Nursing Woes

It's funny...since I got pregnant I was adament..."I am going to nurse Autumn for the first year." It's what is recommended by the American Pediatric Association and I just felt like it would be best for both of us. Since Autumn has arrived though we've struggled our way through the challenges of breastfeeding. I had heard many times before becoming pregnant that breastfeeding is a learned skill...and although it's natural, it's far from easy and many people struggle. I never thought it would be as difficult as it has been for us though. The first weekend we were home we were doing ok, I was having a lot of pain while nursing, but we were managing our way through it (probably partially because I was still on pain meds from the surgery). When we went to our first pediatrician appointment on Monday though everything changed. I told them about Autumn getting kinda frantic while eating...and not staying latched on. When they weighed her and she was only 8 pounds 6 ounces the tears started coming. She wasn't getting enough food. She'd lost more than 10% of her body weight...so the pediatrician immediately said we have to supplement with formula until my milk supply could keep up. As he examined her though he said this really doesn't make sense. She doesn't look like a baby that's gone from 9 pounds 9 ounces down to 8.6. So he did some investigating and found in the hospital records that they likely weighed her wrong in the OR and she really only weighed 9 pounds 5 ounces at birth. We can't be sure, but because she left the hospital at 8 pounds 6 ounces they were pretty positive 9.5 was her actual weight. As another aside, there was confusion at the hospital about her length. We were told she was 21.5 inches long at one point and 20.5 at another. Since she was only 20.5 at the doctor and we're assuming she's not getting shorter, we're going to go with 20.5. What a mess!! Based on the new information he said we are ok for now, to just keep feeding her and we'll check back in a week.

Unfortunately the stress and anxiety of the whole situation was really weighing on me and that started affecting our feeding times too. Almost every feeding I was crying, Autumn was crying...it was going down hill quick! By Wednesday I felt like I needed help. I tried to contact my primary care physician, but the office was closed. I finally ended up calling the pediatricians office again asking if someone there could help or if they could recommend a lactation consultant. They said to bring her in, the doctor will check her out and one of the nurses can try and help with the feeding issues. I later determined this was a huge mistake and another derailer in our feeding journey, but there was nothing I could do now. Her doctor is not there on Wednesday's so we saw another jerk doctor that said we absolutely had to supplement at this point...she was down another 2 ounces. I attempted nursing in front of one of the nurses to get help and of course Autumn latched on, stayed on and did great. We left the office feeling worse than before...and things continued to be a struggle. After going to the pediatrician one last time on Friday for another weight check I was at the end of my rope. I cried all the time, was extremely frustrated, was in pain, and most importantly was worried about Autumn.

Finally we made the decision that the pediatrician was not working out. So far all they had done was freak me out and derail us time and time again. I called my primary cares office to see if she sees newborns. When I found out she did I was ecstatic!! I made an appointment for Autumn that day! At this point I was exclusively pumping and bottle feeding Autumn. When we got to the office Dr. Grawey immediately got to work on fixing us (I just love her!) She told us to stop using a pacifier, to stop using a bottle and to try nursing Autumn as much as possible. She said to get ahold of a lactation consultant and gave us a prescription for thrush (a yeast infection that is likely one of the main causes of the pain). She said to get support...to go to la leche league meetings, to go to a breastfeeding support group, anything and everything possible! I left her office feeling so much better! I called the lactation consultant she recommended and she said she was right by our house now and could be there in a half an hour! I was excited! We were going to get through this!

I know this story is getting long so I'll try to wrap it up...Barb, the lactation consultant, worked with us for about an hour and a half on Monday. Unfortunately though the outcome was not great. It turns out that there really is a problem preventing us from successfully nursing. With out getting too detailed...our anatomy just does not match up right now. Autumn is unable to properly extract a sufficient amount of milk at this time. We've been trying to purchase a supplemental nursing system (a tube taped to my breast that will deliver milk I've pumped out). This way Autumn continues to "nurse" and gets the milk she needs. Another bump in the road though...nobody in town has one in stock right now. So as of right now, I am pumping and we are feeding Autumn through a bottle.

I hope and pray that some day Autumn will be able to nurse normally...hopefully some day sooner than later, but for now we're doing the best we can!! And we'll take any and all prayers you want to send our way :o)

Autumn's Birth Story

So having gone through IVF to conceive Autumn we figured our due date was pretty spot on...and when my water broke just 3 hours and 40 minutes after her due date had passed, that assumption proved to be quite true! It was 3:40 AM Sunday, June 6th...I have gotten up to go to the bathroom and before I got back in bed felt a small rush of fluid run down my leg. I returned to the bathroom to find some blood dripping in to the toilet. It was not a lot of blood, but between that and the small fluid trickle I figured something was happening. I immediately woke up Jacob and we paced around the bedroom deciding what to do. My OB had stressed time and time again, four things that immediately send you to the hospital (1) blood, (2) a gush of fluid, (3) pain in the belly that won't go away, and (4) baby stops moving. Since I had two of these, albeit in small amounts, I was a little unsure of what to do. I called my sister (she is a nurse so is lucky enough to get all my medical questions...and my 4 AM phone calls *grin*). She said to put a pad on and see how it looks in a half an hour. As soon as I hung up the phone though I had another small gush and more blood. So the decision was made...time to go to the hospital! My eyes filled up with tears with the excitement and anticipation of finally meeting our little miracle!

When we got to the hospital they took us to the assessment room to determine if we would be admitted or not. It took about an hour and lots of paper work (their computers were down so so much for pre-registering), but they did finally determine that my water had in fact been broken and I was dilated a whopping finger tip...yep, not even a centimeter! We were admitted and taken to the room where we would spend the next 5+ days! It was really happening...so exciting!!

Over the next few hours the got me started on IV and pitocin. Since my water had broken they want to ensure you deliver within 24 hours to decrease the risk of infection. Since I wasn't having contractions on my own yet, they were hoping the pitocin would speed things along. The contractions started coming and I was feeling pretty good...at about 1 PM I felt sure that we were making progress as the contractions got stronger and stronger, so asked that they check me again. You can imagine my disappointment to find out after several hours of laboring now that I was still only a finger tip dilated! You have got to be kidding! The nurse at this point said she would talk to the doctor and see what she thought, but that there is a chance she would recommend a c-section soon because I was not progressing quickly and time was slowly trickling away. And I have to back up here...so one thing I forgot to mention...I know I told you in a previous post that my doctor was going to be out of town this week...well when I mentioned that his back-up doctor would be the one working with us they informed us that he doesn't start as his back-up until Monday!! WHAT!?! That might have been good information to know...not that there is anything we can do at this point...so we are on to what we lovingly named our "3rd string doctor"...which probably wasn't a fair name as Dr. McDaniel turned out to be a very nice doctor and she safely delivered our little one so I can not say one bad thing about her. I am very confident though that the experience would have been much easier had it been my doctor we were working with.

As the hours continued to tick on, the contractions got stronger. They put an internal monitor on me to ensure they were in fact strong enough...and needing to be above 50 on the "contraction scale" we quickly learned they were, as most of mine were in the 60's and 70's...an occasional one even creeping up in to the 80's! So we were about maxed out on the pitocin level...my contractions were painful...and I still wasn't progressing! At about 6 PM they checked again and I had finally reached a 1!! By 8 I was at a 3...things were starting to look up a little. I got an epidural at this point...which dulled the pain on the right side of my body. It was enough to take the edge off and I got small amounts of sleep. I should mention, Autumn was doing amazing through all of this. Her heart rate stayed very steady the entire time...our little fighter was doing great! Dr. McDaniel decided to give me an antibiotic...continue upping the pitocin (passed the top level allowed) and see what happens! The night dragged on...with occassional checks...I was creeping along again...maybe a 4, maybe a 5...the nurse was fudging a bit I think to make it seem better than it was. Finally around 4:30 AM, they came to give me a second epidural to try and get my left side numb. At 5 they checked me one last time. I might be a 5 at this point, but that is stretching it a little. So the decision is made...it is going to be a c-section...at 6 AM!

As they begin prepping me, my blood pressure dropped quite a bit...I felt quite sick...that last dose of medicine was too much. They also discover my blood platelette levels are low...nothing to worry about, but something they need to be aware of for the surgery. They wheel me to the OR and I start panicking. I don't feel well, I'm scared, and I just want Autumn to arrive safely in to the world! I tell the nurse I'm going to throw up...so here I am, moments from meeting my daughter and I'm throwing up into a pan on the side of my bed. Geez!! They bring Jacob in and begin going to work. A c-section is the strangest feeling in the world...I don't feel pain, but it kinda feels like someone is punching around inside my stomach. It's a lot of tugging and pulling...and it's weird! I keep asking if they're almost done...until finally I hear her...the sweetest cry in the world!! Autumn is here!!! I want to laugh and cry and everything all at once! It is such an overwhelming feeling. I can see her off in the distance as they begin weighing her and checking her out. And she's perfect!! The inform us that she weighs a whopping 9 pounds 9 ounces and is 21.5 inches long! Wow, no wonder she wouldn't come out...haha! At this point I just want to be off this table and to hold my little girl! But they are working on putting me back together. I tell the anestesiologist that I don't feel well...that my feet hurt...weird I know, but they did. He tells me he's going to give me a quick 10 minute nap and when I wake up, I'll feel much better...and I did!! And as I did, they handed me Autumn and wheeled us both back to our room! How perfect!!

We spent the next 5 days in the hospital. They monitored my platelettes and iron levels (I became anemic during this whole thing) until they returned to normal. And finally on Friday, June 11th we got to go home!!

Autumn is so wonderful. She already has been smiling and giggling at us (ok, not at us, but as she falls asleep...it is the cutest thing ever)! We feel so blessed to finally have our little miracle in our arms and can't wait to see all the amazing things God has in store for the three of us!

Our Miracle has arrived!

Autumn Grace Henson arrived on Monday, June 7th at 6:31 AM via caesarean section. She is absolutely perfect! She was atleast 9.5 pounds and atleast 20.5 inches long at birth...haha...it's a bit of a long story that I will tell in another post, but for now I just wanted to welcome baby Autumn into our world! We love her more than I ever thought possible! Tears come to my eyes just thinking about it. We've waited so very long for this moment and are so blessed to have this sweet angel in our lives.

Awesome…NOT!!

So the doctors appointment yesterday did not go as I had hoped. First I have not changed at all...I am still only 50% thinned out and my cervix is still completely closed! Boo! And then second, he springs on us the news that he is going to be out of town all next week! You could tell he was leery to tell us this...I think he was just hoping she would come early and it wouldn't be an issue, but here we are...3 days out from my due date and he's getting ready to leave town...it's not looking good! And assuming everything goes smoothly with the birth, it really isn't THAT big of a deal who actually delivers her, but it is a little nerve wracking that if I need a c-section or an episiotomy...or any of these interventions that I've discussed with him that this new person is just going to step in and do them. Someone who I have never met...someone I know nothing about...someone that I don't even remember his name at this point! Ugh...needless to say, I'm a little stressed. He assured me that his replacement is a great doctor and he would trust his own wife with him, but still...I'm not happy with the situation. And it's not helping that I was already beginning to stress out about the idea of having to be induced, but now I really feel like it's a race to the finish line...and this little girl REALLY needs to make her appearance in the next 3 days! No pressure! I'm trying to remain positive...and think happy thoughts...about my water breaking tonight...or about contractions starting early tomorrow...anything, but it's hard! I did contact Christine at WellBody to see if she thought some acupuncture might help and she said it can't hurt...so I'm going in tomorrow afternoon. If nothing else, it will likely relax me some, so that's always a good thing.

So the game plan for now is just to pray that Autumn does decide she's ready in the next few days and we're able to deliver with our OB and without medical intervention. If not she'll have all next week to come on her own...and be greeted by some strange man neither one of us have met. And if she still hasn't arrived, it looks like we'll have a planned induction on Sunday, June 13th when our doctor comes back from his trip...which would likely put her birthday on the 14th. So please pray she decides she's ready and comes soon...

Countdown to due date: 3 days!!!!