughter.

Thanks for all your help and support along the way. I'll continue to visit and give updates.

Janice

Christine

January 30, 2009 - 10:50am

I'm so happy for you, Janice...what a sweet surprise. I'm also very glad to hear that you're employing good technique postpartum...it will serve you well. The rectocele will come - but many women have come to realize that two bulges are better than one - lol. All will be well! :) Christine

luvmiboyz

January 30, 2009 - 11:27am

congratulations im sure you are relieved to have the delivery behind you now...i love that name it is VERY precious!

AnneH

January 30, 2009 - 12:10pm

Congratulations! Christine is right; I think two are better than one. I am convinced that my cystocele and rectocele meet to provide a block so that my uterus cannot descend any further. But you are right not to jump to any conclusions about that until later after the postpartum period is over.

I had latch problems with my first, and boy do I know the nipple pain when they do it wrong. As a consequence, I become a lactation counselor later. You CAN breastfeed lying down probably sooner than you think you will; it should only be necessary to maintain those sitting positions with the pillow for a few days. When you nurse, do you use your hand to hold the breast? Not the nipple itself but behind the areola? I think the best way is to place your palm and four fingers under the breast, to lift and support it, and thumb on top. Then compress it into a wedge. Use the hand on the same side of the breast, with the baby sitting, facing you, on a pillow if necessary. Place your other hand in the small of the baby's back, using only the tips of your fingers to support her head - that part is important. Do not try to bring the breast to the baby; bring the baby in to the breast, as her mouth approaches, she should sense/smell the breast and open up - at that moment you take your index finger (the one under the breast), and, while still supporting the breast with the other fingers, press it into her chin, to keep her lower jaw from closing. This is the key to preventing nipple soreness, when the cause is improper latch, because holding the jaw down will hold the tongue down and keep her from tonguing the nipple (ouch!)

Because when you nurse lying down, the baby is aligned vertically with you, NOT crossed to you as she is when you nurse sitting up with her cradled in the crook of your arm, it may be easier to transfer to nursing lying down if you do it this way sitting up. So then when you lie on your side, put the baby very close to your lower breast and place a firm pillow or rolled up towel into the small of her back NOT behind her head. You use the arm opposite the lower breast to hold the breast, and now, instead of bringing the baby to you, you will have to scootch in close to her, but holding the breast the same way, compressing the tissue behind the areola, so that it is a flatish wedge of tissue, and again using your index finger to press down her chin, if necessary.

The baby's face should be angled up, never down to her chest - supporting the small of her back is key. If you feel that scraping sensation of her tonguing the nipple, press down that chin again to remind her to keep the tongue UNDER the breast. When a baby nurses properly there should be no pain. The actual nipple itself is not rubbed or scraped; only the tissue behind it, stripped as it were by the action of the baby's jaw to press out the milk. A baby does not "suck" when it nurses... it presses the milk out in a stripping action, up and behind the nipple. Don't give her anything in a bottle and do not use a pacifier. These the baby DOES suck and they unlearn proper nursing. You can give these later after she has nursing down cold, but not in the first weeks, if you have latch problems. She does not need supplemental water as long as she is peeing a lot.

Sorry this is much more than you wanted to hear, but I can't help myself since I went through such problems with mine.

kiki

January 30, 2009 - 3:19pm

huge huge congrats!
i know you miss running around, but it's early days. give your body a break as much as you can, and enjoy your lovely family.
and hang in with feeding--so quickly it'll get better.
i had huge problems with feeding second time around, and lying down was not an option for a long time till his little mouth grew enough to latch on well. but we got there in the end, and thankfully the early days of feeding faded into the memory...i did find in bed sitting crossleggd with pillows on my lap was good...

keep us updated! and you are right, don't go looking yet...it's early.

granolamom

January 31, 2009 - 10:41pm

congrats on the baby girl
I hope she figures out how to latch in sidelying soon, bf laying down is so much easier sometimes than sitting up, but it sounds like you're managing that well.
I'm in the '2 are better than 1' camp too, and think you are one wise woman not to look for 6 weeks. at least.
rest up, mama, and welcome to the world little emily charlotte! (love the name, btw)

davemayamom

February 5, 2009 - 9:08am

Hi There,

Just wanted to thank everyone for the well wishes. I'm now almost 2 weeks pp and feeling better. So far I've been lucky to have a fairly content baby and I've been able to put her down for sleeping ( I had to wear my son in a sling all day). I'm wearing the V2 supporter, and doing everything with "the posture". Having the belly weight off certainly has helped reduce the pressure. I've gone for a couple of walks (in posture) of course. I'm a bit worried that things will worsen as my husband has to return to work next week, but I"m hopeful that if I can keep up the posture, things will at least be maintained. Thanks for all of your help and support.