It was a long nine months.
The first three months were particularly loooooooong. There was lots of drama to start this whole thing off - modified bed rest, endless worrying, some tears. We weren't sure we were going to make it to nine months.
But, eventually nine months passed and birth day came. And although it entailed a tad bit of surgery, it was a great day.
The day started off at 3:30am for me. I was up to take a shower and do some last minute packing for the stint at the hospital. My surgery time was moved to 7am at the last minute, so we needed to be there for prep at 5am.
Getting out of the house was easy. Katie was still asleep. I was nervous as all hell though, and really wanted to give her a big hug and kiss before we left. I consoled myself with a minute long stare at her sleeping peacefully in her kiddie tent.
It was quite a strange drive to the hospital. None of the anticipation of the last time. None of the wondering about how bad labor pain could be or how long I would have to push. Just the constant thought of surgery, surgery, surgery and the exciting thought that at about breakfast time we would have a baby boy join our family.
We arrived at the super-quiet hospital. We were the first and only patients in triage for a while. They drew blood for tests, hooked me up to the monitors, made me pee in a cup, asked me a whole lot of personal questions and hooked up my IV. The first IV poke in my left forearm was a miss, so they had to redo on the right arm. Owwee. That hurt.
Huzbend, doula and I tried to pass the time with flippant discussions about Muppets and other serious stuff, like, whether to get the baby a HepB vaccine right after birth. Finally, after what seemed like forever we took our walk to the O.R.
The doc was running a little late, so we had to sit in there for a little bit too.
Here I am preparing for my spinal anesthesia. That's Dr. Kim back there. The resident Stand-Up Anesthesiologist. You wouldn't think that you could joke about someone inserting a needle into your back and numbing you from the chest down, but he was quite effective at it. He should go on tour.
The spinal went in and surprisingly was painful. I didn't remember the epidural feeling like that. There were huge twinges of pain that flew down my left leg and then one that went down my butt. They made me jump. Soon, it was over and the legs started to go very slowly to sleep until they felt like they weren't even attached to me anymore. I was laid down and the work began.
The first 20 minutes of so was not so bad. I was so focused on seeing the baby that it was hard to think about anything else except that. I held Huzbend's hand and waited for the newborn scream. Then the docs said, "It's just about ready to come out. Take a look!" and Huzbend stood up to look over the drape. I thought to myself, "Are you freakin' nuts?!?! Sit back down!" But it was too late. He watched them lift the baby out of me. I will not go into detail. I don't think he will either as he is currently trying as hard as he can to erase the memory.
The surgical drape window opened so that I could see the baby emerge. The cord was cut and the crying ensued. Not only did the doc hold him in front of the window, but the nurse actually brought him around next to my head for a better look before taking him to the post-op baby check-out area. Huzbend went with baby and doula stayed to support me through the rest of the surgery.
The nurses did all their baby tests, cleaned him up and wrapped him up tight. After a little one-on-one cuddle time with Daddy........
The little burrito was brought over to me so that I could touch and talk to him.
It was about this point in the surgery that I began to lose it. Before this point was easy, as I was able to focus on the arrival of the baby. After he was out and healthy, all I thought about was what they were doing on the other side of the curtain. I began to shake uncontrollably and had a hard time concentrating on controlling my breathing (all common side effects of spinals). At some point, I began thinking of the baby and how beautiful he was, how I wished Katie was there to give me a hug, how lucky I was to have a great Huzbend, and how disgusting the surgery was that I began to cry and couldn't stop. The doula did an awesome job keeping me together and helping me through.
The surgery was finally over and off to the room for recovery we went. Baby, Huzbend and doula followed. There wasn't ever a point where I wasn't able to either see or hear the baby. As soon as we got back to the room, baby was put on my breast for some cuddle and nursing time. He spent the better part of three hours there alternating between snuggle, trying to eat and sleeping. It was wonderful.
Later on, Katie and Grandma C. came in for a visit. Grandma C. stayed at the hospital with me, while Huzbend went home to take care of Katie.
The hospital stay was not uneventful.
Katie ended up having some sort of allergic reaction (breathing trouble) the day the baby was born and had to be taken home early by Huzbend. We had requested a delay in giving the baby a bath in the hopes that Daddy and Katie could do it in the afternoon. Instead, Grandma C. stepped up and took over first bath duties. Go, Grandma!
I ended up getting this massive headache/ear clogging thing that made me miserable. No one could tell me what it was and our general guess was a sinus infection. There was nothing that could be done about it. The narcotics I was given for surgery pain wouldn't even knock this thing out. Ugh. It lasted pretty much the entire stay and even the first day and a half at home.
On Friday evening, I noticed that the babies breathing did not seem quite right. I asked the nurse to come in to take a look. She in turn called the NICU nurse. They thought it would be a good idea to take him up to NICU to observe him for a few hours. So, off he went with Huzbend, who was later relieved by Grandma. I was brought up a few hours later to feed him. It was true that his breathing was irregular, which is quite common for babies taken before labor actually sets in, but it was not impacting his health in any way. They allowed him to come back to my room for the night.
Dealing with the surgery was pretty much the same as last time. It hurt. It's really hard to NOT use your stomach muscles getting in and out of bed, but you figure it out. I was standing at 6-8 hours post surgery. I walked to the bathroom at about 12 hours post surgery. It was great to move around, although slow and a bit painful.
Right before we left we decided on a name for little boy. He became Mikey. It was time to go home.
I wonder what Katie is thinking in this picture?
We packed up and headed for home on Saturday. Grandma took over driving duties and Huzbend rode his bike home. There's no room anymore in the backseat for passengers, you see. Mikey's first car ride was uneventful. He slept the entire time.
The next few days were spent getting to know our little guy a bit better. He's pretty laid back. Sure, he cries. But it's only when he's really, really angry. Like, when Mommy isn't on the ball and ready to feed him.
Speaking of feeding, he eats like a champ. My milk came in before we even left the hospital, so he's had an easy time figuring out the nursing thing.
He's gotten lots of cuddles......
....and lot's of attention. Katie likes to give him toys all the time. Most of them end up either shoved next to his head or ON his head. She has the best intentions. She is very gentle with him and likes to talk to him. "Whaz da matter, baby brudder?"
And as for me, the picture below is worth a thousand words.
