Hellobee

Part 1

One of the male doctors in the room showed me a white plastic “pin,” as he called it.  He let me feel the pointy end with my left hand, then said he’d be poking my legs with it.  He started with my big toe, and I told him I could kind of feel the pricking.  He worked his way up my leg and then I’m assuming to my belly, but at that point I was so distracted by the anesthesiologist talking to me that I stopped answering him.

Before I knew it, my husband was brought in the room.  I remember the doctor telling me that Mr. Jump Rope wouldn’t be brought into the room until surgery had started, so I was very surprised to see him.  I had absolutely no idea that anything had begun, and after I thought about it, I really liked it that way.  Everyone did an incredible job keeping me preoccupied, and for awhile there, I admit that I pretty much forgot where I was and what was happening.  Nurses were talking about their kids, and my anesthesiologist was telling us about his dog.  Looking back, they most likely kept me distracted on purpose… and let’s be honest: I liked it that way.

My anesthesiologist was giving us the play by play, and  Mr. Jump Rope and I were so excited when he said, “We’re close! I see a bum!” Seconds later, my OB said, “Oh my god! Look at all that hair!” and then we heard the best sound in the entire world: Chloe Anne was screaming her tiny lungs out.

One of the OR nurses took Mr. Jump Rope’s camera when he was brought in the OR, and was kind enough to take photos of Chloe minutes after she was born. The nurses gave Chloe to Mr. Jump Rope, and he was able to hold her right beside me for the remainder of the surgery.  Seeing her for the first time took my breath away. I couldn’t stop smiling or staring at her. I was completely oblivious to everything going on around me but her.

Just as they were finishing the surgery, Mr. Jump Rope was escorted to the PACU while Chloe was handed back to one of my OR nurses. As soon as they were finished with me and I was put on a gurney, my nurse handed Chloe to me and I got to hold her while I was wheeled into recovery at the PACU.  I remember feeling nervous and asking, “Am I really allowed?” but they reassured me with a smile and put my baby in my arms.

{Our first photo as a family of 3.  You can really tell how swollen and groggy I was in this picture!}

We spent the next two hours in the PACU before being transferred to my postpartum room. The baby stayed with me at all times, and the PACU nurse encouraged us to bond.  We had skin-to-skin contact, and I learned how to breastfeed.  My parents and sister were able to visit us in recovery to meet our daughter, and it was so sweet to see my dad meet Chloe for the first time.  He really is the best grandpa!

{Mr. Jump Rope holding Chloe in the PACU}

After two hours in the PACU, I was finally transferred into my private postpartum room.  The nurses had me get from the gurney into my hospital bed myself, and I remember thinking how hard this was and how much I hated my nurses.  Having them push me to move was the best thing for me though.  I truly believe that their “tough love” attitude helped me recover so quickly and easily.

My nurses had me up and walking within 6 hours after surgery.  I thought it was a bit brutal at the time — I was sooo sore!! But now I think it’s the best thing they could have done for me.  The next morning, I was unhooked from the IV and was able to get up and walk on my own.  I was feeling great, and at this point was only taking oral pain medication every 6-8 hours.  I didn’t know it at the time, but it turns out that I did receive one nerve block (on my left side) and one saline solution (on my right side).  I never had any pain on my left side, throughout the entire recovery process, and only twinges of pain and a pulling sensation on my right side.  I never finished my pain medication, and by the third day at home I was only taking ibuprofen.

Our hospital encouraged rooming in, and I was perfectly ok with that. I wasn’t able to get out of bed without the help of a nurse for the first 24 hours, and I still had a catheter in and had IVs hooked up until the morning after she’d been born.

Chloe and Mr. Jump Rope stayed in my room the whole weekend.  The hospital had a pull-out couch in our room, which was perfect for him. My mom and Mr. Jump Rope helped with all the diaper changes, and brought Chloe to me so I could breastfeed.  My boppy was my best friend the first day!  The nurses encouraged me to eat, so I had soup and ginger ale for lunch.  They told me I could have solids as soon as I passed gas, and as nervous as I was, it really wasn’t all that difficult or painful.  The carbon in the pop really helped things along, and by that evening I was eating fruit and cheese.

Our hospital offers a candlelight dinner for two to celebrate the birth of your new baby, but we completely forgot to call and order it, so on our second night at the hospital, Mr. Jump Rope ordered take out from Max Mex and brought me back a burrito and a huge Coke.  I was dying for some caffeine after being caffeine free for 9 months!  Baby Jump Rope slept while we had our first dinner together as parents. Our lives had finally begun as a family of three!

{Chloe was very alert from the start, and was able to hold her head up on her own a few hours after she was born.}

On Day 2 at the hospital, I was able to get up and take a shower.  It was kind of hard — the shower was small, and I couldn’t get my incision site wet — but it was manageable, and was the best shower in the world.  My mom and Mr. Jump Rope kept telling me not to push myself, but I had so little pain that I could move around pretty easily.  It was difficult to get out of bed, but once I was up I really enjoyed sitting in the hospital chair and moving around my room.

The morning of Day 4, we were discharged from the hospital.  The car ride home was worse than I’d expected.  I felt extremely nauseous on the car ride home and had never been so happy to see my house before!  It was tough to go up the steps — I think it took me 5 minutes to climb up 6 of them! But once I was upstairs I felt OK again.  It was easiest for me to get on and off our couch (instead our bed, which sits up higher), so we slept on the couch for the first three weeks while I recovered.  Chloe slept in a bassinet in our living room, so she was always nearby.

{Papa and Chloe, first day at home!}

It still amazes me that this tiny peanut was ever this little.

C-Section Recovery

After I learned I was going to be having a c-section, I asked my friends and family who’d had one what their surgery was like, and how their recovery went.  Out of the handful of women I’d spoken to, none of them had had a planned c-section.  While each of them had a different story to tell, it all ended up the same:  they were disappointed, didn’t get to see their baby directly after birth, and had a long, hard recovery.  One friend told me she didn’t feel herself until at least 10 weeks postpartum.  So you can imagine how scared and nervous I was.  I felt fairly confident that I was going to have an awful experience.

Fortunately for me, that wasn’t the case at all.  As you can tell from my birth story, it was a very calm and peaceful day.  No one was rushed, and everyone (myself and doctors included!) were in a great mood.  The surgery went routinely and I was wheeled into recovery in less than 90 minutes.  I had some minor itching from the morphine they gave me, and I shook quite a bit after Chloe was born, but I never felt scared or worried.  I knew to expect both of these things because my doctors made sure I knew what to expect every step of the way.  The worst part, in my mind, was the spinal and that didn’t even hurt at all.  My baby never left my side and the nurses were incredibly encouraging with skin-to-skin and breastfeeding.  I had a humongous support system: my husband, my family, and the hospital staff.

My OB closed my incision with glue and internal stitches.  This meant that they didn’t have anything to remove (like staples), and I didn’t have to go back to have the stitches checked before they’d dissolve on their own.  Butterfly tape secured my incision shut in addition to the glue.  The butterfly tape fell off on its own in about ten days, and within two weeks my c-section incision was completely healed.  I’m 6 months PP, and you can barely tell I have a scar.

I felt sore and heavy, if that makes sense, for the first few days.  It wasn’t unbearable pain, and was easily controlled by taking pain medication.

I was fortunate enough to have family nearby, and a husband whose job let him take three weeks of paternity leave.  For three blissful weeks, we snuggled on the couch and started our lives as a family of three.  Mr. Jump Rope got up with me in the middle of the night, and even though Chloe was an arm’s reach away, he let me stay comfortable on the couch and got the baby for me to feed in the middle of the night.  Friends and family dropped off days worth of food, so we never had to cook.  Mr. Jump Rope helped me in the shower a few times, but I quickly learned that the scalding hot showers I once adored made me lightheaded.  For a while, I took lukewarm showers and that alleviated my lightheadedness.

If anyone ever has questions about a breech baby and a scheduled c-section, please don’t hesitate to contact me!!  I admit that I left out so many details in my birth story (like how awkward it was to hunch over and sit still while they put a needle in my back, or how incredibly cold the OR was), but I tried to be as concise as possible.  I know I was very disappointed in the lack of positive c-section experiences, which is why it’s so important for me to share mine.  It may not have been my ideal birth experience, but it was absolutely perfect and I couldn’t be happier.