Breastfeeding Sucks {and other things they don't tell you about about the first week postpartum}

 1. Breasting is beautiful and natural and fucking painful. Every lactation consultant will tell you it shouldn't hurt. But they're lying. I've yet to meet a mom who's nipples were made of steel. And even after two years of breastfeeding my daughter and sunning them the week before the birth I still have to wince when my newborn latches. She's so strong which I'm grateful for, but that doesn't mean it's painless. The strength is great because she does the most with the time she has at my breast but my left side hardly ever eases up and were working on correcting that. It's a lot of effort to breastfeed. But I choose the pain over formula and I know by pushing through the next few weeks it will slowly get more comfortable. I don't want women to think they're doing it wrong because it hurts. With that said, don't deal with it in silence. Talk to a lactation consultant and make sure it's normal pain or something more serious. Get advice on various potions and latch techniques. Find support from other mamas and don't give up.

 2. After birth pains. So baby is out and the pain is over right? No. Sadly, no. After birth pains are the contractions after the birth. The uterus is returning back to normal and contracting. It feels much like intense menstruation cramps and they come frequently specifically while baby is nursing. This is because nursing releases Oxycontin which stimulates the uterus and causes contractions. This usually stops with a day or two. My most painful day was day two. My advice is to liberally consume cramp bark and use a heating pad to relax the muscles surrounding the uterus.

 3. Engorgement is natures boob job. Engorgement is when the breasts are so full of milk they become painful and hard. Like rock hard. Like boob job hard. They're painful and the only relief is to release the milk either by nursing, expressing or pumping the milk. It takes a few days for the body to figure out the right amount of milk to make for baby. Learning some hand expression techniques is very useful in releasing excess pressure, where as pumping will tell the body it's a "feeding" leading to future milk production at that time.

4. Postpartum Bleeding. Nothing is worse than making up all those missed periods all at once.  I am so over blood.  It's messy and uncomfortable and mostly just gross.  And it would, maybe, be okay if it weren't for the blood clots.  I can't think of anything grosser than looking in the toilet after peeing, only to find a blood clot the size of a small organ.  Gross, Scary and Normal.


anyway...
I'll be back with some posi posts later.  Right now, I'm thinking a nap sounds good though.

-Jenn

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Birth Story for Vera Basil

This is the birth story for Vera Basil Born at home Monday, March 11, 2013 at 4:50-53am...

Husband and I woke up at 8:50am Sunday morning, and took a few moments to ourselves before our daughter Sonja woke up.

Sunday is my yoga morning.  After our alone time, I got up and started getting ready for my 10:30 class.  I went to the bathroom and noticed a mucus discharge {with a tint of blood}  I thought it could be the mucus plug, but last time it all came out in one chunk and this was not as big and more gooey than I expected.

I decided to go ahead and go to yoga, although I noticed I was having contractions, much like the practice ones I'd been having in the evening for the past few weeks.  The only difference was this was not the evening.  I decided to continue with class and just took child's pose when I got uncomfortable.  I didn't want to miss the beautiful day outside nor the outdoor practice.

Bakasana at 39 weeks

Contractions or Surges, as I usually call them, were mild all day.  They ranged in the 2-4 pain range, on a scale from 1-10.  They were coming every 10-20 minutes.  I sat down and did our taxes while Husband and Sonja went to a spring training game with his father and brother.  I told him I'd call if they got real active but they stayed mild for a while.

Around 5pm I noticed more mucus plug (again slightly bloody).  My parents came for dinner after I told them I thought tonight would be the night.  I called my sister, as she was planning on being the photographer of the whole event.  During dinner and that evening the surges increased to 4 on pain scale, and I knew they weren't going to stop.  I just didn't know how long they would last.


I texted our Midwife at 9:41 and she called right after.  After talking with me she decided to come over and hang out until I got active. My parents ended up going home after 10pm ish, since our midwife was there and she was pretty confident it would be a little while.

While hanging out my sister and sister in law offered to help me make my postpartum yoni healing pads.

Around 11pm I decided to lay down with Sonja to get her to sleep.  During that time I had a few surges in the 5-6 pain scale.

Once she was asleep, {about 12 midnight} I headed out into the kitchen to talk to birth team.  There were more surgest in the 5-6 pain range but we talked through the fact I was scared for it to get real and once I just accept it's happening I could hurry the process up.  We agreed I could keep it pushed off for a while, until the birth hormornes really kicked in and forced it to happen.  I knew I had to just jump off that cliff but I was still scared of it.

At 1am ish I decided to get in the shower and use my birth ball.  Once I was in there, there was no pain. I thought they stopped! I stayed in there for a while, wondering if I couldn't feel them if they were still there... they were.  Once the warm water ran out I got out of the shower and laid down on the bed over a stack of pillows.  My sweet friend Diane rubbed my back and so did Husband.  They were both such a great support team.

Husband kicked everyone else out of room shortly after my shower.  He mentioned he wanted this sacred experence to be between the two of us.  And while I knew that was sweet, I really just wanted to not be in pain,  I didn't care who was rubbing my back as long as it was being done in the right spot at the right time.  It's really hard to explain to someone what to do when you're entering labor land and a fellow woman usually knows what to do better than a sweet husband.  But it was his birth too so I let him rub my back until about 3:30am.

The surges started to get so unbearable that I was screaming.  I woke up the whole household, many of whom had just fallen asleep.  My midwife's assistant, Danielle, came in to check on fetal heart tones and I rested as much as I could between surges.  It was probably a 7 on my pain scale and I noticed that my yell was primal with hints of grunting {indicative of pushing}.   Shell, my midwife, came in to check on me.  She laid beside me.  It started to become unbearable in any position.

She suggested Skylar check me. She said, I don't think he'll have to go very far, sometime like, "My thought is there should be a head in the vault."

He checked, and said he did feel a head.  But I asked her to check again because I felt like I was pushing without purpose. No progression. From pushing. She checked and said there was about a centimeter of cervix in the way. I was pulling it down with each push, instead of pushing it out of the way or waiting until it moved out of the way.  She helped to guide it out of the way, as I pushed and relaxed my abdomen I felt it slip over the baby's head.  There was a sense of relief/release.

Somewhere during that time Sonja woke up, she sleeps in the same room as us and must have heard me screaming.  She was so sweet and happy to watch.  She was holding my hand and loving me.  But I had one really awful surge and I screamed a little too loud which scared her.  As soon as I saw the tears I apologized   The surge was over and I was trying to calmly tell her I was okay and that the yelling helped it not hurt.  I gave her a kiss and so did her daddy.  He asked her if she wanted to go play with her grandparents in the living room and she said yes.  Off she went.

Once the head was in the canal, I was able to relax for a second. Shell told me to take deep breathe for baby {after I asked why and she explained fetal heart tones dropped way low and I needed to relax and allow baby to recover after such a powerful surge.  This is pretty normal and it's how fast baby recovers from such a situation that indicates what actions need to be taken}. My surges slowed down but were intense. Baby's heart rate recovered fine.

The surges gave me a few breaks during pushing.  I was able to ask for coconut water. I tried to consciously eat and drink because I was so tired I wanted to keep my energy up. I drank on my "breaks" and allowed myself to fully relax.

I was pushing so hard I peed.  Like all over the bed, actually on towels on the bed.  I tried to control it but I ended up pushing so hard I was pooping and peeing each time.  My support team happily cleaned it up before Skylar took over.  With Sonja's birth I was well cleared from a day of slow labor, this time was slightly quicker.  After a few tries of controlling it, I told them sorry, but I was just going to keep doing it.  They grabbed extra towels to put under me and all was fine.  Sometime in that mess I felt a gush, not pee.  I was sort of bummed for a second when I realized my water broke {no caul birth for me}.  But I was just ready to be done, I didn't really care and I was impressed with my body and baby for holding on that long!

Shell suggested if I needed the encouragement, I could feel inside to find the head and see how close I was. I DID need that and I felt the head push to the surface and slip back in once but on the next surge I was able to bring it to the surface and hold and push through. I could feel the bones of cheeks passing through. Once the head was out, I relaxed slightly through the next break and slowly pushed the shoulders and abdomen out. Husband was catching the baby. he had this beautiful baby half out and she looked at him and took her breathe but she was still in me.  He said, "I still don't know if it's a boy or girl..."

I can't believe Husband is "letting" me post this photo, but you can see her half in half out!

Shell told him something and I said "Don't touch her!" I didn't want him to tug, pull or anything. But she was explaining how to remove the cord around her neck.

With the next push I was able to get her all the way out.  "It's a girl," he said.  The whole delivery from head to toe was 4:50-4:53am.  When asked, between first breathe or toes out, I decided toes out.  She wasn't fully born until ALL the way out so her official birth time on her birth certificate says 4:53am.

Once she was out, I yelled, "Sonja" and everyone came rushing in.

We allowed the cord to stop pulsing and I delivered the placenta.  After a while of establishing breastfeeding we clamped and cut the cord.

She weighed 7lbs 12oz and was 19inches long.  13 and 1/4 inches head {a whole inch smaller than Sonja's!}

And here I am after 19 hours of natural labor with my Blue Corn Hot Chocolate {and placenta-couldn't even taste it} made by my midwife.  And on that note, I felt much much better emotionally and physically than I did after Sonja's birth.  So as gross as it might be I highly recommend it!

-Jenn

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D.I.Y. Postpartum Witch Hazel Pads

Here's a quick video from during my labor.  I found this trick before Sonja's birth and it helped my yoni {perineum} so much after my last birth I knew I'd need some for this birth.  So, once I knew this was the real deal I grabbed the supplies and let my sister in law make a batch for me.

What you'll need:
super absorbent maxi pads
witch hazel
a freezer

Add witchhazel to maxi pads and freeze.  Use immediately following the birth {as in within the hour}. Repeat as frequently as necessary.

Here's the link for the full video

Happy Home Birthing or Yoni Healing!
Jenn

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Pregnancy Round 2 {week 38}

Saturday is the day I've been counting as my weekly shift.  So, 38 Weeks started around 8 am when Sonja woke up.  My sister in law had already been awake long enough to get donuts {which I shouldn't have eaten, but did anyway, because who can resist a Boston creme donut?!} and once Sonja realized someone was up and ready to play with her, she let me rest in bed for another hour. We finally got up and ready around 9:30 am and headed to get coffee and the farmers market.  We ran into some sweet friends at my local coffee shop and enjoyed a breakfast snack.  As the day went on and we walked around the market I started getting upper back pain.  I know with Sonja all my pain was in my back and my mom experienced back labor, but the pain was too high up, although rhythmic.  So, another day of practice labor continued, low abdominal cramping and slight back ache, but nothing progressing.  It was definitely getting old.  I just asked my body to either get legit or quit cause, this whole, "Is THIS it?" thing is getting annoying.  But, to keep myself busy I painted the living room wall, which had recently been exposed from some ugly wall paper.  I've still got a few more tiny home projects to keep me busy this week. But I ended the evening with a prenatal massage {and requested ankle stimulation to allow my body the option of starting labor} and went home to see if anything happened.
Nothing happened.

Sunday I went to yoga, although at this point, I'm pretty limited in my practice.  There's a giant uterus and baby in my way every time we twist.  After yoga, we headed to my father in law's to enjoy some lunch.  More practice labor, but nothing real.  again.

Mondays are my free day, I don't work or have any prescheduled activities.  Sonja and I went grocery shopping and ran some errands.  Nothing special to report on, just a lot of waiting.

Tuesday morning we went to my Prenatal appointment at my Midwive's office.  Baby was head down {very low!} and moving.  My pulse was high, probably from my sugar spike from my morning orange juice.  All other vitals normal and Group B Strep test results were negative.  We discussed how I'm actually unprepared, emotionally, for this birth.  I had a little anxiety during the week about going into labor and I realized I haven't said nearly as many positive affirmations or visualizations for this birth.  I just keep expecting it to be quick, but I'm not sure how to handle it, if it ends up being a longer birth.  There's really nothing I can do at this point except accept my birth will be exactly as it needs to be.
After the appointment we had to rush to my office job, Sonja joins me weekly, not sure what my plan will be once I have two kiddos.  Once we were done at the office we headed to Open Gym with my sister in law and the little girl she nannys.  If you have the opportunity to find an open gym in your community, I highly recommend it.  We paid $40 for a year membership, which allows various open gym sessions a week.  It's a great chance for kiddos to run around, get their energy out and interact with other littles.  The open gym sessions we go to is from 0-5yrs, so there are plenty of little kids to practice sharing with and such.

Wednesday, I met with an old friend for an interview.  She's in nursing school and one of their projects is to follow a pregnant woman for 4 weeks, complete with home visits and meetings.  I doubt she'll get a full 4 weeks out of me, but at least she'll get the full birth story!  I doubt anyone else in her class will be following a woman with a midwife team as opposed to a hospital.  Hopefully, it will spread some awareness at the normalcy of birth.  Plus, it was really sweet talking to her about the whole pregnancy.  After the meeting, I rushed home to get ready for work.  I can not tell you how DONE I am with teaching.  I am sick of answering questions and physically helping students with technique at this point.  I really hope I don't have to be there next week.  After teaching, my sister took my weekly {sometimes bi-monthly} maternity photos and  surprisingly, I could still do the yoga pose for this week's series.  After we got back from the walk, I cuddled up in bed with Sonja in bed and let her watch Dora on my iphone {usually a special treat for long distance car rides, air plane trips and the occasional visit to my office}.  Normally, I would have felt guilty for letting her indulge in useless technology, but for real! I needed to rest.  Once, I work up from my nap, I was greeted with my evening contractions and even some nausea   Has anyone else experienced nausea as a contraction?  I didn't notice the pain of the contraction, but the nausea came in a perfect wave like one, it peaked and then faded just like my contracts... Anyway, we headed to dinner for my Husband's Uncle's Birthday.  I knew it wouldn't go anywhere, so even though Husband offered to just get mine to go and bring it home, I decided to go.  The only thing worse than being in practice labor out and about is being at home alone in practice labor.  I splurged on my meal, ordering drinks, salad and an entree, because, who know's when the next time I'll get to go out to eat?



Thursday, I couldn't find the energy to do anything fun.  Sonja requested a trip to the bank with the drive up machine, and that was easy enough, since I had a deposit to make anyway.  After that, we headed to Whole Foods for a smoothie and pink apples {also her request}.  I wanted to go to the botanical gardens or children's museum, but the though of walking around anywhere amplified my shortness of breathe and all I could do was sit and rest.  We took an early nap around noon, and I headed to work around 3 when Husband got home.

Friday night we had dinner at Husband's Nonnie's house and enjoyed some family time.  I tried to stay at the table to enjoy the conversation but eventually the fully baby belly had me on the couch while everyone else enjoyed their wine.  After some dessert I finally suggested we head home so I could get some rest.

Saturday was a nice break.  Normally, we go to the farmer's market but my sister in law offered to pick up the veggies leaving husband and I at home with Sonja to relax.  After hours of trying to decide where to get brunch we gave up and headed to Press coffee at Scottsdale Quarter.  I wanted to use my walking for the day at Restoration Hardware, I really love their rooftop patio and thought it would be beautiful.  The drizzle of rain earlier in the morning had all their furniture covered so we didn't get to hang around long.  And Husband was super concerned about Sonja breaking something {her listening skills have been at their worst over the past few weeks}.  So, after a short but sweet outing we headed home for a lazy day. Little did we know it would be our last night as a family of three...

Birth Story coming soon!

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Pregnancy Round 2 {week 37}

I wrote a novel for this post.  Hope you don't mind...

37 Weeks was the week I was, finally, mentally prepared to give birth.  I didn't think I would be this early, but I was comfortable enough with the idea since Sonja was about 2 weeks early.  I wanted to make sure I was prepared by then.  I spent the last week or so getting everything together for a home birth, including all my labor foods.

Sunday, was a very uncomfortable evening.  I finally started having what felt like real contractions, and while I knew they were probably just practice contractions I kept an eye on them.  I tried to time them, but we were at dinner and it wasn't until half way though each contraction that I realized I was having one.  Making the whole timing thing rather impossible and actually a huge waste of time.  So, I stopped, ate my meal, drank my water and headed home with the fam.  They faded after that and I went about my normal bedtime routine.

Monday, was a busy errand day.  I went to Target to get the very last of the missing items for my birth.  After running errands Sonja and I headed home to take our nap.  When I woke up I felt like I was having uterine cramping and contractions.  Around 7pm they started getting uncomfortable and I was trying to decide if I should amp myself up to give birth or conserve my energy for another day.  After texting my midwife to see what she was up to {I didn't want to bother her if it was just practice}, I decided we should stop by just to get a feel for what my body was doing.  Husband ordered himself some dinner {which I did not want} and quickly tidied up the living room, in case the birth team would be heading by.  While doing so, he broke my water.  Literally, broke my glass of water all over the tile {which we couldn't help but laugh about}.  So, I cleaned that up while he went to get his dinner.  By the time Husband got home with his food, they had calmed down and I was starting to feel normal again.  I texted her to let her know we wouldn't be stopping by.  And, I ended up eating ice cream in bed with Hubs and The Cupcake.

Tuesday morning, I headed to my scheduled prenatal appointment at my midwife's office for my GBS test.  While I've declined most blood work and tests during this pregnancy, including the glucose test, I did not want to skip this one.  I know the likeliness of transmitting to baby are low, if present; but the complication if affected are totally preventable.  So it doesn't make sense, to set my child up for an issue, if I can easily prevent it from becoming an issue.

Wednesday evening was the first night I've worked out since the car accident.  I didn't want to push it before.  If I worked out and induced labor earlier it could have been an issue, but I feel comfortable at this point, working out because it's closer to my due date.  There's something liberating about running {even if only for a minute and a half} while 37 weeks pregnant.  I honestly can't think of anything more empowering at this stage of pregnancy.  I'm not a runner, normally; I always get short of breath a few minutes in.  But, to know my body can still sprint with this belly is reassuring, inspiring and comforting.  If my uterus is strong enough to run {and walk} it will be strong enough to birth this baby.  And the stronger ANY muscle is, the easier it can be activated.  Which can only help my quick birth vision, Quick, Pain-less {not a lot of pain, please} and in the Caul are my goals for this birth.

Friday was a normal day, I went to teach, while Husband came home early to watch Sonja.  When I got home from work we took a family nap.  Which I really enjoy these last few weeks because I NEED my rest.  I'm so thankful Sonja is still a great afternoon napper.  I'm hoping that continues on for a few more years!  I have been craving salad {give me all the greens!} and while Husband made alfredo for everyone else, I made him stop and get me a salad from Postino's.  Their Italian Picnic salad sans bacon is my favorite.  We stayed home for the evening and relaxed, just what I needed to end the week.

Next update; 38 weeks!
-Jennifer

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How to make a Silkscreen {A DIY Project; Drawing Technique NOT Photo Emulsion Technique}

I really wanted to utilize my silk screen knowledge to make shirts for my midwife and her assistants.  Not so much becuase I wanted them to look like staff or anything, but because I thought it would be clever if I could get them a gift to remember my birth but also if they wear it to another birth it would still be funny,  I designed these in Illustrator and printed on regular paper.  

Here's what you'll need:

Silk Screen {you can make your own if you have a wood frame, and "silk" available at most craft and art stores}.

Screen Filler {I use speedball brand, but I'm sure you can find other brands online if desired}

Sharpie or permanent marker

Shirts to print on

Fabric Silk Screening Ink

Squeegee

Packing Tape 

Small and Large Paint Brushes

Print out the image you wish to draw.  Black and White only, NO GRAY.

Place print out UNDER silk screen as pictured and begin tracing the image.

Once complete with tracing remove and recycle print out, you won't need it again.

From the other side it will look backwards or a mirror image.

Next you'll need the screen filer and small paint brush

Using the small brush fill in all the tiny details, leave the area you want to print untouched.

Make sure after the first layer of screen filler, you go back in and fill in any holes you see when held up to the light.

After 2 or 3 coats of screen filler you should have a complete screen.

Using a larger brush fill in the larger areas.

This is what my screen looked like once I was complete with the screen filler.

Then, I used packing tape to tape around all of the edges so there was no space for the ink to leak through the edges.

Above is the ink after squeegeed onto the screen onto the shirt.

ALWAYS test the first print onto paper, so you don't waste a shirt.

If you missed any holes, ink may escape onto the fabric, you'll want to waste paper not a shirt.

Clean and fill in any holes and allow to dry then retest. 

Once all holes are completely filled you're free to print!  

Happy Silk Screening!
Jenn

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DIY Chalkboards {upcycled frames, cardboard & spray paint}

I wish I could say I found these frames at a thrift store, but after MONTHS of looking, I finally found what I wanted, at Hobby Lobby.  Thankfully, these were on sale 40% off and since they were the wrong color, I still had to upcycle them into something I wanted.

Frames total cost was about $40 and spray paint another $6. 

I did a bunch of projects all at once but you can see the frames drying.

While those were drying I used this chalkboard spray paint another $8 {I didn't even use half the can} to paint this cardboard lid.  I painted 3 coats of the chalkboard paint, allowing to dry COMPLETELY between layers. 

Once dry I cut the box down to fit the holes on the frames. I used a combination of scissors and exacto blades to get a perfect fit. 

I didn't even have to use glue they just fit from pressure.  Since these are just temporary frames for my baby sprinkle, I didn't want to make them on wood, and this way I can discard the chalkboard if I want to later and add a real painting or images to the frame guilt free. 

All done.

You can see them in use at the baby party, here.

-Jenn

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