Things I Learned After Giving Birth

Hey guys,

When you become pregnant ,you (at least I did) start googling things about being pregnant and actually going through the birthing process and after. If you have done that or currently doing that, it's okay. It's good to do your own research but if you're really worried about something, the best person to ask is your OBYGN. I'm just gonna tell you what I have learned after giving birth to the current. I only gave birth to one baby vaginally, so what I learned might be totally different to a woman who had a C-Section or a woman who had multiples.

1. Every woman and pregnancy is different.  There are different types of births: vaginally, C-Section, home birth, water birth, unassisted, unmedicated. etc.  But I want you all to know that no matter how you deliver your baby, you are strong and you did it. I know the pain hurts, but in the end it's all worth it seeing your cute baby!

2. The epidural wasn't as bad as I thought it would have been. I'm the type of person who hates getting poked by a needle/getting their blood drawn. That's something that I have improved with after my pregnancy because you are going to get your blood drawn more than just a few times, and then when you deliver most likely you'll get an IV in your arm. 

The worst part of getting the epidural is that I had a contraction right when he was putting it in my spine but I had an amazing nurse who helped me breathe through the pain. And also after giving birth, the tape that they used for the epidural has to come off one way or another. I think them taking the tape off my back was worse than getting the actual epidural (probably because I wasn't paying attention to it as I was breathing through the contraction). One thing that I highly recommend, and this is what I didn't do because I would be more freaked out about the epidural is do not look at the needle.

3. I tore during delivering my son, and I read that if you get the epidural and tear during delivering then the epidural will help numb that area a little bit so you won't feel them stitching you up. Well, I have to say that I felt them stitching me up even though I did get the epidural. I remember laying there holding my son on my chest and crying, for (1) I was really happy and blessed that my son was here and (2) because the stitching hurt. Everyone was asking me what I was wrong because I was pretty much sobbing. I was just really happy and I told them that plus I was saying "Ow" when she was stitching me up.

4.If you're like me, you might pass out after delivery. They have you try to go to the restroom after having your baby and I remember pulling the "help" string and the next thing I knew I was waking up in a wheelchair surrounded by like 10 nurses. I'm glad I was smart and pulled it alerting them and not them finding me on the floor. I was told that it was most likely due to losing more blood than my body was used to as this was my first pregnancy. If I'm ever blessed to be pregnant again, I'm definitely going to mention this to my obygn so that they are aware of what happened when I delivered my son.

5. I learned that there was an ultrasound machine that can tell if your bladder is full or not. I kept saying that I didn't feel the need to go but apparently the ultrasound machine was telling the nurse that it was full. True fact- I almost had to get a catheter and I'm really glad I didn't have to get one after delivering my son.

6. Everyone talks about the postpartum underwear and how they aren't really a fan. I honesty liked them that I asked for extras to take home. 

7. I read that after you give birth you still get contractions especially if you breastfeed. I thought there was something wrong with me because I didn't get any "contractions" after giving birth but I was told that some women get them and some don't.

8. I didn't realize that there are so many people coming in your room throughout the day. You get your nurses, doctor, social worker, Birth certificate worker, breastfeeding consultant, photographer, the anesthesiologist, your baby's pediatrician (or at least the hospital's),and probably more that I can't name off.

9. The doctor who delivered my son gave me some prescriptions. But I didn't go get them because I never needed them. The only pain I had was if I walked too much or if I was on my feet to much during the day and then I would be sore down there, but I just took Tylenol and it seemed to help.

10. The hospital food was actually pretty good!

<3 Amanda 

Q and A About My Pregnancy, Labor/Delivery, Postpartum and Life Now

Hey guys,

As you might have known from my previous posts, I became a mom in July. I did what all of the first time moms do and that's google everything pretty much. I also asked friends if this or that was a normal thing during pregnancy. They were a big help. When you google things you tend to get a little flustered/confused because there are so many opinions out there from professionals and just normal people like myself.  For this post, I asked through Facebook what could some questions be that I could answer from my perspective and what I recently just went through almost 8 months ago. I hope these questions and my answers help you prepare and relax easier during your pregnancy. 

Q:What were things you didn't know or expect through your pregnancy/labor/motherhood journey?  
A:  Since I have never been pregnant before, there were a lot that I didn't know/expected, so I did a lot of googling, asking friends who are moms and especially sending messages to my doctor as well. One thing that come to mind that I didn't expect during pregnancy is nose bleeds. I didn't have any crazy nose bleeds. I would feel like I would have to blow my nose and then see that my nose was bleeding. 

Labor was similar to being pregnant, I didn't know what to expect. I thought my son was going to come early but then he decided to be late and we had to kick him out (be induced). I was prepared in case he decided to come during the night and had our(mine and my son's) bags by the door way before I even had him.  

The main thing about motherhood that I didn't expect is the time goes by really really fast. I can't believe he'll already be 8 months in a few weeks. When you meet your little one for the first time, your heart literally explodes because you look down and you're like "I made this".

Q: What to expect those first two days after delivery? 
A: This answer varies from mom to mom. For me, I think I got lucky. I didn't have no cramps (that felt like contractions) afterwards that some moms get. The thing that I remember is if I walked too much or was on my feet too much during the day, I would be sore but I would just take Tylenol and then it was better. I also might be different in this case as well but I didn't mind the postpartum underwear.

Q: "How will my body change after pregnancy?"
A: Every woman and labor/delivery is different. For me, I was 125lbs pre-pregnancy and I went right back down to 125lbs after having my son because I was all baby (a lot of people told me that during my pregnancy).

Q:How or did you set boundaries with people wanting to help and/or visit once you were home?
A: I didn't have that many visitors at first when we came home from the hospital. When I did, they would message me to see what time/day worked for us because they knew that I was my son's primary caregiver and myself just had a baby so I was taking care of a newborn and myself. 

Q:How or did you set boundaries with visitors while in the hospital?
A:For me since I went through the majority of my labor alone until at the end, it was nice to have visitors plus I wanted to introduce my son to my family and friends who came up to visit. I would say if you want to know ahead of time who will be coming to visit is to have them text you to see if that time works for you because there will be nurses coming in/out of your room checking on you and your baby. Also, if you're not comfortable in breastfeeding (if you're planning on that) in front of others at first, ask them to go in the waiting room until you're done feeding your baby.

Q:Must haves that aren’t the most common thing
A: Wow, so mom brain is coming out tonight. The only thing that I can think of are snuggle-buddies. My son loves his.

I hope this post helps you out at least a little bit. If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments and I'll answer them :)

<3 Amanda 

Pregnancy Update

Hey guys,

So long no blog post?!  I thought I would pop on here to update you all on how my pregnancy is going this far. Yesterday (Sunday) I just turned 23 weeks, which seems crazy to think about since I was only about 5 weeks when I got my first positive hpt.  I've been to the doctor three times so far and everything looks great. I'm told I'm young and healthy, so that was good to hear. I've been to 2 ultrasounds. The first one at 9 weeks, 4 days and then at 21 weeks to find out the gender which will be in a future post. My pregnancy has been going good so far besides the fact that in the first trimester, I pretty much had all day sickness instead of the typical "morning sickness". I'm glad I'm out of the first trimester. About two weeks ago I want to say is when I first started feeling flutters in my uterus and this past week, I've started feeling the baby's kicks with my hand and was able to capture some movement on my phone.

The next pregnancy update will be where I announce if I'm having a daughter or a son, so keep an eye out for that. Let me know in the comments, what's your guess is :)

<3 Amanda

I am....... (Exciting Announcement)

Hey guys,

I know that I haven't posted in awhile and I do apologize for that, but I do have an exciting announcement to share with you. The announcement is......

It was a complete surprise to me because I will be completely honest with you all, I took Plan B 3 hours after so I wasn't expecting the positive Hpts. I just thought that the Plan B was just delaying my period. Although I took Plan B, I'm not regretting anything. Since Plan B wasn't effective for me for one reason or another, I feel like he or she is supposed to be here and I'm supposed to be their mom. I have already had my first ultrasound like you see in the announcement and I have an appointment coming up so I'm going to try doing pregnancy updates to keep you all updated on how things are going.  Today, I'm 12 weeks and 1 day, and my due date is July 7th, 2019 (2 sevens, which is my favorite number). 

I know that this journey will be tough at times, but it will be more than 100% worth it. Every baby is a blessing!!

<3 Amanda