Post-Pregnancy Faves

Aaahhh Post Pregnancy...I have been really excited to write this post for a couple reasons. One reason is that I just had my daughter (my first) 6 months ago, so this is all still really fresh in my mind. The other reason is that I feel as though I have a pretty good arsenal of post-pregnancy tools that I would love to share with other future/new moms out there. These "tools" are a result of polling friends who have recently gone through pregnancies (thank you girls!) and me reading and reading and researching and reading some more while I was pregnant. It's weird but it's like a hobby/relaxation method for me. For me, it was like, "Ok, we are gonna push a tiny body out of this body sometime in the near future, we better start reading everything under the sun that is pertinent, and well some stuff that isn't." :) Without further ado, here are my must have, save your butt, your lady parts, your money, time and sanity post prego faves. Printable List.

Ok, lets start with immediately post pregnancy, as in you're laying there looking at your minutes old, perfect little mini, and your body hasn't even had time to change the sheets and put the "vacancy" sign out yet (insert shocked face emoji) 

1) The Hoo Ha Trifecta (dermaplast, witch hazel pads and some kind of ice pack) Seriously, I just amazon-ed "post partum ice pack" so I could give you guys a link, and found Vagi-Kool.....whhhhaaaaaaa...I definitely did not have this, but it looks pretty cool (no pun intended) and judging by the reviews, pretty legit. Your hospital will probably provide you with all of these things, but if I were you, I would have a little stash at home, just in case you run out. You don't want to run out! All of these things will seriously help soothe your sore nether regions after the trauma that is childbirth. If you didn't suffer any "trauma" well then I hate you and leave this blog! Just kidding, I am hoping to join your elite club the next go-around. This post will show you how to assemble the "Undie Sundae." Click the link, I dare you not to :) Oh, and make sure you take a peri-bottle home with you, it will be your best friend. 

2) Next up is a pumping bra. This is assuming you have a breast pump. If you don't have one, you need one! If you ever want to sleep again, or leave the house, you need one! I was able to get the Medela Pump in Style Advanced through our insurance for free (score!) and I highly recommend it. Also, get some spare pump parts. I bought these from amazon and haven't had any issues with them. While you're at it, make sure you get a car converter and/or a battery pack for your pump as well, it will definitely come in handy. Back to the fave at hand, the pumping bra, I bought this one, and people, this thing is worth every penny, in fact it's worth its weight in gold, it is gold, rose gold, or whatever your favorite gold is! Seriously, I can't really describe how annoying it is to have to hold the breast pump parts to your body for 15 minutes. It sounds very diva-ish but it's true. Inevitably, the minute you start, you will have a hair in your eye, or your nose will itch, and then 15 minutes suddenly becomes the 15 minutes you experience at the DMV or tax collectors office, might as well be days!  Add to that, if you're like me, and you like to multi-task, like say blogging and pumping at the same time ;) You can do it with this bra! Get it, just trust me!

3) Nipple Butter: This one probably should have gone with the first items, but oh well I am feelin spunky. You can certainly use the lanolin you will get from the hospital, and I did for the first little while, but then I got turned on to this stuff, and to me it's superior to lanolin for a few reasons. If you don't know what lanolin is, read up, it's disgusting! Now don't get all pissy if you're team lanolin, it does work and it's sort of natural, but once I figured out exactly what it is, I was a tad skeeved so I did some reading and found the Earth Mama Angel baby nipple butter, and I really liked it. It smells like chocolate, is completely natural and is really really soothing to sore and sad nipples. It doesn't have to be wiped off which is huge, because if you're trying to heal your nipples, the last thing you're gonna feel like doing is wiping thick goo off of them before feeding your baby. Plus, Norah never had chapped lips when I used this stuff. 

4) Nursing Bra: Ok so this post is all kinds of out of order, but it's my post and I'll be willy nilly if I want :) I bought a few of these nursing bra's and they are great! Comfy, convenient and if you buy a black one, you can try to call it sexy. Hey, I said you can try....

5) Stool Softener: Yea so this just got real, real gross. Until you've tried to go numero dos after delivering vaginally, you don't know what scary is. IT IS SCARY AND WEIRD. These bad boys just make sure it's not scary, weird and super painful. 

6) Comfy yoga pants: Your comfiest, lounge around the house pants. Buy like 3 more pair of these, you will live in them and your sore tush will thank you.

7) Nursing tanks: I lived in these things, they are comfortable, convenient and layerable for when your hormones are making you do the hot/cold Katy Perry thing.

 8) Breast Milk Test Strips: I bought a box of these and was glad I did. Not that I was out doing keg stands but a beer here and there is really nice when your whole body is sore and you're severely sleep deprived. Knowing you're not giving your baby milk with alcohol is nice too, I kid, it's a no brainer!

9) Pumping bag: This was a bit of a splurge for me, but if you're heading back to work and can swing it, I think it's a must have. This bag in particular can hold not only your pumping necessities, it can also hold other daily items you may need to transport to and from work.

10) Breast milk storage bags: This is an obvious but necessary item. It's the treasure chest for your liquid gold. Get lots of them.

11) Nightgowns: These ones from target are perfect because they are supportive and yet light and comfortable.

12) Waterproof Mattress Protector: Now this one I probably should have included in the 2nd and 3rd Trimester Faves because originally we got one in case my water broke while I was in bed, but I think this its also a post prego must have because when you come home from the hospital you will be bleeding..a lot..like Halloween murder scene kind of bleeding, and you don't want to ruin your mattress. It is also good for the baby accidents that can and will happen.

13) Body Pillow: I did include this one in my 2nd and 3rd trimster faves post, and it also applies to the post pregnancy sitch because you will be sore and your body is gonna feel weird, I don't know how to describe, but it just does, and a nice body pillow will help you get comfortable at night. Who am I kidding...you won't be sleeping.....it is nice to lean against when you're breast feeding though.

13) SAMS or Costco Membership: Where else can you go when you need diapers and wipes in the 24,000 pack? If you're cloth diapering, you will need the 24,000 gallon container of detergent so it's universally necessary.

Hopefully this list is helpful to you momma's out there, getting ready to join this crazy, scary, amazing club! I would love to hear of any other items that were "must-have" things for you. Happy Hump Day!

A.

Here is a handy printable list

Norah's Birth Story

Norah's Birth Story

First of all, hello! It's been a minute (or appx a year) since I last blogged, I could get into all the reasons why, but really, do you care? :) The last post I did was in April 2015, and it's funny to me because I was pregnant, and I don't think I even knew it yet. On that note, here is the novel that is my daughter Norah's birth story. 

In order to understand the whole picture, I have to rewind a little and give you some back story. When we went in for our 20 week anatomy scan, she was measuring a little small for gestational age, especially her abdominal measurement. That and they told me that my fluid was on the low side of normal. This obviously concerned Chase and I, but we talked to the Dr, and they decided we would come back in a week to check my fluid and two weeks to check her growth. Being the little researcher I am, I read that increasing water intake can help with low fluid, so I upped my water intake to about 2.5 liters a day, which let me tell you, I have never had such a strong and committed relationship as I had with the bathroom at work. When we went back, my fluid had indeed increased, but her growth was still off. From here, we were having weekly NST's and ultrasounds to check her growth. Needless to say it was pretty stressful. 

The most stressful appointment we had is pretty much burned into my memory, because honestly I have never been so scared in my life. We met with our Dr. and she started off by telling us that my blood work from the previous week had all come back normal, but that we needed to talk about her size. She told us that her abdomen was in the 1st percentile and that we needed to go to Brandon Regional Hospital immediately and have a more in depth ultrasound and meet with a perinatologist (OB/GYN with specialized training in high risk pregnancy situations). From this point, I honestly don't remember the rest of our visit, I was in a complete shocked fog. I remember sitting with Chase at a desk to schedule our weekly visits and I remember him doing all the talking and rubbing my arm. The minute I was in the car and we were alone, I lost it and started crying. I could tell he was just as worried but as is his true nature, he stayed outwardly calm and reassured me that it was going to be ok. Once I got over the initial shock, it was time to deal with it. I called my work explained I wouldn't be coming in and then I called my mom and my Aunt who is a high risk OB nurse and has been for a long time. She explained some things to me, and that really helped me sort of relax. This part is funny to me, I had fasted because I wasn't sure if I was going to need to do more blood work at my appointment, so by this point I was pretty hungry. Chase and I decided that a half hour wasn't going to change anything, so we went to Einstein bagels and got some breakfast and then we headed up to the hospital. The tech that did my ultrasound was extremely nice, she even printed us some pics that are on our fridge to this day ;) She did the ultrasound and then the perinatologist came in and scanned me himself. He asked me some questions and then pretty much told us not to worry. Her size wasn't as drastically off as the tech at my dr's office had measured and he basically said that she had a strong heart beat, her anatomy was normal, my fluid was normal and I wasn't having any other complications so we shouldn't be worried, she may just be small. 

This was the beginning of us hearing contrasting opinions from the perinatologists and the regular dr's which got pretty frustrating, but we went to our weekly appointments and did like they wanted us to. We had a few other "exciting" events occur in the weeks leading up to Norah's delivery. One of which was the first and only morning I went in for her NST after having some coffee and coincidentally my blood pressure was a little high, which resulted in yet another visit to Brandon Regional for more monitoring (all of which came out normal). Another visit I went in for BPP which is when they do some measurements and they look at things like big and small movements, heart rate and fluid and based on how many movements and how many "practice breaths" the baby takes in a specified amount of time, they score it and this is supposed to gauge the baby's overall well-being. Well Norah was being Snorah at this particular appointment and wasn't moving like they wanted her to so back upstairs to triage we went for more monitoring. I have to take a minute and say that during all of this, Chase was the most patient and supportive husband ever. All of my emotions and stresses did not make for a very pleasant person to be around, and he held my hand physically and metaphorically through all of it. I am so thankful for the partnership that is our marriage. I literally could not have done it without him. 

Fast forward to Wednesday, December 9, 2016 (I was exactly 37 weeks and 4 days) . I had gone to my Ob/Gyn's office for another NST and a physical exam in the morning, and this is when we first met Dr. Oshodi, who will become an integral part of this story later. My NST was normal and when she checked me, she said (in her Nigerian accent) "No, nothing is happening, your cervix is 0." Makes me laugh thinking about it. After I got dressed, she came in and talked to Chase and I about how with our "complications" my one high blood pressure and her size, we would probably end up being induced around 39 weeks. This was pretty shocking to both of us, and secretly exciting because our due date was 12/28/15 and we were really wanting her to be born before the New Year for several reasons, our taxes and insurance among them. I left there for work and was trying to wrap my head around it when Dr Oshodi called me and told me I needed to go and have a BPP done at the hospital that night for no other reason other than I was due for another one apparently. I asked if we could have it done at St Joe's instead of Brandon Regional and she said we could. Here's where it gets exciting. 

I came home from work, ate a chocolate chip cookie, changed and we headed to the hospital for the ultrasound. As we walked into the lobby, I had absolutely no idea I would be holding my daughter in my arms approximately 60 hours later. 

We were escorted to the maternity/triage area and put in a room. The nurse came in, took my vitals, and told us that my blood pressure was a little high and they were going to re-take it. Well if you know me, you know that if you tell me to lay back and relax and not worry, I am going to do the opposite, I immediately felt myself "flaming on" friendly term for when I am really anxious and my neck turns bright red. They re-took my blood pressure and it was a little higher so they brought the Dr in, and she took one look at my vitals, looked at me and said "Ok, looks like we are delivering this baby." I think I must have looked like a deer in the headlights because I said "like now?" The answer to that was "yes, now." They checked my blood pressure again and it had shot way up, which duh! So they told me to gown up and they would take us to a labor and delivery room when one became available. I was in shock, I was scared and I was mad all at the same time. I had just wrapped my head around being induced at 39 weeks so 37 and a half weeks was really freaking me out. She was measuring small, how could taking her out early make any sense? 

They gave me blood pressure meds at this point, which made me feel sort of nauseous and sleepy but my blood pressure did go down. By this point my mom and dad had come up and were hanging out with us, trying to keep me from climbing out the window. I still didn't truly feel like this was the best thing for Norah but, I am not a Dr and when they start throwing around comments like "seizures" you feel scared enough to comply. 

I don't remember how long it took for us to get a room but it wasn't that long. As soon as we got to that room, the nurse came in and that's when all the fun really got started. (eye roll) They started by giving me cervadil (which is a really fun thing to go through, hint, it's not an oral medication...cervadil..cervix..ya catch my drift?) After she "administered" that, I had to lay flat for an hour or two so it wouldn't move. Cervadil basically sits next to your cx and dissolves and helps soften and "ripen" your cervix so that it will begin to dilate and get the birthing process started. Each time you do cervadil, it has to stay in for 12 hours and then be removed and then they check your cervix for progress. We did two rounds of this, needless to say after 24 hours of cramps and super tender "girl parts," I was pretty irritated when they checked me and I had dilated 1 cm :( At this point, Dr Smith wanted to do some kind of a balloon catheter thing that sounded like some kind of torture, thankfully her shift ended, and Dr. Oshodi came on. She had such a calming way about her that even though I was sleep deprived, hungry and in general miserable, she talked me down and told us she wanted to do a round of cytotec, pretty much the same deal as the cervadil, except it only stays in for 6 hours. This is where things get a little hazy, lack of sleep and a feeling of being over it all is to blame for this. Dr Oshodi checked me after the cytotec had been in long enough and I was now 3 cm, finally some progress! 

She then put me on a really low dose pitocin drip in hopes of getting things to really get going. I don't remember how long it was, but maybe 30 minutes or so later my water broke,and after about another 30 minutes my contractions which until now had felt like uncomfortable period cramps, got CRAZY! I was in a lot of pain and they were coming about 2 minutes or less apart and we did this for maybe a half hour, and then decided to try some nitrous oxide (laughing gas) which did absolutely nothing for the pain. Then comes epidural, sweet, sweet epidural. We had to get through a bag of saline before they would give me one and I swear my nurse was feeling my pain because she was squeezing that saline bag to get it through my IV like it was the last of the hersheys syrup. The anesthetist came in and placed the catheter, and got the epidural going, and to my ultimate dismay I was only numb on my left side, I could feel and move my right leg like there was nothing going on. They had me lay on my right side for awhile, and when that didn't work, the anesthetist came back in and pulled the catheter out a tiny bit to maybe help the medicine flow better to both sides. I laid back down and finally started to feel tingly and numb-ish on my right side. I started feeling really relaxed and warm and sleepy and got the best hour of sleep I got the entire time I was there. 

After about an hour, I heard the nurse come in and do something on the monitor, and right then I felt something that I don't really know how to describe. I was pretty numb, but I felt some pressure down below and like a big slow move, like she had moved into position. I told the nurse what I felt and she checked me and the look on her face was enough but she told me, "Ok, your fully effaced, 10cm and her head is right there, if you feel the urge to push, don't." When Chase came out of the bathroom, I told him "it's go time!" 

I was really hoping Dr Oshodi was still there and luckily she hadn't left even though her shift was nearly over. She came in with what seemed like 10 nurses (probably only 2) and they transformed my room into what felt like an OR. We got all set up and it was time to push. I pushed about 12 times and then boom, she was here! (totally tooting my own horn here but at my six week followup, Dr Oshodi was still amazed at how well I pushed) I'm not really sure what this says about me but I felt proud and secretly I think Chase did too. She placed Norah on my chest and began putting my "pieces" back together while I bonded with this new perfect little baby girl. The very first thing she did was pee on me! I guess she felt pretty comfortable :) I held her like that for about an hour, until I had to give her up to her very eager and excited daddy, so they could do some skin to skin time too. Norah was born on December 12th, she was 5lb 9oz, 18 and 3/4" long and aside from a little jaundice she was perfectly healthy. Truly the happiest day of my life.

The End <3