XP: He's here!!!! (long birth story)

[Deleted]

Ethan was born via unplanned C-section on Sunday afternoon!! We just got released yesterday after his stay in the NICU. I was induced on Saturday because of preeclampsia and labored without any pain meds for about 12 hours. The last six hours were so intense that I asked for some pain meds (I was trying to go med free but couldn't handle it anymore) and they gave me stadol. Almost instantly after I got it, his heart rate dropped significantly. They almost sectioned me then, but we were able to get his heart rate up. That was the scariest part of labor for me. All of a sudden there were like, 5 nurses in my room telling me to do different things and putting me on oxygen. They put an internal monitor on him so they could get a better idea of how he was doing and he stabalized.

I was really freaked out after that and still in a ton of pain so I asked for an epi. I told H that it was the best decision I had ever made, even above choosing to marry him. I labored (if you can call it that. I couldn't feel anything) for a while and finally made it to 10cm and started pushing. I pushed 3 times and my nurse stopped me and checked me again. I had gone back to 9cm (how does that even happen?!) and my cervix was hard or forward or something. His heart rate was dipping with each contraction at this point so my OB came in and said it was time to move to a section. I was really bummed I didn't get to have a vaginal birth, but at that point I was more concerned with Ethan than myself.

So, they prepped me and I was even joking with the anestesiologist and my OB and nurse. They were all amazing and kept me calm the entire time. As soon as they put the meds in me, I started to puke. Which was fun. When H came in, they cut me open and took him out. He didn't cry right away and I freaked out. I didn't find out until later that his first APGAR score was a 4 and he came out completely blue. I'm really glad H didn't tell me that while I was on the table. I would have flipped. He pearked up and they took my to my room with him.

His sugar crashed shortly after birth (because of my diabtes) to 35 so he was literally taken out of my hands and rushed to the NICU. That was pretty scary too. He stayed in the NICU until last night because he developed jaundice pretty badly after they stabalized his sugar. He hasn't latched yet either. I kind of gave up on it after a day because he would get so upset when I put him to breast and I got intimidated. So, he's been on formula until today when my milk finally came in. I'm pumping and supplementing and am working on being okay with that. I really wanted to EBF and with everythign else that went wrong/not what I wanted, it's kind of hard for me to accept.

We took him to the ped today and he said he looked fantastic and he wasn't worried about the jaundice anymore (!!) He is a really chill/sleepy baby. They attributed that to his sugar being unstable and the jaundice, but I'm hoping it sticks. He's asleep in his swing now and hopefully tonight goes better than last night. My mom's been here twice and really helped me get my confidence up because I keep second (and third and fourth) guessing all of my decisions and my anxiety is really high. But H has been friggin fantastic and letting me sleep and recover. I think he's changed more diapers than I have. I am so happy he's out of the NICU and home with us finally.

Here, if you got this far you get Ethan pictures!!

[Deleted]

Congrats on your beautiful baby boy! I'm sorry your birth didn't go as planned. Mine didn't either but the most important thing is that your baby is here.

[statlerwaldorf]

Congrats! I love his cheeks.

[Deleted]

Thanks guys! I think his cheeks are my favorite thing ever lol. So squisheeeeey

[thatgirl2478]

Oh SQUISHY baby cheeks are the BEST! Congrats!

[adcobe]

Congrats! So precious!

[MrsDarcy]

Congrats!!

[Blue Moon]

Congratulations! He is SO cute!

[Yankees21]

Congratulations!! Those cheeks, omg. Glad he is home and doing well!

[robinsbff]

congrats -- he's adorable!!

[chicago]

Well hello there,  (heart)CHEEKS (heart)!  They're killing me.  Congrats on your adorable little guy.  Glad to hear everyone is doing well now.  I hear you on the anxiety thing - that will definitely be me!

[mannah]

Congratulations!!!! He's darling

[winemaker06]

Congrats! He's adorable and I'm glad everyone is healthy now.

It's completely up to you how to go forward from here. I had to supplement with formula in the hospital and 3 weeks later am still dealing with latch issues and a lot of pain. But when DS was 1 week old I was able to stop and EBF. So it's still possible if it's something you really want to do! If no, formula is great too because all that matters is you're feeding your baby and he's growing.

[blushing]

Congrats. He is adorable. And don't worry the confidence will come. Babies are actually very difficult to break.

[loira]

Congratulations! He's a cutie!

[zarapipe]

Congrats! And you are a trooper for rolling with the unexpected

[zarapipe]

Congrats! And you are a trooper for rolling with the unexpected

[Deleted]

Congrats! He is adorable.

[melsamoony]

such a precious baby. That sounds very scary. I am glad you and ethan are doing well.

[hillarywhitney]

Congratulations!! He is so cute! Glad to hear you are both home now.

[Cricket0619]

Congratulations! He is so cute!

[centralsquare]

omg, those cheeks! So cute!

congrats.

[curbsideprophet]

Congrats!

Sorry it was a rough start, I hope the breastfeeding situation improves for you.

[purrbox]

So cute! Congrats!

And those cheeks...

[catsarecute]

He's perfect!! Congrats!

[theatre4life]

Congrats! Glad to hear you both are doing well now!