Self Portrait (by Emerson-age 8)

Emerson draws on his dry erase board all the time.  When I saw his latest creation, it gave me a chuckle.  Adorable!

My Own Dairy...Moo!

My life is consumed by lactation at the moment.  I have been pumping a lot lately to try and establish my milk supply.  It has been a little harder this time around.  My supply isn't as good as it has been after the other 4 births.  My IPs rented me a hospital grade Medela pump today which should really help as my Medela Pump In Style is about to kick the dust.  The hope is to send out the first cooler next week.  Wish me luck!

BTW, thanks to lactation, I am only 1.5 pounds away from my normal weight.  My metabolism soars when I pump so I reap the benefits of eating what I want and dropping pounds quickly.  Love it!

Surrobaby #3's Birth Story---3/15/2013

Yes, it is true.  My uterus is no longer occupied! I know this is a bit overdue but I have had a tough recovery following the birth.  The actual delivery was easy but the events that happened afterward were a bit crazy.

After going crazy waiting for baby S to make her appearance in the final weeks, she FINALLY came into the world on Friday, 3/15 at 4:14pm. I was 40 weeks and 5 days pregnant.  Baby girl was a HUGE 9lb., 11oz. and 22 inches long. Get this-NO STITCHES!! I am a small girl so that was completely shocking. It maybe took me 10 minutes to push her out. Everything was great up until it was realized that she wasn't breathing and I was hemorrhaging. I wrote out most of the details on Facebook so read the bottom two posts if you want to hear about my traumatic experience. Thankfully, baby girl and I are both healthy and good now. My IPs missed the birth but at least they didn't have to witness the blood bath that occurred in the delivery room. They are totally enthralled with her and she is a sweet little thing. I miss her already. 

Post #1 from Facebook (Friday night 3/15):I have had such a traumatic delivery. Baby came out blue and stunned. She wouldn't cry and we heard the OB ask for someone in respiratory to get in there quick. Clayton and I both freaked but thankfully she started to breathe on her own after a minute or so. Then we find out that her shoulder is displaced due to her huge size and my small birth canal. I felt so bad but it has been corrected. As I was watching her get cleaned up, I noticed my OB fretting while she was working on me. I was bleeding profusely and she was digging around painfully inside of me. The placenta was out (and it was humongous!) but she thought I had more pieces inside. I ended up being quickly wheeled to the OR and they did a D&C under general anesthesia. They also proceeded to put a balloon inside me to try and cut off the bleeding. When I woke up an hour later, I was just being put back in my delivery room. I had tubes and lines everywhere (still do). I started begging for water but they wouldn't let me. It was awful. They told Clayton (because I was so drugged up) that if the balloon didn't work, I would have to have some horrid procedure that involved going through my femoral artery or a hysterectomy. Egad. They began 1 of 2 blood transfusions on me. I was in a lot of pain and so they began morphine. I had been on pitocin ever since delivery to try and help shrink my uterus (still am on it). It feels like I am in labor all over again. Now I have Toradol, Lortabs, pitocin, an IV, a catheter, and the balloon with a drainage tube. It's crazy! I just now got the ok to drink liquids again and I am happy. Hope this post all made sense as I am a bit loopy, lol. Thanks everyone for the support/prayers. I feel so loved and special!! 

Post #2 from Facebook (Sunday 3/17):
Yesterday was kinda rough so I rested as much as I could. Friday night was tough as the pain meds didn't touch the contraction pain stemming from the use of pitocin and the saline-filled balloon in my uterus. Luckily, the balloon procedure worked and my uterine hemorrhage repaired itself. The worst part of the whole deal was when they removed everything. It was less than 18 hours since birthing chunky monkey and yet my OB had to stick her arm up in me to remove 2 large sponge pieces (they helped hold the contraption in place). It took her a while and she really had to dig. The pain from that was excruciating. Once those were removed, she emptied the balloon (which was expanded to about size of a large grapefruit). After deflation, it was pulled through as my cervix screamed in revolt. Heck, I may have screamed too, lol. It felt so good after that though. I finally quit having contractions and felt unpregnant again. Ahhhh, the relief. They prodded me every 15 minutes for the next hour to ensure that I wouldn't hemorrhage again and then removed my catheter. Besides 1 saline drip, I felt like a free woman without all those dang tubes and lines connected to me. After 32 hours of fun, I was allowed to eat again and things really started to get better from there. I got released to the recovery floor around 1pm yesterday. Since everything went so crazy, I didn't get to really visit with the baby until yesterday evening and I could not wait to get my hands on her. She is the sweetest thing. The IPs let Clayton and I keep her with us for a while so that we could cuddle her. It was awesome and I am so privileged to have had that honor. My IM noted how baby S knew me as soon as I got her. She had been upset and settled down immediately when I touched her face. It's crazy how babies can sense who carried them. I told IM not to worry as she will forget. Soon, she will be settled in at home and she will know exactly who her parents and sister are. So now I am getting better and may get released today. In the meantime, I am pumping colostrum to give Miss Thang some immunity before she goes home.

BTW, Clayton babied her after the birth and he kept her taken care of while waiting for the parents to arrive. They got here around 6 or 7pm and she had been born at 4:14pm. I got wheeled back into my delivery room after an hour in the OR (maybe 5:30pm?) but couldn't really visit with her. Clayton was sweet enough to carry her over to my bed and he tried to lay her beside me so that I could really get a good look at her. That was great but I was unfortunately too drugged up to hold her at that point. Regardless, it was still a special moment and I won't forget it. Seeing her made the whole journey worthwhile.

So, that's the story in a nutshell.  I am pumping milk for Miss Thang #2 and getting better with every passing day.  Last week was really hard but this week is noticeably better.  I am down 25 pounds and only 6 pounds away from my normal weight.  The magic lactation diet is in full effect.  I can eat all the junk I want and yet still shed the pounds.  It is going to be a long while before I give my dairy up, lol.