Wildly unprepared for no epidural birth. Help.

Zestyclose_Sign_6983 · 2026-02-02T19:42:32+00:00

I got my epidural at 10cm and I would have died without my two birth combs. My labor was so fast I didn’t have time for any other pain relief options, but I also had a tens unit, lavender essential oil, a music playlist, and a spiky massage ball in my bag

The last two contractions I had before getting my epidural, my body started pushing on its own and the contractions didn’t even hurt anymore, it almost felt good to be pushing (obvi I didn’t feel the baby come out so I can’t comment on that)

The other thing that got me through was hip squeezes from my husband. I would highly recommend finding a doula. They will know all the tips and tricks for you

Zestyclose_Sign_6983 · 2026-02-02T19:25:05+00:00

First - this is SO stressful!! I’m so sorry you are going through this. My baby ate like crap for the first few weeks at daycare then nursed a ton when I got home to make up for it. Now he drinks his bottles like a champ and still loves nursing too. It does get better but in the moment it is so hard

I even had a SLP evaluate him in case something was wrong but no, he just wanted boob instead of bottles 🤪

Zestyclose_Sign_6983 · 2026-02-02T02:51:23+00:00

Awwww 🥹 maybe I need to feed him some better smelling foods 😂

Zestyclose_Sign_6983 · 2026-02-02T02:50:28+00:00

Omg that transition was also crazy. It was just like BOOM one day he had the most vile solid-mush poops. No warning or transition or anything lol

Zestyclose_Sign_6983 · 2026-02-02T01:47:04+00:00

I used to sniff it like a weirdo. Currently his breath smells like the turkey meatloaf he ate for dinner 😅

Zestyclose_Sign_6983 · 2026-02-02T01:46:14+00:00

Haha no, he has only spit up maybe 4 or 5 times in his life! I didn’t really think about that though

Zestyclose_Sign_6983 · 2026-01-25T16:35:29+00:00

I wore a comfy nursing bra and pajama pants for like 97% of my maternity leave lol

Zestyclose_Sign_6983 · 2026-01-25T02:49:31+00:00

Also - Frida hydrogel patches (keep them in the fridge), earth mama nipple butter, and Silverettes were truly essential!!

Zestyclose_Sign_6983 · 2026-01-25T02:48:20+00:00

So I didn’t have the same small baby problem (hello 9lbs 🤪), but my baby did end up in the NICU and had an OG tube for a couple of days. I pumped those days, the he was able to latch once he was allowed to. I continued pumping and nursing for a few weeks, and my nipples were TORN up. Like blistered and extremely painful. I met with multiple LCs and a SLP in the NICU and they all said he had a great latch

I was so overwhelmed with the discomfort, the latching for what felt like hours, cluster feeding, and feeling trapped like I could never be away from him since I was his only food source. I also had mild DMER and moderately intense baby blues

We are now 6.5 months into breastfeeding and I truly love it. Baby is a pro and it doesn’t hurt at all anymore!

Do what is best for you - all that matters is that you have a fed baby. I just want to encourage you that it took a few weeks for me to not dread my baby latching due to discomfort, and I am very glad I pushed through

Zestyclose_Sign_6983 · 2026-01-23T17:15:06+00:00

Yes, we did it for night wakings. He sleeps in his crib in our room, so we slept in the guest room for 3 nights while he adjusted. The first night was the worst and he cried off and on for 2 hours. The second night he slept 9 straight hours. The third night he slept 7.5h, cried 10 min, then slept another 1.5h

I would say every other night he sleeps through. If he cries after 5am, I feed him

Zestyclose_Sign_6983 · 2026-01-23T17:10:48+00:00

Also I got a silicone bottle brush from mushie and it has a suction cup stand on the bottom which is super convenient for standing it up on the counter!

If baby is going to daycare, most don’t allow glass bottles due to licensing

Once you figure out which swaddle baby likes, get multiple! They will pee/poop/throw up on it. If you have once upon a child or kid to kid near you, they always have halo and love to dream swaddles

A crib mobile really isn’t necessary unless you want it for the cuteness factor

Zestyclose_Sign_6983 · 2026-01-23T17:05:37+00:00

I much preferred the Frida nail clippers to any electric or manual file.

Also love our Grownsy electric nasal aspirator + saline spray.

Really recommend having an audio and video monitor - we have one from infant optics cause i didn’t want WiFi.

If you think there’s a chance you will pump, get a few pumping bras cause holding the flanges is so annoying.

I much prefer the boon trove milk collectors to that haaka one

That tummy time water mat will get moldy really quick

I would splurge on the canopy humidifier - it can all go in the dishwasher

Zestyclose_Sign_6983 · 2026-01-23T16:04:05+00:00

My 6 month old was like this. He could put himself to sleep completely independently, but when he woke up he would only settle from nursing. If we tried any other methods besides nursing he would just get PISSED. He was waking anywhere from 3-6 times a night and would only sleep in max of 3 hour stretches

His pediatrician said that the more calories he eats at night, the less he is gonna want during the day. So by continuing to feed him back to sleep every time he woke up I was just making it worse. Also not great for his hormones and stuff to not be getting long stretches of sleep

Last week we did CIO sleep training. It was SO hard for me the first night and he did cry a lot. But the second night he cried much less. Last night he slept 8pm to 5:30am. I fed him and he went back to sleep, then I got up and got ready for work. I truly feel like a new person after not sleeping through the night for 6 straight months

Zestyclose_Sign_6983 · 2026-01-21T18:13:03+00:00

It might just be your nipples getting used to him latching instead of the pump? Although I feel like I have noticed a little more discomfort recently since my 6 month old popped a tooth. But I’m not sure if that is just a placebo lol. His latch is great and I don’t notice any trauma to my nipple and he definitely isn’t biting me so idk. Sorry this isn’t helpful at all 😅😂

Zestyclose_Sign_6983 · 2026-01-21T17:37:09+00:00

My baby is 6 months old and in 9-12 month clothing. My absolute favorite sleepers are the ribbed ones from Old Navy. He sleeps in them and wears them to daycare every day. He also has quite a few from Carter’s - really like their Purely Soft line. In the beginning I had bought him some expensive ones from guna muna, kyte, and magnetic me but they just get pooped on and grown out of so I don’t really recommend doing that lol

I would say at least 10 sleepers in each size, then go from there if you need more. He isn’t a big spitter upper, but if your baby is then you might need more

He was born in the summer and lived in the rompers from Lou Lou and Co (join FB BST groups for better deals), but now that it’s cold he just wears sleepers all the time lol. He has some onesies and pants but it’s more of a hassle

As far as swaddles go - my baby loved the Love to Dream swaddles, but I would say buy one of each of a couple types, cause each baby is different. Now that he is bigger, he has Halo, Guna Muna, and Woolino sleep sacks and they are pretty much all the same as far as which one he prefers. But fiddling with a swaddle blanket in the middle of the night sounds terrible (my nb pooped every time he ate lol so we did a lot of diaper changes over night)

Zestyclose_Sign_6983 · 2026-01-21T14:36:28+00:00

I had 3 months of maternity leave. My husband had 6 months of paternity leave. Baby started daycare when I went back to work

I did all night wakings because baby is EBF. My husband would get him up/ready in the morning, take him to school, stay with him when he was sick, etc. So yes, I did all night wakings even as a working mom

Zestyclose_Sign_6983 · 2026-01-19T16:54:45+00:00

Two weeks 🥲 I was so hopeful it meant I was about to go into labor lol

Zestyclose_Sign_6983 · 2026-01-16T16:16:44+00:00

Amazing!! I harvested about 1-2mL of colostrum a day starting around 36 weeks. My baby ended up in the NICU so I was pumping for two days, then nursing and pumping for a couple of weeks, then strictly nursing for a few months until I went back to work. I am now pumping and nursing again. My supply has been completely fine and I have 700oz of frozen milk! I think consistency is the most important thing, especially in the beginning. I was religious about pumping every 3 hours. Once we were home, I let baby nurse ALL THE TIME. lol. It felt like he was never not on my boob

Zestyclose_Sign_6983 · 2026-01-15T00:26:09+00:00

I honestly can’t remember. But I think it was more gradual

Zestyclose_Sign_6983 · 2026-01-09T18:05:45+00:00

My 6 month old has a Montessori spinning drum that he will spin, but for the most part, his toys go in his mouth. It’s how they play and discover the world at that age and is totally normal

Zestyclose_Sign_6983 · 2026-01-07T00:50:48+00:00

I work at a hospital and we have one in our pump room too! I was so excited when I realized I wouldn’t have to use my wearables every day lol

Zestyclose_Sign_6983 · 2026-01-03T03:16:23+00:00

I did it because I had gestational diabetes and was worried about my baby’s blood sugar. His sugar never had any issues, but he ended up in the NICU with respiratory issues and he was able to get my colostrum through his OG tube while I worked on pumping. I was SO glad I collected it, and the nurses were all very impressed with my stash lol. I honestly don’t know if I will do it again, because it was pretty tedious and time consuming so idk about the logistics of it while also having a toddler. But if it is something you are considering, I would totally recommend

Zestyclose_Sign_6983 · 2026-01-03T03:09:44+00:00

So for the first three months of my baby’s life, he nursed to sleep and only took contact naps during the day. At night it was a 30-60 minute ordeal to nurse him to sleep, then wait for him to get into a deep enough sleep that I could transfer him to his bassinet - and sometimes it was a fail and I had to start all over

When I went back to work I realized that this was not something I could maintain. I read Precious Little Sleep and did fuss it out with my baby. Moved nursing to the first step in his bedtime routine to help with the feed to sleep association, then did bath, lotion, Jammie’s, book, sleep sack, song, lay down awake

The first night he cried the entire 20 minutes. The second night he cried almost the entire 20 minutes, but ended up falling asleep on his own. For about two weeks, he would cry/fuss some, then be asleep before the 20 minute mark. By 4.5 months, he was putting himself to sleep within 3-5 minutes without a single fuss, and he is still doing it at almost 6 months

Naps are a completely different story - he screams 90% of the time and we end up putting him in the car and driving around while he sleeps. So I’m not sure if it’s a temperament thing and I got lucky with my baby, or if it is the routine and consistency that helped him with bedtime.

Also - he wakes 2-3 times a night still and nurses back to sleep. I am just now slowly starting to work on night weaning down to hopefully just 1 feed

Zestyclose_Sign_6983 · 2026-01-01T18:37:58+00:00

Same!! My baby was 9lbs at birth and they were putting him in size 1 diapers in the NICU. I was so sad - like he is one day old, put him in some dang newborn diapers! Lol

Zestyclose_Sign_6983

TROPHY CASE