Birth Story

August 15, 2012

I went to the doctor today for my last appointment! It looks like we might be having this baby sooner rather later. The c-section is scheduled for Monday but my blood pressure was high and I had protein in my urine so they want to monitor my urine and BP overnight and if it doesn't go down, my doctor wants to do the c-section Friday or Saturday. I thought for sure it wasn't that big of deal. Surely it can wait a couple of days? I guess not. I'm excited to meet this little guy...whenever it is!

August 20, 2012

We woke-up very early this morning. We had to call Labor and Delivery at 5am to make sure it was okay to still come. It was! We had to be at the hospital at 6am. We arrived on time and took a moment to try and take in everything that was about to happen. We got to our room and my nurse started my IV and I signed consent papers. I got changed and then just waited. Sam was moving like crazy! He would not be still! It was like he knew what was about to happen.

Then, about a million residents, interns, med students came in and introduced themselves as having some part of my surgery. I'm always willing to be a guinea pig for education but it was a little overwhelming and I just trusted that the rookies would be heavily supervised. Enter Dr. Draper. Finally a face I recognized and I was instantly at ease. That man is a saint! He is amazing at what he does and I am so grateful he agreed to be my doctor. After a little more waiting, my nurse came to get me and I kissed Michael goodbye as were temporarily separated because they don't let dads come in until after the epidural.

I was so nervous about the spinal. I was shaking. My nurse was so great and held my hand and rubbed my arm. I was worried about nothing. I barely felt anything. It was an odd, warm sensation down my legs and they instantly got heavy. They quickly got me on the table and draped me. I was so freaked out that my anesthesia might not work. I've had issues in the past with anesthesia and I was terrified when they said they were about to cut. Michael wasn't in the room yet when the doctor asked for a blade. Enter Michael. Ah, relief. He made me calm down instantly. I wish I can describe how amazing my husband was that day. He was so attentive to me in the most perfect way. I don't know how he was feeling on the inside at the time but he was so calm. He kept me updated with what was going on behind the drape and reassured me that everything was going great.

I felt nothing but pressure. Oh, the pressure! Wow! I couldn't believe how much pressure there was. It was an uneasy feeling knowing how hard the were pulling and stretching but not feeling it. It felt like my insides exploded. I wasn't prepared for the pressure. In a way, it hurt but it was fine. Then, they finally told me there was going to be A LOT of pressure and someone was literally putting all their body weight on my belly and I knew Sam would be here any second. I instantly felt the release and heard his sweet, little cry. I began to cry as I could not believe he was here. I couldn't see him but he was here! From then on, it felt like Michael was in two places at once because he was holding my hand and telling me everything they were doing and he was able to be with Sam. I never felt alone. The first thing he said to me was that, "he has hair! Lots of brown, curly hair!". I was shocked because I would have bet a lot of money he was going to be bald. I told Michael to go over and be with Sam while they cleaned him up. He went to be with him while I told the anesthesiologist that I was feeling nauseous. I think I asked if my uterus was out on my belly because I knew that is when you tend to get a little nauseous. They told me yes, indeed, it was. Michael came back over to me and so sincerely said, "he is really cute, baby...he is so cute". I said, "really?!". This is funny to us because we joked almost the entire pregnancy that he was going to be ugly and we should prepare ourselves. We were honestly surprised that he was a good looking baby. I know, we are horrible. I have no idea why but I inquired about how his ears looked. I was never really worried or cared what his ears looked like but for some reason, all doped up, it was important to me.

Sam only cried a few times and this was a problem. The pediatricians needed him to cry and he wouldn't. He was quietly whimpering  He had fluid in his lungs and they were suctioning him like crazy. Michael came over to me and told me he was doing great and that they were just trying to get the fluid out and trying to get him to cry. I kept asking if he was okay and I was assured that he was. I later learned that everyone was sugar coating the situation so I didn't freak out. He was going to be fine but he wasn't really at the time. His sats were dropping and they had to put a c-pap on him. I was waiting for them to bring him to me but they didn't. They told me before I went in that I would be able to do skin-to-skin in the O.R. as long as he was doing well. Michael was so calm and kept telling me what they were doing and finally told me that they needed to take him to the nursery just to watch him. I wasn't going to get to hold him yet. I was fine with this. I just wanted him to be okay. They handed Sam to Michael and let him bring him to me so I could see him and kiss him quickly before they took him. He was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life. I could not get over how cute he was. I just could not believe he was ours. I still can't. I love him so much, it almost hurts.

Our First Kiss

Michael was whisked away with our baby and I was finishing get stitched and stapled. Things were a little fuzzy after that and I was tired! They wheeled me back to the delivery room and my parents and Michael's parents came in. I told them they could go to the nursery to see Sam and I was left all by my lonesome which was okay because I was fuzzy and lightheaded. I was just laying there waiting for them to wheel him in to me so I could breastfeed and do some skin-to-skin. My nurse was great and kept calling the nursery to see if they would bring him. She calmly said he was not ready yet. I can't remember what he said exactly but Michael kept calling my cell phone and updating me about how Sam was doing. Generally, the message was that he was not crying and he needed to cry to get the fluid out but he was doing fine. Later I learned that they said he might need to go to the NICU if he couldn't keep his sats up but he was a champ. It never came to that. Michael just now told me he had a hard time keeping his sats above 88 for the first hour and was grunting a lot. His sats got progressively better over the next couple of hours but he still was not crying and rather than take him to the NICU, they agreed to do a chest x-ray to see if he had pneumonia. He had little fluid in his lungs but nothing that concerned them as long as his oxygen saturation was above 90.

Proud Grandparents

They transferred me to my maternity room without seeing Sam still. I was sad that it was taking so long but later I was grateful it turned out the way it did. I was so groggy and tired and just plain out of it, I don't think I would remember much about those first exchanges. They wheeled me past the nursery so I could see him and Michael was in there and held my baby boy up to the window. He looked really good except he was so quiet and limp but he was doing well. He was so cute with his perfect head and cherry lips. I couldn't wait to get my hands on him. I got to the room and was reunited with my parents and Michael's parents. They were updating me about what was happening but I don't remember what they told me. I was in my room for about 15 minutes and they finally let Michael bring him to me. It had been over 3 hours since the delivery. Michael wheeled in the bassinet and handed him to me. His eyes were closed and he was so tiny (another shocker, we anticipated him being HUGE). I snuggled him closely and said, "hi baby boy!" and he immediately opened his eyes, turned his head and looked right at me as if he was saying, "hey, I know you! I know that voice. You're my mom". It was the most precious moment of my life. I fell in love. I was a mom. I'm a mom. I'm a mom. Crazy! The four days in the hospital were so special. I think of his birthday like my wedding day and the days in the hospital were like the honeymoon. It was the beginning of our little family and the three of just had love fest for four days.

Our first meeting. "Hi, baby boy!"

Did the last four years really happen? Yes, it did. And we are better parents for it. I know this little guy is so special and was saved to come to our family at this particular time. We are so grateful that the Lord blessed us with this precious life and we can't wait to show him the world!



*Did I mention that we had an amazing photographer to capture the entire day? She was able to come into the O.R. which is rare. What an amazing gift to have everything documented without Michael feeling like he needed to be glued to a camera. He was able to just be in the moment with me. Check her out...brookefrancophotography.com.