Birth Story

Well..he's here!!!  After a very long, difficult pregnancy, our Mr. Malcolm is here.  He also didn't want to wait, just like big brother. Only there was a very big sense of urgency this time.  When I went into labor (at 37 weeks) with Mase, it was pretty slow going.  It was pretty casual going into the OR for the c section. With Malcolm, it was freaking intense!!!!  I'll just start at the beginning.

So we had put Mason down for bed and I decided to go lay down as I was feeling a bit crampy/contracty.  I didn't feel like then contractions were too crazy. I had nights before when I felt more contractions than I had that night.  But I noticed that I was having a few that were aa bit more intense so I casually thought, hey, I'll just track for a bit to see how frequently I'm having them.  I rolled to my side, opened my contraction tracker on my phone and tracked one contraction and then felt a little "gush." But I knew right away what it was. Think of when you are having a heavy period and you stand up and feel a gush.  But I knew when I stood up, there was going to be more.  I just didn't know it would be THAT much more!  Holy!!!  I stood up and bam!!!  It was like niagra falls!!!  It felt so gross!  There was all this warm liquid that just kept coming!!!!!  Any time I thought it was done, I'd move a bit and a bunch more would come out!

Anyway, so I waddled to the bathroom, telling G on the way that my water broke. He jumped to action and called his parents to come grab Mase while I changed into something dry. When G's parents showed up, we took off to the hospital. About halfway there, I knew how fast labor was progressing!  My contractions started to get pretty intense.  By the time we got checked into the hospital, I couldn't talk through my contractions and was having them about every 2 minutes. They started to get more and more intense and closer together. Soon, they were back to back. I was experiencing transition labor. Malcolm was coming and they FINALLY rolled me into the OR and I cannot tell you now hard it was to sit still while contracting back to back as they were trying to do my spinal. I told the OB that I felt so much pressure and was going to need to push soon!!! But they FINALLY got the spinal in and I felt instant relief! I was soooo sweaty at this point from the intense, quick labor that my skin was drenched and so was my hair? They had ton add a shit ton of medical tape just ton get my iv to stick.

They let G back in and he told me I was an entirely different person than when they rolled me in there. Once the c section started, the OB informed me that I was all the way dilated and that Malcolm may have very well been a vaginal delivery had we waited just a little longer.   They pulled Malcolm out and we heard his beautiful cry. I cannot explain how amazing that sound is.  There is no experience to even compare it to.  It is just one of the most beautiful moments I've ever experienced...with both kids!

After Malcolm's birth, the OB asked if I was sure about getting my tubes tied and after what I had just experienced, shit yeah, I was sure. Double knot those suckers!!!

I did get to see Malcolm in recovery, so that was a nice change from Masons birth experience!  They rolled me back into our room after 30 minutes in recovery where I was insanely shaky.  It eventually wore off but it was really annoying.

So that's that. It was quite the whirlwind. A little after Malcolm was born, we noticed he was making these gasping/gurgly type sounds.  We mentioned it to the nurse and she found a cleft in his soft palate.  Basically, it is part of the roof of his mouth that didn't form so it's just a big hole in the back of his throat! This has created lots of struggles with eating.

It bothers me a bit because it seems like people try to downplay this issue a lot.  I'm aware that it is not the worst thing ever but I cannot tell you how hard it was to be sent home from the hospital with hardly any information on cleft palate.  They push breastfeeding so damn hard that we weren't given information about how cleft palate can make breastfeeding very very difficult. In fact, we were told the opposite...that it could help with cleft palate.  Well, guess what. It didn't and our baby lost over a pound and we were at home with no resources other than the internet and that can be a terrifying amount of information to try and sort through.  Plus, who knows if it's a credible source or not!

So we suffered through a few nights of trying to figure out how to help our boy eat. He was a screaming mess. He couldn't get a good enough seal on the bottle or breast to actually suck anything out. He was peeing orange, meaning he was dehydrated, and he was losing weight fast.

Luckily, someone from the special needs clinic called us to check on us and thank the sweet lord she did!!!  She had us come in to get a specialty bottle that was designed specifically for babies with cleft palate.  Since that day, our little guy has been so content and is slowly gaining weignt.

Now why the hell weren't we informed about this bottle before we left the hospital?!? It would have saved a lot of pain and suffering.  But nooooo! If they suggest a bottle, that means I won't be breastfeeding. Ugh. Guess what. I don't care about breastfeeding. I just want my baby to be able to eat.  Anyway, so now I'm pumping and using the bottle to feed him and life is better for everyone!!

Ok. Well that's all I'm going to do for now. I keep trying to fall asleep so I'm going to let myself doze off for a bit with my baby!