Just a little cold spray
After being told I was on my way in for an emergent C-Section, my hair was placed under a beautiful cap, my legs were placed in orange leggins to keep pressure on them, and hubby dearest was given his own set of scrubs. The reality was setting in.
We didn't have a birth plan- I know the planner that I am, I did not even attempt to spell out this event in my life. I wanted a healthy baby at the end of the day and I was all about the drugs. A C-Sect is something that we had discussed but never really thought would happen.
Since we had sent family home at ten the night before and they were all planning on coming back up the next morning- we didn't see it necessary (or feasible!) to call everyone back up. I would be in surgery then recovery and by the time I got out it would be the time that people were planning on coming back anyways. Since my dad had just landed from a long business trip- I had Derek text him that I was going in for a section. All other family members were max 35 minutes away and my dad was closer to 2.5 hours, so even giving him a slight heads up was still putting him at the hospital around the same time as everyone else.
I walked into the operating room after leaving my husband at the door and trying not to let the tears fall. I knew that our little boy needed to come out and just wanted to know that everything was ok for him and that his little heart decels were just a fluke and coincidental. I was told to sit on a one foot wide metal bed and wiggle from one side to the other until I was in the site lines of the anesthesiologist. Due to my abdominal surgery one year ago (almost to the date!), I was getting a spinal and an epidural- just to be safe. They would thread a needle in and then give me drugs through it and leave the needles catheter in should I start having pain where I shouldn't. I was sprayed with the equivalent of hair spray straight out of a freezer, then numbed up. I had shooting pain down my left side, then the right side, after the nurse got her needles and drugs squared away, I was numb and rolled onto my ack quickly by the staff and a curtain was put up.
I could feel the sensation of the catheter and the nurse cleaning my stomach- but really no pain, just an odd sensation. I also requested some nausea meds- I know my history and I am about as anti puking as someone can get! Soon my husband was by my side and we could hear the doc mark the time of incision. The doctors doing the surgery- one of which was from the practice I had been seeing and the other was the doctor I had in ER when I had my kidney infection and then the subsequent bacterial infection- were great and funny and made me feel much better about the procedure. My doctor mentioned calling a Code Pink- something i would later learn meant getting a NICU team on standby- and the other doc said that baby was term and they didn't anticipate problems so it wasn't needed. This was good for many reasons, but one of the better ones being that we could hold and spend time with baby through my recovery period rather than him get whisked away to a nursery before we could see his little eyes open. After a few short minutes- they said baby would be here soon.
A few moments of pressure and they pulled out our little boy- squirming and screaming and finally here! 0229 on 11/6/12 6lbs and 4oz, 20.5" long- he was perfect. I have never had such emotion hit me, and seeing my husband next to me as our little boy took his first few breaths and gave us a sample of his lung capabilities- it was the best feeling in the world. Daddy got to go see him and take pictures and a nurse soon brought him swaddled up with goop covered eyes to rest in his hands. It was like seeing my whole world in that little room. My husband became a father and our family was everything we hoped it would be in that little moment. I have never seen any one as happy as dad was in those first few moments- we truly had the awestruck feeling of "wow, we MADE this"
I was sewn back up and they got me switched over to another bed and rolled into recovery. My little hot potato was handed to me for transport and his little hands, true to his nature kept finding their way to his face. He didn't cry, he didn't wiggle, he just laid in my arms all swaddled in pure contentment.
After getting into recovery, my dad showed up- apparently the high ways are low on State Patrol cars at that time in the morning! New daddy and I were both so tired from the previous days events that we couldn't keep our eyes open- daddy kept dozing off on the little bedside table and chair. I was questioned every few minutes about whether I could wiggle my toes- I couldn't- and then the pain started setting in.... oh the pain pain PAIN PAIN!!!!! The nurses ordered more meds with a chaser of Benadryl due to my litany of pain med allergies, and it was slowly becoming tolerable. I was wheeled out of the recovery room two hours later- although I can't tell you how long or short it felt- I know my time with my little boy seemed to stand still and then the pain took over and it felt neverending.
I got to our room on the peri-natal floor, family was already waiting. They ooed and ahhed and couldn't wait to get their hands and cameras on our little bundle of joy. The nurse took baby to the nursery to be cleaned up and vitals checked, and this is where our adventure truly begins....
We didn't have a birth plan- I know the planner that I am, I did not even attempt to spell out this event in my life. I wanted a healthy baby at the end of the day and I was all about the drugs. A C-Sect is something that we had discussed but never really thought would happen.
Since we had sent family home at ten the night before and they were all planning on coming back up the next morning- we didn't see it necessary (or feasible!) to call everyone back up. I would be in surgery then recovery and by the time I got out it would be the time that people were planning on coming back anyways. Since my dad had just landed from a long business trip- I had Derek text him that I was going in for a section. All other family members were max 35 minutes away and my dad was closer to 2.5 hours, so even giving him a slight heads up was still putting him at the hospital around the same time as everyone else.
I walked into the operating room after leaving my husband at the door and trying not to let the tears fall. I knew that our little boy needed to come out and just wanted to know that everything was ok for him and that his little heart decels were just a fluke and coincidental. I was told to sit on a one foot wide metal bed and wiggle from one side to the other until I was in the site lines of the anesthesiologist. Due to my abdominal surgery one year ago (almost to the date!), I was getting a spinal and an epidural- just to be safe. They would thread a needle in and then give me drugs through it and leave the needles catheter in should I start having pain where I shouldn't. I was sprayed with the equivalent of hair spray straight out of a freezer, then numbed up. I had shooting pain down my left side, then the right side, after the nurse got her needles and drugs squared away, I was numb and rolled onto my ack quickly by the staff and a curtain was put up.
I could feel the sensation of the catheter and the nurse cleaning my stomach- but really no pain, just an odd sensation. I also requested some nausea meds- I know my history and I am about as anti puking as someone can get! Soon my husband was by my side and we could hear the doc mark the time of incision. The doctors doing the surgery- one of which was from the practice I had been seeing and the other was the doctor I had in ER when I had my kidney infection and then the subsequent bacterial infection- were great and funny and made me feel much better about the procedure. My doctor mentioned calling a Code Pink- something i would later learn meant getting a NICU team on standby- and the other doc said that baby was term and they didn't anticipate problems so it wasn't needed. This was good for many reasons, but one of the better ones being that we could hold and spend time with baby through my recovery period rather than him get whisked away to a nursery before we could see his little eyes open. After a few short minutes- they said baby would be here soon.
A few moments of pressure and they pulled out our little boy- squirming and screaming and finally here! 0229 on 11/6/12 6lbs and 4oz, 20.5" long- he was perfect. I have never had such emotion hit me, and seeing my husband next to me as our little boy took his first few breaths and gave us a sample of his lung capabilities- it was the best feeling in the world. Daddy got to go see him and take pictures and a nurse soon brought him swaddled up with goop covered eyes to rest in his hands. It was like seeing my whole world in that little room. My husband became a father and our family was everything we hoped it would be in that little moment. I have never seen any one as happy as dad was in those first few moments- we truly had the awestruck feeling of "wow, we MADE this"
I was sewn back up and they got me switched over to another bed and rolled into recovery. My little hot potato was handed to me for transport and his little hands, true to his nature kept finding their way to his face. He didn't cry, he didn't wiggle, he just laid in my arms all swaddled in pure contentment.
After getting into recovery, my dad showed up- apparently the high ways are low on State Patrol cars at that time in the morning! New daddy and I were both so tired from the previous days events that we couldn't keep our eyes open- daddy kept dozing off on the little bedside table and chair. I was questioned every few minutes about whether I could wiggle my toes- I couldn't- and then the pain started setting in.... oh the pain pain PAIN PAIN!!!!! The nurses ordered more meds with a chaser of Benadryl due to my litany of pain med allergies, and it was slowly becoming tolerable. I was wheeled out of the recovery room two hours later- although I can't tell you how long or short it felt- I know my time with my little boy seemed to stand still and then the pain took over and it felt neverending.
I got to our room on the peri-natal floor, family was already waiting. They ooed and ahhed and couldn't wait to get their hands and cameras on our little bundle of joy. The nurse took baby to the nursery to be cleaned up and vitals checked, and this is where our adventure truly begins....
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