Dreycin's Birth Day & update on being at home

So now is the time im going to write about Dreycin's birth day! First I have to say that it was truly a blessing for me to make it to 40wks, i know some people were like arent you miserable, and why didnt you take the earlier induction but I am patient and really wanted Dreycin to be born on my grandfather Adrian Ray Doss' birthday! On 11/9 I woke up at 4:12am with alot of menstrual like cramps, went to the bathroom and was having some bloody show. So that was my indication that my body was trying so desperately to go into labor. At 5:40am we left the house to go the University of Louisville Hospital for our induction. As we were leaving Derek was loading the car and for some reason my lovely husband called me a retard, and I was like.....DEREK, of all days not TODAY! He got the point, he was just cranky because once again we got no sleep (a soon to be common theme in our lives)!! At 6:30am we checked into Labor & Delivery, and about 8:20am the resident doc came in and said we were going to start with a cervix softner and then start pitocin in the afternoon. Again I was almost 2cm, 70%effaced. I was blessed to have an excellent day shift nurse named Tina. She was so sweet, and really went above and beyond to provide great service to me & my family. My theme song that day that I listened to over and over on Derek's iphone was Michael Jackson's Human Nature. It had such a calming effect and would put a smile on my face. My parents videotaped alot during the day, and the delivery too! About 9:45am I started having contractions every 2-5min, and with almost every contraction my blood pressure would sky rocket. Around 11:15am Dr Weeks came in and told me we were going to start pitocin in the early afternoon and I would probably be having to start magnesium for my blood pressure. The risk of having a seizure during labor goes up if you are having high blood pressures. Dr Weeks predicted that Dreycin would be born anywhere from 945-1015pm that night and he would weigh 7lbs 10oz. From 12-1 my contractions were getting more painful, so I got up and walked around my room for about 1hr. About 1pm another resident doc(not so friendly) came in and asked me rudely what I was doing, I was like Im walking around in my room? She was unkind and said I couldnt and needed to get back in bed, what pisted me off is she so rudely said these things to me without even an introduction. When she left I requested she not come be apart of my care that day. We started the lowest dose of pitocin. I was really frustrated that the doc told me I hadnt progressed, I was still 2cm but I was having all these contractions? About 2:40pm I requested anesthesia come in and consult about the epidural. I ended up going ahead and getting it, better earlier than later when I wouldnt be able to sit still. It was a really easy process, only thing that happened was that I bled alot from my back during the process so they had to rip the tape off of me to clean it up. I was starting to be in alot of pain, and was in desperate need of relief. My mom had been massaging my legs and feet with aveda oils. Dr Weeks stopped back by to check on me and we were in the middle of my epidural, I was leaning over on my nurse on the side of the bed having a contraction during the epidural. He said, well we do have criteria to get an epidural around here....Amazingly after I got my epidural it helped my blood pressures go down and stay down. Not even an hour later at 3:30pm a resident doc came in and checked me and I was 6cm, so she broke my water. It was a warm gush of fluid, seemed like it didnt last long at all. After that I started feeling contractions on my left side, really painful ones were I was laying on my left side hanging on to the side of the hospital bed. It felt like someone was grabbing my sciatic nerve and squeezing it as hard as they could all the way down my left leg. My nurse called anesthesia back and they increased my dose about 5:30pm. Dr Weeks stopped back by and said he would be back later tonight, and let me know that they would not start me on Magnesium for the blood pressures. I started feeling pressure in my bottom around that time, and by shift change at 7pm my new nurse Ariel who was also an angel was concerned and decided to go ahead and check me. She said "You are complete, complete, +1" All I could think about was what if I hadnt called anesthesia back to increase the epidural....I would have been in ALOT of pain because that sciatic nerve pain was also leading to the pressure in my bottom. At 7:19pm I started pushing. My nurse Tina stayed a little over to help Ariel get set up for Dreycin's delivery. After all Tina had been a major role throughout the day, and I was sad to see her go right before all the action started! What really helped me in the labor process was they brought the mirror out so that I could see what I was pushing out! It was so cool to see Dreycin's head coming down! My nurse Ariel started massaging the vaginal area so that I would not tear. About 7:30pm Dr Weeks got to the hospital to deliver Dreycin. I also had an excellent tech named Hazel, she really knew the amount of force to put on my legs so that I would push. I had to tell Derek give me some more umph....finally Dr Weeks drew up the handles from the bed and I was able to bear down easier. Once I pushed him down to where I could see his head at my opening it only took about 3pushes. Both my mother and father were in the labor room with Derek and I. Dreycin was born at 8:06pm and I was crying like a big baby overcome with so much joy to hear my baby scream his lungs out. Apgars were 9 & 9, didnt even have to be suctioned, he was 7lbs 15.8oz and 20inches. I chose to do kangaroo care which meant Dreycin would spend the first 1hr or more on my bare chest to bond and breastfeed. Dreycin came out pooping on everything and everyone....should have been a sign for me that at every breastfeeding we would have a dirty diaper! Dreycin was able to latch on and start breastfeeding on my right boob, then later the left boob. He was made for breastfeeding, I couldnt have been blessed more to have a cooperative eater!!! Labor & Delivery honestly went by so fast it seems surreal when I think about it. I barely saw Derek cut the umbilical cord, and after that I made it a point not to look down there. After they stitched me, cleaned me up, Derek, my parents, and Dreycin went to the nursery for his first bath and more vitals. I was left alone in my room, was brought a veggie burger and some fries. It was so good to eat!!! I was in such a state of euphoria I didnt even realize I was alone. The next few days in the hospital were sleepless, and I found myself in a daze staring at my precious little miracle. Thinking about him as I write this brings me to tears because I love him so much already. Its hard to imagine he was in my tummy all this time nourishing & growing,


Compared to recovery, LABOR WAS EASY and anyone can do it with an epidural!!! My recovery has been a not so easy process, I had internal tears and those oh glory oh glory....got worse after delivery. Im doing sitz baths at home, sitting on cold packs, and still taking my pain medication along with motrin. I cant really sit in one place for too long and its just better if im laying down. My final pregnancy weight was 204lbs, and I am already down to 191lbs I figure it wont take me to long to get to about 175lbs which I am comfortable with! And those beautiful tiger stripes, well they have lightened but not very much!? Oh well the price to pay for a beautiful perfect little boy. Breastfeeding was easy the first 3days, then my milk came in abundance and I got engorged. I had to pump for 1day after every feeding just so my boobs didnt feel like rocks. Dreycin is a champ when it comes to feeding time, right now we are struggling a little bit with the latch on part. We are eating every 2.5-3hrs right now. It takes alot of patience, and I have no idea how I would be able to do it with only two hands. My mom has been helping me tremendously with breastfeeding Dreycin. My mom in general being here has been the BEST thing so far, i dont have to worry about cooking or laundry or anything else around the house, besides Dreycin and I. Its so funny because sometimes i feel like my boob is going to smother Dreycin because they are so heavy and like bigger than the size of his head! and Sleep, i no longer know what that is. i can sleep 4-5hrs a day right now and make it through the day? dont ask me how....Derek through this whole process has also been wonderful, helping me with this recovery process. I know he feels like he isnt doing much for Dreycin right now, and he is also sleep deprived. I think today it finally caught up with him and he was like "If I could pause time sleep for 10hrs then unfreeze everything I would." He is also kind of annoyed with Dreycin's crying, which for me I am not going to pick Dreycin up every time he makes a wimper and Derek cant stand to not be able to fix what Dreycin is upset about. Its all a learning process for the both of us, and will get better as we learn to make a schedule. Im kind of feeling bad that Derek will have to go back to work on Nov 19th, and I dont go back to work until the first week of February. We had our first pediatrician appt yesterday, with me having lupus there are a series of tests that the pediatrician wants to do just to make sure Dreycin is 100% healthy! He weighed in at 7lbs 6oz, and all his blood work came back perfect. On monday we are going back for another weight check and EKG (due to me carrying the antibody that causes heart problems). I feel like the pediatrician is really just covering her bases to make sure that Dreycin wasn't or won't in the future be affected by lupus. Its very reassuring to have someone else under your concerns.

So for now at the DeLaVega household we are learning new schedules, changing ALOT of poopy diapers, and I am loving on my two boys.

PS if you read the ladybug blog before this, you will understand when I tell ya'll....I was given a bag at the hospital with ladybugs all over it! Defn brought a smile to my face!