Friday, May 6, 2011

Where was I? (Updated)

It's amazing how hard it is to find time for updates...

So,after I got to see my beautiful baby for the first time, J got to hold him near me for a bit, and my buddy the anesthesiologist took a wonderful "first family photo" of all three of us from above. He says he's gotten used to taking that shot, and it really came out great. So he gets some cred as a photographer as well.

Then it was time for the baby and J to leave me to get stitched back up. J went out to the hall to call all the parents, and baby went to get all checked out for a bit. I'm not sure how long all that took, but soon enough I was being wheeled to recovery and begging for some ice chips (I hadn't had anything to eat or drink for 12 hours, and even then my breakfast had been pretty meager, plus I hadn't eaten anything except for a breakfast bar for dinner, in the taxi on the way to the hospital.) But I wasn't hungry, just thirstier than I had ever been in my life.

Soon enough J arrived again, and they brought the baby in for some skin-to-skin contact. They put him right on my chest and sure enough, he did the amazing breast crawl, scooting himself up and over to my breast, where he didn't really latch on yet but plopped his head down for a little rest. It was so beautiful. I think he may have sucked a little, but I can't really remember. We did get to hang out for a while, and then they took him off for the last time, to have a proper bath. J went with him and took more pictures. They kept him in the nursery for a little while longer and J needed to get something to eat - he hadn't had any dinner and by this time it was midnight. So he went to the diner across the street for some pancakes - I thought that was pretty funny, but he also said he just needed a few minutes to breathe and process everything, and I was fine with letting him go.

When he came back it was time to head to our room, where they soon brought the baby as well. We were on the list for a private room, which we had to pay extra for, and fortunately one was available. Even better, we arrived after 1 am, so they ended up not charging us for the first night - score! This was the best money we ever spent (well, after all the money we paid to CC.RM I suppose...) - I felt so bad for the people in the shared rooms. It was so wonderful to have the room all to ourselves, and to be able to have J sleep there with us as well, especially since I wasn't able to move much. He took care of all the changing and bringing the baby to me for feedings. Plus the private room included the most amazing room service food with a real menu to choose from - not just hospital food. We were living in the lap of luxury for 3 days and it was great to be so pampered as we got used to the new baby. We brought him home on Friday the 22nd (the day we were supposed to do the c-section, and one week before his due date...), and J took off 2 weeks to take care of us both. He has been phenomenal - I don't know what I would do without him. He just went back to work this week, but still takes care of dinner and everything when he comes home.

The baby did great latching on for feedings almost from the start, and we had great help from the nurses too. He has been eating really well since then, and is gaining weight at a good rate. He is very sweet, and mostly just sleeps and eats of course. Today he has been a little fussy - wanting to eat almost every hour since 6:30 this morning - I just let him eat whenever he wants and am getting a bit sore. But he is usually on a pretty good schedule of eating every 3 hours, so hopefully he will get back to that soon.

What else can I tell you? I am still pretty sore, and sometimes have pain, from the incision, but overall I have to say that I don't mind missing out on the vaginal labor. I've been hearing and reading all kinds of horror stories of being ripped apart down there, so maybe I got a pretty good deal after all. As many of you said, once I had my little sweet baby in my arms, I just didn't care how he got there.

Finally, some of you asked his name, or for pictures - I'm not going to post either. Maybe I'm being a little paranoid, but there are enough identifying facts about me on this blog, and with the whole egg donor thing...well, I don't know. I've become a super-protective mama hen, and I don't think that's a bad thing!

Update for Soulshine:
Ok, he's absolutely adorable, of course! In fact, several people on the street have even said that they aren't "baby people", but that our guy is seriously cute. He has a full head of dark hair (only curly when scrubbed dry but combs straight) and J is obsessed with brushing it (as he says, he doesn't really have much of his own to comb). He makes the cutest little faces. We are hoping that he has his dad's cleft chin - there is a little indentation that seems like it could go that way. And he weighed 6 lbs 13 oz at birth and now is up to about 7 lbs 5 oz. He was 20 inches long - so pretty long and lean. And since he was squished in there sideways, he loves to keep his legs crossed Indian style with his feet all tucked up - in fact one of the doctors at the hospital was worried that one of his feet had a problem straightening out, but our pediatrician says that he is perfect. Of course we think so!

Monday, May 2, 2011

Here we are!

Wow, time really does fly when you have a new baby. I'm sorry for keeping you all hanging and I do appreciate all the lovely comments. Everything is great here and the little one is right here next to me on the couch, my usual perch for computing. I don't know how much time I'll have to write this entry, so let me just start with the arrival story.

At last update, we were expecting to do a c-section on Friday the 22nd, due to his transverse position, as well as slightly low fluid and cord around the neck. Well, on Monday the 18th I went for my OB visit and my blood pressure was elevated. She was concerned enough to send me to the hospital for observation, though was pretty sure I would be sent home after a few hours. I went to the hospital and spent about 5 hours in triage, being monitored. An ultrasound showed that fluid was a bit lower, but baby was fine. However, my blood pressure kept spiking, so they admitted me overnight. After a very sleepless night (blood pressure being monitored every 30 minutes at first, and then at 1:00 am being moved to a shared room with a woman on bedrest who kept coughing and using her call button to ask for various things...), I was told by the doctors that they wanted to go ahead and do the c-section that day. There just wasn't any point in waiting and my blood pressure was worrisome enough that they didn't want me to get any worse. So I called J at work and gave him the news (he had come by the evening before to bring me some stuff and visit with me, but had gone home to sleep and get in a good day at work). He frantically finished up as much work as he could and joined me by mid-afternoon. C-section was scheduled for 4 pm, but of course we ended up waiting much longer. I was surprisingly calm, even as we heard that the c-section before us was taking longer than usual due to some complications. At 8:00pm we were finally taken back to be prepped. It turned out that the doctor from my practice who was on call was not my actual doctor, but one who I like very much, so I was pleased. She had been checking on me all day and was nice and calm, so I guess that helped.

Going into the operating room was surreal. It was so bright. I climbed up on the table all by myself and they got me all hooked up. (I had had an IV since my arrival the night before...) The worse part was getting the spinal injection. Actually, it was the numbing shot before the spinal that was the worst, and then I didn't feel anything. J was not in the room with me yet, and I was squeezing the doctor between my legs to brace for the pain. It only lasted a second. Then I got all laid out and the sheet was raised. After a few more minutes, they let J come in. When he saw me, I think he freaked out a bit. At first I didn't recognize him because of the mask and hat (his smurf suit, as the nurse called it), but then I did, and he was so pale and almost crying when he got to me. Later he said it was just so freaky to see me all exposed like that, and it seemed all too real. Anyway, I was so happy to have him there right beside me, and I squeezed his hand the whole time.

The most important person to me at that moment however was the anesthesiologist. At first I was kind of nervous when I met him before going into the OR, because he looked like he was about 12. He was very nice though. I told him that I often get faint with medical procedures and that I was also afraid of puking. He told me to let him know at the faintest sign of nausea, which I did almost immediately at the beginning of the procedure. He put something in my IV and within seconds I felt better. Later on, I started to feel faint and told him again, and he kept me from passing out.

As I have heard before, I could not feel any pain or even discomfort, just moving around. It was totally weird. I was looking into J's eyes and squeezing his hand, waiting for some news. Then they said "the baby is out!". We just looked at each other because it was so quiet and we didn't really believe it. It seemed like an eternity as they took him over to the warming station to get him rubbed down. J did not look over the sheet to see him coming out - he did not want to see my open belly and I totally understand. So he waited with me. Then we heard the most beautiful sound in the world - our little baby crying. Of course we both started to cry at that moment. A minute or two later, they invited J over to see the baby. He went and took pictures - I told him to bring me the camera so I could see. So that was my first glimpse at my baby boy - through our digital camera. It was still surreal. Finally, the nurse brought him over to me, all bundled up, and I got to see his beautiful face. Of course I cried again - I could not believe this was finally my baby, in the flesh. It was pure joy.

I'm going to have to leave you there for now - we need to go out now. But I will finish the update later...