A little more than halfway through my pregnancy, I decided I wanted to go with an elective c-section. I had a back surgery in 2007 on my tailbone, so I didn't want to risk flaring up that condition during childbirth. I also spoke with my doctor about it thouroughly, and he said there was a chance I would end up in an emergency c-section as is because of my height and other reasons. I KNEW I did NOT want to go that route - I wanted Kent's delivery to be happy and low stress, so after weighing all the options, made my decision and let the doctor know. We scheduled it for September 13, 2010, at 9:00 AM.
So that morning, we took off for the hospital SUPER early. We had to be there at 7:00 AM and live an hour and twenty minutes away!
When we got to the hospital, we got all checked in, they changed me into a gown, and loaded me up with IV fluids... I was so excited though that none of that bothered me. :)
Chad got changed into scrubs so he could witness the birth!
Then they wheeled me back to the OR where they sent Chad out for a few minutes. They gave me my spinal, which at first was a little scary, I'll admit. I started shaking as they tried to give it to me and they had a hard time finding a good spot on my back because of the scar tissue from my previous surgery. All this was making me very nervous and I thought my doctor wasn't even in the room, making me more freaked out. As the anesthesiaologist tried to calm me down a bit, I suddenly heard my doctor's voice giving me very specific directions on how to proceed. It calmed me down SO much! He is also quite the joker and made the joke to "arch my back like an angry cat" which made me giggle and calm down. Spinal tap in, they laid me down on the bed, put a curtain up, and got me ready for surgery.
The spinal did make me very nauseas, which the doctors told me might happen. I let them know and then it seemed to get worse, which freaked me out a little more, so I let them know again. All I could see were the anestheaologist's eyes and a mask, and I remember they were very kind eyes that were actually sympathetic. He talked me down from the nauseasness and gave me some medicine that made it better. Right then they sent Chad in. He held my hand and we got ready to witness our son's birth. I figured it would take what would feel like hours....
Boy, was I wrong! Almost 5 minutes later, they told me I would feel a lot of pressure in my chest... and I did. TONS. It was not really painful, just uncomfortable, so I looked over at the anesthesiaologist again with a worried look. He again calmed down and said, "Don't worry! They're just getting his head out!" HIS HEAD??? We're that close to delivery??? I remember thinking.
And then, they yelled, "It's a BOY!!!" and my doctor held him up so I could see this: [sorry for the squemish, but this is quite a moment I want to remember]
Then it was a whirlwind. Everything happened so fast! They handed him off to Chad first while I looked on...
Then the nice doctor who kept comforting me held him close to my face so I could get a good look at him and give him a kiss. I remember he felt SO warm!
They took him away and did all of his testing and Chad got lots of pictures of him as they did that, here's one:
And then Chad and Kent went off to the nursery while they completed my surgery. At that moment I was overwhelmed with joy about my little one but a little anxious being there alone. My doctor then came and sat next to me, held me hand and talked to me for a few minutes. He told me my baby was beautiful and everything looks great. He said I was doing fantastic and would be done shortly. It was so calming admist all the chaos for him to take a moment like that with me.
They took me off to recovery for an hour or so. The spinal was making me shake a LOT, but other than that recovery was easy. They sent Chad in about halfway through to tell me that the baby looked great and everything was fine. Then he left to go back with the baby.
On the way to my room, they wheeled me by the nursery and held up Kent for me to see. It was surreal - he is so perfect! I couldn't believe this amazing little person came out of me, that Chad & I created something so beautiful.
About an hour or so later, I FINALLY got to hold my little man for the first time. I will cherish that moment forever!
I am so grateful the birth was a smooth one! I am so blessed and overwhelmed with joy. The Lord is good!
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