Emmie's Birth Story, Part 3

Part 1 is here
Part 2 is here

I know this is long but this was way different than Malachi's birth and I wanted to share.  So, bear with me or just ignore.

We decided on a c-section again since Emmie was not coming down and I was not progressing.  Since I knew there was a possibility of this happening, I had decided ahead of time to write up a birth plan for a c-section.  There weren't many requests and Dr. J thought I was tad insane that one of them included no strong narcotics.  Narcotics do not sit well with me.  I get nauseous, feel light headed and weak and just can't focus in general.  I hate it.  And with Malachi,  I was unable to even hold him.  I was so weak, I just knew I would drop him.  This was just something I did not want.

Dr. J and the anesthesiologist agreed to my plan and the anesthesiologist even mentioned that morphine, which is commonly given, could make people throw up.  So, he agreed to give me something a little lighter and they all agreed to treat me with toradol for pain after.  The only thing that I was concerned about after talking to them was whether Emmie would be able to stay with me after she was born.  That all depended on the pediatric nurse.  I was so nervous when she came in to talk to us about it.  She sat down while getting suited up and said she had no problem with that as long as Emmie was doing fine.  Relief washed over me.  I knew I could endure the surgery and finishing up if I could just see my sweet baby.

I did get nauseous during surgery but every time I did the good doctor with the drugs gave me something and it took it away instantly.  That made the poking and prodding go a lot smoother.  It was a bit more uncomfortable but I attribute that to Emmie's size and how high up she was.  I could tell that the attending doctor was having to push pretty hard to get her out.  When Dr. J was delivering her he kept saying, "Oh yeah, there was no way she was coming out the other way."  She was just too high up and too big.

Once he got her out, he held her up and everyone laughed.  "That's their baby alright!"  He exclaimed.  "Big and pink!"

She had to be suctioned out a bit but only once and she just screamed to get the rest out.  After the nurse watched her for a bit Mark brought her around to meet me.  That was the cutest set of cheeks attached to one of the cutest babies I've ever seen.  Mark got her hand lose so I could hold it and we were able to enjoy a bit of time while waiting on them to finish.  Every one was very curious how much she weighed.  The anesthesiologist kept saying she had to be taken to the loading docks because she was so big.

Obviously, she was super thrilled to be out.

Once in the room, the pediatric nurse weighed her and squeezed her in to a newborn diaper (apparently, we all forgot to communicate to the nurse that she was going to be big).  And asked if I wanted to do skin to skin to breast feed.  I have never held any of our babies skin to skin.   It just was never offered and I never thought about it.  So, I agreed and the nurse handed Emmie to me and she latched right on.  That was the coolest thing of the whole labor.  Snuggling up to my sweet baby skin to skin and getting to know her one on one.  It was a very special time.  Our nurse pretty much just left us alone.  Because I wasn't loaded up on drugs, I felt like I could really enjoy this time.  I was tired, of course, but this was just the sweetest time for us.

After a couple of hours, the nurse came in and finished up getting her vitals and vitamin k shot and then Mark got to give her a bath.  Since, I was stuck in bed trying to feel my legs, the nurse grabbed my camera and took a ton of pictures for me.

I have to say this nurse was the best pediatric nurse we have ever had.  She was so mom and baby friendly and so willing to make sure we had a good time bonding with each other.

Unfortunately, it was several hours before we got to go to our postpartum room.  With the more babies you have there is more concern for postpartum hemorrhage, so the nurses had to make sure I was stable before letting us go to a room.  Emmie had a very hard time settling down and by 2 am I had enough.  Being awake for virtually 24 hours did not bode well for my emotional status but eventually they were able to finally clear us to move to a room to try and rest.  Shortly thereafter, Emmie settled down and we got what little sleep we could.