I’ve decided to start off ‘Girl Mom of One’ by sharing about Selenas entrance into this world, because, is this even a mom blog if I don’t share my birth story?
Pregnancy
In all honesty (get ready to hate me), I think had the best pregnancy in the history of ALL pregnancies. I never had morning sickness, or any sickness for that matter. I slept really well until I was the size of a whale. I had no complications with Selena whatsoever. It was a GREAT pregnancy.
We found out we were pregnant 2 days after we got home from our Disneymoon (and yes, she WAS planned) and I was instantly overwhelmed with so much joy for what the future held - I was SO in love. At around 6 weeks I had some bleeding, I instantly thought the worst and headed to my OB-GYN to get checked. He told me that my body was most likely trying to get rid of my baby and that there’s nothing he could do if that was the case. This is when I decided to switch to a midwife. From there on, I had no negative comments, and was surrounded with so much support and love throughout my pregnancy; and of course, my body was NOT trying to get rid of my baby.
I went on to enjoy a comfortable, happy pregnancy. Watching my belly grow and my love grow all at the same time with each kick and wiggle I could feel. I had an ultrasound done at around 34 weeks, where I was told my baby was very big and had lots of hair (both of these things weren’t true!)
By the end of my pregnancy I was VERY huge (I gained over 60 pounds!!!) , my feet were swollen, and I was in and out of the hospital for the last few weeks having my blood pressure monitored. I think in that last week we were at the hospital for over 20 hours in total just being monitored and waiting for doctors to decide if I should be induced. We were even told to pack our bags and come back to the hospital to be induced only to be sent back home. The waiting game was brutal!
Anyways, throughout my pregnancy I read tons of articles on natural birth, took yoga classes to prepare myself to be unmedicated, took classes on special massages Martin could do to help me through, and had all the essential oils and calming music ready to go. I did all of this so I could be SUPER WOMAN and birth this so-called giant baby with no help from medicine. Continue reading to see how that went...
Birth
Let me start this section off by sharing a super attractive photo of myself. I’m just in the first stages of labour, walking outside of the hospital wearing mesh panties and a robe trying to dilate naturally so I didn’t have to be induced (PS. Look at those feet!!!). Moving on...
On July 20th, my husband and I had just got home from my moms birthday dinner at Swiss Chalet (I had ALL the fries), we watched a few episodes of FRIENDS and decided to go to bed. I started having cramping at around 10PM. It was nothing crazy but I decided to time them anyways. By midnight they were 6 minutes apart and I could no longer sleep. Anyone who tells you to sleep through your early contractions is an alien, it wasn't physically possible for me. Those cramps continued to get closer and closer until finally my water broke at 5AM.
We decided to call the midwife, and she was over within 30 minutes. I was SO ready to get this show on the road. She checked me, and I was 1cm dilated. ONE. CENTIMETER.
At that point I knew it was going to be a long day. Regardless of that, the midwife told me to shower, have a snack, and meet her at the hospital.
Im going to spare you the boring details, but I spent 8 hours at the hospital walking around, bouncing on my exercise ball, trying to move this labour along. By 2pm, the contractions hurt a lot, so I thought for sure I was at least past early labour. NOPE! “You’re at a 2, MAYBE 3 centimeter”. Great.
At this point, they decided to induce me just to be safe. After all, my water had broke and my blood pressure was abnormally high. I felt like my body wasn’t doing what it was supposed to do. Induction felt like failure #1.
Once the induction started, the contractions came on very quickly and intensely. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. It was the worst pain I had ever felt in my life. There is really no words to describe the pain that moms go through to bring their babies into this world. After a couple hours of intense pain I got checked again. FOUR CENTIMETERS. I couldn’t take it anymore.
Then came what felt like failure #2: The epidural. The moment I got the epidural all of my pain disappeared. I felt like I could finally relax. We joked around, laughed, watched more FRIENDS - it was GREAT! Seriously, the best invention ever. Sorry haters! After about 2 hours, I felt intense pressure. The nurse didn’t believe me when I said I felt like I had to push. But sure enough, I was checked, 10 centimetres and they already could see her head!
So to make an already long story shorter, I pushed for less than 30 minutes and our baby flew (LITERALLY flew) out. Martin and I both watched as baby Selena flew out into this world! It was a wonderful experience THANKS to the epidural (please, let’s do everyone a favour and end the stigma on those, they’re AMAZING).
They took Selena to the examination table immediately because she was having breathing issues. Nothing serious; They had her back to me by the time my stitches were done. They announced “5 pounds 13 ounces”. Yep, our “BIG” baby was actually small. Oh, and she had no hair. PSA dont trust ultrasounds! Our perfect bundle of joy was here, and was placed on me for skin-on-skin and the start of our breastfeeding journey.
And beyond!
When Selena was placed on me, it was an instant, inseparable bond. She latched on pretty easily, but it was definitely painful, and of course my milk wasn’t in yet. Selena was very small for being overdue, and had very low blood sugar. The nurses would come every 2 hours to prick her little foot and check her sugar levels. I had to hand express milk into a tiny cup and feed her with a syringe every hour. It was SO much work. Every nurse and midwife kept telling me to supplement with formula but I did not give up.
This is where my first glimpse of bedsharing started. Yep, in the hospital AND recommended by a doctor. Selena slept on me for the first night (And who am I kidding, every night since).
After 2 days and nights of constant foot pricking, we successfully raised Selena’s blood sugar levels and were sent home. Yay!!! It wasnt all rainbows and butterflies though...
For the first two weeks I was under constant pressure to supplement Selena because she wasnt gaining weight. I had a 2nd degree tear. I was extremely engorged. I cried everyday, multiple times a day. I was a MESS. Luckily, my husband, Martin, had 6 weeks off of work and was a literal life saver. I truly believe he is the reason I’m not suffering from postpartum depression today. He made all of my meals, he drew me baths every night, he ran all of our errands, he was AMAZING with Selena. Martin basically saved me.
Anyways, that’s our story! Selena is now a happy, exclusively-breastfed 6-month old baby who still sleeps with her mama! If you made it this far, leave a comment below and show some love!
