I suppose I should officially announce and welcome Joshua Joseph, born 12.18.14 @ 0933 weighing in at 6#8oz and measuring 19.25 inches long. He is perfect! As many would say, he looks just like Ben. He also has Ben's 6th sense of being able to tell the exact moment that he is placed into his bassinet and therefore wakes up. :) I'm going to try and recap Josh's birthday as long as it is still fairly fresh in my mind.
As I believe I mentioned in the past, I went back and forth as to whether or not I should have a VBAC versus a repeat c-section. Honestly, I really wanted a VBAC, but when I looked at the stats, big picture, and after talking with my OB, Andy, and my mom, I realized that a c/s was the least risky way of getting to meet my boy. I'll never know when he would have decided to come on his own, but now that he is here I can't imagine waiting another second to meet him!
Surprisingly, my OB said there were a lot of people due around the holidays, and due to his busy schedule, we had to arrive to the hospital at 0400 for a 0600 start time if we wanted him to do the c/s. Somehow, Andy and I were able to fall asleep fairly easily and we got about 5 hours of sleep that night. Ben slept at my mom's so that we wouldn't have to worry about him. I missed him. He missed us. I almost started crying when my mom sent this picture of him staring at my picture that morning.
We arrived right on time. It was dark and a little eerie walking in to the hospital at that hour, but we were too excited to be creeped out. We met our RN, the anesthesia resident, got my IV started (2 pokes), and got hooked up to the monitors. My OB called to make sure everything was still on schedule and to say that he was on his way.
Unfortunately, by the time he arrived, things had changed. There are 2 ORs and they only use one at a time in case there is an emergency. Right before we were going to start, another momma to be who had been laboring and not progressing for a long time needed a c/s, and thus I got bumped. My OB was also her OB, so he had to do hers. This meant that he was then unable to do mine. I was super bummed! Fortunately, there was another great OB who was potentially going to do my c/s in the first place if we didn't want to arrive at 4:00AM. So, although we were down some sleep and my wonderful OB wasn't able to do my c/s, I knew I was still in good hands. The pre-op waiting room is right outside the OR, so it was a little hard when I heard baby Ava crying knowing that it should have been Baby Fish, but I'm sure stuff like this happens all the time in the world of babies!
It was finally my turn to go back a little after 9:00. I walked back there to get my spinal while Andy waited for them to get my all ready. I obviously wasn't looking forward to the needle in my back, but I remembered it not being that bad last time. The attending looked at by back first. She probably jinxed it when she said, "she has palpable and visual spaces" for the needle to be placed. Then comes the resident. She told me to round my back and stay completely still. I did exactly what I was told, with the nurse in front of me, coaching me too. At one point, my whole left leg/butt twitched from what I am assuming was her triggering a nerve with the needle. She then told me again to stay still--as if that was a voluntary movement. Sheesh! After I told her I could definitely feels something different on the left side (hoping I wasn't going to be paralyzed!) she finally got things in the right spot. Or so I thought. I remembered this from last time, that after the spinal was in, they quickly got everything else ready so they could start the c/s. They did a sensation test every few minutes. I didn't go numb as quickly as they thought, so they had to put me in an upside-down position to let gravity do the trick. When I was finally numb, they brought Andy back and got started.
I was a little nervous, but I didn't feel them make the incision so I took that as a good sign. After awhile though, things got much more painful than I remember them being. I knew I would feel pressure, but I was almost crying as I squeezed Andy's hand. I can't remember if I asked for more pain medication or not, but they gave me something which still did not help. I couldn't feel everything, but I was not comfortable. They gave me a second pain med (ketamine) which I did NOT like at all! I remember the room turning white and spinning and I felt like I was fading in an out of consciousness. Finally, after what seemed like forever, I heard a baby crying! I was still out of it, but I knew that the crying baby noise was a good sign. I am pretty sure I heard them say that they needed to use a vacuum to get him out. I do know that his APGARS were 8 & 9. I remember them showing me his sweet self before they went to go check him out.
After he was all cleaned up, they brought him back for me to get a better look. I was still pretty confused and I kept asking why I felt like I did and when it was going to go away. They assured me that it wouldn't last long. I kept thinking that they were having me hold the baby (even though they weren't) and I kept saying, "I will drop him! Someone hold him! I don't feel right!" Andy and everyone else repeatedly assured me that I wasn't going to drop him.
Before I knew it, Andy and baby were off for baby's first bath while they stitched me up. So yeah, not the greatest birth experience, but I suppose all is well that ends well! I got my perfect, healthy boy and it doesn't get better than that! When my OB came to see me later, he seemed quite surprised by the meds they gave me. On the plus side, I didn't throw up at all! After Ben, I was throwing up for 8+ hours after delivery.
My recovery was rough initially, but overall it seems to be better than last time. Ben is so sweet in remembering that I cannot carry him because I have a big owie on my tummy. Speaking of Ben, he has done so well in his new role as the big brother. He has been acting out a little more than usual, but overall he is so sweet, loving, and gentle. He wants to kiss and hold him all the time. He has a bit of a cold so we are trying to limit their close contact, which is hard to do! This video isn't the first time they met (my dad has that one), but it is still sweet.
The nurses I had on the Mom/Baby unit were amazing. We even had my favorite nurse from when Ben was born. I just now realized that I didn't get pictures with any of the RNs, but we totally should have!
I am sure there are things that I am missing, but that's all I can think of for now. He already had his first pediatrician appointment and at 4 days old, he was almost back to his birth weight. He was/is a little jaundiced, but he doesn't need any further labs for this. He is nursing like a champ which was so surprising because nursing didn't exactly go well last time. My milk has also come in with a vengeance, just like last time, so I'm hoping that regulates soon!
The pediatrician recommended that we limit visitors for at least the first 2 weeks of his life to help him stay as healthy as possible. If a newborn gets a fever, he/she needs to be admitted to the hospital for a sepsis workup. For this reason, we decided that Josh and I will stay home from all of the Christmas festivities we have planned over the next several days. I did cry a bit--darn hormones--but I am just so grateful to be HOME and not in the NICU that I really can't complain. Andy has been sending pictures and my guess is Ben won't remember that I wasn't there. :)
Although we won't have a white Christmas this year, we are going to try and do everything we can to make this Christmas as festive as possible…at home! Clearly we already got the best gift every this year. We are so blessed. Merry Christmas to all!
