DS had some menconium so they were doing some evaluations to see if he swallowed any which negated my skin to skin time in the OR. Although I'm not really sure he could fit anyway. We nurses in the recovery room about 45 min later and he latched right away.
ok so sounds like you DON'T breastfeed right away, but in recovery. That's fine by me as long as the baby is ok and not starving in those 30-45 minutes. Hopefully DH can hold her
Right after birth is considered within an hour of birth even for vaginal birth.
I was able to do skin to skin in the OR, it was part of a program at my hospital. It required having an extra nurse in there to help supervise. So DH and I alternated holding the kids while I was being seen up. I first attempted to BF them in recovery about an hour later, one latched on the other didn't.
I was able to see/touch DD while H held her a few minutes after she was born. Then she and H went to recovery robe weighed/measured while my surgery was finished. I joined them in recovery about 35 minutes after she was born and was able to BF sitting up in the bed immediately.
I was flat on my back, my arms still stretched out. I have no idea how I would have been able to do skin to skin or bfing in the OR. DS sat right next to me with DS while I was being stitched up. I was able to hold him while being wheeled to recovery. I tried breastfeeding while there, but he would not latch.
Post by JayhawkGirl on Oct 10, 2015 7:04:14 GMT -5
I couldn't hold them or do skin to skin while in the OR but dh was holding them and I had him hold him/her cheek to cheek/head on my head. I had this at-my-core need to be touching my kids when they were out and that was as good as it got.
I was back to recovery room about 30 min with DS, more like 45 with DD but I donated my cord blood and had a tubal so there was more on the to-do list in the OR. They kept DD in the OR much longer this time than they did DS.
thanks guys! I am having a bit of a hard time accepting another c section but I know everything will be ok. As long as I can be awake, that will be an improvement
The second recovery was much easier for me. In part, I was better prepared at home - toiletries in the downstairs bath, supplies on both floors of the house, and a better pain management plan. I knew to stay far ahead of constipation, and to move but not overdo it. My family also had a better idea of how to help. I don't remember the details of your first but it sounds like it was a fast change of events. Not laboring before the surgery also made a big difference IMO - I didn't run the proverbial marathon before a big surgery.
Not while you're still in the OR. Once you're in recovery you can try but I usually feel not so hot from all the drugs and rearranging of my insides. And honesty, babies are pretty sleepy the first 24 hours or so.. I don't freak out about it. I definitely bring the baby to the breast and try every 2 hours or so (and your DH will do this while you're in the hospital) and if they latch for a while, great! If not, they will eventually lol. The first day, Rest. I really don't believe the whole you must be connected from the very moment of birth or else you're doooooomed to have a tumultuous time breast feeding. I successfully BFed three kids for close to a year each that I couldn't even get to take a bottle ever.
I will say, our hospital is serious about the not losing 10% of birth weight thing and the plentiful wet diapers. I was pressured into giving my oldest formula and they tried that shit again with the next two. Not that I'm against formula AT ALL. It's just not necessary when the baby's stomach is the size of a marble. Request a pump, they have them but bring your own newborn nipples for the bottles, they claim they DON'T have those. Even with one of the best level III nicus in the state....
And do not freak out if you baby drops a bit. My kids were all ABOVE birth weight at a week, not two weeks, one week, even after being threatened with not being able to go home if they dropped anymore in the hospital. My milk wasn't in yet, wtf are they really expecting? I was salty and ready to call my pedi to get us discharged by the time I had DS2, but was in tears and freaking the eff out about it with my first.
If I have another and what I suggest to you is have them weigh your baby at the scale in the nursery right after you get to your room and not just rely on the scale from the OR.
I was skin to skin in the OR within minutes and then nursing once I moved to recovery. I was wondering if I needed to try to nurse in the OR, but they suggested that the baby might not be ready to try that quickly. And in our case he wasn't. But he did great once we were in recovery!
Oh and I had no trouble holding him or sitting propped up in the hospital bed with him.
I was skin to skin within minutes of him being out but I could only do it for about 10 minutes because I only had 1 free hand and he kept slipping up towards my face. So h held him while they finished closing. Once they moved me onto a bed H put him back on me and I held him like that while they took me to recovery. My doula helped me latch him to feed for the first time (probably about 45 minutes old) and I was in recovery for an hour. Then they transferred me to my pp room where we stated until being released.
While recovering I fed mostly in the football position so his weight wouldn't put pressure on my incision.