Monday, the first, I found out for almost certain that my birth plan for my 2 day overdue baby was shot. As I was praying for an immediate surprise labor to show up any second so I could have my natural med free birth I was told to begin making arrangements for a potential c-section. I was distraught, however I would find out on Wednesday if I would be seeing my baby sooner than the next Monday, when I was already scheduled for induction. Wednesday, we went in for a progress check and it was confirmed that my little baby's head was too big to make it though my birth canal and a c-section was going to be my most likely outcome and that it would be better to schedule one than to spend hours exhausting my self and ending up in one anyway. We managed to schedule the surgery for 7:45 the next morning (Thursday). It was time to see my baby.
Before all of these appointments had begun my mother had driven up to help me out, which I am ever so grateful for because I had a meltdown at the thought of my birth plan changing from drug free and natural, where my number one fear was an epidural to actual surgery that guaranteed a spinal anesthetic. I informed Daddy and began prepping for the big day.
Day 1:
Bright and early we arrived at the hospital and began prep for surgery. They managed to blow out my vein in the process of putting in my IV, which doesn't surprise me ( I am a pain to stick) and they gave us our delivery outfits which left B looking like an extra from breaking bad or some sort of extermination company. We got to cuddle and emotionally prepare for a bit then they sent me off to begin my spinal anesthesia. Walking into the operating room jarred me, it was very bright and sterile, I immediately started whimpering and wondering if it was too late to change my mind. This passed as I decided "This is happening, suck it up and do it." They had to stick me a total of 5 times in 3 different spots and that is not even counting the little lidocaine bee stings. After the first attempt my body went into a vasovagal response and I had to be laid down as to not puke or pass out. The next 4 attempts weren't nearly as bad, they included little nerve twinges but little pain, and eventually ended in success. After they laid me back down and my body went warm and then numb they brought Bjorn in. I was a little fuzzy, I mostly just felt distracted, not stoned, I was also so very ridiculously thirsty! I was allowed nothing to "eat, drink, or smoke" since midnight, all I wanted in the world was water. When Bjorn came in I just kept telling him how thirsty I was, apparently it was heartbreaking. After about 10-15 mins of feeling them move around on my lower half, which to me felt like holding on to a tent in high winds, I felt them push up on my stomach and lungs and they wrestled out my baby and we heard a cry. Both B and I immediately started crying as they rushed Magpie over to the table to clean him up and check him out. When they finished they brought him over and placed him on my chest and took a couple pictures of the three of us while we were completely bewildered at this tiny human that was finally out with us. They took baby and daddy out to the nursery while they cleaned me up and put me back together for about another 30-40 mins. They then wheeled me into recovery where they joined me and we got more skin to skin time and I got to attempt breast feeding while I regained feeling in my lower half. From this point the baby and I were poked and prodded pretty regularly for the first 2 days.
We went back to the recovery room where we would spend 3 days, I spent the first day hooked up to an IV, a catheter, and my legs were plugged into these pressure socks. I was not allowed to stand til evening. A lactation consultant came and visited us and helped me get a perfect latch. We made it though the night with lots of cuddles and turn taking.
Day 2:
We were pretty confident after surviving the first night, they removed my catheter and I got to shower. The pain surfaced on day two, but for the most part was never above a 7 or 8 on the pain scale and that's only when my meds were late. I was assigned to walk to halls 3 times and for the most part I was feeling pretty ok. Mom came back and my father made it in to visit the new baby. The nurse had weighed and bathed the baby the night before and everything was moving along swimmingly. However we kept being warned about how the baby would be a little home sick on night two. ..They were not exaggerating. By the time night rolled around I was incredibly exhausted and all baby wanted to do was fuss and sleep directly on me, and only me. B said we needed to send him off to the nursery to get some much needed sleep but they idea of sending away my freshly born baby to be with strangers when all he wanted was his mommy broke my heart and I bawled. I sent B off to get a pacifier and eventually we got him to sleep after a very, very long night.
Day 3:
They removed my IV and I finally felt human and non bionic again. I was more excited about being rid of the IV than I was about my first shower the day before. My incision was perfect, no drainage, no irritation. The pain remained manageable and I was moving around really well. I was happy to not be confined to the bed and feeding was a lot easier with a glider chair and a couch to utilize. I also managed to change my babies diaper for the first time.
After they weighed him on night 2 he had lost almost a whole pound, being a large baby this wasn't too alarming but the pediatrician suggested we supplement and pump and the lactation consultant came in to help us learn how to use a syringe and a tube to feed the baby formula from the breast. It was a fascinating concept and worked really well at first ( as time went on the stopper in the syringe kind of swelled making it a little more tedious) and Baby finally slept really well having received a full tummy. We got a pretty steady schedule down and were feeling confident enough that we would be ok to go home the next day.
Day 4:
We had a pretty successful night as far as new born sleeping patterns were concerned and we managed to not be completely exhausted. We woke up and were issued our discharge instructions and we packed up. We cleaned out all the free goodies (there was a drawer of diapers and wipes that we got to keep) and I resisted stealing their gloved baby shirt they gave him after his first bath. It was a really nifty shirt. We came home and I sent B off to collect my meds as I settled in to the house with baby, my parents and my brother were waiting for us at the house and we took a moment to introduce my parents dog to the baby, Max, the dog, was in love and followed baby around everywhere he made sure we were being good parents. It was adorable and surprising since I hadn't seen the dog since I was about 3 months pregnant. After B came home and we had a feeding mom sent us to nap. Thank goodness. Mom and Dad stayed and helped, Dad was heading back the next day but Mom was mine for a few more days. We napped, we fed, we relaxed, and we enjoyed our brand new baby. Mom kept the cleaning and the cooking going and we all kept from starving and completely losing our minds. Moms are amazing, wonderful beings.
Day 5:
I woke up after baby slept in a couple hours over his normal feed time to discover my milk had come in with a vengeance. Hello porn star boobs! It felt like I was carrying rocks in my boobs, and my nipples were very sore from him trying to eat colostrum like milk while we were still learning to properly latch, it was uncomfortable to say the least and now he wouldn't latch. We took him to his first doctor's appointment where she informed me of this magical product called a nipple shield. For 10 dollars I bought a little silicone nipple cover and breast feeding immediately got easier and less painful, I could finally heal and drain enough to let him latch normally after a few feedings. I really wish I had known about it a few days earlier but I am so glad I know about it now.
Day 6:
Daddy went back to work and mom and I did some running to get a new phone and some baby vitamins. During the day we even managed to take baby to a restaurant where he slept and was perfectly happy. Moving around was getting easier but I kept forgetting I just had surgery and needed to relax. Over all a successful day but the exhaustion was getting to me and I was having crying fits towards the night, sleep was necessary and imminent.
Day 7:
After being all weepy and whiny the night before Mom and B sentenced me to naps all day. Though it sounds lovely all I wanted to do was be awake and cuddling my baby. But we made it a full week and everyone was still alive and aside from being pretty fried we were doing pretty darn well.
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