Sebastian’s birth, much like my entire pregnancy, was pretty uneventful. Everything went so smoothly thanks to the amazing work of my medical care team, all of the information and preparation I received from my midwives leading up to birth, and the care we received from the labor and delivery nurses in the hospital. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience. So, if you’re in need of a happy, positive story to ease your own nerves about labor and delivery, I gladly offer up mine. Just keep in mind that every person’s experience will be different.

March 24th was the magical date my son was expected to enter the world. I knew from the very beginning that he wouldn’t be born on his estimated due date, as only about 5% of babies are, and I truly believed he wouldn’t arrive until April based on more recent research for predicting when babies to first-time moms would be born. Nonetheless, I still felt a little disappointed when we watched March 24th come and go with no baby.

This was only two days passed my due date.

And then a week passed and the doctor’s appointments started to double up: two per week to check amniotic fluid and to perform non-stress tests to make sure the baby was doing all right. When the thought of my complication-free pregnancy turning into an emergency situation entered my mind and my midwives started talking about induction, I got really nervous and was even more ready for the baby to get here. And if he didn’t get here soon, I would be induced on April 6th, almost two weeks after my due date. Luckily, I wouldn’t have to wait much longer.

Non-stress test at 41 weeks

Saturday night, April 1, I started having light contractions around 11:30 pm. I had experienced some mild cramp-like sensations the previous week but they eventually faded away, so I didn’t want to get my hopes up this time around. However, when 4 AM rolled around and they weren’t going away, I knew it was the real thing. We alerted the family that it had begun. Although the contractions were getting slightly stronger, they were still few and far between. I labored at home for the majority of the day on Sunday, April 2, until about 7 PM when the contractions started hitting the sweet range of 4-1-1 (contractions happening every 4 minutes, each lasting 1 full minute, and have been that way for 1 hour) and we decided to head to the hospital. When we checked in and the midwife measured me, I was already dilated about 6 cm! I labored at the hospital for another 5 hours until my contractions were lasting about 2 minutes each and were about 2-3 minutes apart.

At this point, I had been progressively contracting for more than 24 hours and I was completely exhausted. The contractions felt much more painful when I was sitting or lying down so I stayed on my feet almost this whole time. I was walking around, swaying, and breathing through each one. Every time I would feel one coming on, I would grab Nick’s wrists and we would sway together while I breathed deeper than I have ever breathed in my life. I could tell he was getting tired, too, because he had to stand there and sway with me through each 2-minute contraction and then do it again less than 3 minutes later. I was seriously so tired that all I wanted to do was sit down, rest, and even sleep. The only way to do that was to get an epidural, which I had been against the entire 41 weeks I was pregnant.

But exhaustion is a powerful thing. It will make you act in ways you never thought you would, and for me, it was agreeing to get the epidural. Honestly, I’m not sure I would have had the energy or strength to bring my son into the world if I hadn’t. That’s not to say I didn’t struggle with the decision because I certainly did.

For hours I wrestled with whether I wanted it or not. I was tired, drained of energy, and I wanted to sleep but I was scared of the procedure and I thought it would make me feel like I had lost control of the situation. In the end, the exhaustion won and, around midnight on April 3rd, I asked for the epidural. And I have to admit to you now that this was THE. BEST. decision I could have made for myself. Sure, I lost all the feeling in my legs but I was able to sleep for about 6 hours and when the time came, I was more than ready to deliver my sweet baby boy.

I think the only real downsides to the epidural were that it made me feel a little nauseated and it slowed my contractions while I slept. I vomited once and the nurses gave me some anti-nausea medicine, which also helped me sleep. In the morning, when I woke up, they gave me a tiny bit of Pitocin to get the contractions back up to speed. Around 8 AM, the midwife checked me one final time and could actually see Sebastian’s head starting to make its way down! Everyone in the room – my midwife and nurse, my parents, Nick, and I – started to get ready for delivery. Amazingly, I only had to push for about 20 minutes or so and at 8:50 in the morning, he made his entrance into this world.

Welcome to the world, Sebastian!

Sebastian Armando was born on April 3, 2017, weighing 6 lbs 11 oz, measuring 21 inches long, and sporting a full head of hair. His eyes were open and he was completely alert when they laid him on my chest. He looked up at me and I smiled. Nick kissed his little head and the world just seemed to be right. It was the most breathtaking moment I think I’ve ever experienced in my life.

Sebastian’s birth day

He’s the most perfect little being in the whole world and I’m already so in love with him that it hurts. I love his hair, his smell, all of his adorable little sounds, and even his loud angry cries when he feels he isn’t being fed quickly enough. He’s so very chill just like his father but can get very feisty like me. He’s the absolute best! And I’m very excited to see where this journey is going to take us.

First night home, cuddles with daddy

Stay tuned for more of my adventures in mommy hood.

xo,
Nikki

*This post was originally published on 4/13/2017 and has been slightly updated in honor of Sebastian’s second birthday today.*

I’m one of those people who has always considered my dogs to be my children. They were in every family photo, they were involved in as many activities as possible, and I love them fiercely. Some folks don’t like it when pet owners refer to their animals as “furbabies” and compare taking care of them to the hard work it takes to care for a child. But, look, I have both now and, while I agree that it’s definitely easier to take care of animals, I still contend that furbabies are a lot of work and are just as much a part of the family as human babies. I love both my two-legged and four-legged babies with all of my heart.

Sebastian & MIa

That said, here are some hilarious ways I’ve found that make my furbaby and my human baby even more similar.

Here’s a little secret: I haven’t always wanted kids. Even in high school when I was busy scribbling hearts around my boyfriend’s name and dreaming of his last name behind my first name, I don’t recall wanting to have children. My daydream then consisted solely of marriage and a good career, and that dream remained steadfast for many years. In college, I started to scoff at the idea of procreating and when I was in my mid-and-late-twenties, I had pretty much decided kids weren’t for me. And Nick was on the same page. We were going to focus on degrees and careers and our house and our dogs and all the other goals we had stashed up our sleeves. Besides, who has time for kids? They’re dream killers, and they’re so. needy, and you have to wipe their butts for them. Gross! 

And then I turned 30.

Sebastian is pretty darn perfect. That’s not just a biased mother’s opinion; the doctor agrees 😉

Two-week check up. The doctor literally said he’s perfect.

But even in all of his perfection, we had a rough start with breastfeeding. I have nothing against formula or mothers who choose to feed it to their babies, but breastfeeding is one of those parenting decisions that both Nick and I felt very strongly about. We were going to breastfeed for as long as possible. All throughout my pregnancy I had the normal concern most first-time moms have: will I produce enough milk? Turns out, I was a milking machine but it was an issue with Sebastian that caused our breastfeeding woes.

Sebastian was born with a tongue tie and accompanying high palate, which made latching to my breast/nipple and therefore efficient sucking nearly impossible. The hospital wouldn’t let the midwife cut it right after birth so we had to wait until we were discharged two days later to visit the midwife’s office so she could clip it. Even after it was taken care of, Sebastian still had a really hard time latching. That whole first week I would pump as much colostrum as possible and feed it to him with a syringe. It was extremely stressful and caused me so much anxiety that I was thisclose to giving up and switching to formula. Instead, I kept pumping and we started feeding Sebastian the pumped milk with a bottle, which was much more sustainable but seemed to horrify lactation consultants and experts everywhere who have acted like I’m a monster for introducing a bottle to a newborn (but whatever, my baby was eating and growing and that’s all that matters… but I digress).

He looks pretty full and happy to me!

We were referred to a wonderful lactation consultant who has worked with me so much to make breastfeeding a reality. She taught me how to use a nipple shield, which has been a life changer for sure. It has allowed us to go from almost exclusively pumping & bottle feeding to almost exclusively breastfeeding (we still use a bottle every now and then when I’m away or need a break). And let me tell you, it’s a wonderful feeling of success when you’re finally able to feed and bond with your baby the way you wanted to.

The plan is to try to wean him off of the shield and try to get him to latch directly on my breast BUT if I have to use the shield for the next 6 months or more, then that’s what I’ll do. I am very much of the mind that fed is best, whether that’s breast milk directly from the breast, from the bottle, or formula. Whatever keeps your baby alive and well.

Sweet success!

I still have some anxiety around breastfeeding. Mostly, I worry that even with the shield, Sebastian isn’t getting enough to eat. But at his two-week check up, he had already gained about 12 ounces since his last visit — and the doctor really did say he was perfect! — so we’re obviously doing something right. And that’s all that really matters.

Until next time,
xo, Nikki

There are only a few more months to go before Nick and I have a baby. A son. A living, breathing little human that is going to be dependent on us for EVERYTHING. Holy Crap! In all seriousness, though, we’re getting pretty excited. And I’m getting a little nervous, especially about labor & delivery. I’m trying to remain calm and positive about it so I don’t freak myself out. The last thing I need is a traumatic birthing experience. To all the mamas out there, I’d love to hear about your positive experiences/moments in the comments! No negative or scary stories, please. It’s not good for my psyche.

On to the baby stuff…

baby size: Approximately 3.75 pounds (about the size of a large jicama or bok choy) and about 16.7 inches long. Although it still looks fairly small, my belly is measuring right where it should be at 32 cm (also known as fundal height).

cravings: Though not as intense, I’m still craving cereal and I eat a bowl (or two) each day. We’ve gone through A LOT of milk! Baby S should have the strongest bones on the block when we arrives. The past month I’ve been chowing down mostly on Rice Krispies cereal with bananas. I passed my gestational diabetes test (meaning I don’t have GD) but we discovered that I’m slightly anemic (losing iron to the baby) which is very common in pregnancy, so my doctor has advised me to add more meat, beans, and leafy green vegetables to my diet. No big deal. The good news is that Rice Krispies are enriched with iron so my bowl or two a day is probably helping.

I have a serious cereal problem!

movement: Baby S is moving around so much! Before, I was mostly feeling him in the evenings but now it’s all the time: mornings, evenings, middle of the afternoon, when I wake up to pee in the middle of the night, when we’re in childbirth class… He’s even kicked my ribs a few times, which is painful. I’ll be sitting on the couch and feel a sharp jolt in my ribs that makes me jump. I gently ask him to kick somewhere else. Luckily, he doesn’t do that very often but I imagine bruised ribs all the same. He also gets the hiccups several times a day, usually after I eat a meal or drink something really cold. As weird as it is, I love feeling him moving around and I think that might be the only thing I’ll miss about being pregnant once he’s here.

miss anything?: I miss being able to comfortably bend over to do things like put on socks, tie my shoes, and pick up things off the floor. My belly is pretty big for my small frame and it’s been getting in the way of certain things. I also miss getting to wear all of my clothes! I have so many cute skirts and pants that just aren’t comfortable with my belly band. Same with some of my cute tops — they just don’t fit over the belly so they’re all just sitting patiently in my closet until I can fit into them again. I could purchase more maternity clothes but I only have a few more months and plenty of non-maternity things that fit, plus the budget could be better spent elsewhere.

how we’re prepping: We’re still working on the nursery, but we’re so close! We’ve had two small baby showers already with one more planned  for next month (which is a little embarrassing to admit that we’re having so many but it was really hard to get all of our people in one place at the same time) so we’re still stocking up. Most of the furniture is in and most of the decor is finished. We’re just missing a few pieces like a rocking chair/glider.

We’re also reading as many books and taking as many classes as we can. I’m actually really interested in Hypnobirthing so I’ve been reading books and resources on that method of pain management, and Nick has been reading books and articles about how to be a great support person (he’s going to be amazing, I know it). Last week we took a childbirth class, this week we’re taking a tour of the Labor & Delivery unit of the hospital and a newborn care class, and in a few weeks we’ll be taking breastfeeding classes. I’m learning so much!

looking forward to: Completing the nursery so we have one less thing I have to worry about. Feeling like I’m ready, although, will I ever feel ready? Probably not.

best moment so far: I already mentioned this last week, but I was concerned that I wasn’t gaining enough weight. My midwife said my belly and Baby S are measuring just fine, BUT I should start eating more peanut butter, avocados, loaded baked potatoes, ICE CREAM AND COOK OUT MILKSHAKES. Pretty much all of my favorite things… and it’s doctor’s orders! This pregnancy thing isn’t so bad.