Introducing Brady Nathan!
July 21, 2009 2:40pm
6lb 4oz 18.5 inches
Then the nurse took us back to the room where we would be before surgery and after for recovery. She had me put on the hospital gown and socks and head into bed.
They put on the monitors and starting asking all about my medical history and things like that. We watched the baby's heart rate and listened intently making sure all was well.
Interestingly enough, I was having regular contractions. I wonder how long I would have made it if I hadn't had a c-section that day.
Finally it was 2pm, and it was time to head into surgery. Nate put on his paper scrubs, I put on my hat, and it was time to go. We took one last picture as a couple. Soon we would be a family!
They wheeled me into the OR and made Nate wait outside the door. The next 15 minutes seemed like they were the longest 15 minutes in my life as I waited for him to come back in. The OR was freezing cold, and I was shaking. It was part because of the cold, and part because I was so nervous. They had me sit on the operating table as we waited for anesthesia to come in. When he got there, it was time to get my spinal. I had to lean over on a nice nurse as they numbed me and put it in. I remember being so thankful to her because she held me so close, and her body heat helped warm me up and not shake. I remember saying a prayer that I could stop shaking because I was scared of shaking while he was trying to get the spinal in.
After it was in, they quickly had me lay back on the table. Almost immediately, my legs started feeling tingly. I was still waiting for Nate and worrying that he still wasn't there since everyone was now moving so quickly. They put the arm rests on the table and had me stretch them out. Then they put the curtain up just in front of my face. I remember being surprised that it was so close to my face. I was put on oxygen, and they moved my legs down where they were supposed to be. At this point I asked when Nate was going to come in, and they said right now.
Nate came in and sat at the left side of my face. He held my hand, and the surgery started. I could feel a lot of tugging and pulling. Every so often they would tell me, "you're going to feel a lot of pulling" and I did! I was surprised that I could feel so much pressure. But I didn't feel any pain at all.
Before I had gone in, my mom asked the anesthesiologist if he could make sure that he told me just before they were going to pull him out. So the anesthesiologist told me I was going to hear a lot of suction, and that he was coming out. I heard the suction, and then he was here! He was crying, and they took him right over to a little bed where they cleaned him up and checked him out.
If I looked over to the side, I could just see his little legs up in the air as they checked him. I ended up reaching over and grabbing the curtain and pulling it to the side a bit so I could see better. The anesthesiologist was scared I was going to reach around, so he told me not to reach past a certain point! Because I hadn't seen him yet, Nate snapped a picture and brought the camera over to me so I could see my little boy for the first time. This was my first glimpse at the little piece of heaven that was joining our family.
They took him over to be weighed, and I asked Nate to make sure that he got a picture of the scale. They called out and told me that he weighed 6 lb 4 oz. Everyone was surprised including my doctor who commented that he was bigger than she expected.
Finally after what seemed like forever, they brought my little boy over to me. I got to see him for the first time and cried tears of joy.
I asked the nurse to let me see his hair. I always thought he would have a head full of thick hair since that's what I had, but to my surprise he was very thin on the top! He did have thicker hair on the back of his neck.
I asked the anesthesiologist to take our very first family picture.
I said goodbye to Nate and my new little boy. They were off to the nursery, and I would be staying to be stitched back up. They let me take the oxygen off, and I laid there just amazed that we were now parents. I didn't even mind that I was alone in there because I was on cloud 9. Everyone kept asking me if I was okay, and before I knew it they were finished. They took down the curtain, and wheeled me back to the room where we had started.
I was alone in that room for awhile with the nurse as they checked my vitals and made sure everything was going as planned. At one point I could hear my family up the hall looking through the nursery windows.
Finally Nate came back into the room. He came over to me, and we shared one of the most special moments of my life. He told me that I did a good job, and we cried together.
The nurse was about to bring the baby back in, and she asked if we wanted our family in the room or if we wanted to have a few moments together as the three of us. We decided to take a few minutes together. So the family filed out, and they brought our beautiful baby in. We kissed him and told him how much we loved him.
Then our family came back in, and we passed him around to all of the grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts, and uncles. He was so alert for the whole night! He kept his eyes open wide and even turned when he heard my voice.
We stayed at the hospital until Saturday morning when we were released. The recovery from the c-section has definitely not been as bad as I expected. Getting up and walking that first night was not pleasant, but it got easier and easier every single day. Here we are ready to go home as a family!
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