We left the hospital with a baby this time

One week later after being discharged from the hospital and it hit me....albeit a little late....we actually left the hospital this time and got to bring our baby home. The feeling is so surreal I can't even explain it....but I think I'm liking this whole "Earth Mommy" thing.

So recovery.... after my hour spent in the actual recovery room, although not fully recovered clearly, they moved a motionless me to Mother Baby. As soon as we were situated, both sets of our parents and my SIL were allowed to come into the room and meet their grandson/nephew Thomas.

Around 4:30pm , my patient tech for the evening came to visit me and told me I had to get out of bed. My response was pretty much something along the lines of, "I'msorrywhat?". I had heard that they get you up and moving pretty quick but I've been hearing that quick=next day and NOT 8 hours after surgery. Holy crap! Is this even allowed?? She assured me that I was still under the Morphine dose and it wouldn't be all that bad. She was mostly right...it wasn't, it just felt really, really weird. As soon as she helped me stand up, she walked me over to the bathroom which was confusing since I still had my catheter in. She gave me a squirt bottle full of warm water and explained to me how to give myself what I've now come to have read online is the "vaginal car wash". Yes folks, you gotta spray that thing down even though the baby came out the belly. I suppose it makes sense because the bleeding has to go somewhere and that is the closest point of exit but the idea of it was very strange. Apparently this would be my life the next few days every time I went to the bathroom. In addition to the car wash, I also was wrapped up by the nurses like a little sausage in my hospital grade binder. Oh my, what a wonderful invention that is :)   Around that time I also began itching incessantly which was apparently a lovely left over from the Morphine as well. I already have itchy skin, as I have external mast cells on me, so that was a ton of fun let me tell you. The lovely nurses pumped my IV full of Benedryl and that seemed to help but it also knocked me out and left me pretty loopy even into the next morning. Needless to say, that was the one and only dose of Benedryl I took.


Most of my day Tuesday was spent thinking to myself,  "Wow, this recovery isn't pleasant but its not that bad either". Little did I know, LOL. With the spinal block, they also inject a 24 hour dose of Morphine as well. I totally forgot that it would eventually wear off until I woke up on Wednesday morning and then.... Oh yeah, this sucks, everyone was right. Around 4:30am that morning the patient care tech came to visit and give me my Norco, which I had finally conceded to take, and asked me if I wanted to get out of bed and go to the bathroom. Honestly, I thought she was just being nice and asking me so I told her maybe later. Well, apparently she had a list of women to get their catethers out and make sure they went to the bathroom and I was first on the list. So she said, ok fine well I'll be back for you later. Sure enough about an hour later she was back!!! Catheter came out and to the bathroom I went!!! The nurse came in a little later and locked my IV but left it in me just in case. After I went to the bathroom twice, she did come back in and remove it completely.

The rest of our time there we spent getting to know our little boy a little better. He slept in the nursery the first two nights but stayed in our room on Thursday night. He also had a lot of visitors!!!  Great Grandma Shirley, Uncle John and Aunt Jill, Jim and Donna, "Auntie" Laura, and Mommy's cousins Mike and Donna. We also had a complimentary photo shoot with Bella Baby but after she left, I took a picture of my own with his brothers blanket. We have a newborn shoot scheduled with the photographer that did our maternity photos soon so we'll have more to share soon as the Bella Baby ones were pretty expensive!!

 

 

Finally the day we were looking forward to most arrived. The day we all go home together!!!  What I didn't anticipate was how small Thomas would be and the outfit I brought for him to go home in was WAY too big!!!  So we had to improvise. We got the bags down to the car, Thomas strapped into his car seat, and we were on our way!!

 

 

To start off the "We're Home Now" portion of the blog post, we need to start with a "40 week" bump shot since Thomas was born at 39w2d. I tried as best as I could to hold him in the exact position he was when I was pregnant....this is pretty close :)

 

Unfortunately with all the fluids they pumped into me with my csection, I actually came home from the hospital weighing MORE than I did while pregnant. I am, however, happy to report that less than 2 weeks after Thomas was born I now weigh LESS than I did BEFORE I got pregnant. Thank you GD!!  You made me absolutely insane and crazy while pregnant worrying about the safety of my little Thomas but now that he's here and perfect and healthy.... I'm kinda liking the fact that I'm the size I am. Instead of working off baby weight I can focus on losing the weight I didn't get a chance to lose before getting pregnant with T. Phew! If....and that is a big if.... I get pregnant again someday, whether I have GD or not I'm going to follow the diet again. Matter of fact...I think I'm going to sort of stay on it now to try and lose the 15-20lbs that I'd have liked to have lost last year. We'll see, LOL

Thomas was due on Easter Sunday but he got to spend Easter with us at home. However, our Easter Sunday started with.....would you be expecting anything other than..... a trip to the ER. The massive amount of swelling was so out of control and my legs hurt so bad and when I took my blood pressure the cuff said 160/100. The day after I got home from the hospital with Jack is when my blood pressure spiked to 170/100 so this wasn't too far off and I made Jim take me back to the hospital to get checked out. My MIL came over to watch Thomas and off we went. When we got there my pressure was only something like 152/85, which is still wonky but not as bad. They drew labs, took a urine sample, hooked me up to another IV and blood pressure cuff. Labs came back normal , urine normal, and as I sat there blood pressure came back down so they unhooked me and I went home! We had originally planned on going to my IL's for dinner but after such an adventure of a morning, plus my recovery was going pretty slow at that point (yikes....they say Csection recovery is a PITA but you have no idea unless you've been there, lol!!!!) so we ended up spending Easter at home just the three of us. Thomas got all dressed up with his humungo bunny ears and everything!!

 



So now we're home and we've been hanging in there pretty good a little over a week with our little miracle of a rainbow baby. I can't help but just stare at him all day and shake my head because I cant even wrap my head around the fact that he's here and healthy and safe in our arms. Thomas (knock on wood) is a good sleeper and although we did have some trouble getting him to eat the 2oz the nurses said he should be eating, we recently discovered his preference for Similac. Now he's gulping down 2-2.5oz with each bottle.

He had his first pediatrician appointment last week and he dropped a few ounces. The doctor isn't worried since he left the hospital at 5lbs 15oz and weighed 5lbs 9oz at her office, since there is usually a difference in scale and it wasn't that substantial of a loss in weight she just wanted him to come back next week for a follow up weight check just so we have it on the same scales. With how much he's been eating the last week I'm sure he's gained weight by now!! He is actually so teeny tiny that all of his newborn clothes that we had for him were too big!! 

My MIL was nice enough to go preemie clothes shopping and get him a few outfits to get him through until his first growth spurt. And here I was worried that he'd be too big and not have a chance to wear his clothes....and now he'll be wearing newborn clothes when he's not a newborn anymore at this rate! Even his no scratch mittens are huge on him....

He has been able to nap in his crib a few afternoons and averaged about an hour which I was really proud of him!!  I, of course, stared at him on the monitor for the entire hour while I had my coffee and/or showered which is one of two things I have been doing while he naps. He looked so small and tiny in his crib I had to take his picture...especially with his "King of all Wild Things" painting above him, heehee

 





You're probably all wondering what Chesney thinks of Thomas. Well, we're not too sure what she thinks. She seems to be overly concerned though with him when he cries and gets waaaaay too excited when someone holds him. I think she's already starved for attention. Poor dog its not going to get any better, haha. She likes to get as close to the edge of the couch and peek in on Thomas when he's in his Rock n' Play. Honestly, I'm worried one of these times she'll try and jump in there with him. Therefore, she is not allowed to be alone with him in the room. She looks pretty cute though in this picture watching over him.

Last update of our new adventures of being home.....bath time. He hated it in the hospital and clearly he hates it at home too, haha

That's about all for now I guess!!!  We will update again soon I promise!!

Thomas' Birth Story and events leading up to it!

April 5th, aka Easter 2015, was Thomas' official due date. Thanks to the laundry list of pregnancy complications, he was born on Tuesday, March 31st, 5 days before his due date!!  His birth, much like the pregnancy, was no walk in the park, quite frankly it was a very traumatic experience all around which is partly the reason why its taken me so long to post this blog. However, if I was strong enough to blog about Jack's birth story then I can blog about Thomas'. I will say however, that I'm glad its over and we're all safe and home and Thomas is healthy and my recovery, while slow and painful, is going well and in the right direction.

Our last weekend sans baby in the house, Jim and I decided to take advantage of that opportunity and grab a bite to eat at our favorite Mexican restaurant followed by a couple hours at Barnes and Noble. It was nice to get out of the house and just sit in quiet while reading magazines. I had a little bit of money left on a gift card so I bought Thomas two board books! The first one is "Stellaluna" about a baby bat. I had to read it in a Children's Lit class I took in college and that was always my favorite :)  The other one was "Wherever You Are My Love Will Find You" and since it made me cry standing in the children's section reading it, I had to get it for him.

Monday morning I woke up to THE worst case of diarrhea ever....seriously....EVER!!!  I was sure labor would be coming on its own. Yes, it was that bad. I don't know how I made it the car ride to the MFM office!!  My parents were in town and I wanted my mom to see Thomas on the screen once before actually meeting him. My MIL had the chance to come and see him back in December so I was glad that my mom got the chance too....even if it was the day before he was born, haha. At any rate, it was my usual BPP and it went pretty much as usual. Thomas was sleeping and not wanting to wake up. The MFM came in after the tech was done scanning me to look over the results. Apparently the fluid level was low (a little under 5) and from what he said he was seeing on the screen, if I wasn't scheduled for the csection in the morning, he'd be recommending delivery that day or the next anyways. So of course, that is reassuring information to be given when you still have 24 hours before the baby is born and you can confirm he's safe. All night long I poked my belly because I was so so afraid that his fluid would be gone by morning and something would go wrong with his delivery because of it. Needless to say, I didn't sleep too much Monday night.

The alarm went off at 4am Tuesday morning. I turned it off really quick and just sat there a minute to take in the realization that in a few hours I'd be having a baby. Would he be ok? How big would he be? Would he scream when he came out? Also I was wondering about the csection itself.... "Would I panic thinking about Jack's delivery?" "What would recovery be like"  "Would I be ok with not having a vaginal birth and/or going into labor on my own?" "Would we still be able to bond properly?".... but I put all thoughts, concerns, and fears aside and we got into the car and headed to Dunkin Donuts to pick up donuts and coffee for the L&D nurses. Bribery at its finest :)

The nurses were pleasantly surprised when we arrived with the goodies and after we chatted with them all for a few minutes we were escorted back to the first room to get prepped for the csection. It only took two tries to get my IV in which was a great start to the day in my opinion. One nurse asked me all the questions about my health history while the other one got everything situated to get me into the OR. The shift change happened and our new nurse came in to take me over to the ER.

My fears of hyperventilating were probably not as crazy as I thought because the second I walked into the OR I began freaking out. Everyone was in full OR gear, masks over their faces I couldn't tell who anyone was. It was cold. It was extremely bright. It felt like going in for my D&C after Jack. My nurse that was walking me in rubbed my shoulders and told me it would be ok. I asked her to just talk to me (I did let them know I had been through a loss) because I hyperventilate when I get nervous or scared. I got up on the table and she explained the position I needed to get into for the anesthesiologist to get the spinal block in my back. Basically you sit on the edge of the table, hunch your shoulders forward and lean forward. She would grab my shoulders and almost bear hug me and pull me further forward so my spine was most accessible for the block. I'd feel a small sting, which was the numbing agent, then they'd put the larger needle into my spine and inject the block as well as a 24 hour dose of Morphine.

I assumed the position. I felt the small sting. Yet, I felt the larger needle. Then he started moving it around. I yelped and said that I could feel it. The anesthesiologist said he was having some trouble getting the block in. Again, small sting. Again, felt the larger needle. This went on and on....poke, poke, poke, poke. At one point he hit a nerve which sent a firework like pain down my left leg. It happened so suddenly it actually made me kick the nurse holding me in position. I yelped again!  He asked what side I felt it on..... tried again....same thing only on the right. The anesthesiologist told me that he was having a problem because the vertebrae in my spine were extremely close together and there wasn't enough space between the bones to  allow him to place the block. At this point he said he was going to go get the other anesthesiologist to try. He said that guy has put in so many more spinal blocks in the Chicago land area and he was the best, so he left the room and I was allowed to sit up straight on the table. I started crying because this was becoming a problem. The nurse assured me that although they hardly ever have trouble getting the needle in and placing the block, when they do have a problem this is usually the reason why and they'd be able to get it in, she was sure of it.

The second anesthesiologist came in and I resumed the position so he could resume the poking. All of a sudden a warm feeling started traveling down my legs. "He got it!" I heard them yelling! Quickly, the nurses picked up my legs (they were starting to get numb already and fast!) and swung them onto the table. Up went the sheet and no sooner did that all happen that I realized the numb feeling was not only heading down my legs but also up my back......then my arms.....then my chest......and I couldn't breathe. I grabbed the anesthesiologist and said I couldn't breathe. He assured me that this was normal (he did explain this feeling might happen before they took me into the OR room) and they were monitoring my oxygen intake and it was at 99% which was excellent. He asked if I wanted my head raised a little, which I said yes. He raised my head....it didn't help. Now the numbness was headed into my throat....I could barely talk. It took all my breath to say "Help me please...I cant breathe".  It traveled into my neck and I couldn't move my head. My OB was asking me if I could feel the pinching to make sure I was numb. I couldn't even move my head enough. The anesthesiologist came over with a bag and began bagging me but since I was aware what was going on I started panicking having air pumped into my throat for me. I could hear every nurse and doctor in the OR running around and yelling things I didn't understand because they were speaking in medical codes. Something like, "We have a C16 over here , get so and so in here NOW!!!" .....and then someone said "Do we need the husband in here?" the response was "NO, do NOT let the husband in here at all". All I could think was, "I'm going to die right here right now..... I went through so much to get to this moment and see my baby and he's not even going to see me, or me see him". That was the last thing I remember as they had to put me under general sedation immediately.

Apparently they got Thomas out pretty damn quick because his birth time was 8:42am (my section time was scheduled for 8:15am). He had just a little bit of the anesthesia so they gave him a little oxygen but he was fine. While they sutured me up, they wheeled out Thomas to Jim (who had NO idea what was going on in there...only that no one came to get him and suddenly he just heard Thomas screaming). Jim went with Thomas to get his first bath and stayed with him until I got into recovery.

I woke up in recovery with nurses around me, Jim and Thomas. I can't begin to even tell you how overwhelming it was to know that not only was I still alive but I had a beautiful baby sitting just feet away from me who was alive as well. I wanted so badly to hold him but the block was still in effect and my arms were numb. While I laid there, I watched my arms flop upward without me even realizing I was moving my arms. It was the weirdest feeling ever. My cannula (tube that provides oxygen) was loose so I thought I'd attempt to fix it but ended up literally smacking myself in the face due to lack of control over my arms. The nurse was nice enough to place Thomas on my chest and move my arm for me to place it over him. We sat in recovery about an hour but even by the time we left for my Mother Baby room, I still didn't have full feeling of my legs.

It's been so long without a blog post and I don't want to overwhelm the blog readers with a novel so I'll break this up into a birth post and do another post for recovery and the last week!!    :)