Hadley's Birth Story - Part 3

First of all, Hadley was a little jaundiced. We would just put her in the window and let her sunbathe. She was all fine in a few short days. She was also that super sleepy baby that we'd always heard about...just slept and slept. That is a side effect of jaundiced babies, but she continued this pattern even after she was all better (still loves to sleep). Yes, we'd have to wake her up to nurse. It was great. (picture: all the pictures throughout are just of Hadley and Grady, age 13 months at the time, and our family in the days following Hadley's arrival)

Recovery after Hadley's birth was much better. I did tear during Hadley's birth, but nothing super major (nothing comparable to before, that's for sure)...it was a good thing, to be able to "start over" with great stitching up. Funny thing...I never had pain medication at all with Hadley's birth...or recovery. When the midwife stitched me up, she didn't use injectable local anesthetic...just a spray-on anesthetic. That doesn't do much, my friends. It hurt. And I healed just fine...fairly slowly actually...but completely and normally. But, I never even took one Ibuprofen. Seriously, and you may think I am totally whacked out, but it just never crossed my mind. I guess I had gotten through labor and delivery without it...never thought about taking it after that. Whatever. Funny to think about now. I probably would've had a much more comfortable recovery if I had taken something, but whatever...it was fine. I recovered. And, I know that if I'm stranded somewhere without meds. and give birth again, I'll be able to do it and recover just fine without it. ;-) You always have to look for the things learned in every crazy situation, right?

As far as the breastfeeding with Hadley, I had her early on a Sunday morning and Monday night by milk came in. I had supplemented a little before my milk came in (I now wouldn't do that...more on that later though). But, I still didn't seem to have enough for Hadley, even after the milk came in. So, I went ahead and went to the lactation consultant (the same one I'd started seeing when Grady was 6 weeks old). It was the same old deal...nurse, supplement, pump.

After that was producing about the same results as it did with Grady, Lori (the lactation consultant) actually suggested something else...medication. I started taking a drug called Domperidone (Motilium). It is an intestinal/digestion medication that has a side effect of increased milk supply. Weird...but it worked. And I was so very thankful. It was a bit hard to get...it's not approved in the U.S. for that purpose, so really it's not supposed to be readily available for that purpose. There was one midwife that was willing to prescribe it for a limited amount of time. Sometimes you can take it for a while, have it boost your supply, and then wean off of it. I was never able to wean off.

So, basically I had to buy it black market. :-) I bought it off the internet from some company in Europe. But, I had taken it before and knew that I had no ill effects from it, so I was fine with that...and just happy to have something that allowed me to nurse my baby.

With the medicine I was able to nurse exclusively (no formula). When Hadley was about 6 months old, we started offering her a bottle (formula) when she went down for the night, but most the time she didn't want it. So, we were thrilled to be able to do without formula and bottles with baby #2. Such an answered prayer, even if it was in the form of a medication. And, when she was about 8 months old (and still not eating solids...this kid was not interested in real food until she was about 8 1/2, almost 9 months old), I actually was able to wean off the medication and stop taking it altogether.

So, yes...recovery a MUCH better process with Hadley. And, what a fun little girl we have! Yay, God!!