He's Here ~ 3 wks/2 days Old

Well, James is finally here. I have been a little busy with C-section recovery and taking care of him so I haven't been able to update my blog. Things are definitely "different" when you are a mom. A lot more hectic with a lot less sleep but I am loving it.  Since it has been a few weeks since James' birth I am sure I will leave out some important details and that this will be a crazy long post.

Thursday, April 18, 2013, ManCram and I got up at 4:30 in order to get everything ready to head to the hospital for my scheduled C-section. We showered and he took out the dogs while I packed up the last few of our toiletry items into the hospital bag. I was sure we were going to be late for our 6AM check in time because I was still not dressed at 5:32AM. We grabbed everything and headed down to the car. It was a strange feeling heading to the hospital. Calming almost. I drove myself because I usually drive whenever we go anywhere and I think that took a few of the, "Oh shit!" thoughts away. When we arrived at the hospital (at 5:45AM) we were checked in immediately and I was set up with an IV and fetal monitors. The nurse came in and asked me a bunch of "personal" questions and then we just waited around until it was "time". My C-section was scheduled for 8AM so ManCram and I watched the news (this was 3 days after the Boston Marathon Bombing so much of the coverage was on that). Around 7:40AM ManCram was given his scrubs, cap and mask so we had fun taking pictures of him in that attire. At 7:50AM a nurse came in and told me it was time to go. I shockingly still wasn't nervous at all. The nurse said I "had" to kiss ManCram before I left him (which I was of course going to do anyway) and so we made a joke about how I kissed him because I "had" to.

I walked down the hall to the operating room and was told to sit on the table with my legs hanging over the side. They checked my hospital bracelets about 9 million times and asked me about allergies and then the anesthesiologist told me to bend forward and that he would be numbing me first before injecting the spinal. The "numbing" felt like a bee or hornet sting but right into my spine so it was painful but not unbearable. Then he apparently injected the spinal (I didn't feel it at all) and told me to lay down quickly so that "it didn't all go to my butt". I laid down and the nurses and doctors began to prep me very quickly. ManCram came in shortly after that and sat down next to me. The anesthesiologist was SUPER funny and kept making jokes and asking us questions about where we grew up and such. The NICU team came in and unfortunately the doctor who was "in charge" of James had an accent that was REALLY hard to understand but I got the gist of what he was doing/saying. It was 8 minutes from initial incision to baby. CRAZY FAST!! The whole time that my OB was working the NICU doctor was giving us a "play by play" about where we were in the surgery. ManCram thought it was hilarious because he described it like he were going to meet James for the first time at his house. He would say things like, "We're pulling into the driveway... Now we're knocking on the door... Now he's answering the door!" And my OB said, "Hello baby head. You are very cute." I felt a lot of "tugging" (I guess... it was another weird sensation) and then he was out.

James was born at 8:27AM and came out with a quick little cry and then not much else. Not because there was something wrong he just didn't (doesn't) cry very much. The doctor showed him to ManCram really quickly and brought him over to the warming bed. They weighed him and gave him an Apgar score. (I had to ask what his score was and the doctor was like, "Oh... 9. 9 is good." He weighed 7 pounds and 4 ounces and was of course perfect. They swaddled him and handed him to ManCram to show me. The anesthesiologist took pictures of the 3 of us together which was great. I cried and ManCram cried. It was the best thing I've ever experienced. Meanwhile, while all of this was going on, I was being sewn up from the inside out. ManCram went with James to the nursery where all of my family was waiting to see him and I laid on the table for about another 30-40 minutes while they finished the surgery. I think the weirdest part was when I could hear them stapling my skin but I of course couldn't feel it.

They wheeled me to recovery which was a small room in the hallway of Labor and Delivery. ManCram came and showed me James' feet prints as well as the pictures he had taken in the OR. Then my mom came back and said that James was in front of the nursery glass again so ManCram ran down the hallway to see him again. The nurse said that I could hold and feed James when I was able to move my feet, however I was still COMPLETELY NUMB as in no feeling whatsoever from my chest down. I felt like Uma Thurman in Kill Bill when she is actively trying to move her feet to get out of the bed in the hospital. After about an hour, I eventually got frustrated and told every nurse that walked by that I needed to see my baby. One nurse said that she would take me to my room and then they would bring James to me.

When I arrived to my room they put me in the bed and ALL of my family members flooded in (like 9 people) but no baby. The nurses wanted to check me (which involved me being pretty much naked) so they kicked everyone out again. When my dad and step-mom came back in they gave me a gift they had purchased for James and then said that they had to go. I was sad my dad didn't get to hold James but I knew he would be back in town the following Tuesday and there was so much going on that I couldn't really think about it too much. FINALLY they wheeled James in and handed him to me. They wanted me to try nursing immediately and I did. He latched in about a minute (maybe two) and the nurse gave me a few pointers and then left us alone. When I was done nursing and ManCram had some time with James, my family flooded in again and they all took turns holding him.

We were in the hospital for 4 days total. I felt like I probably could have left after day 3 but looking back I am happy we were there the whole time and that we learned so much from the nurses and doctors. Many events happened over those 4 days (and of course over the past 2 weeks and 5 days that we have been home) but I am too tired right now to go into details. I will leave you with a bunch of pictures from my delivery and hospital stay instead.