A Baby Story

Diana is just over two weeks now! I can’t believe it’s been two-weeks already. I can’t believe I still don’t have a routine either. Everything is disjointed, but we are both doing well.

Here’s the birth story:

On Wednesday, April 29th I woke up 5 minutes before my alarm was due to ring at 5:00am. I quickly fed the cats and got dressed. I added just a bit of make up and pulled my hair into a pony tail. I had joked that by having a planned C-section, I would miss the opportunity have my water break and exclaim “it’s time!” But, once Sean opened his eyes that morning, I leaned over the bed and said to him, “it’s time!”

We arrived at the hospital at 6:03am and it was starting to sprinkle outside. It was very cloudy and quite dreary. I checked myself into the hospital and put on my gown. I met my nurse who immediately started my IV and hooked up a monitor to my belly. My little girl was doing well and everyone’s heart rate was normal. We had a quick ultrasound to show that the baby was still in breach position. For the next couple of hours I sat in the pre-op room waiting to be taken to the operating room. I got really adept at taking my IV and other wires to the bathroom with me. At 7:30am Sean put on his scrubs and we were ready to go. By this time two other preggos had joined us in the room and were getting ready for their surgeries too.

I remember being chilly in the room. I also remember being excited and nervous. But mostly remained very quiet. Around 8:00am, the nurse wheeled my bed onto the elevator as we headed to the operating room. I was teary and terrified by this point. I was also shaking from the cold and from my nerves. As I was wheeled into the operating room, Sean was asked to stay outside the room until I was prepped. I was feeling quite overwhelmed and wondering if I was part of a dream or whether I was really about to meet a baby. My baby.

The anesthesiologist started to work quickly with my epidural. I met him a little earlier and he had given me a very detailed description of what to expect, which I was grateful for. I sat on the side of the table leaning into my doctor while the anesthesiologist walked me through the process. Luckily they wrapped me in warm blankets and I was able to stay very still and relaxed. He asked me a few questions which I couldn’t hear because my doctor was talking to the med student in the room. Finally she stopped talking and we finished the epidural. I was pleasantly surprised. It didn’t hurt and I immediately started feeling the results. I believe I told them it felt like I was sitting in a slushee. I’m not sure what I meant by that, but I did have quite a few slurpees during the pregnancy so I assume that was still on my brain. For those of you who don’t know, you still feel quite a bit under the effects of an epidural but you don’t feel pain. It’s mostly pressure and my belly to my upper thighs were numb. Once the epi was administered (about 5 minutes), I was put on the table and they applied the iodine to my belly, set up the drape just beyond my neck and brought Sean back in the room. Things progressed very rapidly.

A med student and a resident both assisted my doctor during the surgery. I could hear lots of chatter as my doctor walked them through the process. The anesthesiologist stood behind me and I could see him occasionally peering over the drape to see the progress. Many women bring a whole bag of tricks to the labor room including scenic pictures and music. Because I was having a c-section, I didn’t worry about it much. As I lay on the table looking straight up, I realized that my focus point was the crack between ceiling panels. Poor planning. I focused on that crack very intently. I could feel a lot of pressure but I did not feel pain. At one point I did hear that they needed a bigger incision. At one point the pressure started to feel more like pain and they asked me how the pain felt. I told them it felt like the baby was coming out the old fashioned way. I started to feel shooting pains in both my arms and was told this was normal. It was pain deferral from the rest of my body and a reaction to the gas that was in my body from the surgery. One more hand push to my upper abdomen and the doctor asked if Sean wanted to see the baby being born. Sean declined as he isn’t one to see his wife’s insides at the same time. And I needed him to hold my hand.

Literally a few seconds later and a few grimaces from me, the doctor asked if Sean wanted to see his daughter. He jumped up to get in on the action. The doctor pulled Diana out at 8:41am and she immediately let out a cry which was the most wonderful sound. I thought it might take a while since she was a c-section but she was very quick. The doctor exclaimed how beautiful she was and I cried, focusing on the conversation of the nurses. I asked how much she weighed and was shocked to hear 8 pounds. Now I understand why they need to a bigger incision. Oh, she had a 14 ¾ inch (circumference) head. That’s a little beyond the average size.

Everything went very smoothly and within minutes Sean brought her over to me so I could see her. She was the cutest thing I had every seen. The doctors laughed when I remarked that I was surprised at how cute she was. I’ve seen newborns before and not all of them are that cute. But this one was!

While the doctors sewed me back together, Sean, Diana and the nurses went up to the post-op room where I soon joined them. That is when I got to hold Diana for the first time. I also tried breast feeding for the first time which I realized was going to be more difficult than hoped. I figured the baby would just figure it out.

I spent about two hours in the post-op room because they didn’t have anyone to take me upstairs to my room. Meanwhile my parents were freaking out in the waiting room. Finally we were all joined in the room where we would stay until Sunday, 5/3. The room was fairly nice with a big window and a couch for Sean to sleep on. For the remainder of Wednesday and for part of Thursday, the epidural remained in and I was given pain killers. I couldn’t get out of bed until Thursday around 4pm once I got all of the feeling back in my legs and they removed the catheter. The nurse walked me to the bathroom for the first time and I must say, my belly hurt. My belly looked like a soufflé gone wrong, and felt like a lumpy water bed.

The nurses had me attempting breast feeding frequently but they never seemed to want to spend the time to help. And they kept forgetting that I couldn’t try all of the holds because I was still in so much pain and my arms (remember the shooting pain?) still were hurting. The lactation consultants came by, but never when I was actually nursing. For the first 3 days I thought they were useless. The contradictory information I was getting from each nurse and the lactation consultants was driving me crazy and really made the situation very overwhelming.

By Thursday, early afternoon, I was no longer hooked to an IV or monitor. I was still taking drugs but had mobility. It was then the hospital became more of a hotel to me. The food was lousy, but they had 3 “nourishment centers” on the floor that provided free drinks, hot tea, frozen treats and graham crackers. My Mom, Sean and I ate our fill every day. For an outing I would go by the nursery and look at the babies. It was like a great vacation… We had nurses to help us, Diana was fairly easy to take care of, I was in bed most of the day and we got the best souvenir ever.

The first couple of days, Sean changed all of the diapers and did all of the swaddling. He’s a master swaddler now and I was so proud of him. The first time I changed a diaper, I had to call him over for help because I was unprepared for the ‘tar.’

I liked some nurses better than other. On Thursday night, I had a wonderful night nurse who didn’t talk a lot but was able to help with breast feeding. Finally, someone who got in their and got the job done. There isn’t anyone in the hospital that hasn’t seen or touched my breasts at this point.

On Saturday, the lactation consultant stopped by and was very helpful. She provided a few gadgets to help and Diana was well on her way to actually getting something to eat.
On Saturday the pediatrician decided to put Diana under the Bili Lights because she had a little jaundice and they wanted us to be able to leave together on Sunday as scheduled. They put goggles on her and she howled. It was terrible. She kept trying to rip them off. Because she was breach, she could get her feet up to her ears and we couldn’t keep the eye wear on for anything. We also didn’t trust the nurses all night to watch her. But we knew we could not stay up all night watching her so we sent her to the nursery. There they were able to giver her bigger and better eye wear. When she didn’t show up for her 4am feeling, I went down the hall demanding they bring my baby.

On Sunday at 11:00am we checked out of the hospital with our baby girl. She was doing pretty well and I was sad to leave the ‘hotel.’

Overall it was a wonderful experience and it was much easier in the hospital then once we got home. My Mom stayed for the first two weeks and we’ve had some good days and nights and we’ve had some that were very hectic. She is a really special little girl and mostly well behaved although I’ve discovered certain foods need to be avoided in order to limit her gas (and screaming like a banshee). Right now the list includes chocolate and strawberries. Bummer.