Finally, 12/20/12 arrived.
I don’t think I slept at all the night before. I took one final pregnant picture in front of
the Christmas tree and kissed Addie goodbye.
I don’t think A and I talked much on the way to the hospital – I was so
nervous, tired, anxious, all sorts of emotional. We checked into the maternity ward as we had
been instructed. The woman at the front
desk looked at us a little confused.
“Who is your doctor? What time
were you supposed to be here?” Turns out
someone had really messed up and DID NOT SCHEDULE the c section?!? A and I were instructed to sit in the lobby
while things were sorted out. I was a
mess. I couldn’t imagine going through
all this again. I was already nervous,
we had made all arrangements, we’d gotten up incredibly early, and I had
mentally prepared myself as much as possible.
I needed to have baby W THIS morning.
After that hiccup, a nurse came out and told us things were ok and we
should follow her to a room to prepare for surgery. Crisis averted.
In the room, a couple monitors were placed on me. I was surprised to find out I was having very
regular contractions and took it as a sign that Baby W was ready to make his
debut. There was one final ultrasound to
confirm that Baby W was still breech (he was).
I think I told everyone – nurses, doctors, anesthesiologist how nervous
I was and they all assured me that both baby and I would be fine. I was in good hands.
As I prepared for surgery I had to drink some nasty
concoction to settle my stomach (it was gross).
A put on his scrubs. An IV was
inserted (I was told it would be the most painful part of the day). Finally, I was told it was time to enter the
OR. A couldn’t be with me as the
epidural was administered. That was one
of the scariest and most painful parts of the day. The anesthesiologist kept telling me to stick
my back out and push back while a nurse held my shoulders and he inserted the
needle. How does one stick their back
out?!? Soon enough, it was over. The nurse holding me also happened to have the
same name we planned on calling baby W – I took that as another good sign. The curtain was raised, A joined me, I felt
super awkward being naked on an operating table, and I couldn’t feel my legs…
fun times.
The surgery began. I
kept telling the anesthesiologist that I felt nauseous and he would continually
increase whatever medicine I was on to make me feel better. That happened several times. Eventually the anesthesiologist exclaimed “I
can see his butt!”. A and I heard baby W
before we could see him. He was
screaming and I remember smiling and nervously laughing, hoping that meant he
was ok. A few seconds later, the OB
brought him over. A and I both
cried. I said, “He’s so cute. He’s perfect.” A tried to hug me, but he ended up rubbing my
head and messing up my hair. ;) Not his
fault – I was basically tied to the operating table. I asked how much he weighed and the doctor
told me they didn’t know yet. Baby W was
checked out, measured, and wrapped in a blanket. He weighed 8 lbs 9 oz and was 20.5 inches
long. He was brought over to me and I
got to talk to him and love on him for a couple minutes. He was, without a doubt, the most beautiful
baby I’d ever seen. A and baby W went to
the recovery room while I was stitched up.
That only took a few minutes. The
anesthesiologist asked me if I wanted something to take the edge off. I wasn’t really sure what that meant and I
stupidly said sure. Whatever it was made
me really sleepy. Soon enough, I was in
the recovery room and got to hold and feed baby W right away. The nurse repeatedly asked how I was doing
and I repeatedly told her I was so tired.
I wish I hadn’t gotten that extra medication. She told me to sleep, but there was
absolutely no way I was going to miss out on baby W’s first minutes of
life. While in the recovery room, W’s
foot prints were stamped and he got his first bath. When I could move my legs, it was time to
head to my hospital room. I remember
having to move from the operating bed to the hospital bed and that was
extremely difficult right after surgery.
I also remember the nurse pushing really hard on my stomach (uterus?)
and that was painful.
After we got into the hospital room, A went to find Grandma
G and Grandma W who had been anxiously waiting to meet baby W. Watching them meet him and hold him melted my
heart. J Meanwhile, I was instructed to eat ice chips
while the anesthesia wore off. All was
going well…. Until nausea hit me full force.
I started vomiting and was given Zofran.
It helped and I started feeling better.
Eventually, Grandpa W and Uncle M stopped by to meet W. I’m pretty sure I looked like death after the
vomiting episode. J It was also fun watching them meet baby
W. W is named after both of his
grandpas. J
That night, I was afraid to eat much because I didn’t want to vomit. Sidenote: I hate puking. Not that anyone likes it, but I will do
everything in my power not to puke. I
had not gotten sick at all during pregnancy.
How ironic that I did minutes after Baby W was born.
The next few days and nights in the hospital were pretty
calm. I loved being with my boys and I
had minimal pain. Even the nurses seemed
impressed that I was walking around the night of delivery and declining pain
medication. I credit my recovery to my
awesome OB. Baby W roomed with us except
for a couple hours each night when A and I would catch up on much needed
sleep. W didn’t sleep well in his
bassinet and preferred to be held. That
was fine by me, but I knew I needed some sleep.
The second night in the hospital, I was ravenous. After hardly eating anything the day prior
due to nausea, I suddenly couldn’t get enough.
I ate my entire dinner including sides, had additional snacks, and sent
A out for a Chicago style hotdog. J More friends stopped by to meet W and I loved
that they were excited to meet him. W
became jaundiced and was losing a lot of weight (1 pound), but we were allowed
to leave the hospital as scheduled on 12/23.
Just in time for Christmas.
My OB had instructed me to take it easy and not leave the
house, which meant no Christmas celebrations.
But we had many visitors and had lots of fun Face Timing with family.
During the first couple weeks, we had to visit the
pediatrician frequently for weight checks and blood draws. Eventually W figured out nursing and his
bilirubin levels stabilized. In my opinion,
there were way way too many blood draws.
I think they should have stopped after the bilirubin levels began to
decrease and W’s color was returning to normal.
One of my biggest regrets is not putting a stop to the numerous blood
draws.
My recovery was easy for the most part. Getting out of bed in the night was the most
difficult – I missed the hospital bed rails.
But even that wasn’t terrible.
Looking back, c section recovery wasn’t bad at all. I think I had an easier time than friends who
gave birth naturally. If I had to have
another c section, I’d be completely fine with that. Dare I say, I might even prefer it!
W’s birth was perfect and I wouldn’t change a
thing. One of the best days of my life. J
