Marek Joshua is here! Pics and a little update.

It has been an exhausting 48+ hours since Marek was born. He didn't nurse right away, he didn't nurse at all until he was 16 hrs old as a matter of fact. The nurses reassured me that it was fine but it was hard for me because Kostas started nursing right away. However, once Marek started nursing, it felt like that is allllll he did for the next 24 hrs. I got hardly an sleep the first night because I was so charged from his birth and conscious of every little sound he made and then the next night every time I would start to doze off he would wake up wanting to nurse or gassy. Thankfully once he hit the 24 hr nursing mark he started to sleep more.

My milk has definitely come in now. At 48 hrs on the dot almost. And there is more than enough, holy wow! Physically I still feel pretty amazing. I barely feel like I gave birth, it is so weird. I tweaked one of my hamstrings during pushing I think and my muscles are a bit sore from the tensing during contractions that I was trying to relax through. My abdomen is a little achy today too but once I put on my belly binder to help support it feels better.

I will start working on my birth story tonight, I am really excited to write it because it was amazing and I am still reeling! For now here's some pictures :)

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Less than an hour old with Daddy

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About an hour old

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Proud big brother loving on his new brother

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Me and my 2 boys about an hour after birth

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Several hours old. This was when my parents and siblings came to meet him. They were so respectful and no one asked to hold him, they just soaked him in and admired him :)

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Less than 48 hrs old at his first hockey game. We went to watch my sister play.

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2 days old, I could just snuggle and kiss him all.day.long!

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Kostas lost interest, so Marek and I finished his gingerbread house :)

He's so incredibly gorgeous!!! I am so happy for you! And so far, your birth story is amazing so I can't wait to hear more. Congrats again!!!! WTTW Marek, you handsome lil boy!!!

Oh I just love him! (Hellooooo baby fever after seeing your adorable son!) Your pics are so wonderful :) That is great that Kostas is loving on his new brother. My older son LOVES babies and can't wait to meet his new brother either. Can't wait to read your birth story. Way to go mama!!

He's adorable! Congratulations! Can't wait to read your birth story! Thanks for the pictures...makes me all the more anxious for this LO to arrive! ;)

Congratulations and WTTW Marek! Less than 48 hours old and at a hockey game... Must have some Canadian in him! LOL.

Just thought I would add my birth story too :)

My super long birth story for my short labor LOL

Thursday, 12/6, 12pm: Had my Biophysical Profile ultrasound. It showed that my fluid was low, not emergency level but definitely not where it needed to be. Cricket also slept through it so we got marked down for that. It showed that my placenta was aging, again not an emergency level but not ideal. The tech also noted that Cricket?s lower bowels were empty so there was likely already meconium in the fluid. Then I had my Non-Stress Test which came out great.

2pm: We talked with our midwife and she said because of all the various factors put together that it would best to get the show on the road. She gave us the option of starting in a couple of hours or in the morning. We chose to come back in a couple hours.

6pm: We came back to the hospital. The midwife did a cervical check and I was still 2.5cm dilated and 75% effaced. My heart sank, all the things I had been trying to get labor going hadn?t done anything. I was still the same as I was Tuesday morning. Then she inserted the cervidil packet to ripen my cervix further. After that we just hung out and tried to get some sleep.

Friday, 12/7, 6am: The cervidil came out and my midwife checked me. I was now 3cm dilated and 100% effaced. My heart sank again. After 12 hours of the cervidil and contractions every 8-10 minutes all I had gained was ? a cm and finished effacing.

9am: We finally got the Pitocin going. They started it at 1 mL/unit and turned it up by one every 15 minutes.

11am: The contractions were finally starting to take some effort so I got up and sat on the birth ball for a bit.

12pm: By this point the Pitocin was at a 7 and I was leaning on the bed swaying through the contractions. I mentioned to DH that I wished they would turn off the Pitocin because I didn?t feel like I was getting much of a break in between. Soon after I said that the midwife came by to see how things we going and had the nurse turn the Pitocin off completely. The contractions kept going and just as strong but I felt like I had a more normal rest period in between after the Pitocin was turned off. The midwife also checked me and I was 4cm dilated at about 12:30/12:45.

1:30pm: They had me lay down on the bed because the monitors weren?t picking up Cricket?s HR very well. The contractions were really picking up and I really wanted to get in the tub but I wasn?t dilated enough yet.

2pm: The midwife let us know that Cricket was starting to show some decels in his HR during contractions and that she was going to talk to her back up doctor. Soon after the back up doctor showed up. He hung around and watched the monitors. Around this point I was 5-6cm dilated.

2:30pm: At about this time the midwife decided we needed to switch from the external HR monitor to a fetal electrode. (I found out later from DH that the external HR monitor was jumping all over, registering from 20 to 200.) So the midwife broke my water but nothing came out because his head was so engaged and then she put the electrode on. This was much better in terms of making sure Cricket really was doing okay.

After watching for a while my midwife and the back up doctor both agreed that the decels were getting too frequent and I was still only at 7cms. They let us know that they hoped I would move quickly to complete and push him out but that we need to start moving toward a c-section. I could tell DH was terrified and knew that?s what was coming and I think he really wanted to just hurry up to the c-section because he was so worried.

Random people started showing up giving me consent forms to sign, taking blood, asking questions etc. (I found out later that DH about came un-glued on the anesthesiologist because he was asking me questions when a contraction hit and I turned toward DH, holding his hand for support, and the anesthesiologist walked all the way around the bed and continued asking questions even though it was obvious I physically could not presently answer.) The midwife and the nurse even put on the compression socks and inserted a catheter.

In the mean time I was really struggling to stay relaxed during contractions by now and really focusing on relaxing my body. I can remember hearing the alarm go off semi-often during contractions saying Cricket?s HR was going too low. The midwife was having me frequently change sides and we even tried on my hands and knees. DH would encourage me especially after contractions that I was more effective at relaxing through and helped Cricket?s HR stay up higher. This really helped me know which things were working better for me to do. At some point they had me start breathing into the oxygen mask to help keep Cricket?s HR up. I was doing big open mouthed ?Ahh?s? through contractions and focusing on taking deep, slow breaths. It really was helping and the decels became less and less frequent.

The back up doctor said that things were looking pretty good but that we were going to keep moving toward the c-section. I was still only about 7-8cm dilated so I was starting to believe more and more that this c-section really was going to happen. Suddenly the pressure down low was not going away in between contractions, I took that as a good sign. I kept working through contractions and they kept prepping for a c-section.

I started to feel pushy during contractions but was still only 7-8cm dilated. I vaguely heard the doctor and midwife ask if they could have just 10 more minutes before they took me to the OR. I did my best to breathe through the contractions and hold the pushy urges off. All of the sudden, mid-contraction, I involuntarily let out a pushing roar. Somewhere to the side of me I heard the doctor say ?There?s no mistaking the sound of a woman ready to push.? Then the room sprang into action as the midwife checked me and happily announced ?She?s complete!? Then said to me, ?Go ahead and push with the next contraction.? I looked up at DH who was holding my hand and declared, ?I got this!?

As the next contraction hit I was laying on my side with my one leg up resting on the midwife?s shoulder, holding my leg with one hand and DH?s hand with the other. My body took over and began to push, so I gave it everything I had. I could feel him coming out already and could feel the ring of fire. I heard my midwife say ?Breathe Shauna.? But it was literally like I could not take in any air. DH must have seen that I was trying and not succeeding because he got close to my face and commandingly said ?Look at me.? Somehow this helped and I began the next push. With that he was out! At 3:19pm.

It only took him a moment to cry and they suctioned him out quickly because of the meconium. Then they placed him on my chest and he immediately stopped crying. Of course then I began crying. I was so overcome with all the emotions I had been keeping in, as well as relieved that I did not end up needing a c-section and that Cricket was okay. I looked at DH (who was even already dressed in his scrubs for the OR) and said ?I did it!? Then continued to cry and kiss my sweet baby.

After DH cut the cord the midwife held it up and showed me that the cord was over 3 ft long, which was where the problems arose from. As he came out they saw that he had the cord wrapped around his neck, the crown of his head, a loop between his head and me, and then wrapped multiple times around his body! No wonder he was having decels during contractions.

The midwife was in total awe and overcome with emotion too, she got all teary and had to take a minute to compose herself when we were talking about a half hour after Cricket was born. Apparently she was impressed with my pushing too because another doctor told me ?Yeah, I heard you got him out in 1 1/2 pushes, even Julie was impressed!? And if a midwife is impressed, I take that because she does this for a living! Somehow I managed to not even tear either, which is quite surprising given my short pushing. I?ll also add that because I only pushed for 8 minutes with Kostas, the back up doctor was more willing to give me time to dilate. He said if I had pushed for an hour or 2 with Kostas that they would not have waited as long for the c-section but did because they knew I had a past of short pushing.

It was a very intense labor and birth. I would not say it was pain free like I was hoping for but I do believe that the Hypnobabies preparation I had done helped me cope and relax better. Which my midwife agreed with because she told me that she was amazed at how well I managed through the contractions (I was her first hypno-birth).

Wow Shauna. That is amazing, to say the least. What a blessing that you could get the vaginal birth you were hoping for. Even if it was a little scary/intense. My hubby probably would have been passed out on the floor! So kudos to your hubs for being a great support to you. :)

Shauna,

Sorry this is late. I wanted to say thank you for sharing your birth story (wow on the 3 ft long cord!) Congratulations on you birth and on your precious little one!

~Missy