has her little girl arrived?

Yeah, has it has it has it?? I imagine she's in the hospital since she disappeared after leaving those messages about being in potential labor. Pics! Pics!

Yes, I was indeed in labor, even though I wasn't sure (and neither were the nurses & docs for a while). I had really weird labor. I kept calling and they kept telling me "stay home until you're 5 mins apart". I finally went in for "monitoring" late Wed, assuming we'd be back home in a few hours, and ended up delivering early Thu morning. That's the extremely short version of the story. :w00t:

We have a ton of pics but none uploaded yet. Will post some soon.

congrats Wheetsin! :w00t:

both mom & baby doing well?

Woohoo Congrats!!!

And when you get a chance, long version is good too

And the pics!

Congratulations Wheetsin!! Welcome little angel!!!! You have lots of Aunties and Uncles here waiting to get a glimpse of you!

Congratulations!!!!! I definitely want to hear the long version and to see the pic's as well.

Ok my baby novel...

Long version - I was in labor all day Wednesday but I didn't know it (and neither did the OB office) because my labor was extremely atypical. I would have a mild cramp for maybe 5 minutes, then nothing for 40 minutes. Then an extremely painful cramp that immobilized me for 12 minutes, and nothing for an hour. Then a barely noticeable cramp for 40 seconds and nothing for 30 minutes. That started around 6am.

Around 8 I had bloody show and (my money is on) lost my plug, or what was left of it. But there was way more blood than mucus, so I called the doctor's office. "You had an exam yesterday, it's just your body's reaction."

TMI perhaps, but I've since learned it's a sign of labor - around 10 I had diarrhea, severely. VERY unusual for me. And during the next 2 hours I had 4 or 5 more bouts, as well as 3 or 4 solid BMs. SO I called the doctor's office and asked if Immodium was ok to take during pregnancy. I was told yes, but if I thought I might be in labor I shouldn't take it. I told them I didn't know if I was in labor or not. So I was told to not take it just in case, but that my signs didn't sound like labor.

I layed on the couch for a few hours. The entire time I was laying down, no pain. But when I went to the bathroom the bleeding was a bit heavier, and I realized I hadn't felt any fetal movements for a while - maybe a handful of hours. Also when I first stood up, major cramps kicked in, but still very random. So I called the OB office and they told me "Doesn't mean anything, eat something and lay down and call back if you're still concerned."

I was tired of getting non-answers from the OB so I called my insurance company. They sponsor a healthy pregnancy program that includes 24 hour access to labor & delivery nurses. I told her about the bleeding & lack of movement and she told me to go immediately to labor and delivery, that she would call them and tell them not to turn me away because I needed to be monitored to make sure all was well.

We got to the hospital and in the time it took to get there no pain. They put me in a bed and hooked up the monitors, still no pain. Routine pelvic showed I was dilated to a 4 and 95% effaced, -2 (the day before at OB visit I was 3 and 90%, -2). They decided to monitor me for another hour. I asked if I could get up and walk, sure, fine... so DH and I started walking the hallways and no sooner did we get up and moving than contractions started to hit regularly every 4 - 5 minutes. We didn't even notice it at first. Hubby was timing them and eventually we saw a pattern.

They let me walk for an hour. Got back to the room, pelvic showed I was 6 and 95%. So I asked if I was staying, or if they were letting me go, and they said that since I was so far dilated they would keep me and if my labor didn't progress they would induce me.

Called the anesthesiologist, by the time he arrived I was 7.5 and 100%. Got my epidural, got my catheter, rested for an hour until it was time for another exam and at the exam I was 9 and 100% -- and my epidural had worn off my left half. Layed back down and my Water broke. Weird sensation. Kind of like having a water balloon between your legs that you don't feel, and suddenly it pops and water gushes out. Nothing like the "peed myself" feeling I had heard to expect. Knew what it was right away.

They paged the doctor and got me set up in the stirrups. No doctor so I couldn't push. 10 minutes later I was 10/100% but still no doctor so I was allowed to "bear down" through the contractions (which I'm feeling 100% in half of my body -- that was weird) but I couldn't push. 15 minutes later the nurses told me I could push, so I did. Probably 10 contractions later she was engaged in the pelvis - still no doctor.

At that point they started to get nervous and told me no more pushing. I had to lay with my legs together, pant through the contractions (keeps you from being able to push much) and just try and wait it out. But nature had other ideas, because the contractions alone were progressing her delivery and she was starting to crown. Nurses started freaking out about having to deliver the baby without a doctor. Each time I would have a contraction I could feel her head being pushed out. Doctor finally arrives, gets in place and tells me "next contraction - push as hard as you can." (For you guys having your first, during each contraction you do 3 sets of 10-count pushes, with barely enough time to grab your breath between each). So I pushed as hard as I could on the first contraction and her head popped out in like 2 seconds. The doctor kinda freaked and made me "try to ignore" the rest of the contraction - no pushing, bearing down, etc. Before the next contraction hit she told me, "When the next one comes, push as hard as you can. Make this the one." So it came and I pushed as hard as I could and apparently she shot out like a football. I heard "oh shit" and then "woah woah woah." I couldn't see a thing. Pushing too hard - eyes squeezed shut, ears popping, veins making a nice roadmap on my forehead I'm sure. (later was told my the doc she had to drop everything and try to catch the baby) and it suddenly felt like I was giving birth to a 10 foot bumpy worm... just kept coming and coming. Felt really weird. I'm guessing it was the afterbirth stuff. In her rush to catch the baby, the doctor failed to support/stretch/lubricate my perineum so I ended up with a level 3/borderline 4 tear. Took about 45 minutes to get me all stitched up. She told me I pushed too hard. I told her "you told me to push as hard as I can." She replied, "Yeah but first times moms never really push..."

Apparently the specifics of how I tore made it impossible to numb, so despite 3 attempts at injections I felt every stitch. Didn't matter. Baby had swallowed a lot of amniotic Fluid & blood on her way out so they were suctioning her lungs for over 5 minutes. Until I heard that first cry I didn't feel a thing, too focused on the baby. Finally they got her taken care of, me sewn back together.

Had excessive post partum bleeding so I had to go on... forget the name, something to help stop the bleeding. Other than that, it was easy going. LJM, Fairy -- you will become good friends with mesh underwear and adult diapers. And if you tear like I did, you will learn the fine art of what I call "crotch tacos" -- mesh underwear lined with cold pack pads topped with a layer of Tuck's topped with a layer of epifoam.

So that's my long story, and here's the product of my... too campy to actually say "labor"... (the bow is compliments of the nursery... they stick them on the babies' heads with KY!)

And her guest appearance on Halloween (8 days old):

OMG wheetsin... she is beautiful....

i have this thread on email notify and DD and i were shopping at Target.... i just about ran into about 10 people reading your post...

soooooo many questions, but so much to do.... just wanted to pop in and say thanks for the details ... i appreciate it and she is really beautiful. are you comfortable sharing her name?

Amazing story and very similar to mine. The half numb part drove me and the anesthesiologist crazy. Also had neonatal specialists suctioning son for quite a little bit. That had me crazy till I heard his cry.

The final product of your labor is absolutely adorable, and the costume is the cutest. Congratulations!

If I could do it again knowing what I know now, I'd have skipped the epidural. For one, I think it would have been more comfortable to feel the pain evenly than to just feel it on one side. Just feeling it on one side seemed to... I don't know. Highlight/emphasize it in some way. The contractions hurt, but they weren't unbearable. Nothing close to the screaming you see on TV or the moaning/groaning/crying women in the labor videos. I do have a fairly high pain tolerance, and the bulk of my labor was in my hips, deep and low, like right at the sockets... although it would radiate to my back and abdomen. Maybe that "kind" hurts less... dunno... I just made hubby rub my hips as hard as he could, wanting him to hurt me, so that the pain he was causing helped block the pain of the contraction, if that makes sense. I guess I liked not knowing which source the pain was coming from. *shrug*

For two, I'm not producing enough milk to sustain her - maybe an ounce or ounce and a half per feeding (by pump). So we had to introduce formula on day 4 as she had dropped more than 10% of her birth weight. I had hoped to feed breastmilk exclusively. The lactation consultant we worked with believes it may be linked to the epidural, but I don't know. However if it's a possibility, I'd glady give it up to have a higher milk supply.

LJM - ask away. I know I had sooo many questions and knew nothing about what was going to happen. I will def tell it like it was.

And her name is Avery. :eek:

Congrats Wheetsin! Avery is beautiful!

Wow, she is perfect. Congrats to you and your DH, thank you for sharing your story.

Wheetsin, Avery is BEAUTIFUL!!!

For your milk supply, I was just wondering if the LC you saw gave you any information about "power pumping" or suggested any herbals to try (Fenugreek for example) or possibly getting a prescription for Reglan?

I've included a couple of links to some pages with good info. The third one has quite a few herbal suggestions to try. Hope it helps, and CONGRATS!!!

Nice page that includes info about power pumping:

kellymom.com :: I'm not pumping enough milk. What can I do?

The page below has some really good suggestions about which foods are lactogenic (those that support lactation) as well as some other good suggestions for increasing supply:

Living with Chronic Low Milk Supply: A Basic Guide

Herbal suggestions:

Lactogenic Herbs: Mother Nature's Milk Boosters, Part 2

She is absolutely beautiful, congratulations. Thank you so much for sharing your story.

It seemed like your OB office kind of overlooked your labor. I am not sure if it was because your labor was extremely atypical or what. Have you talked with them about it again since delivery?

I had a bad tear as well. I remember that I could feel every single stitch going in and could feel it pulling. In some ways it was worse than delivery because it is a little freaky feeling the sensations and it was painful.

I did not have an epidural because I wanted to go natural. I was well and good until the last 10 minutes or so . . . then I desperately wanted an epidural but they told me it was too late :0). It is entirely possible to go without if you have a high pain tolerance.

My best friend had a baby a year ago and I was there after she had her epidural. Other than occasional nausea related stomach upsets, she was speaking normally, and even though labor was progressing . . . it was like she could have been at home having a cup of tea for all the distress she was in. If the epidural takes well, it seems like labor is a breeze and I was a little shocked it was so easy. A

t this point in time, the epidural is looking good to me for this go round.