Hi ... Poppoing in real quick while I have a few spare seconds. Baby Kiwi IS finally here. She is actually 2 weeks old today! She was born 3 days late on the 26th (Guess its true what they say about the full moon.) I started having timeable contractions around 8am (4-6 minutes apart). We stayed at home with just a few calls to check in with the midwives until about 1pm. We made it to labor and delivery by 2pm. They had me on the monitors for awhile and I started debating my pain relief options as the contractions started to be every 3 minutes. After some discussion with my nurse I opted to hop in the tub for the "aquadural" relief of the massaging water jets (which were actually really helpful). I gave up on the tub around 5:30 to try something else but never really had a chance. Only 4 pushes later and baby girl was born right around 6pm with no meds. The actual delivery was so fast the midwife almost missed it and the OB almost delivered her insteaed.
We think she's pretty adorable and she's had a ton of visitors already. Mom and dad are getting used to living on minimal sleep as we dealt with feedings every 2 hours to get her back to birth weight. We finally got the "ok" from the pediatrician yesterday to turn off the alarms and feed when she's hungry ... we were so excited for a little extra sleep .... our excitement was short lived when she decided to be WIDE awake from 10:00pm - 3:00am last night.
Biggest tips for new moms-to-be:
1 - Make friends with your nurses. They have a huge impact on your experience in the hospital. Also, ifyou have questions ... ask them!
2 - Take whatever you can from the hospital and ask for extras.
3 - It will be almost impossible but as often as you can .. nap when the baby naps the first few days/weeks. Sleep never seemed like such a luxury.
4 - Remember, each day gets a little easier and there is no reason to turn away good help, food, extra baby holding friends so you can get something done or squeeze in a nap.
Re: Baby Kiwi :)
Great birth story, you rock for going natural! I hope mine will be half as smooth as that :-) Congrats again Kiwi!! Oh and thanks for the tips!!
Congratulations!!! I've been wondering about you, and am so glad you found some time to post. Sounds like you had a great labor experience! Will you share pics eventually? So happy for you!
congrats! welcome baby Kiwi!!
Sounds like you had a great labor/birth experience!
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