Road to Recovery

What a week! I can't believe Rex is a week old already! The first night i was by myself with Rex in the hospital and thats always tough. He did really well but you never get any sleep in the hospital!  Luckily we were able to go home the next day! Lots of transitioning and learning all over again! My mother in law(Carol) was here and she was a huge help.  Nate & Carol stayed up with Rex to let me sleep! It was so nice to get a good nights sleep. Although they had their hands full because Claudia didn't sleep well and for the next few nights she didn't:-( But i think we are finally back on track!
 Sunday i woke up with engorgement and it was awful. Once again it got to the point were it hurt to pick up my baby boy! I was an emotional wreck that day. I cried and really all i wanted was my mom! Its amazing how much you want your mom to hold you when something is wrong! Its true, a mothers love is like no other! I thought by not breastfeeding this time i wouldn't get engorgement(or at least as bad), boy was i wrong! I guess I'm a mass milk producer! So far no signs of mastitis(which landed me in the hospital for 4 days with Claudia. MISERABLE!) and i think i'm headed in the right direction of "drying up"
 Its amazing how different already he is from Claudia! He seems so much more mellow. He cries when he's hungry or has a dirty diaper, no fussiness! So unlike Claudia.  And I'm slowly getting use to the diaper changing, lets just say i'm usually changing his outfit too! He is dangerous! During bath was my first experience and i think my scream scared him! I think I'm going to have to invest in those pee pee teepees! Its just so different! He's a great eater and we are slowly getting a schedule of sleeping 4 hours, some nights are better than others.
  To my friends who are having babies,plan on babies or just never heard this before, WARNING DONT READ if you can't handle the truth!......  this information was passed onto me from another friend and it worked with Claudia! No one tells you how swollen you get and how extremely painful it is to sometimes just sit.  The key to help the swelling is HONEY! put honey on a pad and its a natural way to help the swelling! It sounds awful and sticky but its not and its amazing how quickly the swelling goes down! Its become so well known here that my midwife brought in honey packets! But i already packed mine!:-) So next kiddo try it you will be pleasantly surprised! Also i recommend depends! Pack them in your hospital bag! Yes its embarrassing buying them but it beats those awful hospital underwear that are uncomfortable, don't fit  and doesn't hold a pad plus it holds an ice pack much better!! Just tell your hubbies that this is what it'll be like when we grow old together! Its a good laugh and they work! Those are just two helpful pieces of advice that was given to me and i'm not afraid to share no matter how gross or TMI it is...how are we suppose to help if we don't share! And my biggest thing that bothers me is no one told me my belly would still look like i was pregnant! I don't know what i thought would happen but it sucks and everyone has it after birth. It took 9+months to create another human so its going to take time to get back to "normal".
   Honestly if new mommies have any questions i'm not afraid to tell you the truth and I'm always open for new tips from other mommies.....who knows when/if Call number 3 will come along:-)

He's so worth the pain...

and he knows it!

Here comes REX

   So my kiddos like to stay in for an extra week! If we went with Rex's original due date of February 23 it would have been exactly a week late, exactly like Claudia! Things seemed to happen exactly like Claudia. Claudia actually woke up around 330am and I was going to get up with her but I felt a small leak, went into the bathroom and yup just a small leak. Told Nate he had to get up and get Claudia and that i think we will be going to the hospital in the next hour or so! So i took my time, got in the shower and waited for the contractions to start. Nate kept texting from Claudias room to see what was going on and about 5am I told him he should probably get ready. Of course Claudia did not fall back to sleep, I wonder if she knew her world was over as she knew it! So off to the hospital we went about 545 and the drive is about 30-45minutes depending on traffic. Contractions were 3-4 minutes apart and of course not pleasant but Nate was impressed because i was actually sitting, with Claudia i was laying in the back seat screaming! I knew as soon as i got there they'd admit me because i was already at 5cm the previous day! And i made sure to order my epidural as soon as i walked through the doors!!
 So it took about 10 minutes to get me set up and placed in the birthing room. At this point my contractions are 1-2minutes apart and i did so much better on my screaming. I think i knew what to expect and my breathing technique was better! I had a student nurse, Heidi and the RN Kathy who were absolutely wonderful! Time for the epidural and Nate stepped out because he didn't do so well last go around. So he knew he didn't want o be there again.  He always jokes that the needle looks like it should go into a horse! In all honesty the contractions hurt so much more that I didn't even feel him put the needle in! And so the relief kicks in and for woman who can't or choose not to get an epidural GOD BLESS you!! My new tradition is to call Katie Carter after my epidural. I called her with Claudia so I had to call her with Rex! And again like Claudia my epidural started to wear off and they ended up giving me another bolus right before delivering.
  Time to push.....
        As most of you now he was sunny side up so we were trying to get him to flip but he was being stubborn of course! I was probably pushing for 20-30 minutes and he was right there thats when everything went crazy. He was stuck! Mary Paul, my mid-wife, called for doctors to come in and everyone looked panicked.  I knew i had to push hard and get him out and so with the loudest scream i've ever made i pushed. Out comes baby and then Nate goes to lay down in the corner. The scariest thing in the world is not knowing what is happening to your baby.  He let out a scream and i knew he was at least breathing but no one was explaining what was happening making Nate extremely nervous and me lost.  I look to my right and make sure Rex is doing well, I get the ok he's fine and then look to my left to ask if Nate is ok. Nate was ok but he was so pale! Slowly things calm down and Mary Paul was able to tell me what had happened.  He's head was turning but he didn't want to turn with his shoulders. So he came out with both shoulders like a line backer she said. Just thinking about that makes me hurt! So she knew he was going to have shoulders issues and that was the cause for the doctors to be in the room.  Yes he broke his clavicle but its very common and heals quickly. Again another relief it was a broken clavicle and not something worse.  Mary Paul said the way i delivered add another pound to that baby so Rex coming out was 9lbs 4oz! Craziness and ladies want to know how many stitches I had to get....not a single one!!! I didn't tear at all! How is that even possible?!? Lucky me i guess!
 So that is how we welcomed our sweet little boy! Nate & I couldn't be happier. Rex is such a sweet baby. We are so happy everyone is healthy.

Rex David Call March 1, 2012 11:18am 8lbs 4 oz 19 inches

Daddy & Rex

Mommy & Rex