Things I have learned about Breastfeeding

Here are some things I have learned about Breastfeeding over the past 3 1/2 weeks.

1. It's not easy, I knew going into this that it wouldn't be easy, but I honestly never thought it would be this hard (and from what I have heard, I have it easy)

2. Having too much milk is almost as bad as having too little milk. Wish all women could have the happy medium.

3. You don't realize how far your milk can spray until you spray your foot while feeding your daughter.

4. That Babies don't like to be sprayed in the face with breast milk no matter how good it tastes to them.

5. It's amazing how uncomfortable some people can be at the site of the top of a boob in public.

6. That I am not uncomfortable breastfeeding with people around like I thought I might be.

7. That nursing bras are not the most comfortable things to be wearing all the time.

Overall the breastfeeding is going wonderfully now. Peanut and I both have the hang of it, and I am able to handle things with her a lot better. I have started pumping once a day and will up that next week to build up the supply. Mike is feeding her a bottle a day  now, which is nice to not have to be the only one feeding her anymore. I love breastfeeding her, but it's nice to have a break. Things were difficult and still are once in awhile, but it's so much easier than it was the first week and I can barely remember how bad it was. I am so glad that I am able to provide the nutrition that my daughter needs and I hope it can continue. However long it does go, I will be grateful, whether that's one month, or 12.

Cardiologist

All is well, we met with the cardiologist and literally it took longer to take her blood pressure than it did for him to look at her. We got there and weighed her - she is 8lbs 15oz, and still 21 inches long. Her blood pressure was good. It was the tiniest blood pressure cuff I have ever seen and she wasn't happy to have it taken 5 times, but her blood pressure is all good. The doctor listened to her heart and said that he couldn't really hear anything and that she was fine. He was going to let our Pediatrician know and if we had any concerns to talk to her, or give him a call. He was super nice. Thanks Dr Singh at the Children's Heart Clinic!

3 Weeks

We have survived and reached 3 weeks! A lot has happened in 3 weeks...We had her 2 week checkup last Wednesday before we went to the Lake and she had to have a shot. She got the Hep B vaccine and she did really well, she cried when they gave it to her, but then she was fine. The pediatrician heard a faint (very faint) heart murmur. So not only did she have her first shot, but also her first Oxygen test - which was fine, 98% and her first chest x-ray (2 actually). The x-ray showed a normal heart. The doc said that most likely the valves just haven't closed from birth and will probably close later in life. She still has it as of her check today, so we are going to the Cardiologist on Thursday just to be safe.

 Gabriella at 3 Weeks - on the blanket her Great Aunt Terry made for her

Breast feeding is going better. We had a few struggles last week, but after meeting with the Nurse Practitioner at  the Peds office we are doing much better. Plus I think my supply is finally regulating to her. I am going to start pumping once a day so that Mike can give her a bottle and then in a week or two I will up it to twice a day to start getting my supply built up for when I go back to work. The NP told me that I was doing really well with the breastfeeding. They weighed her this morning before I fed her and she was 8lbs 13oz (which was 7oz more than she was last Wednesday. and then after feeding she was 5oz more, so she is doing well most likely going through a growth spurt.She also gave us a suggestion on the position to burp her in and that seems to be helping. So we will see how it goes.

We had a great time up at the lake, it was a bit rainy and cold so we were inside most of the time but still had a good time.

2 Weeks

Yep My baby is 2 weeks old! It's been a great 2 weeks home, everyone is getting settled in and we are getting a routine down. Mac is doing really well with her being here. She likes to lick her and us all the time and has to follow who ever has her around the house, but other than that she is doing well.

Gabriella is doing really well, she is gaining weight. We weigh her with the Wii Fit Plus and right now she is just over 8lbs. We will see how "accurate" the Wii Fit is when we take her into the Pediatricians office tomorrow morning for her two week check. I am nervous about tomorrow's appointment, because she has to get her Hepatitis B shot. I think it will be harder on me then it will be on her. I might have to have Mike hold her.

Breastfeeding is going well, a heck of a lot better than it was last week. With the help of the Lactation Consultants at Ridgeview Medical Center and some advice from some friends and people online we got things moving along great! We have tried a few bottles and she has done really well going between the bottles and breast feeding, so I don't need to worry about nipple confusion with the bottles which is nice. I think she is like her dad and LOVE food ;) okay and like her mom.

Her sleeping is going well, we have our good days and bad days, but she is doing really well. She is mostly eating every 2 to 2 1/2 hours or so and going back down pretty quick. I change her, feed her for a bit, swaddle her, feed her some more, burp her a few times in there, rock her back to sleep - to make sure she won't spit up in bed - and then off to the crib and she sleeps for a good couple of hours or so and we repeat. During the day it's a bit different but again depends on the day. Like today she was eating every hour or hour and a half from 11:00 until 4:00.

1st Week

It's been a week since the little one has been born. It's hard to believe that this time a week ago we were in the hospital.

We are definitely getting used to everything and it hasn't been easy but I wouldn't trade it for the world! Our first couple of nights in the hospital were nice, because they were able to take her to the nursery for a small amount of time so we could get some sleep, although she was sleeping pretty well. The first couple of nights home were interesting.

Breastfeeding has definitely been a challenge. My milk came in on day 2 or 3 and I had so much milk that she was having trouble nursing. Because of that it made it difficult for her to latch on and get food, but we worked through it and with help from my online friends (Thanks ladies!), the Lactation Consultant and a few friends in real life we were able to get through it and we turned a corner yesterday morning. I am now able to breastfeed pretty easy, besides the fact that she goes through cluster feedings during the day it seems where she wants to eat every hour. Because it takes almost a 1/2 hour to feed her, it's only a 1/2 hour break. Makes it difficult but we are working through it.

After yesterday where we were cluster feeding from 11:30 to 6:30 she then went every 2 hours or so and continued that into the evening, so we were able to get a few hours of sleep at a time. Today she cluster fed again but only for a few hours and now she seems to be going longer, so hopefully she will keep it up tonight. We are taking her to her first "Tuesday Volleyball" night at the Hanson's. Our friend Alicia will hopefully be there with her little one Alexis who was born on July 31st. I haven't seen her yet, so that will be nice.

We had a good day today, we chilled out at home, had some tummy time, went for a walk and used my Moby wrap which worked great - Mike forgot the stroller up at the IL's house. We even took a trip out to a neighboring town to get some block that Mike needs to finish up the retaining wall. We had some good tummy time - check out the video below. All in all it's been a tiring, but great first week!

Gabriella's Birth Story

At almost 41 weeks I gave birth to my beautiful baby girl on Tuesday afteroon at 12:28pm (8/17/10). She weighed in at 7lbs 7 oz and is 19 1/2 inches long.

They admitted us at 7 pm Monday night and by 7:30 I was on the fetal monitors for about a half hour, to monitor her heart rate and my contractions. Which apparently I was having some (even though I didn't know it). They then gave me a cervix ripening pill called cytotec. I was in bed for an hour and just starting to feel some contractions.

When the nurse checked me I was dilated to about 1cm. Mike and I walked around for awhile and played cribbage. The contractions weren't bad at this point, more pressure and uncomfortableness, but no pain. At 11:30 they hooked me back up to the monitors and checked me again and I was dilated to 4cm. Because of that they decided not to give me the 2nd dose and let me progress on my own. Which was great, because that meant that I might not need the Pitocin in the morning. They did give me some morphine and a sleeping pill at midnight. I tried to sleep but didn't get much because the contractions were starting to pick up. At 3am I thought I was going to throw up (didn't). They checked me again and I was at 5 to 6 cm. Around 5 am I labored in the tub for a good hour and a half. It was super nice to be in the tub, and at this point this was all of the experience of a water birth I was going to get, so I wanted to take advantage of the huge tub.

By 7 am the contractions where picking up in strength. I hated being in the bed it made the contractions worse. I wanted to walk around but instead went on the ball. My Midwife arrived and checked me and I was around a 7 to 8 so we decided to forgo the Pitocin and just let labor progress.

By this time I was on 2 pumps, one with Saline and Penicillin (the Penicillin was for my Group B Strep - I had to have two doses of it), the second one was for the insulin. They were taking my blood sugar every hour (it was awful to have my finger pricked every hour), because it was above a 130. Later on I progressed to almost 9 cm and at this time I felt I couldn't handle the pain anymore, I didn't want an epidural, but we decided that I could have a dose of Fentanyl to take the edge off the pain.

When I had the Fentanyl I had to go back into the bed and also be hooked up to the oxygen sensor which was annoying. Apparently while this gave me a chance to rest, it also let me sleep so deeply that my oxygen level was dropping. So Mike would wake me up and I would get annoyed with him. This was also the time when she broke my water. It was a strange feeling, but because of the drugs it didn't hurt.

My contractions were still only 4 to 5 minutes apart so we needed to speed them up, my Midwife decided to give me some pitocin, just enough to get them closer together. They gave me another dose of Pitocin and by noon I was ready to push.

This was an experience I was not prepared for, it was the most difficult part of the entire birth and I give credit to all the women out there that have had to push for longer than I did. I was lucky and pushed the little one out in no time flat. I had her out in 30 minutes. I was also pretty lucky that her head was small, I tore a little but only because she came out waving. After her head was out her hand and arm came out and waved to my midwife, Mike and the Nurse. I wanted to watch her be born, but I couldn't keep my eyes open while pushing and concentrate.

It was the most amazing experience to see her finally after all that work. I was lucky for a first time mom with only a 10 hour labor and 30 minutes of pushing, but I worked hard for all of it and to see my little one after 9 months of carrying her and the labor it was the most amazing thing!

My little one - so not wanting to be weighed...

Getting to hold her again after her being weighed and cleaned up a bit.

Introducing Gabriella Lorraine!

 Gabriella Lorraine Epp

Born: Tuesday August, 17th, 2010

Time: 12:28 PM

Weight: 7lbs 7oz

Length:  19 1/2 inches

It's Finally Time!

I can't believe I am writing this post, but it's finally time to welcome our sweet little angel girl into this world. I had my ultrasound this morning and then appointment with my Midwife. The Ultrasond was a Biophysical Profile to see how she was doing.

This is what they are looking for:

Biophysical Attribute	Normal	Abnormal
Breathing	1 breathing episode within 30 minutes	No breathing episodes within 30 minutes
Movement	2 or more movements within 30 minutes	less than 2 movements within 30 minutes
Muscle Tone	1 or more episodes of active extension/flexion of limbs, etc. (i.e. opening and closing a hand).	Slow extension/flexion of limbs, partially open fetal hand, etc
Heart Rate	2 or more episodes of reactive heart rate acceleration within 20 min	1 or more episodes of unreactive heart rate acceleration
Amniotic Fluid	1 or more adequate pockets of fluid	Either no pockets or inadequate pockets of fluid

In our test the only one that she didn't pass was the last one with the Amniotic fluid. She had the others done in like 10 minutes, but my fluid was measuring around 5.11 when I was there. it needs to be around a 7. one of my pockets there was almost no fluid at all.

So when I went to meet with my Midwife, she checked my cervix to see how things were going, but she wanted to have another ultrasound to check her measurements and the fluid level again. I still haven't progressed really anything more than last Thursday - which doesn't surprise me as I have felt only a little different. Her head is a little more farther down, but not much and my dilation isn't much at all.

I had the other ultrasound and my fluid was actually even lower at a 4.56, so it didn't change anything, she still wanted me to come in tonight and be induced.

So Mike and I will be heading to the hospital tonight around 6ish and will be admitted. They are going to give me a ripening gel to ripen my cervix and get things going. She said that sometimes that can be enough and no pitocin is needed. if it's not, then tomorrow morning we will be starting the pitocin drip. Luckily she is on call tonight and will be there for me, which will be nice!

So tomorrow most likely we will be holding our little one! I am so excited and nervous at the same time, but I know it will go fine!!

I will update when I can!

41 Weeks

Can't believe I am posting a 41 Week post...I was hoping to be posting a "here's the baby!" post, but yep, it's 41 weeks. Technically it's not until Tuesday, but I wanted to post it tonight in case I actually go into Labor.

I was doing really well up until today. I posted about my checkup from Thursday and not much has changed. I am a bit more uncomfortable today than I was last week. Friday Mike and I went on a date night. He was getting stir crazy being in the house and we had some gift cards to Olive Garden - Which let me tell you is a challenge to a diabetic without meds :) But I made it work, neither of us actually ordered any pasta. He got the Mussels (EWWW!), Salad and the Gnocchi Soup (So that was the closet to pasta that we got) and I got the Salmon and Broccoli and of course the Breadsticks (that was my downfall)...I was a bit higher on my test than I wanted to be, but oh well, one night out of how many? We then went Mini Golfing, it was fun but the entire time we were out playing I had stabbing pains in my pelvis from Peanut's head...

Saturday we helped some friends out with some crown molding. It was a fun time - I mainly supervised the boys ;) We had some DQ and went out to Chipotle with them which was fun.

Today I hit a wall, I was cranky,crabby - preggo on a rampage. I think I am just tired, tired of being pregnant. don't get me wrong I LOVE being pregnant, but it's more that I want to meet my little angel and see her and hold her. Every time I get up from sitting down I get a stabbing pain in my pelvis, I can't sleep at night, Friday night I was up every 2 hours. and all of a sudden today I lost all my energy..I was on the couch 90% of the day....

Tomorrow I have an ultrasound at 8:50, then an appointment with Jamie my Midwife at 10:00 and then monitoring at the hospital...unless that is she comes tonight. So cross your fingers!

40 Week Checkup

I had my midwife appointment this afternoon. It didn't go quite as I had hoped, but still wasn't too bad.

I have no progression, my cervix is a bit softer than last time, but no dilation. Peanut's HB was good and strong still, BP was great(96/68)! But because of the GD she is wanting me to go no later than next Wednesday. Like she said no reason to bake the little one longer when she is getting so big otherwise (I will laugh if she comes out at 6lbs).  So I have an end date now, I will be holding my little one in my arms no later than the 19th. I have an Ultrasound scheduled for Monday morning and then an appt w/my Midwife and then a non stress test after that at the hospital - will be a busy morning..

If I don't have her by next Wednesday evening, DH and I will be at the hospital, having my cervix ripened and then Thursday morning I will have an induction. So cross your fingers and send me good positive thoughts that little peanut will come before then.

I have to talk to my midwife about the cervix ripening and see if that starts the labor if they will still let me do a water birth. If I am induced, I will be induced with Pitocin and that is by an IV which means the water birth is out of the question. It also means that my drug free birth is out of the question too, since I am assuming I won't be able to handle the Pitocin contractions and need to have an Epidural. But we will see. I am just hoping that this induction doesn't lead to a C-Section, if it does it does, but I would rather not. The good news with that is that I would get an extra 2 weeks of Short Term Disability ;) But I would rather not have it go that route...just trying to think positive.

"You're Still Here?"

If I had a dollar for every time I heard that statement this past week or so I would be rich and wouldn't need to keep working. Yep that's right when I am in the office the 3 days I am in the office a week, all my co-workers feel the need to say "You are still here?" and look at me like I am crazy. Why do people feel the need to ask a pregnant woman these questions? Like all of a sudden at 37 or 38 weeks you need to be home sitting there waiting for the baby to arrive?

I had a lady 2 weeks ago in the parking ramp ask me why I was still working, when I told her she could walk in front of me because I walk slow. She asked me how far along I was and when I told her 38 weeks, she goes "Oh Honey, you need to go home and rest your feet! I stopped working with the last two children at 37 weeks and it was amazing!" I am just like "Good for you! Glad it works for you, but I don't have the PTO to just stop working 2 to 3 weeks ahead of my due date, especially now that I am going late, what if she doesn't come until the 24th, then I would have wasted 5 weeks of my time that I couldn't spend with her.

I posted earlier that I am feeling great. Yes I waddle, Yes I walk slow, but that's not because I am uncomfortable, it's just because my hips/legs and pelvis don't allow me to walk like a normal person anymore...its how us pregnant women walk :)

I also keep getting advice from people on what they have heard starts labor. I do welcome the advice, not that I am going to try them all, but it's nice to know there are options. Mike and I are walking every night we can, and even in the mornings before work - especially with the heat because the dog can't walk during the hot time of night. I got a recipe for "Jump start your labor cookies" which have Cayenne pepper in them, I might see if we have all the ingredients and make them tonight. The only thing we might not have is the Cayenne Pepper, but I am sure I can get Mike to pick that up on his way home tonight.

40 Weeks

Not much has changed since last week except the baby has dropped.

We are getting really excited for her arrival. I have another appointment with my midwife tomorrow afternoon, I am sure they will do another cervix check to see if there is any progression. Honestly I don't feel any different than I did last week. I have had a few twinges here and there, but nothing much different. I am surprisingly not as uncomfortable as I thought I would be, especially being that we are having a heat wave right now in MN. It's been in the 90's since last week and will continue in the 90's until the end of the week. With the dewpoints in the upper 60's and low 70's it makes the heat index on some days into the 100's. but it's not been too bad with the air conditioner at work, in the vehicles and at home I have been really comfortable.

The only times that I have really been uncomfortable is getting up from sitting down after along period of time because her head then hits the nerves in my pelvis and sends a shooting pain through me and a little at night sleeping. But other than that we are doing good. She is definitely running out of room in there, I feel her in my pelvis, up in my ribs a little and out my left hand side (her feet). So we are currently baking a healthy big girl in there. I am really thinking the cute little outfit that my friend Alicia got her that I want to take her home in won't fit her, but I have a backup just in case. I am just hoping the diapers we have will fit her. otherwise I will be finding someone to use them, or use them for different things :) luckily it's a small pack and we have a pack of the next size up too. I think we will be placing an order on Diapers.com pretty quickly after she comes.