Bump to Baby – A Transition To Parenthood
Jan 2021
We are happy to share that we have a new member in the family! Being first time parents has certainly been a unique experience. There are numerous things that we knew would happen during this transition to parenthood, but there were also a ton of things during pregnancy, L+D & postpartum that came as a surprise! We’d like to share our experience of having a baby during the pandemic – what to expect, what not to expect, what products you need and a few lessons we learned along the way.
Pregnancy
We chose to keep the gender a surprise, and the wait was well worth it! It was fun having people guess and anticipate it for so long. Most people were confident that we were having a boy – due to the bump appearance, mom’s appearance and other old-wives tales, but we were blessed with a baby girl! It was a beautiful surprise. We would have been tremendously happy with either gender, but the whole guessing game goes to show that most old-wives tales are incorrect!
Being frontline workers during a pandemic, we have been very blessed to have a relatively healthy pregnancy. The only major issue that Apoorva suffered with was sinus tachycardia, which worsened with progression of pregnancy and self-resolved immediately after birth. Given that this is not a common pregnancy symptoms, specialized testing was involved and thankfully no intervention was needed. The symptoms were relieved with rest, hydration, and compression socks. More maternity items that were helpful during pregnancy are listed below.
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View this post on Instagram
During the pandemic, we were not able to physically attend any classes. Here are some online resources we found to be tremendously helpful.
- Prenatal 3-part course on youtube w/ midwife Holliday Tyson (FREE)
- Tinyhood breastfeeding classes (FREE)
- TakingCaraBabies newborn sleep course (PAID)
Hospital Bag
Honestly — we packed the hospital bag based off of online suggestions, and ONLY used PJs + taking home clothes for mom, dad, and baby. You can contact your hospital prior to your due date to see what they provide for you. The hospital provided us EVERYTHING during our stay. Definitely ask to borrow the hospital’s pump and start pumping ASAP to help with your milk supply. If you have never pumped before, the nurses will even teach you how to use it, so you don’t have to spend time and energy learning on your own when you go home.
L+D
Our L+D was fortunately uncomplicated and pretty smooth – the easiest part of this entire experience! BUT there were some things that caught us by surprise, that no class or word-of-mouth prepared us beforehand.
- Bedrest – when your water breaks, forget walking around, using the bathroom, jumping on your birthing ball. You cannot get out of the hospital bed because of the risk of umbilical cord falling out and increase in risk of infection.
- IV – administration of the IV on your forehand is more painful than the epidural/contractions. It gets very sore, and can give pain when holding baby!
- Liquid diet – you don’t just munch on ice chips the whole labor – you can have any liquids! This includes juice, soda, seltzer, apple sauce, jello. The photo below shows Apoorva very happy to have the buffet offered!
- Epidural – ask for it at least 45 mins before you think you want it to work. There is preparation involved and that takes time. Also, the administration itself does not hurt, but the soreness from incision site lingered for 6 weeks, which was more painful!
- Edema – leg edema post delivery is pretty intense because of the fluids that are given through IV, and it makes it painful to get in and out of the car and your bed at home. It resolves within a week or two. ALSO, no one tells you this- but your corneas also get swollen so expect blurred vision in all distances for a few days.
Nursing
Everyone always talks about labor and delivery, but no one talks enough about how difficult/stressful nursing and feeding your newborn is! Nurses are trained to help you while in the hospital, and you should have access to a lactation consultant. There is a LOT of information to be learned so we suggest you go through a breastfeeding class PRIOR to delivery. The best classes out there are through Tinyhood (they were free when we had access! – see link above).
Our baby was feeding on breastmilk exclusively through bottle due to problems latching, however she learned to nurse successfully when she turned 2 months old. We were supplementing with formula (Similac) only her first week until we had adequate supply. We are currently using the Elvie pump (HIGHLY recommend due to its hands-free convenience) and the following products below.
Hope this helps you smoothly transition into parenthood! Check back soon for Newborn Must-Haves post in the near future!
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