This post comes a bit late (almost 3 months late) but it's better late than never, right? As the title suggests, our little guy was born on 12.17.18. He weighed 8 lbs. 1 oz. and was 21 and 3/4 long.
Photography: Haverlee Photography
I had a scheduled c-section due to having two previous c-sections. The surgery was probably the part I was most anxious about my entire pregnancy and knowing the recovery time is rough had me dreading the whole thing. I think I said to Will on several occasions that I wished I could just skip that part and get to the part where they're placing the baby in my arms. Alas, it doesn't quite work that way!
We were scheduled for the 17th at 10am to arrive to the hospital, with a noon surgery time. This experience was COMPLETELY new as I had never made it to my scheduled time with Saidey and with Sophia, it was an emergency c- section. I actually got to speak with my doctor, the anesthesiologist, and felt (mostly) prepared. I walked into the surgery room, was cognizant and aware of everything going on and conversed with the nurses. We talked about having a Christmas baby, if it's better to have a baby on Christmas or before, etc.
The actual surgery was not fun- it was surgery- it's uncomfortable, I always feel so much tugging and pressure- and I always get SO cold! My teeth literally chatter the entire time! Towards the end, I started to feel a little pain, so I was given a little extra "something" in my IV and felt much better. Of course, once Sullivan was out, he was able to lay on my chest while they did their work and that was amazing.
I got to the recovery room and was able to have him join me and stay with me most of the time. I got transported to a room a few hours later and got settled in and got the ok to eat. The girls were able to come visit that afternoon and it was the best thing to watch them with their little brother. At first, they were a little hesitant but by the time they had to go, they were asking to hold him again and didn't want to leave.
The actual pain of the surgery was pretty well managed and I was able to walk to the bathroom that night. That first getting up, walking, is rough. It hurts and there is no getting around that. But walking seriously does make it better. I also was not nearly as tired as I had been when I had Sophia and Saidey, so that made a world of difference in my recovery, too.
During that first night stay, one of the nurses took my blood and told me the next morning that my hemoglobin level was down to a 5, which is very low. I ended up having to get two units of blood transfused and so that was an interesting experience. Apparently, I lost a lot of blood during surgery which was a little alarming but surprisingly, I wasn't having any symptoms of low blood levels- just a little tired and weak- but I also just had abdominal surgery so I chalked it up to that. However, I'm sure the loss of the blood definitely didn't help! I left the hospital with a level of 6 and started taking iron to help boost it.
I was able to leave the hospital actually early and left on Wednesday.
My pain was tolerable, however, I still needed some pain meds to help with it. I think the next few days were probably the worse because I was still slow moving- so getting out of bed was even difficult at first. Nights were pretty rough getting in and out of bed frequently for night feedings. Sullivan had his days/nights completely switched around- and wouldn't really get settled in for the night until midnight or later. Once he got settled in though, he slept great. Thankfully, by about the one month mark, his sleeping started to get switched around again.
All ready to go home!
My pain was tolerable, however, I still needed some pain meds to help with it. I think the next few days were probably the worse because I was still slow moving- so getting out of bed was even difficult at first. Nights were pretty rough getting in and out of bed frequently for night feedings. Sullivan had his days/nights completely switched around- and wouldn't really get settled in for the night until midnight or later. Once he got settled in though, he slept great. Thankfully, by about the one month mark, his sleeping started to get switched around again.
All in all, my birth experience with Sullivan was a pretty good one. We are just truly, truly thankful for a healthy pregnancy, birth, and baby boy!
Photography: Haverlee Photography
I'll be sharing his first few months in another blog post, soon!!