More trouble for me

Mike, Brendan and I came home on May 10th. I was still feeling pretty bad from all the blood loss. Mike was home for a day or two and my dad was still here. They both took care of me because I was too weak to be up for very long. It was so frustrating to feel like I wasn't able to care for my tiny baby.
About a week after we'd been home I was still feeling pretty miserable. Mike made me call the doctor and they had me come in to be checked out. They checked me and saw that I had retained placenta. The doctor was unable to remove it so they scheduled a D&C. I was so upset because I didn't want to be away from Brendan and I didn't want our breastfeeding to be ruined.
I went in for the D&C and was supposed to go home that day. I didn't get to go home because I hemorrhaged again during the D&C. When I tried to sit up after the procedure, my blood pressure dipped to 77/39!
I sent Mike home with the baby because I didn't want him staying at the hospital. My dad and Carla came down to help Mike with the baby.
I was released the next morning and it took a few weeks and lots of iron to feel better again. I feel much better but I still tire pretty easily.
Thankfully Brendan did great through everything. He gained weight like crazy and didn't have problem switching between bottle feeding and breastfeeding. I was able to provide enough so he didn't have to have formula either!

He's Here!!

Brendan Michael

May 8, 2010 at 12:08am

8lbs, 20.5" long

On May 7th (my due date!) at 1:30am, I woke up with mild contractions. Too bad I'd gone to bed at 1am! I tried to go back to sleep but the contractions were annoying and I was excited! I woke Mike up around 2:30am and we stayed in bed for a little bit. At 3:30am we decided to go for a walk. My contractions were coming pretty close together but they weren't very intense. We called the midwife and she said to try to get some sleep and come in around 8-9am to be checked. I tried to get to sleep but the contractions were getting stronger and I couldn't fall to sleep. Finally around 8am we woke my dad and up and headed to the hospital. They checked me and determined I was 3cm dilated. The midwife gave me some medicine to try to help me sleep and told me to get some rest.

Unfortunately, the medicine didn't get me to sleep either. The contractions kept getting stronger and I couldn't keep my eyes open but I couldn't sleep. Bummer! Mike started timing my contractions around 2pm and they were 2-4 minutes apart and lasting at least a minute. He said it was time to go. I kept stalling because I didn't want to go too early. He finally got me in the car and we headed back to the hospital.

When they checked me around 4pm I was 7cm dilated! Yay! We would have our baby soon! They moved me to a room with a birthing tub since I'd planned on having an unmedicated water birth. I labored in the tub, on the bed and on the exercise ball. I tried to walk around but it wasn't easy. I tried to eat a little here and there and drink lots but that wasn't easy either. I was so tired! When the midwife checked me again at 7pm, I was only 8cm!

The midwife decided I was tooexhausted and it was causing my body to stall. She said she needed to do something to get me back on track. I would either get pitocin, she could break my water or I could use the breast pump to help my contractions. I was so tired and I just wanted to meet my baby! I told her I didn't want to do any of those options. I started to cave and asked if I could have some drugs. Mike and my awesome nurse, Jill, knew I really wanted to go natural and they got me to agree to let the midwife break my water and see how things went. Brendan wasn't fully sunny side up but his head was turned just enough to give me terrible back labor. Jill suggested that I try the sterile water papules (they inject water into the skin over 4 pressure points on your lower back). They hurt like heck but once they were done, the back labor was gone! A miracle!

I forgot all about my request for pain meds and continued to labor for another hour. Finally I felt the urge to push. The midwife, Tamara, came back to check me. I was ready to go! I tried a practice push on the bed and got back into the tub. Pushing in the water was awesome! I could move easily into any position that I wanted. I was pushing with all my might and getting discouraged because I felt like I wasn't making any progress. I wanted to sleep so badly! After pushing for about an hour and half, I was finally close! Mike, Tamara, Jill and I were all watching the clock. Brendan missed his due date by 8 minutes! He was born in the water beautiful and strong. I did it! I had him without drugs!

The whole process was exhausting and I wish I had been able to get some more sleep but I am so proud of myself! Mike was such a big help. The whole time he kept reminding that I could do it and that we would be meeting our son soon. He never left my side.

Brendan was doing great after delivery but I was not doing so well. I started to hemorrhage and it took about 2 hours to get the bleeding under control. Tamara had to call the doctor for help. That was very rough on me but they took great care of me. By the time we moved to our room, we were all exhausted and slept the rest of the night!