Real Women. Real Experiences. – Celine F

Q: Tell me about yourself. Where are you from? How many kids do you have?

A: My name is Celine. I’m married, I’m 34 years old. I’m from Wisconsin but live in Virginia now. I have two boys, five and three years old. 

Q: How was your pregnancy? The good? The bad?

A: Both pregnancy’s were normal for the most part with a few small bumps along the way, but nothing major.  The good was that I went full term with both. With my first I was very careful about what I ate, any activity I did. I gained way too much weight and it wasn’t necessary. With the second I gained less weight and it helped me a lot after the delivery. With second he had a cist on his brain during a scan. This caused a lot of stress but on the next scan it had cleared. With the first pregnancy my husband came with me to every single appointment I had. With the second he wasn’t able to do that so he only was there for the delivery. For the first pregnancy I documented every step along the way in a calendar. I was way more aware of the changes my body was making. I will say with the second child you’re way calmer in general. 

Q: How was your labor and delivery? Did you birth at home? Hospital? C-section?

A: In both deliveries at hospitals I had natural deliveries. For the first I did a epidural when I was at about 5 cm dilated but it failed twice and the pain was very bad when that happened. I the second delivery I had an induction and no pain meds. I did have a vaginal tear but it was internal and very small. Overall both experiences were very enjoyable considering. 

Q: Describe your postpartum experience. Did you experience postpartum depression? Postpartum anxiety? Postpartum rage? Were you aware of these things postpartum?

A: After our first born I felt okay at first, maybe more tired and worried then normal but I thought that was to be expected. I had a separated pelvis and didn’t know what that was or that it was possible to have such a thing until about 4 weeks after delivery when I was still having issues walking. My recovery needed to be extended to 6 months. This news might have been what triggered my stress. I wanted to be better, I wanted to take walks with the baby. I just wanted to move around more and do more but was physically restricted. I talked to my doctor because of the depressive thoughts and they did give me a medication to help with this. I have been on this medication since then. The only time I stopped was when I was pregnant the second time. The dose has increased twice now. 

Q: Did you breastfeed? If so, how did that go for you? If it was challenging, what were your challenges? 

A: Yes I did with both boys. The first was harder just cause it hurt more at first but the second was significantly easier. I got advice from my pediatrician with the first to start a bottle once a day at night when my supply would be lower and this was the best advice I could have received. This helped with so many things. I learned to pump early, my husband could feed the baby and my supply would have time to build up at night. Also having a full bottle before bed helped the baby sleep through the night much sooner because he had a full belly. 

Q: Did you have any pregnancy cravings?

A: Only one craving that I can remember, Olive Garden bread sticks! :) 

Q: What's something you never knew about until you were pregnant?

A: I didn’t know a pregnancy was 40 weeks normally. Everyone says 9 months but really it’s 10. 

Q: What was something that surprised you about your postpartum journey? 

A: I was lucky the entire time I was breastfeeding I didn’t get my period. For the first baby that was 11 months and 9 months for the second. It was awesome!

Q: If there was a gift to give a new mom, what would it be? 

A: There are so many cool things for moms and babies now, and so many options. Yes, having the gadgets and toys is great but what was the best was being around family and friends to share it with. I would gift travel costs or gas cards or something like that. 

Q: If you could give a new mom some advice what would it be?

A: Get as many books as you can and read them. Ask your friends or family for books to borrow. Also I watched every episode of Call the Midwife on Netflix and seriously learned so much. It made me way less scared about the delivery process.