So I am a little bit behind in my blogging. I blame it on the fact that I was in the hospital for 5 days and now have been home trying to heal.
The highly anticipated day arrived. May 28th. Mason was dropped off at my mom's the night before after our pre-op. Now the pre-op. If it was supposed to reassure me of what to expect it failed miserably. I feel that some things you just don't need to go into detail about and the spinal and epidural would fall under that particular category. I was highly emotional after that excruciatingly long meeting and spent the rest of the night trying to calm myself down. Though not before I had the cutest conversation with Mason before saying our good-byes.
Me: "I'm going to miss you buddy." Trying to hold back tears.
Mason: "I miss you too mommy." Looking at me with his head in his hands and a sweet little voice.
Fred: "you two are pathetic."
Can't help it. Sorry babe. You are stuck with two emotional fools.
So on to the main event. My c-section was scheduled for 12:30 so we arrived at 10am in early preparation so they could get me hydrated with the IV ASAP. Especially since I was not allowed to eat or drink anything after midnight. We arrived and were told that things were on schedule so it looked good. But it would not remain that way. We unfortunately got bumped twice for an emergency section and someone else in labor. Ugh! So after much anticipated waiting and fretting I was on my way to the O.R. at 2:30pm.
Fred was not allowed in the room while they administered the spinal and epidural. It was the worst thing I had to go through alone. I barely made it through. About to pass out, they finally finished and I was able to lay down just in the nick of time. Then during the prepping I got sick. Got some meds and started to feel better. Fred was able to come in at this point and stood by my head. The atmosphere of a scheduled cesarian is much different. It was laid back and people were talking to me. Music was playing in the background. Much to Fred's delight, they allowed him to watch as Sophie was pulled out of my stomach. As he describes it though, it was more like violent yanking. Of course I felt nothing but some pressure (THANK GOD). Once she was out they cleaned her up and yelled out the stats: 7lbs. 4oz. 19 and 1/2 in. "That's it," I thought. I totally was expecting at least an 8 pounder and she turned out to be not much bigger than Mason.
The best part came during the stitching me up phase. I was feeling sick all over again and found myself on the verge of breaking down when they brought over the cutest little bundle and laid her down next to my head. I was able to kiss her face and look at her for quite some time before they took her up to the nursery. Much different than Mason, who was whisked away right after his birth. It helped calm me and got me through the procedure.
Finally done, I was wheeled into the recovery room, where I had a much nicer nurse this time, who lightly pressed on my belly from time to time to make sure everything was closed up good. Then after about an hour or so I was taken to my room. We got the corner suite, much bigger than last time, though figured out it was just across the hall from the room we had with Mason. We spent the next 5 days in this room. Mason, Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Jenni all came to visit the following day and over the course of our stay we would have four more friends visit.
*I think there is something that says you have to look like shit just after having a baby
Surprisingly, my recovery has been swift this time around. I suppose that it mostly due to On-Q, aka pain buster, the post op pain relief system my doctor is trying out. I am the third person he has used it with. According to Fred that makes me the guinea pig.
A catheter is inserted at the incision site and delivers a local anesthetic directly to the surgical site. It is non-narcotic and is designed to get patients on their feet faster after surgery. Well they had me up and walking within 24 hours after my cesarian, and right now I haven't had to take any percocet in three days and feel fairly pain free, so it works. The only thing that bothered me was that I had to carry around this pouch that held the medicine and it was annoying, but worth it.
We have been home for a week now and trying to get into the swing of things but it is slow going. It's always difficult when you have house guests, but add on top of it a new baby and trying to heal from surgery and you can possibly imagine the stress and chaos that is our lives right now. I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but I am longing for the day that I get to be alone with my two children. We haven't been able to bond as a family yet, or establish a routine. I think once we do that, it will get better. Till then, just taking it one day at a time.