Our little boy made his arrival one week ago on thursday October 13 2011! I thought the 9 months went by fast, this week was a blink! Be warned this is going to be a long post and very picture heavy!
We were told a week prior that we would be having a scheduled Csection due to his size and amount of fluid. Its very odd to know the exact date and time. There were pro’s and con’s, we were able to leave the house looking perfect for bringing a baby home to, and yet the anxiety of a countdown made it awfully hard to sleep.
So last Thursday at 3:30 Brandon and I packed out bags in the car and took a very casual drive over to the hospital. We did comment on how different it would have been to be in a crazy rush going into labor randomly. We got to wait our check in 2 hours in a regular delivery room. If I wasn’t already nervous the 4 different doctors telling me the extreme risks over and over again sure didn’t help! My poor mom made an appearance early, she was a ball of excitement and nerves. We all counted down the last minutes, making jokes with our awesome nurse. Brandon changed into some scrubs, and all too soon they came to get us!
They wheeled us down the hall. They made Brandon wait behind while they prepped me. I later found out he used this valuable time to make a blair witch style video on our baby video. Its so him. I had an awesome team, and my nurse held my hand as I got my spinal block. I was so terrified of it. Needles have never been my friend. I got the numbing needle first and even that wasn’t too bad and it made it so I barely felt the spinal block. It just felt warm and a little weird. Then they strapped me down on a skinny little table, arms out wide. The spinal block started in my toes and pretty fast an intense pins and needles feeling swept up all the way to my fingers. They draped me and got all the machines going. I had some leg massagers put on to help circulation, and they did one test to make sure I couldn’t feel anything. I sure passed. The nurse brought Brandon in and he was able to sit at my head and hold my hand. I got really tired, so that I thought I was going to miss the birth because I was fighting to stay awake. Brandon did a great job of distracting me from what was going on with silly little questions. Before I knew they had even cut into me, the doctor was telling Brandon to get the camera ready since they had the baby and were pulling him out! I know some women feel pressure and pulling but the spinal block was different from an epidural and I didn’t feel a single thing! All of a sudden I heard the cry for life. It was beautiful and strong. Brandon followed Sawyer to the station to clean up and weigh and tag him. He came in weighing 8 pounds 2 ounces, and was 19.5 inches long. Because of the high amount of fluid (the doctor said it was like Niagara falls when they opened me up!) Sawyer swallowed a good amount in his first breath. They decided to take him straight to a transitional nursery to be monitored for the next 4 hours. Brandon was able to go with him, I saw him and gave him a quick kiss and off the two of them went. Another 10 minutes and I was closed up. It was only 35 minutes total for the surgery. They had two emergency Csections pop up the minute I was closed so they got me out pretty fast. Back to the delivery room, where my mom and sister were waiting. Brandon came in right away too, but Sawyer spent 4 hours in the transitional nursery and because of my surgery I wasnt able to see him there. But Brandon took my mom and sister to meet her first grandson and nephew. It killed me to wait that long. I felt like I hadn’t given birth yet. It was a very odd sensation. The nurses were great at making sure I was doing ok after the surgery. The spinal block stayed in my system and I was completely numb from the chest down for the next couple hours. A nurse asked if I could move my feet and though I thought I was, there was no movement at all. Then she lifted my leg to a 90 degree angle and I couldn’t feel it and though I knew it was my leg, it made my mind feel like it was a false leg she was waving around. It was so hard to digest that feeling. I was still tired but didn’t sleep.
Then finally after waiting 4 hours Brandon went to the nursery to request Sawyer in our room. They wheeled him into the room in a clear bassinet and I could see him right there but was still so numb I couldn’t get him. But when Brandon placed him in my arms I thought he was the most perfect baby I had ever seen. This beautiful round face with tiny little features that were somehow a perfect mix of Brandon and I. We had made this little baby. He was ours and our life was forever going to be changed. There was lots of love and pictures and begging to hold him after being passed through the 4 of us.
My mom and sister left around 10, though there was no limited visiting hours in the delivery room wing. Around 1 am they moved us to our postpartum room. I met my night nurse and immediately loved her. Our first night was easy. We fell into a gentle routine. Sawyer was very calm, Brandon helped out, and I cuddled until 4 am when I sent him to the nursery for just an hour to catch some sleep.
The next morning we had both, my parents and sister, and Brandon’s parents visit/meet Sawyer for the first time. He was such a sweet and good baby. I was still feeling fantastic with morphine in my system. We tried to breastfeed right away but because of the Scheduled Csection my body was in sort of a shock and my milk had no come in. So we supplemented with formula for a couple days. Which was nice because Brandon and other family were able to feed the little guy, a special bonding moment for everyone.
The good stuff eventually wore off and I was switched to percocet. Which besides making me overly drowsy, didn’t have any bad side effects. Just made it able to have visitors! And then the hubby gave me the best present. I fell asleep and because he was up working, let me sleep the entire night through! Talk about amazing new daddy! Even after going to sleep himself he still got up every time Sawyer cried. He is a pro swaddler and is trying to be a very hands on daddy. We even left Sawyer alone at home with him to run some errands tonight and came home to one sweet happy sleeping baby.
We were discharged within 48 hours of arriving. It seemed so short! I know most people cant wait to get out of the hospital but I had such amazing nurses and was feeling great that I would have stayed the whole week without complaining. But it was nice to get home. We got to watch his birth video. It was crazy to imagine him inside one minute and outside the next.
Its been a great first week. Lots of visitors, 2 or more extra people in the house. My sister, my dad, and my best friend from Texas rotating through, and now just my mom. Who leaves Wednesday and that just feels too soon! It will be hard to not have Grandma down the street. But it will be nice to have some alone family time too. Sawyer is such a good sweet baby. Only crying when he needs something. And I just think he’s too cute! I don’t think my camera battery has ever died faster, or the SD card filled so quickly. I’m going to need to figure out a digital storage system fast!
Thanks to everyone who made this pregnancy, delivery and recovery easier for me. My friends and family, my nurses at CMFM monitoring, my nurses at Summerlin hospital, and especially my husband. Without whom I would never have had such a beautiful perfect baby. Its so amazing to have such a strong support system, and know how loved this little boy is already!
