Well, it has been a VERY long time since I posted, but my life has been a bit on the crazy side. We have had a lot of breastfeeding issues that have kept me jumping hurdles for the past 5 weeks. It all started at the hospital when some well-intentioned nurses gave me breast shields to try to help Keller latch on. Well, they worked, but I didn't realize that wearing shields could end up decreasing your supply. Nor did I want to have to use them for the long haul anyway. So, I worked for probably a week or so to get off of them. We finally got her to latch on without the shields and I was so thrilled!! But, then we went into our doctor and it turned out that Keller lost an ounce over the week instead of gaining an ounce a day. They immediately sent me down to a lactation specialist, who quickly determined that Keller was tongue-tied (her frenulum under the tongue was a little tight), which hindered breastfeeding. So, I began the very tedious regimen of weighing Keller on a professional scale, then nursing her, then weighing again to see how much she got, then giving her a bottle of breastmilk to make up what she still needed, then pumping to keep up my supply. I was doing this 8 times a day!! Talk about never wanting to see the pump again! We also took Keller into an ENT, who clipped her frenulum. Supposedly, clipping the frenulum can help some babies nurse effectively immediately and others end up needing OT to figure out what to do with their newly freed tongue. Keller was one of the latter. So, we added going to an OT along with the lactation specialist who gave us exercises to help strengthen Keller's tongue. Fortunately, Keller got MUCH better after another week and a half and began taking full feedings regularly.
We got discharged from OT and the lactation specialist last Monday since she was doing so well and then went into our pediatrician on Wednesday for our one month appointment. One of our concerns was that Keller began spitting up A LOT. And we were used to this with Sadie, who ended up having a milk intolerance. We were also concerned because we could not get rid of a diaper rash that Keller had. So, the pediatrician decided to test Keller's stool for blood, which came back positive. With the blood in the stool and the spitting up, a milk intolerance is suspected. I am now having to adjust my diet to eliminate any offending items in my breastmilk. I originally started with eliminating everything, then went to just dairy, but ended up having to go back to eating only about 6 items after she had a bad reaction last Saturday after I ate soy, wheat, peanuts, and chocolate. I went all out that day! I am now eating only chicken, turkey deli meat, peaches, rice, oatmeal, millet, squash and spinach until her spitting up and diarrhea gets better. At that point, I will slowly introduce the other offending allergens to see which are bugging her. She is also taking Zantac, but not sure it is helping much at this point. We are also going to go to a GI specialist on Friday for additional resources and opinions.
Needless to say, all of this craziness has left me little time to do much of anything else. It is a lot to take care of a newborn along with a 2 1/2 year old, let alone have these issues along with it. But, I know women do it everyday. I am no exception! And I am so very grateful that the Lord gave me each of these hurdles separately, as I don't think I would have stuck with breastfeeding if they were all together. He has been gracious.
I have faithfully been following along with each of your stories. So very sorry that I have not commented much. I mostly read up on my iphone while nursing Keller and it is hard to comment with one hand! Today I have had the rare moment to get onto my computer for a longer period of time. Grateful!!
I will hopefully post some more pictures soon.
Love to you all!
Tracey
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Keller's Birth Story
Boy, it's hard to find the time to blog these days! I am literally holding Keller in a football hold while breastfeeding and typing on my husband's iPad with the other hand. We moms sure are multi-taskers! : )
So, my story sure isn't what I wished it would have been. Honestly, it is hard to revisit it without crying, but I want to get it written down before I forget. I went into labor naturally while watching American Idol Wednesday night. It started with what I would call moderate menstrual-type cramps that were coming every 5 or so minutes. I called my doula and she told me to try to get as much rest as possible overnight, so we quickly finished packing our last minute items into our bag and then I got in the tub to try to relax before going to bed. I got some sleep, but woke up around 4am with contractions that were still regular, but hadn't seemed to intensify much since the previous night. I got up around 5am and felt what I thought was my water breaking. Not a gush, but a big trickle. At this point, my contractions intensified a bit, so At 6am I decided it was time to call my parents and have them make the 1 1/2 hour trek to Atlanta because I was uncertain as to how long it would take to be in active labor.
I was still contracting when my parents arrived at 8am, but they still weren't largely intensifying, which seemed odd to me. At times I wondered if this was just a false alarm and I made a big deal out of nothing! Jeff and I decided to go for a walk to see if we could get the show on the road. Walking definitely made the contractions stronger, but nothing too unbearable. Fortunately, I had an appointment with my midwife at 11am already scheduled, so we decided to go to it and see what was going on. An ultrasound was on the docket because of my age (NST one week, U/S the next ).
We got to the OB office and went in for the U/S. I was so excited to see Keller as it had been awhile since our last ultrasound. We got set up, were watching the screen and were making idle chit chat with Sandra, the tech, when all of a sudden these letters began appearing on the screen...
B R E E C H
and as I was seeing the word being typed, she tells me the same, "She is breech. I wanted to tell you since you would see me typing it." But she was head down just last week! Whose baby turns in their 38th week? And there was more bad news. My amniotic fluid was low - down to an 8. I never had a gush of water, so we think there was a pinhole leak. My brain was having a hard time processing this new information. I was so disappointed and in shock. On our way to the examination room, we see Diane our midwife and we told her the news that she was breech. She immediately says, "Well, let's turn that baby around!" to which the u/s tech says, "She also has low fluid." I could see the look of concern on Diane's face. She was so sweet and gracious with me and told me that we don't know why God decides to do these things and that she knew it wasn't what we wanted, but this baby needed to be born today with how low the fluid was. She consoled me and gave me much needed encouragement, then told me to go home and get my bags without dily-dalying so that we could have this baby. She also told me that this is why my contractions weren't getting more intense. Keller's rear end wasn't doing the trick in dilating my cervix. Bony heads do much better : )
After Diane left the examination room, I just turned to Jeff and cried. I was still in denial and shock. A C-section was everything I didn't want in my birth experience. I know there are a lot of people who love getting c-sections and definitely prefer them to having to go through labor. I am just not one of them. I wanted the whole experience in the birthing tub with my doula and candles and soft music with my husband by my side. I wanted all of the sensations, good or bad, that go with it and I definitely wanted to be able to hold my sweet baby girl the moment she came into the world. I am welling up just thinking again about what I missed. With that said, I already feel SO amazingly grateful to God for this most amazing miracle laying next to me. Oh my goodness, she is such an angel. And the fact that I can breastfeed just brings tears to my eyes! Of course, I do weep over EVERYTHING right now! These post-partum hormones are hilarious!
So, Jeff and I went home, said goodbye to Sadie and my parents, and then turned back around to go to the emergency room for our c-section. I began to try to remember that at the end of the day, I was going to see Keller in just a few short hours and that got me through the whole experience. I was terrified of getting the spinal block done since I had so many back issues, but I will have to say that it wasn't that horrible or painful going in. But, the sensation of not being able to move your legs at will just slightly freaked me out! I had to pretend that there was a warm blanket sitting across my legs. My whole body was shaking due to anxiety and being in a cold, sterile operating room. Not exactly the environment I had pictured for my birth. Everyone was super nice, but I found it hard to interact much due to my anxiety. I requested to have my iPhone with me so that I could play my playlist of Christian music that I had planned for the birth. That music definitely helped, but again, it was hard to concentrate. When Jeff got in the room, he definitely helped to calm me down and I began to set my mind on seeing baby Keller. Jeff decided to watch the whole birth over the curtain and I was grateful they allowed him to do that. Another nurse took pictures of the whole thing for me, so I later was able to see Keller coming out of my womb rear end first! During all of the tugging, pulling, and pressure, Diane and my doctor told me that they found a large fibroid right next to my cervix that they had to remove. Speculation was made that maybe that was why Keller turned breech. Then finally, after one big push on my abdomen, I heard the most beautiful cry and they held Keller up over the curtain for me to see.
They quickly brought her over to the examination table and I lost it! I was so overcome with the sweetest emotion imaginable and yet was also so sad that I couldn't be right next to my baby. Jeff rushed over to the table to take pictures and then they finally brought her over to me while they finished stitching me up. She was already sucking her thumb on the table, which I found adorable.
Back in the recovery room, I waited to see and hold her. It was so wonderful when she finally arrived to get to touch all of her fingers and toes. She is just perfect!
We are doing well at the Scholen household. I left the hospital a day early because I was feeling so good (relatively speaking). I think my water aerobics paid off : ) So, we are back at home trying to get adjusted to a family of four. I have a lactation specialist coming tomorrow to help me work out a few issues and we have meals coming for many weeks from fabulous friends. My mom came back today to stay for a week and then my best friend comes in for another week after that and then my MIL for 1-2 weeks at the end! So very grateful for all of the love and support!
I will try to get some cute pictures of Keller up soon. Just barely surviving right now! Being a family of 4 is definitely an adjustment. Especially for my 2 1/2 year old. She is acting out terribly right now. I think she is more work than Keller, honestly. We hope it will get better with time. We are also hoping the lactation issues get straightened out. The nurses at the hospital immediately had me using a breast shield with nursing that I have now come to realize is a big "no-no". So, we are working on breaking Keller of the already ingrained habit of needing it for nursing.
That's it for now! So excited to see all the baby pictures coming!!
So, my story sure isn't what I wished it would have been. Honestly, it is hard to revisit it without crying, but I want to get it written down before I forget. I went into labor naturally while watching American Idol Wednesday night. It started with what I would call moderate menstrual-type cramps that were coming every 5 or so minutes. I called my doula and she told me to try to get as much rest as possible overnight, so we quickly finished packing our last minute items into our bag and then I got in the tub to try to relax before going to bed. I got some sleep, but woke up around 4am with contractions that were still regular, but hadn't seemed to intensify much since the previous night. I got up around 5am and felt what I thought was my water breaking. Not a gush, but a big trickle. At this point, my contractions intensified a bit, so At 6am I decided it was time to call my parents and have them make the 1 1/2 hour trek to Atlanta because I was uncertain as to how long it would take to be in active labor.
I was still contracting when my parents arrived at 8am, but they still weren't largely intensifying, which seemed odd to me. At times I wondered if this was just a false alarm and I made a big deal out of nothing! Jeff and I decided to go for a walk to see if we could get the show on the road. Walking definitely made the contractions stronger, but nothing too unbearable. Fortunately, I had an appointment with my midwife at 11am already scheduled, so we decided to go to it and see what was going on. An ultrasound was on the docket because of my age (NST one week, U/S the next ).
We got to the OB office and went in for the U/S. I was so excited to see Keller as it had been awhile since our last ultrasound. We got set up, were watching the screen and were making idle chit chat with Sandra, the tech, when all of a sudden these letters began appearing on the screen...
B R E E C H
and as I was seeing the word being typed, she tells me the same, "She is breech. I wanted to tell you since you would see me typing it." But she was head down just last week! Whose baby turns in their 38th week? And there was more bad news. My amniotic fluid was low - down to an 8. I never had a gush of water, so we think there was a pinhole leak. My brain was having a hard time processing this new information. I was so disappointed and in shock. On our way to the examination room, we see Diane our midwife and we told her the news that she was breech. She immediately says, "Well, let's turn that baby around!" to which the u/s tech says, "She also has low fluid." I could see the look of concern on Diane's face. She was so sweet and gracious with me and told me that we don't know why God decides to do these things and that she knew it wasn't what we wanted, but this baby needed to be born today with how low the fluid was. She consoled me and gave me much needed encouragement, then told me to go home and get my bags without dily-dalying so that we could have this baby. She also told me that this is why my contractions weren't getting more intense. Keller's rear end wasn't doing the trick in dilating my cervix. Bony heads do much better : )
After Diane left the examination room, I just turned to Jeff and cried. I was still in denial and shock. A C-section was everything I didn't want in my birth experience. I know there are a lot of people who love getting c-sections and definitely prefer them to having to go through labor. I am just not one of them. I wanted the whole experience in the birthing tub with my doula and candles and soft music with my husband by my side. I wanted all of the sensations, good or bad, that go with it and I definitely wanted to be able to hold my sweet baby girl the moment she came into the world. I am welling up just thinking again about what I missed. With that said, I already feel SO amazingly grateful to God for this most amazing miracle laying next to me. Oh my goodness, she is such an angel. And the fact that I can breastfeed just brings tears to my eyes! Of course, I do weep over EVERYTHING right now! These post-partum hormones are hilarious!
They quickly brought her over to the examination table and I lost it! I was so overcome with the sweetest emotion imaginable and yet was also so sad that I couldn't be right next to my baby. Jeff rushed over to the table to take pictures and then they finally brought her over to me while they finished stitching me up. She was already sucking her thumb on the table, which I found adorable.
 |
| On the examination table. |
 |
| The best moment for me. |
Back in the recovery room, I waited to see and hold her. It was so wonderful when she finally arrived to get to touch all of her fingers and toes. She is just perfect!
 |
| Keller sucking her thumb. She still loves to suck on just about anything! |
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| Still sucking that thumb! |
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| Diane, our midwife, with Keller on discharge day. |
I will try to get some cute pictures of Keller up soon. Just barely surviving right now! Being a family of 4 is definitely an adjustment. Especially for my 2 1/2 year old. She is acting out terribly right now. I think she is more work than Keller, honestly. We hope it will get better with time. We are also hoping the lactation issues get straightened out. The nurses at the hospital immediately had me using a breast shield with nursing that I have now come to realize is a big "no-no". So, we are working on breaking Keller of the already ingrained habit of needing it for nursing.
That's it for now! So excited to see all the baby pictures coming!!
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| Heading home! |
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