Why the C-section and More Pictures!

Jalen turned 1 week old yesterday and is doing very well. He sleeps all the time and waking him up to feed him is becoming very difficult in the middle of the night and takes me sometimes 45 minutes to an hour to do so but it is so precious to just watch him sleep too, he makes the cutest little expressions.

Everyone has been asking me why I had the c-section so I figured I would explain on here. First of all, it was not an emergency and was my choice. I have always had problems with my hip joints and towards the end of my pregnancy started having pains and catches in my pubic symphysis joint. When I read up on these catches and issues during late pregnancy I found out that some women dislocate their joints during a vaginal delivery and end up having months of recovery and often cannot walk or need to use a walker for a while. I always knew there might be a chance that I would need a c-section but thought I would see how things progressed and make my decision based on that and what my doctors and nurses thought. I was induced via prostaglandin gel and started having contractions that lasted 4-5 minutes long and were so intense I would rate them a 9 or 10 on a 0-10 pain scale (and I have a pretty high pain tolerance), also all of my pain was back pain too so it was extremely uncomfortable to say the least. The nurse was concerned because Jalen's heart rate was increasing due to the contractions being right on top of one another and when she was checking me she thought the birth canal might be too narrow for him to come through and I might end up needing an emergency c-section. Based on this and the major fact of my hips being the way they are, I told my nurse that I wanted to go forward with the c-section, 7 hours after being admitted to the hospital and within 15 minutes I was prepped for surgery and in only minutes later, Jalen was here!

I am doing well recovering but was told I cannot drive until I get clearance next week from my doctor at my 2-week check up. I also cannot reach overhead, push a vacuum, lift over Jalen's weight or pretty much do anything but sit, which is about all I have time to do right now anyways since I am nursing or pumping all day. Jalen's next appointment is on Monday with mine so I am excited to see how much he weighs and feel confirmed that he is getting enough from breastfeeding. It's easy to know he is when it is pumped and measured but sometimes it is hard to tell how much he is getting on his own so I have just been going of him acting satisfied and time feeding.