In preparation for today's activities, my parents came into town on Sunday afternoon. They got here in time for dinner and had brought some barbecue from Little Pigs in Statesville. I walked them through the notes I'd written to prepare them for taking care of Mitchell. They would need to take Mitchell to swim lessons on Tuesday, so we took advantage of needing to show them where the pool was and we went to Bruster's after dinner for ice cream. It helped me to have the distraction of making sure everything was set for my parents and for Mitchell. I hoped that I hadn't forgotten anything!
Mom and Dad slept in Mitchell's room, so Mitchell slept on our floor. I thought we would end up waking him up since we had to keep up so early, but he slept through everything.
We got up at 4am and got to the hospital at 5am. They took us back to pre-op pretty quickly and started processing us. They hooked me up to a fetal monitor and I was surprised to see that I was having contractions because I hardly felt them! Although I don't know if they were big or minor contractions. They started an IV with some medication and then we waited for the anesthesiologist to come and give me the epidural. It was no fun at all getting the epidural. I think when I got it with Mitchell, I had least had the contractions to distract me and since I'd pushed for 3 hrs, I was just done and ready for some relief. But once it was in, everything was good. I did get the shakes, which is completely normal and actually means the epidural is doing what it's supposed to do. After they made sure I was numb, they inserted the catheter and then we just had to wait for the word that the OR was ready for us.
They wheeled me to the OR just a few minutes before 7. That is when I started to get really nervous and started crying. I was beginning to doubt the decision to have a c-section and just started worrying that something would be wrong with her. The staff was amazing and they were really sweet and talked me through the whole thing. Once I was ready, they brought Dave in and he stood by my left side and I just squeezed the heck out of his hand. I eventually had to let go though because my fingers were becoming numb from squeezing so tight!
We had a doula for Mitchell's birth and she took some amazing pictures of the actual c-section. I wasn't sure if the pictures were "legal" and I didn't know if we would be allowed to take the same type pictures this time around. But the OB was great and told Dave that she would even tell him when to turn the camera on and when to get the "money shots". They were really accommodating and patient and let him get several good pictures.
Macey Wynne was born at 7:14 am and started crying/wailing immediately. Mitchell didn't do that, so that was nice to hear! I couldn't see her while they were checking her out because she was behind me. But the nurse was trying to tell me what was going on with her and after her assessment was complete, they brought her over so I could see her. Dave went with her to recovery while I got stitched up.
Fresh baby
I finally got a good look at her in the recovery area. I was most anxious to find out what she weighed and what her color was. The recovery room nurse was raving about her hair color and how pretty it was. It's pretty much the same color as Mitchell's was when he was born. She looks a lot like he did when he was born.
Thankfully the recovery room was a lot less crowded than it was when we had Mitchell. We were the first ones and only ones in there. Another family arrived a little while later, but the whole time I was in recovery, it was just 2 families.
She weighed in at 8 lbs, 2 ounces and was 20". I actually guessed that she would weigh 8 lbs, 2 oz because I figured she would be slightly smaller than her brother. For comparison, Mitchell was 8 lbs, 6 ounces and 21 3/4".
The nurse said she was "pulling" while she was breathing, which can be normal, but something they keep an eye on. Then she checked her blood sugar and it was 35. They like for it to be over 40. So she suggested that I nurse her...which I loved that she suggested that instead of immediately going to formula. She latched on immediately and nursed like a pro. We were all impressed! She nursed for a good 15-20 mins. Her breathing hadn't improved and it wasn't time to check her blood sugar yet and the nurse decided to send her to the transition nursery for observation.
Thankfully the recovery room was a lot less crowded than it was when we had Mitchell. We were the first ones and only ones in there. Another family arrived a little while later, but the whole time I was in recovery, it was just 2 families.
She weighed in at 8 lbs, 2 ounces and was 20". I actually guessed that she would weigh 8 lbs, 2 oz because I figured she would be slightly smaller than her brother. For comparison, Mitchell was 8 lbs, 6 ounces and 21 3/4".
The nurse said she was "pulling" while she was breathing, which can be normal, but something they keep an eye on. Then she checked her blood sugar and it was 35. They like for it to be over 40. So she suggested that I nurse her...which I loved that she suggested that instead of immediately going to formula. She latched on immediately and nursed like a pro. We were all impressed! She nursed for a good 15-20 mins. Her breathing hadn't improved and it wasn't time to check her blood sugar yet and the nurse decided to send her to the transition nursery for observation.
I was moved to the family care center and into a room with a great view. It was so much better than the room I had with Mitchell. I had a nice view of the King and Queen buildings.
My nurse was able to give us a few updates about Macey and someone also called from the nursery to let me know how she was doing. When they checked her blood sugar again, it was 47 and she didn't need any formula supplementation. They finally brought her to me around 12:15. Meanwhile, my parents and Dave went to see her in the nursery. Dave was able to hold her and my parents could just watch through the window.
Mitchell came to visit after school. He walked in with a huge smile on his face and pulled out the picture that I had emailed his teacher earlier in the day. She printed it out for him and wrote Macey's name on the back and told him that I said she looked like him.
He had no interest in holding her at first. But eventually he did and he proclaimed that she was "gross" because she was spitting germs at him.
Mom and Dad took Mitchell home for dinner and Dave hung out with Macey and me for a while. We had decided that he would not stay in the room with me since the small bed is so uncomfortable. The nurses took really good care of us and brought Macey from the nursery when she was hungry. Our first night together went well. I didn't get a ton of sleep since they came in throughout the night to take my temperature and blood pressure as well as give me pain medication. Thankfully the pain medication helped me sleep in between the interruptions.
Mitchell came to visit after school. He walked in with a huge smile on his face and pulled out the picture that I had emailed his teacher earlier in the day. She printed it out for him and wrote Macey's name on the back and told him that I said she looked like him.
He had no interest in holding her at first. But eventually he did and he proclaimed that she was "gross" because she was spitting germs at him.
Checking out his baby sister
Mom and Dad took Mitchell home for dinner and Dave hung out with Macey and me for a while. We had decided that he would not stay in the room with me since the small bed is so uncomfortable. The nurses took really good care of us and brought Macey from the nursery when she was hungry. Our first night together went well. I didn't get a ton of sleep since they came in throughout the night to take my temperature and blood pressure as well as give me pain medication. Thankfully the pain medication helped me sleep in between the interruptions.
The nurse was anxious to get me out of bed, so she and a technician came to the room a little after 10 and got me up. They changed the bed and got me a fresh gown, which was nice. But I was so tired at that point and only wanted to sleep more! It was hard getting out of bed that very first time. But I survived and did feel better after moving around a little bit.
We'd been a family of 3 for so long, but adding Macey as the 4th member on April 26th at 7:14am was just perfect.
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