Since Avery's birth story was FAR from smooth, calm & uneventful - read it HERE - I of course had some anxiety about my delivery. Since we had a c-section the first time, we had the option to either a) schedule a c-section at 39 weeks or b) attempt a VBAC (vaginal birth after Cesarean). My Dr. doesn't induce babies and said that my chances of successful VBAC decreased the closer we got to our due date, so we decided to schedule a c-section for 39 weeks, but attempt the VBAC if baby decided to come before that.
Although I was in a lot of discomfort, baby decided she didn't want to come out on her own, so we ended up with a 7:30pm c-section on Wednesday, November 13th. We arrived at the hospital at 5:45 and got checked in to the very quiet labor & delivery wing. I got dressed in my gown, got my IV, got a few visits from my nurse, Dr. & anethesiologist and at 7:30 walked right into the operating room. I received my spinal block (which is similar to an epidural but way way way stronger) and thank God it actually worked this time! We talked about diamond rings to distract me from the procedure - diamonds can make any situation better right?! After they got me on the operating table, they let Nick in the room (dressed to the nines in his fancy blue scrubs) and we were ready to begin. This time I am so happy to report that I felt very little during the surgery - right before the baby came out I felt a lot of heaviness and pressure on my ribs, but that was it! Before I knew it I heard "look at all of that hair" ... "it's definitely a girl" ... and then my favorite - baby screams! It was our baby - she was out in the world and she was beautiful! They cleaned her up a bit, wrapped her in a blanket and within minutes she was in my arms, which is where she would stay for the rest of the surgery. The hospital did not start doing this until after Avery was born, so it was such a nice chance to be able to be with her! The mood in the OR was so relaxed and fun - it was almost like we were having a party and celebrating Harper's birthday with all of the nurses, my doctor and anethesiologist. We were laughing and joking around and even had a photo shoot! Again, night and day difference than when Avery was born! 45 minutes after I walked into the OR, I was wheeled out with Nick pushing the baby bassinet right behind me! We hung out for 2 hours in the recovery room where I got to hold sweet baby Harper and feed her for the first time (and she was an instant champ!) and finally got to our room at about 10:45pm. Since it was so late, we decided to hold off on visitors until Thursday morning.
The hospital stay was so relaxed and so ... quick! We checked in at 5:45pm Wednesday, had a baby at 8:01pm, and were checked out of the hospital by 12pm on Friday! A nice little 42 hour/2 night stay beats our 60 hour/5 night stay with Avery!!
As far as recovery goes, I had very little pain at the hospital and I continue to have little pain at home - c-section recoveries aren't near as bad as people make them out to be! I am running around and feeling great. Avery is crazy in love and so proud of her baby sister and having Nick at home all week has truly made our family complete!
No comments:
Post a Comment