Hudson's First Hospital Visit

Friday afternoon we had another dr. appointment to check Hudson's weight. At our appointment a week before that he was up 2 oz. from his last check, which the dr. said was ok, he just wanted to check in a week to see if it continued to go up. When we got to our appointment and weighed him he had actually gone DOWN another 2 oz. and was weighing in at 5 lbs 8 oz. Our dr. was on vacation, so we met with a different dr. at the practice who decided that we needed to go to the hospital and get Hudson hooked up to an IV for fluids.

I was pretty shocked at this response to the weight loss. Since it wasn't much, I just thought they'd have us start supplementing with formula to help his weight gain since he seemed to be breastfeeding just fine, I figured the reason he wasn't gaining was due to a lack of milk supply from me.

So we took the dr's advice and headed straight to Good Sam. We arrived and they checked his vitals and got us all checked in to a room in the Pediatric's Unit. The on call pediatrician determined there was no reason to hook Hudson up to IV fluids since he wasn't dehydrated, he just needed to get more calories in. We were relieved to hear this!

They started us on a strict feeding schedule at the hospital with me breastfeeding, then supplementing with formula after. The first night went fine and Saturday morning we expected to hear we'd get to go home on Sunday and spend Hudson's first Easter at home with family as we had planned. Unfortunately this isn't what happened. We continued a 3 hour feeding schedule through Saturday and the daytime nurse, Tristan was very knowledgeable and helpful in working up building up my supply. She started me with a breastpump and I started pumping several times a day to determine how much milk I was actually producing. We realized I was only producing about half of what Hudson needed, hence the reason for his weight loss.

Saturday night they weighed Hudson again and he was up to 5 lbs 11 oz, we were so happy to hear he had gained 3 oz since the afternoon before! We knew all that we were doing was worth it and we were happy to get him healthier :) Sunday we followed the same feeding schedule and weighed him again Sunday night when he was up to 5 lbs 15 oz!! The nurse said they fully expected the dr. to let us go home the next morning since his weight was steadily rising.

Monday morning, we woke up and followed the feeding routine until about 9 when I met with a lactation consultant. She was awesome with setting up a plan and getting us ready for what to do when we went home. I was basically going to follow the same 3 hour feeding schedule and document all the feedings before checking back in with her in a few days. After meeting with her, they checked Hudson's vitals for the final time and the dr. came in, checked him out and released us from the hospital!! We were sooo glad to finally get to go back home and continue the feeding routine there (since we knew all along it was something that we could've just been doing at home).

Unfortunately my milk supply still isn't in enough that I don't need to supplement with formula, but the prescription and Fenugreek are definitely helping a little bit with my supply. I'm still hoping and praying that my supply increases enough that I can exclusively breastfeed, but in the mean time I know I'm doing the best I can to keep my boy healthy and happy!!

We went back to Hudson's regular pediatrician yesterday for another weight check. His weight is now up to 6 lbs 4.5 oz, so just over his birth weight!! The dr. was amazed that he had gained 12 oz in only 4 days. He talked to us about what we would continue to do at home with breastfeeding and supplementing and we are content to keep following this plan until something changes with me :)

Welcome Hudson Andrew!!!

As most of you already know, we welcomed Hudson Andrew into the world bright and early Monday morning at 37 weeks 5 days gestation!! I was soo surprised to go into labor early, I expected to be either on time or late since he is my first, but I got lucky and I'm so blessed with my perfect baby boy. If you are interested, here is my labor story (it's long and detailed, but not too graphic I don't think!)

I woke up Sunday morning at 4 am to use the restroom (nothing unusual at 37 weeks pregnant)! When I went to the bathroom I noticed a lot of bloody mucus, I realized this was probably what is known as the 'bloody show.' I went back to bed and tried to go back to sleep not thinking much of it. About 15 minutes later I started to have what felt like period cramping. These cramps continued to happenon and off about every 10-20 minutes. Since I couldn't seem to fall asleep between them, I decided to look in "What to Expect When You're Expecting" and see what it had to say about the bloody show and labor since I hadn't read that far yet. The book explained that this happens as the cervix is effacing and is a sign of labor, but doesn't necessarily mean that labor is imminent; so I wasn't getting my hopes up yet. Ialso went on to read that the first contractions feel like period cramping, so I thought maybe these cramps were actually contractions.

I layed in bed a while and told Andy what was going on. Then I decided to get up and try to get some things done around the house and finish packing my hospital bag, just in case. I took a shower and got ready then started some laundry. The "cramping" started to get closer together, now about 5-10 minutes apart consistently (this was probably around 9 or 10 am). Andy was getting anxious nd realy wnted me to go to the hospital to get checked out. I had already called labor and delivery earlier that morning and asked about the bleeding and they said it was normal and just to watch the contractions and keep timing them. Once they were 5 minutes apart and lasting at least 1 minute long we could come in.

We decided to take Maverick on a walk to see if that got anything going. I was getting really hungry by this point but worried about eating too much since I was finally realizing this might be real labor! We decided to go to Olive Garden so I could get the soup and salad. I wasn't able to eat much and it was hard to eat when I was having contractions but it was nice to have some food in my stomach finally. After lunch we went to Costco to walk around and see if we could find anything. The contractions continued and Andy really wanted me to get checked out so we went into the hospital.

When we got there they hooked me up to the monitors and also checked my cervix. I was only 2 cm dialated (1 cm more than on Friday at my Dr. appt) and was 100% effaced. They kept me on the monitors for an hour to monitor my contractions and see if my cervix changed at all. After the hour was up, they checked my cervix again and I was still only 2 cm dialated and the contractions hadn't stayed consistently at 5 minutes apart. They sent me home with a list of things to look for and call or come in if they happened (such as water breaking, more bleeding than I was already having, contractions staying consistent, etc.)

We left the hospital decided to run up to Target to buy a few things and walk around The contractions stayed close to 5 minutes apart and at this point I had to stop and couldn't really walk through them anymore. We went home and did some laundry, watched tv and took Maverick on a short walk. I also took a bath to see if the contractions continued or slowed. They stayed the same through the bath, although being in the water definitely eased a bit of he pain.

At around 8 p.m. I started to notice some leaking during contractions. While standing in the hallway during a contraction I realized it might be more than just a trickle, so I ran into the bathroom where my water broke and gushed into the toilet! I yelled to Andy and he started running around trying to do a million last minute things. We headed up to the hospital shortly after where they admitted me again and checked my cervix. By this time the contractions were 3-4 minutes apart consistently and getting much more painful and intense. Unfortunately when they checked me I was still only 2 cm dialated; but since my water broke they kept me there.

After being hooked up to the monitors for the first hour I decided I would try another bath to help ease the pain. The nurse only let me stay in there for 30 minutes before I had to be hooked back up to the monitors. She checked my cervix and I was now at 4 cm, so finally making some progress!

After this I got on the birthing ball where I rocked through the contractions for the next hour. The nurse tried to monitor me while sitting there, but unfortunately it wasn't working very well and I had to get back into bed for the next 30 minutes. FOr some reason they continued to want me on the monitors even though everything looked OK and Hudson's heart rate wsa fine. SO I was stuck in bed for most of labor, which definitely wasn't what I wanted or expected, but as long as I had the bed sitting up and I was on my side it wasn't too bad.

Soon after this they checked my cervix again and I was 6 cm diated. The contractions were now about 2 minutes apart lasting 1 minute and I had no time to recover in between. So we decided it was best that I talk to the nurse about something that wasn't too strong and could help me relax between contracdtions. I decided to get one IV dose of Nubain. This definitely didn't help with the pain of contractions, but I was able to relax a bit in between and close my eyes, that way when I had to push I would have the energy to do so.

After a couple hours of contractions like this I was checked and finally at 8 cm dialated, so progress was going great! Soon after being checked the contractions got much more intense and I started feeling the urge to push. The nurse checked me and said I was 9 1/2 cm dialated. The urge to push continued to get more intence and they FINALLY started letting me push instead of having to blow through the contractions. They called my dr. after I pushed with the nurse through a few contractions. A few contractions and pushes later they told me I was going to have to stop pushing and blow through the contractions until my dr. got there. It seemed like FOREVER before she arrived. Once she did I could finally start pushing!! About 20 minutes later (40 mins total of pushing) Hudson Andrew arrived weighing 6 pounds 4 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long. He is absolutely PERFECT!!!

We ended up staying at the hospital 2 days due to Hudson being born with a low temperature and low blood sugar. He was kept in the nursery in a warmer for the first day, once his temperature and blood sugar regulated the dr. kept him in there a whole day longer. So we went in every 3 hours to feed him and hold him. It definitely wasn't what we had planned for delivery and we weren't very happy with the on call pediatricians at the hospital who didn't take the time to really assess the situation and look at him before making decisions that he needed to stay when all the nurses who were there with him 24/7 said he was fine to go back to our room with us. But, it is what it is and we were able to bring him in our room with us the second morning and were released from the hospital that afternoon.

We're so happy to have our little family all together at home and are all adjusting to life great!! I can't wait to continue sharing milestones with all my readers!! I will try to update soon (although it took me SEVERAL days to finally get this posted so I won't make any promises!)