Once we had scheduled the C-section for Davis, it was very surreal knowing how soon we would be meeting him. Even after nine months of pregnancy, it was hard for me to imagine that I was really and truly going to have a baby when all was said and done. People had been asking me for weeks if I had packed my hospital bag and were appalled when I said no. Well, I finally did pack my hospital bag . . . right before we left for the hospital on March 16 to have Davis!
We arrived in the childbirth center at 8 a.m. for prep, and the first two people we saw at the nurse's station were familiar faces - the nurse who taught our labor and delivery class and the nurse who taught our Cesearean preparation class. It was nice to be welcomed by people who already knew me and it did make me feel more comfortable knowing that Sarah (who taught our L&D class) would be my RN for the day.
Looking back, that whole day is kind of a blur. After being checked in and weighed, we got settled in an enormous labor and delivery room and did paperwork, got my IV, spoke with the anesthesiologist and my doctor, and all that fun stuff. (Edited to add: We also found out that baby had moved again and was in a more oblique/transverse position, so no longer head-down . . . probably a good thing we had opted for a C-section.) It was after 10 when they wheeled me down the hall to the operating room.
The worst part was definitely the spinal block. They had a little bit of a hard time placing it correctly, and it HURT -- a LOT! At this point I was freaking out a little bit inside about what was going to happen. I was worried about whether I was really and truly going to be numb and was trying not to think about the fact that they were going to cut me open in a few minutes as they got me arranged on the table and draped for the surgery. It helped a little once Greg was able to join me and sit by my head, so I could look back at him and talk to him as he stroked my head and I tried to ignore the odd pulling and tugging sensations on the other side of the curtain.
And just like that, before I knew it, Davis was born! As he came out, Dr. Fenoughty made a surprised comment about how big he was and remarked that he looked just like his daddy. It was a boy! My worries weren't over yet. I really wanted to hear my baby cry and be able to see him. They whisked him over to the warmer to work on him and I heard his first feeble cries. Greg was able to see him and take pictures while I was being sewn back up. They weighed him and he was a whopping 9 pounds 15.7 ounces! This was funny because, while waiting for the operation, Greg had guessed that the baby would be just under 10 lbs, 9 lbs 15 oz, and he was so right! I got only a quick glimpse as they brought the baby to my head to show him to me before taking him to the nursery for observation because he was having some trouble breathing.
I was worried about my baby, and I was worried about myself as I started to feel a lot of chest pressure and some labored breathing. The anesthesiologist's assistant assured me that what I was feeling was normal and fine, and I sent Greg off to the nursery to check on our little boy.
Back in our room, Greg assured me that the baby was doing fine. He had swallowed some meconium and had some fluid in his lungs, and his glucose level was a bit low, but nothing major. We made some phone calls to our family to let them know that the baby had arrived safely. The nurse finally brought our baby in to us around 12:30 p.m., two hours after birth, and I was able to hold him and stare in awe at this amazing little creature who had been growing inside me for so long.
When we arrived at the hospital, we still had not settled on a name for a baby boy. Davis was a name that had been on our list for years, and as we got to know our little man, Greg suggested that we name him Davis Reid. Reid was a name we had talked about as a first name, but hadn't been one of our possible middle names for Davis until Greg said it - then we knew that it was the right name for our sweet guy.
I can't believe that it's been almost a week since we brought Davis home last Saturday after our postpartum hospital stay. He is such an amazing miracle and we can't imagine life without him!
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| From Loving the Life We Live |
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