birth story -- she's here!

[KellyEasterbrook]

First off, thank you to everyone for the support over the last nine months.  This was such an emotionally, and physically, rough pregnancy. However, it was all worth it. The induction was a little over three weeks ago, and she arrived 8 hours after check-in. My only birth plan was to get an epidural ASAP, and of course, that didn't even happen as planned. The anesthesiologist was busy, and I don't think the nurses believed me when I said my OB warned me that labor might go quickly. By the time the epidural was placed, I was at 9.5 cm and ready to push. After expecting an extreme preemie in March, Winifred arrived weighing in at 8.5 lbs and 21.5 inches long. 

Breastfeeding was a complete nightmare and we're now doing 95% formula. If anyone can reassure me that exclusively breastfeeding won't scar her for life, please do. The nurses at our "baby friendly" hospital kind of made me feel like shit about it. I've also decided that if I ever have another baby, it'll be at a hospital with a nursery. The sleep deprivation over our three night stay really messed me up. By the second night, I was begging a nurse to take Winnie to a nursery for two or three hours so we could get a little sleep. Guess I should have researched if there even is a nursery.  There isn't one. Thank god, a friend came over on the third night and watched Winnie for a few hours so we could get a nap.

The last three weeks have been a total blur. Not only are we moving into a new house, but we found out that our very loved, 10 year old lab has bleeding tumors on his heart. They've spread to his lungs and the prognosis is bad. We are just devestated. He's my best friend and I just can't even imagine life without him. He's just such a good boy.

So between sleep deprivation, hormones, moving, a thoracic strain in my back (I'm not able to lift the baby or easily get down on the floor with the dog) and now a dying dog...I'm pretty exhausted. But Winnie's healthy and beautiful and DH has been amazing with taking over almost all baby duties while my back heals.

[sunflower17]

Congratulations! Please don’t beat yourself up about BF. I exclusively formula fed from day 1 and my 17 month old Dd is just perfect!! That’s really crappy that they made you feel bad about it. Fed is best!!
It is quite exhausting and a huge adjustment to become a mom, but it will get better. Take help when you can and rest when you can! Hugs!
PS- I’m sorry about your doggie.

[gastro]

Congratulations for the baby! You have been through so much and still now. Hugs for breastfeeding troubles (echoing fed is best!) and for your poor dog.

[UMaineTeach]

Congratulations on your baby!
Sorry that everything seems like a mess right now. Those are a lot of changes and emotions all at once.

[Yankees21]

Congratulations!! Please try not to stress about BF. I wish I had stressed less about it, it would have made things so much more enjoyable! You’re doing great.

I’m so very sorry about your dog. Hugs to you.

[farfalla2011]

Congratulations on you little girl. So awesome she made it full term after the scare you had months ago. Big hugs about BFing. Although I don't have personal experience yet, your little one is getting fed and that's what matters. There's definitely no shame in that at all.

You have had a crazy 3 weeks, try to be kind to yourself during it all, it's just a phase and it will pass. I'm also so sorry about your pup Knowing you'll be losing a beloved family member is always so hard, especially on top of all the other hormones and emotions of the past few weeks.

[sparty04]

Congratulations! I have 3 kids and I have done feeding differently with all of them. My oldest, who never bf but I did pump for a few weeks, is by far my healthiest and smartest kid 😉 She will be fine, don’t worry if you don’t bf!

[woowoo]

KellyEasterbrook, congrats. I love her name, so glad you guys are all doing okay.
I'm so sorry about your pup. Hugs.

[dreamcrisp1]

Congratulations!!!

[elleblue]

Congratulations! I'm sorry things are complicated by moving as well as your dog's prognosis, that's a lot to deal with all at once.

[pickel]

Congratulations!! Hopefully you’ll get an easy baby after all you’ve been through! You deserve it!

[chocolatepie]

I am so sorry the last few weeks have been such a challenge, especially with your pup. My dogs are rapidly aging and it's hitting me hard (which combined with these hormones is not going well!).

Congratulations on the baby girl - love her name!

[boymomof2]

I had a really hard time with my first. He had facial paralysis and latch issues. It took 2 weeks to get him to latch then only got 2 months in because I got a breast tumor from my pregnancy hormones. He did formula from that point on. If you plan on having more, don't let this experience scar you. I went on to breast feed without issues for 8 months with my second. Formula is ok too. Breastfeeding just didn't mesh with my sister and both her boys are perfectly healthy formula fed kids.

[miamigirl]

Congrats on the baby! I hope you heal quickly.

Sorry about your pup, I know how hard that can be.

[stellelinds25]

Congratulations! I hope the next few weeks go smoothly and that your dog is ok.

[vlinder]

Congrats on the baby! So sorry about all of the challenges, especially your dog

[robinsbff]

congrats!

[kellikans]

Congrats!

[pooh8402]

Congratulations! I'm so happy for you that she is here and healthy.

You will not scar her for life and I'm so sorry the nurses made you feel that way. That's awful.

I'm also so sorry about your puppy.

[aprilsails]

Congratulations on your sweet girl. I feel like your an a marathon to get to this point, and I hope things calm down soon. Big hugs to your puppers. I’m sorry he’s not doing well. I hope your back recovers soon and you’re able to get into a more normal routine.
You are correct, baby-friendly hospitals are the worst.

[olegregg]

Congrats! Sounds like you've been through a lot. Just chiming in to say my baby is a pretty healthy 8 month old formula fed girl. Our pediatrician told us that they don't worry about or monitor formula-fed babies' growth as much due to knowing exactly how much they consume versus breastfed babies. I'm sorry you didn't seem to have that kind of support when you were in the hospital.

[loira]

I love her name! I feel like we have a lot of similarities, so I'm sure you won't be surprised when I say I also struggled a ton with nursing. I drove myself crazy over it, and combo fed for a long time, and looking back I wish I had just done more formula sooner. We moved to EFF when she was 3 months old and it was a huge relief.

My DD was really small at birth (5.5 lbs) and she thrived on formula. She's now the tallest in her preschool class (and H and I are 5'4" and 5'9" only). Of course, this is only anecdotal. If you're anxious, particularly about some of the health stuff wrt BFing vs formula, read Lactivism by Courtney Jung or Crib sheet by Emily Oster. Both take a hard look at the data on breastfeeding, and attempt to separate what's correlation vs causal. I think as a loss mum, I really just needed to focus on my DD, and struggling with anything drove me into an anxiety tailspin, and BFing was definitely one of those things. If it had been easy from the beginning, it might have been different. But I had already suffered SO much, and exhausted myself just trying to bring her into this world alive, and I just didn't have the energy to struggle further.

[macmars45]

Congrats on your DD!
I hope the move goes as smoothly as possible.
Sorry about your back and dog.
My DS is now 3. He was combo fed from the beginning and EFF by 3.75 months old. He was a happy healthy baby and is a happy healthy kid.
No one knows or cares how babies are fed as an baby once they are no longer a baby. Fed is best.