4 days of recovery

Hi!

I wanted to update my recovery here a little.  Yesterday marked the 4th day after birth.  I was told by my doula and midwife that I would be feeling a lot better after day 3.  They were right.  Besides being tired from the lack of sleep and healing down south, I feel pretty good.  My muscle aches and pains have subsided and my energy level in increasing.  I got a massage yesterday which was nice for this well worked body.  During that time, I had time to actually reflect on my experience.

I have been having trouble processing the birth.  I know I haven't filled you in on any details here, besides that it wasn't picture perfect.  But the main issue is the part I was looking forward did not go down as I had always dreamed.  Actually, it was more like a nightmare.  So, I am having trouble grasping onto the parts I want to treasure.  The parts that went well were the painful laboring parts.  And who wants to hold onto that as the best memory of the birth?  I will see my doula next week for a follow up and will discuss this with her.  Maybe she can help me heal some and process things in a more positive light.  I'm not saying it was bad or I have any regrets.  It just wasn't as I thought it would be for the last 6 years of planning.  You will understand when I post my story...

I do have ONE regret I wanted to share.  I had refused (with no fuss from midwife) the Strep B test.  I was comfortable with that decision and has not been an issue health wise.  But when the pediatrician found out I refused it, we ended up being sent to the hospital for a series of tests on Starla to clear her.  They also threatened to admit her for "observation" to make sure she is ok.  We didn't do a home birth just to turn around a sit in the hospital while they watch a healthy baby.  I think if I had done the test, I could have avoided an unplanned trip to the hospital and the stress of whether they would want to admit her.  They finally decided she was healthy enough for be watched by her parents.  lol.  But only if I agreed to return with her the following day and then a weight check 2 days later- today.  She has come no where close to loosing the average 10% birth weight.  He diagnosed her as jaundice but then didn't bother testing her for it when he had all those tests done.  Clearly she is fine if he didn't even order the test he diagnosed her to be.  It was just a label to justify more tests.

So, that is about it for now.  Getting little sleep and running around to please the medical world on this "home birth baby."  Plan to post my story as soon as I think I have the time to type it out.