You Really Can't Plan with Babies, Part Deux

Tuesday I was a bit apprehensive about the whole C-section thing. But I knew I had time to plan for it, get used to the idea. We talked to both grandmas and made some plans, started talking to Maggie about it, making plans at work. We went to bed Tuesday night as usual, though my brain was going a little bit faster. I had a hard time getting to sleep. I cursed the Tylenol Night Time Cold Medicine for not working very well. I didn't want to take more Tylenol just yet, so I didn't take any of the Tylenol PM which has been working very well. I tossed and turned for awhile before giving up and I went to the spare bedroom and read a bit of a "Harry Potter" book. Didn't work. I went downstairs to watch TV. That didn't work very well either and I was starting to get some back cramps.

I decided to take a Tylenol PM and went back to the spare room to read and wait for the medicine to take effect. The cramps started spreading and felt more like contractions. I started having some problems concentrating on the words, so I decided I better keep track of the contractions to reassure myself that I wasn't in labor. The contractions were between 5-10 minutes apart. I decided to take another Tylenol PM because if I could go to sleep, then I wasn't in labor. Yup, I was in denial!

The 2 Tylenols did put me to sleep. I woke up at about 5:15 a.m. or so, as usual. I didn't feel quite normal, but went about my morning routine. Took a nice long shower. Got dressed and ready for work. I didn't feel hungry, but knew I needed to have some breakfast, so made a bun with peanut butter and some green tea and took some Tylenol daytime cold medicine. I was still having the back cramps which would change to contractions, sometimes, but not every time. I made plans in my head to call my OB's office once I got to the office. When Rocky came into the living room, he could tell I was having a contraction and asked me about it. As I was still in denial, I told him I was having a contraction, but it was okay. He asked if he should time them. I started to say No, but quickly changed it to yes. The next contraction came about 3 minutes later, so I called the Family Birth Center and he went to get Maggie up. I talked to the triage nurse, who told me to have some Tylenol, drink some water, maybe take a bath and see if the contractions went away. But if they got stronger in the next 10-20 minutes, we should call back.

Rocky and I decided we should at least drive into work together, so he got Maggie dressed. By the time we got to daycare, we both knew the baby would be making an early arrival. Rocky took Maggie in and I called my work and the Family Birth Center. The nurse said to come right in and not have anything to eat as we would most likely be going right into the operating room.

We arrived at the hospital around 8 a.m. We got checked in and put into a triage room. The nurse checked me -- she wanted to be sure there wasn't a foot trying to come out first -- and I was 6 cm dilated. Dr. Rosario, the OB on call, came in to do a quick ultrasound to be sure the baby was still breech. The contractions were coming hard and fast at this point and tears streamed down my face through each one. More nurses came in to get me prepped for surgery. Rocky was given scrubs to wear. Paperwork was given to me to sign. The anesthesiologist came in and explained the spinal. Everything started moving very fast, yet so much happened in such a short time frame, it is still kind of hard to believe. We moved to the OR and the anesthesiologist started the spinal. Warmth spread to my toes and it didn't take long for the pain to go away. I was very nervous and anxious for them to let Rocky in. He was finally allowed in once the drape was placed between my chest and the docs. He sat beside me and held what he could of my hand the whole time. I felt no pain, but lots of tugging and pulling. And a 8:55 a.m. the drape was lowered slightly and I got my first glimpse of Jessica Fae. I tried to speak to her, but the crying and coughing got in the way. Trying to cough with a spinal is pretty near impossible.

Looking back, once Jessie was born, the anesthesiologist, nurse, Rocky and I became very conversational. Though I was crying most of the time just praying for a glimpse of her. I could see the white board that had the start time and time of delivery written on it. The tears started up again when the nurse took her to the scale and I watched them weigh her. Rocky followed her after that, taking care to not watch Dr. Rosario finish up me. Once Jessie was set, he got to hold her until the surgery was over and they were ready to take us back to our room, at which point I FINALLY got to hold her. While Rocky held her, I tried to touch her gently, but it was tricky with all the tubes and sensors attached to me.

We got back to our room and nurse Nadine got Jessie and me positioned to try nursing. Jessie needed a little help with a nipple shield, but otherwise did great. Nadine bathed her in our room and showed all the tricks to Rocky while I watched from the bed and kept trying to move my toes (it was several hours before I could). Rocky started making calls and surprising everyone with the update -- we had just called everyone the night before to tell them about the scheduled section and so he received several responses of "your kidding" and "shut UP!" We spent the rest of the day marveling at her.

I am recovering well from the surgery. If given a choice, I would not do a c-section, especially now knowing what the recovery is like. I didn't get out of bed or really even move by myself until around 7 p.m. yesterday evening. I did get rid of the IV earlier today (and I only needed 1!), but my first shower was not a pleasant experience. It's still hard to get out of bed by myself and walking around is tricky if I haven't had a pain killer. Nurse Julia said it is really up to us if we leave Friday or Saturday and at this point, I'm thinking one extra night here might not be a bad thing, if our friends are willing to take Maggie for a 3rd night. Grandma Alana will be here on Sunday, so we just need to decide if we want to start out with 2 nights alone or just one.

Jessie weighed 6 pounds 12 ounces and is 20 inches long. She did lose a few ounces in her first 24 hours, but nothing the pediatrician was concerned about. She is the spitting image of Maggie at birth, with darker, longer hair. She is sleeping and nursing really well. More pictures will be coming.

Updated 5/1/2012: sharing my story as part of