The First Week and a Half of Motherhood
I did it! I birthed two gorgeous babies on Feb 2nd! I keep meaning to write an update, but I keep getting distracted ;). Anyway, here's a summery of everything that has happened since my last post. It's kinda long, so much has happened.
Labor and Delivery
We started the induction at 7:30 on Saturday morning. The whole induction process consisted of a dose of cervix softening gel, several hours of waiting, a second dose of the gel, more waiting, some narcotics, an epidural, alot of pitocin given via iv, and then finally pushing time in the operating room. Yeah, I did get the epidural and I would get it again, the contractions eventually became unbearable, and I wasn't able to move around too much because the babies and I had to be hooked to a bunch of monitors. I was still able to feel when it was time to push, and the epidural did not hinder me. I could even move my legs somewhat. Both babies were birthed vaginally with just a few contractions. That was the easy part! Sadly, the doc gave me an episiotomy after Zoe was born. Of course I did not feel it, but the recovery is super annoying.
First Hours After Birth
I was crying with happiness to meet my babies. John was holding sweet Zoe while I was pushing with Valentina. Valentina had some problems breathing at first, so she went straight to the special care nursery. Zoe came with me to my hospital room and we got to try nursing for the first time. She latched on and got some of that liquid gold colostrum. But when the nurse checked her sugar levels they were super low, so she also got sent to the special care nursery for hypoglycemia. Valentina figured out the whole breathing thing and came to our room that night. We cared for her all night but by morning her temperature was low, so she was re-admitted to the nursery for hypothermia. Both babies recovered from their initial conditions, but they both had to stay in the nursery for a week because they were not feeding well enough to come home.
Week at the Special Care Nursery
When I was discharged from the hospital and had to leave my babies, I did not cry or feel that upset at first. A few hours later a song I liked was being played on the radio and I started singing along, and it hit me. I used to sing for them and they were not with me anymore. They couldn't hear me from the inside and they were not with me on the outside. It felt so lonely. I really started missing them and fell into bouts of sorrow. John and I visited twice a day, and I would pump breast milk and take to the hospital. It was at least something I could do for them. The good part about them staying is that I was able to get plenty of sleep and had a chance to recover from labor and delivery. Also, it was great learning stuff from the nurses, like how to diaper, bathe, and feed the babies.
The First Days at Home
We change and feed each baby every three hours, a total of 8 times a day. They usually don't wake up when they're hungry yet, we have to get them up. If John takes one baby, and I take the other, we can usually be done in 30-40 minutes. If one person does both babies, it takes up to an hour and a half sometimes, especially for me if I have to pump their meal first. John and I have worked out a schedule that allows us each to sleep about 6-7 hours at night. I go to bed after the midnight feeding, and sleep till around 6 or 7 to do the morning feeding. John does the 3am feeding, and sleeps till 11 in the morning. We've also been getting help from family. When John is at work I often have someone over to help with the feedings, which is super nice!
Breastfeeding Challenges
Yeah, breastfeeding has gotten off to a bit of a rocky start. While they were in the special care nursery, they only let me breastfeed a handful of times. It was more important that they consumed enough nourishment and not burn a lot of calories, and it's way easier to do that when bottle fed (or, sadly, tube fed). At least they have been fed mostly breast milk, that's the important thing. Also, all the literature I read about breastfeeding encouraged mothers to not introduce bottles or pacifiers for the first month. That went out the window right away, but I'm not sure if it has had much of a negative effect. Now that everyone is home we have been practicing for a couple of sessions each day. They latch on pretty well, but seem to loose interest pretty quickly. We're going to keep working at it. Hopefully soon we'll be able to breastfeed like the pros! It would save alot of time as I wouldn't have to pump so often.
Diapering
As I have mentioned in a previous post, it has been my intention to cloth diaper my babies. We are in the experimental phase right now with prefolds and covers (the old fashioned way). It doesn't suck that bad, but I do admit, disposables are pretty damn convenient. When babies reach 7-8 pounds I can try the fancy kind of cloth diapers that are supposed to be easier to use. The main issue I'm having with prefolds and covers is that I think moisture is soaking through the cover somehow because the babies are always damp near the small of their backs. Their clothes and blankets get damp and I end up going through a ton of laundry. So...that really sucks. I'm about to email the cover company to find out why this leaking thing is happening.
Myself
So personally, I've had my ups and downs. My body is returning to normal and it feels great. I'm not doing any exercising yet besides taking the dog for an occasional walk. I don't think I'm supposed to do any real exercising until after my 6 week post postpartum doctor's appointment. I think the main thing is that I need to let my episiotomy fully heal. By the way, the fist week was pretty painful. It was kinda like the period from hell. Heavy bleeding, lots of cramping, and freaking episiotomy stitches. I am feeling much better now. And I'm looking better too. I still have a belly pooch, but I think it's going away slowly but surely. I'm about 15-20 pounds away from pre-pregnancy weight.
One thing that has really dragged me down is the death of my grandmother earlier this week. She died peacefully in her home, with lots of family nearby. I'm so sad about it. I mean, she lived a long and happy life, but I'm going to miss her dearly. Luckily, she saw some photos of the babies before she died. Apparently she called them her "little birds" and said she would be watching them after she passed. My heart is broken since she was not able to hold them and meet them in person. She was SO excited about my pregnancy and the twins. I'm glad she at least knew they were born healthy and saw some photos, but I just can't stop myself from uncontrollable sobbing when I think about it.
Labor and Delivery
We started the induction at 7:30 on Saturday morning. The whole induction process consisted of a dose of cervix softening gel, several hours of waiting, a second dose of the gel, more waiting, some narcotics, an epidural, alot of pitocin given via iv, and then finally pushing time in the operating room. Yeah, I did get the epidural and I would get it again, the contractions eventually became unbearable, and I wasn't able to move around too much because the babies and I had to be hooked to a bunch of monitors. I was still able to feel when it was time to push, and the epidural did not hinder me. I could even move my legs somewhat. Both babies were birthed vaginally with just a few contractions. That was the easy part! Sadly, the doc gave me an episiotomy after Zoe was born. Of course I did not feel it, but the recovery is super annoying.
First Hours After Birth
I was crying with happiness to meet my babies. John was holding sweet Zoe while I was pushing with Valentina. Valentina had some problems breathing at first, so she went straight to the special care nursery. Zoe came with me to my hospital room and we got to try nursing for the first time. She latched on and got some of that liquid gold colostrum. But when the nurse checked her sugar levels they were super low, so she also got sent to the special care nursery for hypoglycemia. Valentina figured out the whole breathing thing and came to our room that night. We cared for her all night but by morning her temperature was low, so she was re-admitted to the nursery for hypothermia. Both babies recovered from their initial conditions, but they both had to stay in the nursery for a week because they were not feeding well enough to come home.
Week at the Special Care Nursery
When I was discharged from the hospital and had to leave my babies, I did not cry or feel that upset at first. A few hours later a song I liked was being played on the radio and I started singing along, and it hit me. I used to sing for them and they were not with me anymore. They couldn't hear me from the inside and they were not with me on the outside. It felt so lonely. I really started missing them and fell into bouts of sorrow. John and I visited twice a day, and I would pump breast milk and take to the hospital. It was at least something I could do for them. The good part about them staying is that I was able to get plenty of sleep and had a chance to recover from labor and delivery. Also, it was great learning stuff from the nurses, like how to diaper, bathe, and feed the babies.
The First Days at Home
We change and feed each baby every three hours, a total of 8 times a day. They usually don't wake up when they're hungry yet, we have to get them up. If John takes one baby, and I take the other, we can usually be done in 30-40 minutes. If one person does both babies, it takes up to an hour and a half sometimes, especially for me if I have to pump their meal first. John and I have worked out a schedule that allows us each to sleep about 6-7 hours at night. I go to bed after the midnight feeding, and sleep till around 6 or 7 to do the morning feeding. John does the 3am feeding, and sleeps till 11 in the morning. We've also been getting help from family. When John is at work I often have someone over to help with the feedings, which is super nice!
Breastfeeding Challenges
Yeah, breastfeeding has gotten off to a bit of a rocky start. While they were in the special care nursery, they only let me breastfeed a handful of times. It was more important that they consumed enough nourishment and not burn a lot of calories, and it's way easier to do that when bottle fed (or, sadly, tube fed). At least they have been fed mostly breast milk, that's the important thing. Also, all the literature I read about breastfeeding encouraged mothers to not introduce bottles or pacifiers for the first month. That went out the window right away, but I'm not sure if it has had much of a negative effect. Now that everyone is home we have been practicing for a couple of sessions each day. They latch on pretty well, but seem to loose interest pretty quickly. We're going to keep working at it. Hopefully soon we'll be able to breastfeed like the pros! It would save alot of time as I wouldn't have to pump so often.
Diapering
As I have mentioned in a previous post, it has been my intention to cloth diaper my babies. We are in the experimental phase right now with prefolds and covers (the old fashioned way). It doesn't suck that bad, but I do admit, disposables are pretty damn convenient. When babies reach 7-8 pounds I can try the fancy kind of cloth diapers that are supposed to be easier to use. The main issue I'm having with prefolds and covers is that I think moisture is soaking through the cover somehow because the babies are always damp near the small of their backs. Their clothes and blankets get damp and I end up going through a ton of laundry. So...that really sucks. I'm about to email the cover company to find out why this leaking thing is happening.
Myself
So personally, I've had my ups and downs. My body is returning to normal and it feels great. I'm not doing any exercising yet besides taking the dog for an occasional walk. I don't think I'm supposed to do any real exercising until after my 6 week post postpartum doctor's appointment. I think the main thing is that I need to let my episiotomy fully heal. By the way, the fist week was pretty painful. It was kinda like the period from hell. Heavy bleeding, lots of cramping, and freaking episiotomy stitches. I am feeling much better now. And I'm looking better too. I still have a belly pooch, but I think it's going away slowly but surely. I'm about 15-20 pounds away from pre-pregnancy weight.
One thing that has really dragged me down is the death of my grandmother earlier this week. She died peacefully in her home, with lots of family nearby. I'm so sad about it. I mean, she lived a long and happy life, but I'm going to miss her dearly. Luckily, she saw some photos of the babies before she died. Apparently she called them her "little birds" and said she would be watching them after she passed. My heart is broken since she was not able to hold them and meet them in person. She was SO excited about my pregnancy and the twins. I'm glad she at least knew they were born healthy and saw some photos, but I just can't stop myself from uncontrollable sobbing when I think about it.
I didn't know about tour grandma I'm so sorry sister! But it sounds like everything else is pretty well and I just can't wait to meet the babies :):):) you looked just as beautiful as always when we went to Applebee's so the last bit of weight I'm sure is hardly even noticeable!!! You're always gorgeous <3
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry to hear about your grandmother, Sam. :-( But, I'm glad that she at least knew they were born healthy & that she saw pics of them. I'm so happy that you & your twin girls are doing so well. I'm sure it's a huge adjustment for u & John, but it sounds like you've created a good routine for your new family so far. That is awesome. Your blog is certainly helpful, as Chris & I will be experiencing the birth of our baby girl in just about 1 month! Best wishes with everything! Take care of yourselves!!! :-)
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