Little Hal Christopher Blair was born at 7:23 am on Wednesday, June 28th. Since my last labor/delivery was, put simply, a nightmare, our doctor suggested we schedule a c-section this time. Leading up to the date, I was feeling pretty calm about it. All of my appointments had gone as planned, everything seemed great. I didn't really have any panicky feelings until the night before, but I was still ok. We had to be at the hospital at 5:30 that morning. John, my mom and my dad accompanied me. Once they hooked me up to the monitors in L&D I had a hit of severe PTSD. All of the emotions and fear of my last time in that room came flooding back. Unfortunately, it was right when they were trying to insert my IV. I started throwing up, causing the IV to come out, and they had to do it again. Once that ordeal was done, I was able to relax a little. At 7:00 they had us walk down to the OR and had me get on the table. It was FREEZING! I was still feeling pretty good! The anesthesiologist was hilarious. He asked me to call him Cody....and I can't really recall his last name. Mickelson? Anyway, he put in the Spinal Tap which hurt, but not too terribly. Then I laid down and they put up the drape. I put in my headphones(a great suggestion from my mom) with my phone playing U2. THAT is when I panicked. Something about lying on a freezing cold table, wide awake, and knowing that you are going to be CUT OPEN, is pretty frightening. Anyway, at that point I had no choice. I am so glad my mom was there to pat my hand and rub my forehead through the whole thing. The anesthesiologist kept adjusting my headphones and telling me what to expect. "Here's the pushing I told you about" "They are stitching you up now" etc. Anyway, the whole thing, up until he came out only took 23 min! I felt a LOT of tugging and movement, but it wasn't painful. Hal looked great when he came out which was such a relief for me! They cleaned him off and John got to hold him first. It was such a different experience to not have him go straight to the NICU! Dr Kirkman predicted he would weigh 7 lbs 11 oz. He came out weighing 7 lbs 12 oz! So close!
Our time at the hospital was also significantly better than the last time. Hal was able to come to our room immediately and stay with us the whole time. We did send him to the nursery at night so we could sleep, but other than that, he was with us. My pain was pretty severe, but totally different from last time. I told John it was like the difference between a broken bone or sprain (this time) and severe road rash (last time). We had lost of visitors and I felt like seeing people this time, which was great! I was up and walking by the next day.
We came home Saturday to my parents' house. They were all up at the Israelsen Reunion so we had a little time to adjust before they came home. It has been such a blessing to be living with my parents right now. My mom even took Hal last night so I could sleep! Amazing!
Hal has been a super sweet, mellow baby. He is an AWESOME eater, but has a little trouble burping. We love him so much! Even Johnson has started to acknowledge his presence! That relationship will take a little more time.
No comments:
Post a Comment