Rochelle and Skyler

It seems everyone was pregnant with boys due in January 2011.  I was fortunate enough to have formed close relationships with two extraordinary women due with boys in January.  We shared "pregger" stories, reviews on strollers and car seats and attended each others’ baby showers.

Everyone at my shower always ask how my “new mama” crew is doing.  So I will share their stories with you.  First up is Rochelle and her son Syler Jordan Danners was due 1-11-11 but he came on his own time!

Q. Describe your trip to the hospital.

A. It started off when I had a routine doctor’s appointment on the morning of December 23. For a couple of months prior to this date, I had been having contractions with no pain for three months. My doctor put me on a monitor to check my son’s heartbeat and my blood pressure. So during my appointment my blood pressure was very high and not an hour into my doctor’s visit I was told, 'We're sending you to the hospital to have the baby tonight!"

Q. How was your labor?

A.I think I’m one out of a million that can say my labor was not so bad. I was in the hospital by 5 p.m. and induced labor started at 9 p.m.. My spine is shaped in an "S". So the epidural would only treat one side of my body. 

By 4 a.m. on December 24, I was ready to push Skyler out. My OBGYN arrived right when it was time to push. He was a difficult little one! He didn't want to come out, every time I would push he would scoot back up into my pelvic bone. Between my pushing and Skyler not wanting to come out, my doctor was falling asleep during my labor! I didn't even know until I was told after Skyler arrived. I thought she was down at the bottom trying to get my baby out. 

So, by the time 6:15 came, the doctor gave me ONE option; to have Skyler suctioned out. She told me all the risks but I would rather have my baby out and healthy than unable to breath because of my pushing and him not wanting to come out. My doctor tried suctioning him out twice and both times, he was unsuccessful. I then recieved an Episiotomy. Then, at 6:45 a.m Skyler Jordan Danners arrived. :)

Q. How many lbs and height was Skyler?
A. 6lbs 13oz 21inches

Q. When was Skyler born?
A. Early Christmas Eve morning at 6:56 a.m.


Q. Who was in the room during your labor?                        
Skyler’s father, my mother, my two sisters Jasmin and Lexy, my cousins LaBelle and Kierstin and my good friends Devin and Rob. But, by the time the pain started to settle in, the nurses asked for everyone to leave except my mother and my sons father.


Q. Describe your first 24 hours after labor.
A. My first 24 hours were the same as any other day, besides the fact that it was Christmas eve rolling into Christmas. The only difference was that I had a brand new baby boy, my first son who I cherish so dearly.


Q. Describe your first 24 hours at home with your little one.
A. My first 24 hours at home was very weird. I had a new responsibility. It’s different when you only have to take care of yourself, but now having someone who depended on me was a whole 180. At times I was nervous, scared and anxious. My son seemed as though he was still trying to learn how to breathe, so every moment I would check on him to make sure he was doing okay. 

(mommy, Skyler and dad)

Five new mommy tips.

My son, Hunter will be five months on June 22^nd so I am a very new mom.  I don’t have years of experience but I do have some tips to share that can help a new mommy with the most important role of her life.
1. Watch the documentary, "The Business of Being Born," by Ricki Lake. (http://www.thebusinessofbeingborn.com/) The trailer is available on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DgLf8hHMgo.

I already knew I was not the natural “type.” I had already decided (even before I was pregnant) to get an epidural.  However, I didn’t know about a drug called Pitocin and that I was going to be a candidate.  Pitocin is a medication that is used to start or improve uterine contractions.

I was approaching my due date when I went to my weekly doctor appointment to see if my cervix had dilated.  I had not dilated nor had the baby dropped.  The doctor suggested that I should be induced and to schedule a room with the hospital, just in case delivery beds were taken.  I felt my due date was wrong because it was not 40 weeks from the date of my last period, which differed from the ultrasound that the doctors went by.  However, I let the doctor make the appointment, just in case I needed it.

From watching the documentary I knew that being induced could lead to a cesarean section.  Pitocin is the only alternative if baby still has not arrived and your water has broken.  A cesarean section was not in my birth plan.  I also knew that Pitocin can cause harder more painful contractions (remember I am not for the pain i.e. “epidural please”) and can cause the baby to go into distress, thus a cesarean section.

I waited and waited for a painful contraction, for the mucus plug to come out, for my water to break and it never came.  I had to answer countless Facebook comments, “is he here yet?” 


I decided to go into the hospital on the scheduled date, which was three days after my due date.  I was disappointed that I would never be able to tell the funny story of where my water broke or the rush to the hospital while in labor.

Guess what? The Pitocin worked for me! It sure took awhile, about 24 hours to go from zero centimeters to fully dilated.  I do feel that the nurses were concerned that I wasn’t making enough progress and about 20 hours into it, I felt the dreaded “c’ word was coming. However, the nurses and my doctor gave me more time for my body to go into active labor and I got the command to start pushing around 8 a.m.  An hour and 22 minutes later, my precious Hunter entered the world.  No complications and no cesarean section. A healthy baby boy, weighing in at eight pounds and one ounce!

I felt the movie gave me some insight into the delivery process. However, I feel that it might go too hard on the organized medical community.  I remember watching, “One Born Every Minute,” a reality show filmed inside a maternity ward and they showed a clip of a natural couple berating a nurse for wanting to give her medical opinion to move the mom’s labor along.

I suggest you do your research and do what works best for you, while allowing you to stick to your birth plan.

2.  Take your pregnancy photos in your 7th month, before the   stretch marks, swollen face, wide nose and glow that now looks like a hot sweaty mess.

3.  Get a pedicure close to your delivery date.  They will be up in the air quite awhile.  I was too hot for socks.

4.  If you are breastfeeding, get as much direction from the lactation consultant as possible.

5.  You are paying a pretty penny for the hospital services.  Ask  for as many freebies as possible (diapers, granny panties, pads, etc.)

For more important tips, please read http://www.pregnancyihub.com/what-to-pack-for-the-hospital-when-having-a-baby/.

Special hugs to my delivery team, Dr. Helen McSwain from Peachtree Women’s Specialists and the nurses at Piedmont Hospital.


Please add your comments below, so new mommies will be prepared for their new adventure.