My 7 Months Old Starting Solids

My Baby at 7 Months Old:

I have not been posting a lot lately since we were on vacation for about 2 months and we hit a couple of rocks along the road with the little one, resuming in me not being able to do anything during the day, other than spend my time with him, playing, sleeping, feeding, etc. nothing else!

Today, I have returned to the writing of our baby process as a new mom, not easy, as he is still going through a next phase milestone, I am guessing, that he is just attached 100% to mommy.

Anyway, we have hit a new milestone, we are in the introduction of solids!!!

Yes, that does sound great, specially breastfeeding moms, that always need to be with the baby, as you are their only source of food. This new milestone is, I believe, more exciting for me than for him, he doesn't seem to interested, honestly.

We started about 3 weeks ago with solids, I have a list of what he's tried. At the beginning, it was very simple, I was not sure of what I was doing, my husband even clueless, but we gave him banana, 🍌 yes, a fruit! (I already was told that starting with fruits is not the right thing to do, as its sweet and then the baby won't like vegetables and so on, LECTURED! However, after my training course, I found out it does not matter what you start with, baby milk is sweet, so they are familiar with sweet taste, the important thing is to evolve so the baby gets the right nutrition)

This is our list so far:

*Need to add zucchini to this list, he also didn't have a reaction, but is not a zucchini lover.

At the very beginning it seemed like he was interested in food, as he was looking at us when we ate, he would open his mouth and simulate eating, but now, he just doesn't seem as interested, is more like playing for him.

I took a little training, as mentioned above, on starting your baby on solids and nutrition. A lot of information I found out about and of course, that I was introducing my baby to food a little bit different ( I was going to say "wrong", but that is really not the case, as long as you don't give him unhealthy food).

In summary, we have to introduce all food groups to our babies, almost since the beginning, of course it takes some time, but by the end of the first month, they should have tried them all. It works pretty easy. What we did, so we could catch up, we just started putting all the different groups for all his 3 meals, and make a new schedule where he eats. Since we had just 2 meals for him, some fruits or vegetables in the morning and some cereal in the evening.

By now, his schedule looks, somewhat, as follows:

Of course, for him, breastfeeding is still the main meal, so even though he ate, I still feed him before every nap and before bed.

Starting my baby on solids, comes with new challenges for our family life and in general, for me, as a new mom, there is still a lot I need to learn, in order to hit greatness in the most important task in life, being a parent.

We got some stuff at Amazon and local stores, to start this new phase, if interested, take a look at these items:

Maybe you find some of these useful, maybe not, but at least you have somewhat a guide of what your little one might need.
We did not buy any kind of food processor, we are using what we have at home already, but you can find some really cool ones. Not sure how much you really need those, but that's a personal decision!

The diaper horror story!

The Diaper Horror Story!

Since our baby was born we have had the same issues with the diapers, they leak!!!

Well, not the first weeks, but kind of after the first month, and with the first diaper size change. Of course, as I first time mom, I was not sure of when I had to change the diaper size for my baby. I tried looking it up on the internet, but I really did not find anything about it. It would mainly show information about cloth diapers, and well, we do not use those kinds, but the commercial and well-known disposable ones.

So, one of my questions on this was, how do I know it is time to change the size? Some my think, it is super easy, look at the kilograms indicated on the diapers packaging and your baby's weight. But, I have to say, it is not that easy. Plus, depending on every brand, the weight limits changes.

My baby was still between the limits of the size 1 diapers and it was time to move on to size 2, how did I know that? After many many many dirty clothes. The diapers seemed to fit ok still, but somehow it was one after the next onesie dirty with baby's poop or pee even.

I do not know how true this is, but I share with you what worked somewhat for us.

How to check for the right diaper size?

• look for the weight information on the diaper
• plus the way it fits on our baby, around the belly. 
• that is not too tight around the legs and belly
• also, your baby's size (cms/in)

As I understood, all of these points above are important to make sure you have the right size, but, most important of all, to know if the diaper works for you and you do not have the same leaking issue like us, is that the brand you are using is working for your baby.

Diaper brands

We have tried many different diaper brands, from the well know Pampers, to the store brand cheaper version.

Here a list of what we have used, what the diapers offer and what we found out after using them.

(None of these brands have paid us in any way to do any kind of testing or advertising, this is just our experience, and we want to share with you.)

• Pampers: this brand we all know, we tried the premium baby-dry diapers. According to the package, they hold up to 12 hours, have wetness indicators and keep the baby dry. Our experience: at the beginning seemed to work great, but then the leaking started. We tried changing the size to 2 and then to 3, but the leaking never stopped. It would not hold until the next morning, the pee will slip from time to time, and the poop pretty much most of the time.

•  BabyLove *DM brand: this one also offers 12 hours of protection, good with the distribution of the liquids, suction, and soft on the skin. Our experience: they are indeed good with the liquid intake, but also with some leaking (I started to wonder if maybe we were the issue or the baby), also not that soft on our baby's skin.

 

•  Lupilu *Lidl brand: This diapers also offer 12 hour protection, good with liquid absorption and soft to protect the baby's skin. Our experience: this diaper was great for us, we were so happy, because there was no more dirty clothing with poop leaking. However, to our disappointment, this diaper leaks the pee. We did not push it to the 12 hour protection, but still sometimes during changes in the middle of the night, I will have to complete undress the baby due to his clothes being wet.

• Mamia *Aldi brand: This diaper also says it has good liquid absorption, special suction canal, soft on the skin, dermatologically tested, without any extra substances or additives, protection from leakage. Our experience: so far, this is the best diaper we have tried. It does great on leakage protection, it does lasts for up to 12 hours, and its soft on the baby skin. So, finally we feel like we may have found the right diaper for our baby.

• Lillydoo: This is another diaper we are going to try, we have not yet, so there is not much I can tell you, but we have order the test package and will write a review after we are done with it.

So, we have not yet found the perfect diaper for our baby, we are still on the search, but it looks like the Aldi diapers might be the winners. It is important to try out different ones, before sticking with one brand, all brands are different and the same, but some have better marketing than others. However, the most expensive diaper is not necessarily going to be the best for your kid.

A lot of money is spent on diapers, better to choose wisely and with the most benefits!

Please let me know how your experience was!

Thanks for stopping by!

How I got my baby to sleep!

How I got my baby to sleep!

This is the million dollar question!

I started this post with one idea in mind, but since it has taken me over 2 weeks to finish it, I am changing the content and starting all over. The idea is the same, but what I wrote before was no longer relevant. Unfortunately, a baby not sleeping during the day or night, does not help to keep up with things as good as one would like to!

Any way, back to the topic. I/we have been struggling for a month with the baby not sleeping. For about 3 weeks was total nightmare, no naps during the day, very difficult to get him to sleep and during the night, no more 4-6 hours stretches of sleep, instead 2 up to 3 hours, but also every hour waking up.

Two weeks ago I started trying toys to concentrate him on falling asleep. It worked a couple of times, he will fall asleep without crying after listening to the toy for some minutes, but the nap would not last more than 45minutes. Then, this stopped working again. As I mentioned in the post before, I tried some of the sleep training things I read about. But, you know how it is, not all that you read on the internet you should do. Specially when it comes to baby sleep training. It is a VERY IMPORTANT factor to mention, that the baby should be at least 6 months old in order to start with this sleep training, specially in the cases of letting the baby cry.

In any case, I abandoned all sort of training stuff and focused on the well being of my baby and paying even closer attention to his needs and cues. Let me tell you, sometimes it does not matter how much you pay attention, you either still miss it, or its just a phase you definitely have to go through and things will settle on its own.

So, what worked for me during the day, was to help him fall asleep for the naps, there was some crying -not a lot-, but he will fall asleep after some walking around the room. Then, I found an incredible thing/tip, babies fall asleep when having a cloth over their eyes. I tried that before reading about it and by coincidence, we were at the store and he was super tired but not falling asleep. I was wearing him, but at some point I put my jacket over him and he closed his eyes in a second. So, I thought I should try that at home as well, and yes my baby fell asleep. After, I decided to look for information about this, because I was concerned that maybe that was not something good to do to the baby, but to my surprise, it was one of the tips to help them sleep.

At around 4 months, babies are taking in so many things from the world around them, developing their brain at a faster speed, that it is hard for them to just shut down and fall asleep. Reason why, this tip, together with laying them in bed before they are completely asleep, or letting them fall asleep in your arms while still (not rocking), etc. Which none of these tips work for me by the way, but the cloth over his eyes works. Of course, important to mention, when he is tired and is ready for a nap, otherwise, he fights it. This is important to pay attention to, so the baby gets his sleep when he needs it.

In any case, my baby turned 4 months now, and things are beginning to settle. I am not saying he is sleeping through the night or anything close to that, but we have established a better routine. Slowly, but steady. He wakes up at different times between 7-9am and for one and a half hours is happiness, then comes the whining and rubbing eyes, sometimes even crying and then I know its time for a nap.

During the day he eats every 3 hours approximately. So, I breastfeed him at 7am, 10am, 1pm, 4pm and 7pm when its his time to go to bed for the night.
Between these times, he plays and takes his nap. He is not taking any long naps, like before, of 2 hours. His naps go from 45min to one hour, but he is following this routing pretty much to the point. Only trouble now, is that he naps most of the time in my arms, which is not ideal, but this is helping him to get the rest he needs during the day, to have a better sleep through the night.

Speaking of sleeping at night, last night, we had again a good night sleep. I put him down to bed at 7.30pm, had some issues and woke up half an hour later, but went back to sleep until 11.30pm, I fed him and he slept until shortly before 4am, one additional feeding and back to bed until 7am.

Most likely is still no time to celebrate that everything is going to get better, but we sure are in a good path for it.

I cannot tell you that things with babies are easy, and that after reading articles and blogs from other parents, you will master your own child. But, I can tell you to be patient, ask for support from your family and anyone willing to help; and things will improve, unfortunately it can be months of the same, but it can also surprise you from one day to the next.

I just want to say, be patient with your kid, what works for others might not work for your own, give your child love, that is what he needs the most. When he cries, is not to make you upset, or not to let you sleep, or not to let you clean the house or prepare a meal; when your baby cries, is because he needs you, needs you to hold him, to care for him, to be there for him, to ease his pain, any of them or all of them. HE JUST NEEDS YOU!

This post has no answers of what to do, it just has my experience with my baby, and the hopes that things improve at some point.

Thank you for stopping by!

All your comments are welcomed!

My baby won't sleep!

My Baby Won't Sleep!

Remember my last post with the perfect 3 months milestone and sleep routine??? Well, forget about it!!! My baby has decided he no longer wants to sleep during the day... or at night! Yes! At night!!!! Mama is suffering for real now!!!

My baby, the one that so perfectly slept for the first 3 months, just completely changed his sleep patterns!

I will try to finish this post as fast as possible, before he wakes up, I hope it does not have too many mistakes, but otherwise, is almost impossible for me to write anything. For the past week it was impossible to sit down to write something; either I was trying to put him down to sleep, trying to sleep myself or falling asleep with him in my arms. My husband is a great help, however, he also goes to work everyday, so I try to use him when he is home and can spend time with the little one, but at night, the least possible amount of time. I exclusively breastfeed, so it makes no sense for me to keep him up as well. Of course, I am exhausted, but this family does not need two exhausted parents, one needs to maintain the sanity!

Anyway, back to this post. I have read many articles about baby sleeping, sleep training, and other blog posts about how many moms have achieved to have their babies' sleep from the 6, 8 or 10 week on; this, as I believe, many other moms that are not sleeping, find it very frustrating. My baby has a routine since the early weeks, but HE HAS NEVER SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT! He had, until two weeks ago, slept a maximum of 6 hours in a row, no more. I believe this can be because he is a exclusively breastfed baby? Not sure, please, if you know this, share it with me! Maybe bottle fed babies' have this advantage? My husband has suggested this by the way, to give him a bottle at night, but for me, this just means being selfish, just because now I feel tired, I want to change his feeding, do not think so.

To manage this situation, I have done the following things, some of these things were a mistake, but hey, I am learning!

• First thing, the sleeping routine for the night. This is something good to do, works for both, babies and parents. It creates a schedule for them, that helps with the sleeping through the night *not for all kids, but helps with an improvement on their night sleep*; and also gives the parents time to do their thing and to spend some time together. And even, moms can join the baby going early to bed, to take advantage of the extra sleeping hours.
• Second, read a lot about babies that do not sleep, either at night or naps. This gives you a better view on the sleeping techniques that exist for babies and possible solutions for your baby's sleeping issues and solutions, depending on their age. As well as letting you know that any baby under 6 months will have sleeping problems; and letting you know that you are not alone, even though you will find all these posts about "How I got my baby to sleep by 6, 8, 10 weeks..."
• Third, put all together into my current situation. This means, I kept on with my baby's night routine, trying to combine it with a nap routine during the day, which basically consists of observing my baby for tiredness cues and feeding him, rocking him, giving him the pacifier, until he falls asleep. Putting him into his crib for the nap time and, in the cases of him waking up before the 2 hours 'need of sleep', letting him sleep in my arms.
• Fourth, letting my baby cry. This part, I did before the third one, but it was TOTALLY WRONG! That is why is coming after, as this was one of my mistakes.
• Is very important to read a lot before trying to find a way to get your baby to sleep. Why? Because, you find tons of information about sleep training right away, specially blog posts of other parents' experiences of their baby sleeping through the night, which on one hand, make you feel even worse about your situation and second, some do not specify that sleep trainings are age related, and that if your baby is under 6 months, sleep training will not work or will worsen the situation, as the baby's brain has not reach a maturity to understand and assimilate the sleep training yet.
• I have learned, that babies between 3 to 5 months experience the so called "sleep regression", which is an important milestone on brain development and learning of sleep patterns. And this can be the cause for the baby not sleeping. Naturally, you have to rule out serious sleep conditions on your baby, but for the most part, this will be the case.
• So, after reading all these blogs and before finding all the right information, I tried letting him cry, it worked one time, he fell asleep, but for the most part, it only made it worse; and, I felt like the worst mom, after, I was not only exhausted, but also depressed, for letting my baby cry. We are not the kind of parents that let their baby cry, he barely makes a sound and we pick him up and comfort him, feed him or whatever he needs, so, doing this for a day crushed my heart. Specially, because letting your baby cry can generate so many psychological issues for the rest of his life and during this moment, tire him and his brain out, not really teach him a valuable lesson.

Bottom line, we are still struggling with him not sleeping, I am struggling keeping myself awake and at the same time, trying to have a life and keep the house in order. It is hard to do everything at the same time. So, I would say, give him all the love your heart has to give, try to calm yourself down and think this is only a phase and it will pass. Ask for help, take turns with your partner to take care of the baby and even ask grandma, grandpa for support. And ANYONE that is willing to be there for you and your baby. (I suck at this, but it is a great advice!)

A little summary on this:

• hold your baby if he needs to be held, 
• pay attention to him and his cues for when he is tired,
• important is, do not let him get overtired, about 20min over his sleep time, will get him to this point and make it harder to make him sleep.
• do whatever it takes for him to fall asleep (feed, hold, pacifier),
• when he finally sleeps, take advantage of this and sleep as well, the rest can wait!

If you have any comments, questions, complaints, suggestions, etc, please leave them down!

Thanks for stopping by and reading!

3 Months Milestone

Baby 3 Months Milestone

Our baby has reached 3 months, very exiting!
Now, we are kind of through with the newborn phase (which was sweet and so fragile), and a bit more experts on the baby’s care than when we left the hospital with him.

During this time we have mastered the “no-sleep” phase, it was not horrible, but yes totally exhausting while we adjust to it.  Baby is or was a by-the-book-kid, for these first months. He basically, eat, diaper change, sleep, and everything all over again. Although, we have been told that we got a, what Germans call “Anfängerkind”, because the crying is really minimum, even at nights and we have not complain yet. In any case, he really is a great baby, although now he is in a crying phase and just wants to be in mommy’s arms for everything. Probably he’s going through another growth spurt or teething, as he’s constantly drooling.

Part of what, I now believe, helps us as well, is that we started a bed time routine at about 6 weeks, it has created a better environment for him to sleep and for us to be able to also do other things. He’s not a baby that sleeps 12 hours through the night though, but the routine has helped to get him to sleep 6 hours in a row. Most of the days it works, not always, but in general, we are in a good path. 

The routine goes as follows:

We start at 7 (when bath is included) to 7.30 pm, at the beginning we used to change diapers, and put him into pajamas, while he had some alone time with daddy in his bedroom. After, daddy would take him to our bedroom and I would breastfeed him; once he finished and was almost asleep, I will lay him down in his bed, put him into his sleep sack and wait for him to fall asleep, put the baby monitor on, and then leave the room. Sometimes he would wake up and cry, so I would come back and give him the pacifier, and he would go back to sleep. Other times, I would have to hold him again and help him fall asleep. Some days are easier than others, but for the most part all the reading of “how to help your baby sleep” is working.

I am not pro “let the baby crying” method, I hardly let him cry to be honest. I believe is not necessary to teach the baby what he needs to learn. But all babies and parents are different, and what works for us now, may not work for everybody.

We are done at around 8pm that he is asleep, and he would continue for up to 6 hours in a row, after this, he will wake up for a night feed, and go back to sleep, but this time just for 3 hour-periods, no more. And by 7am we will have wake up and get out of bed time.

Normally our bedroom is complete dark, so to keep him calm in the morning, I open the shades for him to look around, and this gives me about 30min to shower, make breakfast or do something else before getting him out of bed and start the morning routine. Which this starts with a diaper and pajama change. After is breakfast time for mom and swing time for him, to go on with some play time with mommy. At around 10am is feeding and nap time. During the morning he naps for max. an hour, we are still working on a nap routine that helps him get better with nap time. He gets another hour at around noon. Then we have some exercise together and some more play time for him alone. At around 3pm I feed him again, and this time he has his long nap, for about 2 hours, sometimes 2 and a half. After this nap, is the time of the day when he is awake for more hours, before we start again with the bedtime routine.

Of course, in order to be able to do all this, I am staying at home for the moment. I have taken advantage of what the German social system offers, and have Elternzeit for about 18 months, and can be extended for up to 3 years. In this time I can focus on taking care of my son, until we (mainly me) are ready to take him daycare or kindergarten.

This time of staying at home is giving me the opportunity to learn everything about my son, to go through every stage and to see pretty much every "first time" of things.

Whether you are lucky, like me, and can stay at home with your little one, or you are a working mom, I just want to tell you, you are doing great! Things do not alway work out the way we want them to with the babies, specially when we are first time moms, but I believe with time we will get there. Most important at all times, is to give our babies love, even at the times where seems the most challenging, love will always help and will keep you calm and help your baby calm down as well.

We are enjoying these routine for now, we hope it lasts and improves our baby's and our own sleep.

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Please feel free to leave any comments, questions, suggestions, complaints; I am no expert of any sort, just a first time mom doing her research and wanting to share with you her experiences. The good and the not so good of this new mommy stage.

The hospital bag - what you need and what you really do not!

MY HOSPITAL BAG!

What you need and what you really don't!

(According to my experience)

Now, into a more useful post. Not so personal as the ones before, I would like to share with you what I packed in my hospital bag. Also, some additional items I should have packed and differences that I now see, for when you have a natural birth and a C-section. Hope you find it useful.
Is not that different, a regular hospital bag for natural birth, than for a C-section, items are somewhat the same, just slightly a difference on the level of comfort you need with a surgery. 

Important to mention that we had 3 bags, the baby bag, mama's bag and papa's bag.

I will start with the baby bag, however, this was the one that had the most things packed, that we did not need. Since, in my previous posts I mentioned he ended up staying at the NICU, a lot of things were not to be used.

Baby bag (links for all bags' contents below):

1. Baby bag (Wickeltasche): This we did not buy extra (although I am now in the search for one, a bigger one, I have a lot of stuff, and want to have just one for the baby stuff and that works as my purse as well, sorry, out of topic!), we got it together with our baby stroller. We bought the Bergsteiger Capri model, and it included among other stuff, the baby bag.
2. Leaving the hospital outfit:
• Body: I packed 2 different bodies' sizes, one 50cms (newborn) and the other 56cms. I was not so sure how big they baby will be in the end. Our baby measured 53cms at birth, however, the 50cms was big for him. Newborn size or 50 cms german size will do it. Do not need to pack both sizes.
• Bodysuit\Sleepsuit: This also we bought in size newborn and in white. We dressed him all in white to take him out of the hospital. White\beige clothes, as a family color tradition, for good luck! I love these suits, because they are super soft and they also open completely.
• Overall: He came out of the hospital during winter time, so a thick overall from H&M was the last layer for him. 
3. Baby wipes (travel size package): All types of wipes, to disinfect, to clean, etc. of course, not really needed, but I still pack them and now carry them around in my regular baby bag. So, maybe this you can discard.
4. Cloths or burp rags: to clean him after breastfeeding and to take the air out. We bought a bunch of these at Ross in the US, during our last trip to visit family. We have like 50 little ones.
5. Blanket: Yes, on top of all the layers of clothes he wore, I also packed a blanket. We got it also in the US.
6. Car seat: so, you can actually take him home, also from the stroller set, 3 in 1, listed above.
7. Car seat cover: this was like an extra blanket for baby that goes into the baby seat. Like a feetsack, if the translation makes sense.
8. Nursing pillow: this I did not pack, but my husband brought it after, once we were at the NICU, with the c-section, it was not very easy to use, but in a natural birth should work.

Mama's bag:

1. Clothes: leaving the hospital change of clothes, but also, for the stay, you can wear something comfy during labor and, after, depends of the birth, you will want to have your clothes and not wear the hospital's. The stay will be around 2 days - up to 5 days there.

• Important to have:
• Pajamas that have nursing access, makes it so much easier.
• Nursing bras.
• Comfortable clothes.
• C-section essentials:
• pants and underwear that go high, above the hips, preferable up to the belly button. (grandma style, trust me, better than hipsters, it will be so much more comfortable)
• pads and shorts, these are provided, but this will be helpful for home, if they do not give you enough. Applicable for all births, but the more comfortable you can get, the better, speaking of the shorts. I bought a set, but it was hip-rise, not comfy with the c-section.

1. Toilettry bag: all shower, after-shower essentials. (Shampoo, shower gel, lotions, toothpaste, toothbrush, hairbrush, etc.)
2. Make-up: I read everywhere that this was important to have, I really just used the mascara, nothing else, and sometimes not even that.
3. Bathrobe: is sometimes easier to walk around, specially when you share the room, and after the shower, to keep you warm.
4. Towels: These are not provided by the hospital.
5. Sleepers: or house shoes, something comfortable, can be sandals, crocks, etc. but easy to wear with socks. Hospitals can be cold sometimes.
6. Blanket and pillow: I did not pack this, but if you feel like you need yours to sleep more comfy, they bring it with you. You will not get a lot of sleep these first nights, but it will be 'like at home'.
7. Phone, music, charger, etc.: I know a lot of moms want to have their music during labor, me, I could not care less about this, but if you need it, pack it! Phone and charger are very important for after the birth, to share the news with friends and family.
8. Body girdle: This is not something I packed, but when you have a c-section, is something very important to wear to help. The one I got is very good, but not for surgery. So get one of this cover up shorts that go all the way above the wound, so it keeps everything on its place. Here in Germany do not wrap you after the surgery, so you walk around without any kind of support, and this way it feels more safe, and it is easier to walk without the need to hold your belly all the time.
9. Nipple cream: I did not use this, but I have read that is recommended.
10. Nursing pads: These I did not use either, but you might need it.
11. Nursing cover: I believe you do not really need them, but it gives some privacy when you are breastfeeding. I did not use this until after, not in the hospital. Like I said, I packed too much!

Papa's bag:

This is the easy one.

1. Comfy clothes: to walk around the hospital, and even pajamas.
2. Toilettry bag: all shower, after-shower essentials. (Shampoo, shower gel, lotions, toothpaste, toothbrush, hairbrush, etc.) he will end up staying with you most likely.
3. Towels: As mentioned before, they do not give you this in the hospital.
4. Sleepers: or house shoes, just to get comfy around.
5. Cellphone, charger, etc.: easier for dad to carry all this.

I hope I did not forget anything, if so, please comment below!

Here are the links to some of the stuff I bought to be ready for the hospital. (These links are affiliated to Amazon)

My birth story - Part 2

My Birth Story

Part 2

After we spent the weekend at the hospital, without any signs of labor from my side and also no induction suggested by the hospital, we decided to go home and give baby a couple of days more.

However, that evening I started to have some contractions, they were not strong, but I could feel them just a little more than a regular period pain. They were actually pretty regular, every 25 min, then 20 min, until 8 min apart. The pain got a little more intense as they moved closer together, but it was nothing too painful. I had them the evening and whole night; it was a pain that started in my back, hips, and will move to the front to my belly and down. I had, of course, no idea what contractions felt like, but I explained the pain to my mom and aunt, and they said, well that sounds like contractions.

It went on the whole night, I could sleep for some time, about 2 or 3 hours I would say, but I was up pretty early, around 6 in the morning, the contractions were not regular anymore, but still we decided to go to the hospital for a new check. We arrived and like magic, the contractions were gone. I had some, but very irregular, so they sent me home again. Gave me another appointment for Wednesday for a new ultrasound, which was no different than the one before, amniotic fluid ok, baby's position ok, weight ok, all looked ok. So, I was asked to return until my due date, which was the upcoming Sunday.

Finally, after all the goes and comes from the hospital, I talked to my husband and decided on the induction, I could not feel any progress with the baby and was concerned anyway with the weight, I mean my belly was huge, so even if the ultrasounds did not show concern, I still thought it was better to just go ahead with it. In any case, I should have trusted my doctor since the beginning.

So, I was finally scheduled for Monday at 8am, to be at the hospital to start the whole process. We arrived with all of our stuff and went directly to the delivery room or area. This time we were properly checked-in at the hospital and so on. I had first a CTG which show no signs of contractions or labor. (the week before I had lost part of the mucous plug, not sure if that is the name)

I was induced with pills, pitocin, first a 25mg dose in the morning, then CTG, then walk; at around noon, a 50mg dose, CTG, walk around, and at 5 or 6pm a 100mg dose, same as the 2 times before, CTG, walk around, come later. Until the evening, I would not feel any contractions, no pain, no nothing. After the third dose we just went for a longer walk, up and down the hospital stairs, then we took a small nap. My next dose was going to be at around 9pm, so before that we did another round around the hospital, mainly the stairs.

At around 8pm we went back to our [family room], I was now lying in bed when I felt like a 'pop' I got up quickly and water started to come out, so, my water broke. I waited a little until most of the liquid was out and I was no longer leaking, went to the bathroom and got ready to go to the delivery room, where the midwives were and the action was going to take place.

I arrived there, told them my water broke and we were there to continue with the process. They of course did the test and confirm it was my water. They run another CTG, contractions started to kick in, that was around 9pm, we were there for an hour or so, and then got sent back to the room, since I was only about 1-2 cms dialated. At around 11pm the contractions kicked in for real! I went from no pain to full pain. I have heard that when you are induced is more painful than when birth starts naturally, and I do not know how it is when it happens naturally, but being induced is the worst pain I have ever felt in my entire life, it was just constant torture.

I could not lay down, the pain would just increase, I got a ball to sit on and stretch my back, hips and try to ease the pain. I tried the breathing exercises that I had learned in the preparation course and also in my years that I had practice yoga, which I thought I was really good at; well, I WAS GOOD AT IT, but it just would not help in any way with the pain.

I had read in many articles, blogs, etc. that the pain from contractions come, last up to 1.30min and then go, but I could never tell when it started and when it ended, the pain was always there, constant at 100%. So, you can imagine what happened next? I went back to the delivery room and ask for pain medication, I wanted the epidural right away, it was midnight. I go in, they check for my dilation, nothing 2 cms, and all I could think was, 'this is just the beginning and I am already dying, there is no way I can do this!!!' I do not want to scare anyone, but as I said, I felt tortured, I felt like I was gonna die. So, what they offered was a opium based pain medication, I was in so much pain that I said yes, with it I was able to lay down for about an hour until the effect was gone, the contractions and pain were not gone in between, I could feel them still, but somewhat dose off.

Moving forward, my husband, who was there for me all the time, first getting all what I asked for and walking me back and forth from the delivery area, at around 2, 2:30am went I got one of the nurses to drive me to the delivery room, I just could not move by that time, could not think, could not do anything. I was taken in a wheelchair. By that time, I was already at 5cms dilated, they called right away the anethetist to give me the epidural. I am not sure how they saw me at that moment, because, here in Germany, for what I heard and read everywhere, they do not give it to you that easy, they kind of let you go through the birth, if possible, without it. In my case, at 4 in the morning, I was getting prepped, they sent my husband out of the room to do that, so he had a chance to finally sleep, like 30min tops, I believe, that night. He was always there, awake, just waiting for me to ask for something or just scream.

I got the epidural and finally at 5 in the morning, I stopped feeling pain and could sleep, or pass out, not sure. I would feel from time to time pain on one side of my body, but nothing compared to before.
At 6 the did another round, by then I believe I was at 8 cms already and by 8 in the morning I was complete, or that is what the midwife told me, it was time to start pushing. I tried a little, but nothing, he was not coming down. At that moment, the doctor came in and did the check, she then said, you are not fully dilated, there is a little something still there. The pushing was stopped, and they asked to increase my contractions, which I could not feel now. They will monitor me again in 30 min and then see if now everything was ok, which it was not. With all this, the CTG was running ok in parallel, they baby was still ok, all good. But, the doctor decided to do a test on him to confirm everything was good with his oxygenation, blood, etc. The test came back perfect, so they waited another half hour, increased again the contractions and monitor it.

Now, it was 10 am, again a test run on the baby and a completion check on me, baby great, me stalled. So, the doctor finally said, your dilation is not progressing, so we suggest after all the time that has passed, that we should do an emergency c-section. Your baby is doing good at the moment, you also are doing good, so it is better to go this way, now that we have the time and there is no rush.

Of course, I was disappointed with this, I had planned for an entirely birth experience, medication free, which I could not do, natural birth, which now was not gonna happen either. But, in the end, the most important thing for me, was that my baby was still doing good. The preparation for the c-section started, I had the epidural, which was perfect for the surgery and my husband could still be there with me.

One thing I forgot to mention earlier, it appears that I had some reaction to the first pain medication that they gave, because I had a fever, not high 38 C, but still, it is important information for later.

I was taken into the operation room, super cold room by the way, and they started to prepare me, I was so disconnected at this point, that I could barely understand any german, anything that they were asking me. Normally, I could have a decent conversation, at this point, I just could not think again. Anyway, I was super cold the whole time in the OR, at some point I think I had a cold shock or something, it was horrible. They gave me extra blanket and like a warm pillow or something to help, I was still shaking.

At 11:49 am my son was born, I still remember when they pull him out, I could feel how the pressure was taken out of me, to after just feel like some sort of compressions, and then I could only hear the doctor say, 'he is a huge baby!', but I could not hear him cry or make any sound. I told my husband, 'he is not crying, he does not cry!' They took the baby to the little room out of the OR to check on him and then my husband was taken as well. I do not know how long time it was, until they came back and I finally could see him. They just handed him over to me for like a second, I barely gave him a kiss, all swollen and crying now, and then they took him, my husband went with him.










I was still there, getting closed and freezing to dead. I was at some point begging for a blanket, or something to cover me, anything, it was horrible. I heard people say, yes it is cold in the OR, it is normal. I have had surgery before, never had this reaction to the cold, I guess it was just not my day.

Once they finished closing me up, I was moved to the recovery area and there they packed me with a special warm blanket. I was supposed to be there for an hour, I think it was about 2 and a half. I finally slept now, or passed out again, not sure.

Finally, I was moved to my room, I was hoping to see there my husband with the baby; I arrived, no one was there. Some minutes later my husband came in without a baby, the baby had to stay at the NICU.

Then, the news came in, my husband right away said, 'do not get scared or worried, but I need to explain to you what is going on...', then he explained to me that the baby needs to stay in the NICU, that he had to be reanimated at birth, they do not understand why, but it happened. Those compressions you felt, he said, were to reanimate him, they did right when they took him out. He is doing good right now, they are running tests, but most likely we will be transferred to another hospital, the one with the neonatology specialization.

Later that day, the pediatrician came in and explained everything again, she said she would prefer to transfer him and be on the safe side. That they were running a culture for infections and other tests; and, that in the other hospital I was going to be able to be with him. Which by the way, it was around 6pm and I had just seen my baby for like 5 seconds, and did not even had a chance to hold him...




Anyway, long story short, we were transferred (the worst ambulance ride ever, after c-section and no pain medication, very painful); and, I could finally see him at around 8 or 9pm and hold him for the first time! So much to bonding right after birth. Anyway, I was so happy and so sad at the same time, but most important, I was there with him, finally, and he (not counting the IV and cables on him) seemed perfect.

After I was released

I ended up staying at the hospital for recovery until Saturday, he was born on a Tuesday; and him until the Monday after, but they had confirm to us already Thursday he was good and Saturday he had no longer the IV, so that was a relief. Still, my heart broke when I left the hospital and left him there.


We until today are not sure what happened with our baby, but his pediatrician says that he, according to his birth values, is perfect, we should not worry anymore.

Our experience was completely different to what we expected and for what we prepared ourselves, but in the end, we are just happy we have our baby with us and he is healthy. The rest is now history.



Sorry for the so long post, there was more information than I thought; and, thanks for stopping by and reading until the end!

My birth story - Part 1

MY BIRTH STORY
PART 1

So much is the expectation before a baby is born; I believe, it does not matter if you have had a child already, it has to be a big deal every time!

For us, at least, that was the case. We were so ready to meet our kid, although at the same time, we were in no rush.

As you read before, my pregnancy was smooth, I had nothing out of the regular issues when pregnant. Also, I felt very happy the whole pregnancy, ups and downs here and there, but for me, this was the greatest time of my life.

With all this history, we were hoping that the birth itself was going to be just as good. We felt prepared, at least we had done all the preparation courses 'Geburtsvorbereitungskurs', we had chosen the hospital that we both liked. We had things settled at home; and, I was looking up for myself the, good and not so good, birth stories.  So, we felt prepared. Was I nervous or scared? Of course, scared to death! But, at the same time, I was calm, and could not wait for the day the baby decided to be born.

For the birth, I had planned what kind I wanted to have, all natural and medication free. I even told this to the anesthetist during my appointment for the explanation of the epidural.

Moving forward, I had my last appointment for the year with my regular Obgyn mid December, the only thing always with my baby was that he always measured too big, about a 4kg baby to term.

So, my doctor was always monitoring that, however, two weeks later I had another appointment at another praxis, because of the vacation period, and there my baby was measuring normal weight; and with this information we went into the New Years celebration.

The year ended and I had no signs of labor coming. My estimated delivery date was set for Jan 13th, so we still had time to enjoy and to not worry. On Jan 4th, I had my next appointment, now back to my regular doctor. She again estimated the baby already at 3.9 kgs in my 38 week; with this values she decided to send me to the hospital to be induced.

She told me to prepare all my stuff, call the hospital, let them know and go the next day. She said, sometimes with the knowing of the induction, the body somewhat just goes into labor (not my case thou).

However, after her revision, it was time for the midwife to check on the baby, she run a CTG and she was concerned with the results, so I ended up being sent that same day to the hospital.

So, we did as indicated. We went home, prepared the bags, more or less packed. My husband had something to eat, I couldn't, I was stressed after the midwife's revision. I was so used to everything going well, that now hearing something could be wrong, got to me.

We arrived at the hospital, our midwife had already called in advance, to let them know we were on our way, so they were somewhat expecting us. 

Before going to the hospital, I was asked to drink about 2L of water, so the baby's activity will be shown better during the CTG.

We were sent directly into one of the delivery rooms and they run a CTG for about an hour, then send me to walk, then another CTG, about 2 hours later. Both came back good, no issues with the baby, actually perfect. That same night, I had an ultrasound done by the Obgyn on call at the hospital, they did their own calculation of the baby's weight, and for them it was only at 3.6 kgs (of course a +|- 500grs error), so they did not want to induce the labor at that point, even with the briefing from my doctor.

They told me to wait to term, everything seemed fine with the baby and me, but in any case, they suggest I stayed over the weekend for observation and monitoring. So, I spent my weekend at the hospital, Sunday noon, I was sent home, without any signs of labor and with the recommendation of no induction from the doctors at the hospital.

We still had our doubts of whether or not go ahead with the induction. Honestly, I was scared and stressed. I had planned that my baby will come naturally whenever he was ready for it, now forcing him to come out was something difficult for me to decide, I still had my hopes on everything happening by itself.

So we went home...