I had my baby girl!
 

Some of you already know but I had my baby super early! I'm not complaining, I was feeling so done with this pregnancy.

Anyway, Leonie (middle name Juliette) came into the world in the comfort of our home. Water broke Friday night at 20:24 (8:20PM) and she was born Saturday at 00:20 (12:20 AM). It was a dream birth since my first baby was a breech cesarean, my second was a VBAC at the hospital, and my third was finally what I had hoped and dreamed for my other two.

Only problem was she was only at 36 weeks and 6 days of gestation. So just under the 37 weeks cut off for preemie. Her lungs weren't fully developed and she had a bit of a hard time breathing. It was a choice to get her to the hospital just to be safe. And she and I have been there ever since. She has reached some milestones and is well on her way home but we need her to kick that jaundice asap and get more hungry so she can breastfeed fully. Thing is they keep giving her a full meal through her feeding tube after I try breastfeeding her so she's never hungry enough to wake up fully. They expect babies to wake up on the clock every 3 hours to eat but everybody is different and in my opinion she could just eat what she wants when she wants. I told the nurse and she agrees but higher up said not yet... frustrating!

My two girls at home are missing me and I get to see them but outside of the hospital because of measles outbreak in the area and only for 30 minutes at a time. My oldest (4) is sad, my middle one (2) is just mad at me and that makes it hard for my husband to deal with them. But he's been a great father and has been home to care for them ever since and I'm grateful that his job allows him the paternal leave (and paid on top of that!!!)

And I can stay at the hospital and be fed for free because they need my milk for baby.

Alright I have to go and see what's new in the forum before I have to see baby again.

Oh wow wow wow.....so happy for you! Such a pretty name and can't wait to see you scrapping pics once you get settled again at home. Your poor girls, missing you and wanting to be there with you. They will be overjoyed when you get home. Yay for hubs getting paid paternal leave. Hope you and little Leonie are soon home. Congrats momma!

Congrats Lea! Very happy for you and your sweet Leonie! Share pics when you can and keep taking wonderful care of yourself and your new joy!

Congrats to you and your family. I'm glad the labor and birth went well. Hopefully your little sweetie is released soon. Wishing you quick healing vibes (no one ever talks about the discomfort after having a baby). Can't wait to those new baby layouts!

Congratulations, Lea!!! I can't wait to see photos of your new precious girl. Praying that she will gain weight and be able to go home to her loving family soon. I also hope that you recuperate from the birth quickly.
Toddlers do have such a "great" way of showing their displeasure. I'm glad hubby is a good dad. I know they will all be happy to have you and Leonie home soon! :wub:

Unfortunately just like my other kiddos, I won't be sharing photos of my sweet Leonie. I will be blurring her face on all layouts but you can tell a little bit what she will look like through it.
She's got her eyes bruised and looks like she was boxing because I braced my pushing during birth. Poor baby.

Thanks Sheri but actually I'm doing pretty good. I didn't even tear which seems surreal to me since it hurt pretty bad but I took my time through the pain and hoped I would stretch enough. I'm so relieved. I barely needed an ice pack afterwards.

The uncomfortable part is the lumps and clogs in my breasts. I was always a great milk maker and I make more than she needs and trying to pump and relieve the pressure is just making my supply increase and the lumps aren't going away. Trying lecithin as a supplement today. It seemed to help my past breastfeeding years.

And the constipation but I'm on daily prune juice several times a day and I can be more comfortable.

And the night sweats... oh well. But that's all ok considering I'm not in pain down there.

I had forgotten that you do that on your LOs. I understand :) I'm just happy she's here and getting better!

So happy for you and congrats! I'm glad you got the birth you've always wanted and I love her name.

Yay! Congratulations! So happy for you!!! I'm thankful you finally got to have the birthing experience you dreamed of! :)

I can relate to the other girls being sad! My 3rd born cried after she saw me and the baby for the first time, because we couldn't come home with her! Once you are all home together, it will be better! The older girls can help in little ways so they feel included (bringing diapers/wipes), giving baby toys, entertaining her etc!

Praying you are both able to go home shortly! In the meantime, enjoy being pampered a little! (Although, I don't know how they expect you to sleep in a hospital, when they wake you up every 3 hours or so!) But at least you don't have to cook and clean!

awwwwwwwwwwwww!!! congrats! ♥

Congratulations Lea! Hooray for an end to your difficult pregnancy. I'm sorry Leonie is still in the hospital and your other kiddos are missing you. Hoping you can go home soon!
I had small babies and it was hard to wake them up enough to feed them. My husband took a wet washcloth to the bottom of their feet to make them good and mad so they'd breastfeed. Seemed cruel to me, but early, tiny babies are sleepy!! I always pumped just enough to go from pain to discomfort so that it didn't produce more milk. So difficult. Hugs!

Congrats! That's a beautiful name. I'm glad you finally had your dream birth and are doing well. I know it stinks that you're still in the hospital and your other 2 are having a hard time with that, but thankfully your newborn sounds like she's healthy and won't need to be in the hospital too much longer. Enjoy those tiny baby snuggles!

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

Congrats on your new addition! Wishing you all the best while you enjoy this special time.

Congratulations! I hope she gets better and you all get to be together soon!

Can't wait to see that sweet, blurred out face!

Congratulations! Hopefully the two of you get to home quickly!!

Wow! Congrats Lea!! I can't believe you beat us... I am 39 weeks, still VERY pregnant, and no signs of progressing!!

I am glad that Leonie is doing well. I hope you guys both have a speedy recovery and get to go home soon. Sending lots of love!

Wow Lea, congratulations! I hope everything will turn out well soon so you and Leonie could go home. I'm so looking forward to the vbac too, hopefully!

Congratulations Lea! I feel you on the feeding... that’s what they did for my first born. Granted, I wasn’t making enough for the big little guy but they fed him so much! I hope she gets big enough soon to breastfeed exclusively.

Congratulations Lea!

Congratulations again, Lea! I hope that you get to go home with your baby girl healthy soon!

Congratulations Lea and welcome to the world to your sweet Leonie (love her name:wub:).
Hope she'll get better fastly, I had the same problem with my twin, they were feeding by sonde before even trying to eat by themselves and they didn't manage to get enough hungry to take their milk by themselves after...:cursing:
I'm glad to know that you had the birth you finally wanted and hope you will be all together fastly at home.
Lot's of happiness!:)

Congratulations

Congrats on your new bundle of joy!!!!! Hoping you guys are home soon!

Great news! We might go home tomorrow!!
No more feeding tube for her! She can breastfeed on demand and her jaundice level is low enough. YAY!!

These are great tips! Thank you!

Nothing can wake or bother her enough. I've tried the wet cloth on her whole body. Tickling her toes, hands, armpits. Airing her diaper. Rubbing her jaw. One thing maybe is picking her up from under her armpits. But that's disturb the whole nipple shield because she grabs it or kicks it somehow and I leak everywhere. lol

I know! I'm sorry! Hang in there Mama!

Aww good luck Mama!

Yay!! Fingers crossed that you really are going home tomorrow, Lea!

Congratulations, Lea. I love her name :wub:

Thanks all! It means the world to me :)

Congrats on your little girl! I hope she recovers soon and you're able to take her home!!

awww, yay!!! Congratulations on the birth of your beautiful miracle! I'm so excited that you were able to birth her the way that you wanted!! Continuing our prayers for her and your family, that you can bring her home soon and be complete! :wub:

Oh Léa, congratulations. :wub:
What a beautiful name you gave her.
Thank you for sharing your story.

Congrats on a successful birth! Hoping you get to bring Leonie home very soon. :wub:

Congratulations, Lea! Hope you are all together now. Rest up and enjoy the family with your new bundle of joy.

I forgot to update!!

We are home!! We came home Sunday around noon and my parents arrived late last night! All is well in the world, minus my mood swings...

Congratulations! What an awesome feeling!! My first & second were the same...planned-home-birth-turned-breech-cesarean and hospital VBAC. If I had a third, I'd love to get 'what I wanted' the first time around...but I'm satisfied enough not to have a third ;) ;) Very happy for you!

Wonderful news!!!! Welcome home.

congratulations lea!! <3

That's awesome, Lea!!! :wub:

Ladies! I have so much milk! I leak everywhere and it's a hot sticky mess. Even when I'm not feeding her I have let downs.

I knew I wasn't supposed to pump every 3 hours like the NICU nurses and lactation consultant told me to. But I wasn't thinking clearly and I filled their freezer with milk. They didn't update me on how I was doing until the very end of the week and by then the milk supply was already established and now my boobs are so ginormous and heavy and painful! aargh! I wish I could undo that part and start all over again. I had the same problem with my first. For my second, I knew better and didn't pump so much.

Now I'm struggling not pumping and trying to decrease the supply.
Because my boobs are so full, baby can't get to the hind milk that could get her feeling full and sleep longer and have less painful bowel movement. She also has a tongue tie and we are getting it clipped tomorrow and it will help her latch better and not pinch my nipples so hard.
Sorry for venting! We are just never told how hard it's going to be.

Any tips on how to decrease my milk supply fast??

félicitations Léa!! bienvenue à la petite puce :)

I know this is days late, but a tip for baby to get to the hind milk is to do the “milk shake.” Literally give the breast you are going to nurse on a solid jiggle for at least 30sec before nursing. It helps to loosen the fatty globules inside the milk ducts so they release sooner during the feed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Congratulations, Lea!! I haven't been online a lot recently and missed seeing your birth news. So glad to hear that you and baby Leonie are both home now, and good luck with breastfeeding. Definitely understand that oversupply issue, I had the same after my twins were born early and I needed to have a hospital milk stash for them.

Considering it's a couple of days after your most recent post, hopefully your supply is regulating itself a little more (so tough in the beginning when there's more foremilk than hindmilk to feed a small tummy; I used to express a little first, then offer the breast). Good luck! xx

wow I never knew this!! Thanks!

I have been trying to do that too and it's starting to regulate itself. I still have one ginormous boob and a normal size one. I always had the left one making more.
Haha just talking about it I have a let down! so annoying!

Congrats Lea! Glad to hear that you and Leonie are home and doing well!

I also had a ton of milk when nursing.. but there really isn't an "easy" way to decrease your milk supply. That'll happen naturally over the next week or two as it all gets established. I'm sure you experienced that with your other two, but it's easy to forget when you're exhausted with a newborn. lol

You mention taking lecithin as a supplement... it's also wonderful applied topically to your tender nipples.

Congratulations Lea on having your baby girl! Glad to hear you're both home and doing well, minus your full boobs and leaking everywhere! Hope some of the advice from the ladies here help!

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

How?? Just open the capsules?
I rub my breastmilk over my nipples and air dry. Seems to help.

This morning I woke up and my boobs weren’t as full as they used to! Yay!! Getting there!

Congratulations!