On June 9th, 2017 we finally had our baby girl. I had an amazing experience my second time around and I have absolutely no complaints!
We left the house at 6:00am and entered the hospital. When we got to Labor and delivery, there was no wait and they walked us directly into our first room where I filled out paperwork, got my IV placed and spoke with the staff that would be with me in the OR; the anethesiologist, the surgical tech, my doctor and a couple of the nurses.
Once I had spoke to everyone that I needed to, my nurse walked me to the Operating room. As I got closer to the doors, the panic started to set in. I was so afraid of having another nightmare experience and the drugs not working. When we got inside I sat on the operating table and the surgical tech came in and held my hands as I got my spinal block. He talked the whole time to distract me. We talked about my tattoos and their meanings and where I’m from. The spinal block wasn’t nearly as painful as the epidural so that was a definite plus. I’m so thankful the surgery tech did all he could to distract me in the midst of all my tears.
They laid me down on the table to let the spinal block go to work. At first when I laid down I felt like i couldn’t breath (because baby on my lungs) and I started to panic. The room started spinning, I started sweating and felt like I was in a sauna. I think I was having a certified panic attack which looking back is definitely understandable, I was about to have another c-section. (For those of you who don’t know, my first was an emergency C-section and the drugs didn’t work so I felt the surgery for at least half of the surgery until the nurse anesthetist had given me enough heavy narcotics to knock out Dwayne Johnson.) About a minute later all of those feelings went away and I assume it was a result of the spinal block.
I didn’t realize how fast the team went to work but as soon as my husband was in the room they were making the incision. At first they thought they would have to make a new incision instead of going in through my previous one because my existing incision was lower than they typically are. Luckily, they used my previous incision anyways and just made it a little longer on the sides.
My husband was talking to me and I asked if they were starting soon and he said they had already started. I was so relieved that I didn’t feel it and didn’t even know they had started. The only thing I felt the whole time was minor tugging when they pulled her out.
I cried as soon as I heard her little voice. Thank goodness I got another C-section because she weighed 8 pounds 14 oz and she was 20.75 inches long and born a week early. Unfortunately, she was born with really low blood sugar and high respirations, so I got to hold her for a minute and then she was wisked away for treatment (not sure how they treat that but they put her IV in while we were in the operating room).
The surgery tech took his time closing me up so my incision would be pretty, then wrapped me in belly binder and took me into recovery where I sat for the next 2 hours under observation. About 10 minutes before leaving recovery, they finally brought my sweet Malia Rae back to me. I got to breastfeed her and cuddle her alone for a little bit and then we moved into our final hospital room where we would call home for the rest of our hospital stay.
Shortly after we were moved into our room, my mom brought Liam to see me and meet his baby sister. My biggest concern with going to the hospital was being away from Liam for longer than a night. He had never been away from me for longer than a night. I was so relieved to see him and hear he was doing well. We cuddled for a little while and then it was time to meet his baby sister. Liam and Malia bonded instantly. Six weeks later and I still find him laying next to her during tummy time, asking to hold her and giving her good night kisses.
All of my nurse’s and doctors were fantastic. They were on top of my pain medication with out prompting and I was able to get up and move around by that evening! I overall had a fantastic experience and today I am six weeks post pardem, I am 7 pounds less than I was when I got pregnant with Malia!
Thank you for your continued support and for taking the time to read my story! If it comes down to getting a C-section, don’t be afraid. Your recovery is what you make of it. Take it easy, keep up on your pain meds and walk! If you have any questions, don’t be afraid to ask! I’d be happy to answer any of your questions, no matter how personal!
Surviving Motherhood 