The play by play

This post is for those of you who like to hear every last detail of the birth process.  Okay, not every last detail, I prefer to keep it PG for sure, but a more extended version than Jerel would provide (so longer than 5 words at least).

The c-section was scheduled for Monday Nov. 29th.  We didn't want her born on a day that could end up being Thanksgiving.  I was shooting for BEFORE the thanksgiving days, the doctor chose a day AFTER.  Eliza chose her own day.  I woke up Saturday morning and thought "Maybe I'll have Cheerios for breakfast...oh wait, there is leftover apple pie, I will definitely have that."  So I got up at 6am to have my pie for breakfast and wasn't even down the stairs before I realized something was wrong--my water broke.  My first thought was "Huh, I wonder if this means I'm having the baby today."  Followed immediately by "Ugh.  You can't eat before surgery, that means no apple pie for breakfast."  Definitely the biggest disappointment of the day.

So I took a shower to clean up, then tapped Jerel on the shoulder and said "Um, I think my water broke."  He responded "Really?"  Me  "Yep.  I"m not really sure what that means."  Him "Aren't we supposed to go to the hospital or something?"  Me "I dunno.  I guess I should at least call the doctor."  Now, before you conclude that I am completely an idiot, keep in mind that I was induced with Isaiah so I never had the normal labor/birth process.  Also I had no had any contractions, so it didn't seem like delivery was imminent.  Anyway, so the on-call doctor called me right back and asked if my water had broken, yes, then she said I should come to the hospital.  Me:  "Like right now?"  Her "What were you expecting me to say?"  Me (thinking great, now she thinks I'm an idiot) "Um, well, I just meant do I have time to drop off my son with a sitter or do we need to come immediately?"  Her "You have time, be here in 45 minutes."  So I told Jerel he had to get up, then called Tammy (our super babysitter) because I thought it had probably been awhile since anyone woke her up at 6am on a Saturday and told her Isaiah would be spending the morning with her.  This is when I started thinking it might have been a good idea to pack my bags early.  But remember I thought I had until Monday...so I threw a few things into a backpack and off we went.  Dropped off Isaiah and got to the hospital around 7:15.

First things first--they check to see if my water really broke.  I crossed my fingers because there was always the possibility that I just wet myself and that would be embarassing now that I'm past kindergarten. So the doctor comes in (the one who already thought I was a big dummy) and I proved her wrong by actually having ruptured membranes, so there!  I felt much better because now she probably just thought I was moderately stupid instead of all the way stupid.  Anyway, so since it was a weekend they had to call people in to assist with the surgery, so we had about an hour to wait.

A scheduled c-section was so different from my emergency one with Isaiah.  This time they actually explained everything that was going to happen.  The downside was there was more time to freak out and notice things.  For example I don't remember the epidural hurting at all with Isaiah, but this time it hurt a lot (and this time was a spinal which is a smaller needle).  Also with Isaiah I don't remember all the tugging during the surgery but this time it felt like they were pulling me all over the place.  At one point I even asked the doctor why she was sitting on my stomach.  And I made the anesthetist laugh because he put something on my arm and said it was a heart monitor.  Well I didn't want him to go around embarassing himself so I tried to discreetly let him know that the heart is not in the arm after all, it's in the chest.  It wasn't really even funny, but I felt since I'd dragged them all out of bed I should at least entertain them a bit.  It wasn't all one-sided though...when the doctor was stapling me shut it sounded gross because it sounded just like a stapler.  I didn't like hearing it knowing it was going into my skin so I asked if she could sing some kind of ditty while she worked.  She and the assistant surgeon never could settle on a song, but it was nice of her to consider it.

Anyway, the operation started at 8:56 (which I remember because 56 is my favorite number) and Eliza Mae arrived at 9:18 (by "arrived" I mean "was forcibly yanked out of me).  The doctors were all talking about how huge she was so I was picturing a 15 pound monster baby, but when I saw her she looked normal size to me.  Turns out she was 8 pounds 4 ounces, so 4 ounces smaller than Isaiah. And since I'm used to children being Isaiah's size she seems tiny to me.  But everytime I mentioned to a nurse how small she is, they looked at me like I was crazy.  Jerel reported that she is already overweight because she's only 19 inches long (Zay was 21) and when I rolled my eyes he defended himself by saying the nurse had said she seeemed a bit short for her weight.  Good, I'm glad we're all paranoid about her weight already...But really I think she's perfect. 

So after she came, Jerel left with her and they finished stitching and stapling me.  It was so much more relaxed this time.  I even remember the radio in the O.R. was playing Lyle Lovett's "She's no lady."  I also remember wishing it was playing something else because that's a dumb song to play while a baby's being born. 

The doctor said it was a good idea I had a repeat c-section (which I did because if it's been less than 18 months since your previous c-section you have an increased risk of uterine rupture, which doesn't sound fun) because there was some sort of blood clot in the uterus that would have been "dangerous to labor on."  I think that means I almost died and, therefore, Jerel should buy me presents.

Last time I took a long time to recover because I hemorhaged and even with blood transfusions was weak for quite some time, but this time was all normal and I can already tell a big difference.  Last time I was in the hosptial for 5 days, this time I stayed just 2 nights.  And they must have given me better painkillers this time because although I'm plenty uncomfortable and walked hunched over like an old lday, I feel much less pain.  I'm definitely not back to normal and still have a lot of restrictions on what I can do.  The hardest part is that I can't lift Isaiah.  Jerel is giving him lots of attention and he is doing just fine, but I miss holding him and kissing him and playing with him.

Zay loves his little sister.  He always wants to see her, so Jerel will pick him up to show him where she's sleeping.  He likes to poke at her eyes, so we're working on getting him to touch just the top of her head instead of her face.  And, smart little guy that he is, he knows those tiny binkies are not his they're hers! 

Anyway, that's all the details I can think of right off.  Thanks again to Erika for the picture.  She took them when Eliza was just a day old and although she hasn't let me see them all yet (she's editing them first, which could be quite a chore because I hate pictures that show the gross belly button...) she did send me this one which is so adorable!