Friday morning, just before leaving for the hospital, we took one last belly picture. This pregnancy grew my belly much more than when I was pregnant with Faith and probably more than with Nathan, too. I guess that was due to the over abundance of amniotic fluid. But it sure made it harder to bend or squat and near impossible to sit on the floor. I was anxious to get unpregnant just so I could feel normal again :)
When we arrived at the hospital, our nurse was wonderful! And she was convinced baby might be head down!! I was hopeful, but not counting on it. I'd spent part of the morning doing inversion exercises, and praying for a last minute change of position. But a sonogram confirmed that the baby was still breech.
We may never know why God chose to answer my prayers with a "no," but I trust Him that there was a reason - maybe the extra fluid would have caused a prolapsed cord during delivery if I hadn't had a c-section... so who knows, her being breech could be what kept her safe. But I still wasn't happy about the idea of a c-section, not at all...
We met my OB and the anesthesiologist before surgery to get all questions answered, and then walked the dreaded hallway down into the OR. Sitting on the bed was un-nerving, as I waited for the inevitable. I was nervous and yet, strangely peaceful (thank You, God!). They made Jacob sit outside while I got the spinal. As soon as the spinal was done, they laid me down quickly and tilted the table so my head was lower than my feet - to help ensure the medicine settled in the right spot and I would really be numb. But while I laid there, unable to move - arms tied down to the table... I got really sick. Nauseous yet hungry, hot, dizzy, overwhelmed and found it really hard to breathe. I worried that I wouldn't be able to handle those feelings for the whole surgery... I REALLY wanted to sit up or stand. But I couldn't. So I asked for the blankets to be taken off my shoulders and the nurses acted surprised - they asked me if I was sure, because it was really cold in the room. I let them know I felt sick and hot. And that made the anesthesiologist check on me. He didn't tell me till later, but apparently my blood pressure had gotten extremely low (it's normally low to start), so he gave me something in my IV to correct that. And it made me feel MUCH better. I don't know how much of my sickness was related to the blood pressure dip and how much was jsut nerves. But when I cooled off and was able to breathe better, and Jacob was allowed in, I felt so much better.
Once everyone was settled, the surgery started. It was a huge relief to hear that they'd made an incision and I hadn't felt a thing! So I started to get excited that I was finally going to meet our little breech trouble maker... and I waited anxiously for that first cry. When they told Jacob it was time to peek over and take photos, I got more excited. And I have to thank my awesome husband - he didn't want to peek... he didn't want to take photos... but he was willing to do it because I asked and REALLY wanted to see :) Thank you, Jacob!!
Of course, since she was breech, her behind was first to emerge!
I felt nothing, only slight pressure - nothing like I expected.
And I heard the surgeons talking about how big she was.
I get more anxious to see her. And wondered how big she really was.
It took a while for her to come out, longer than I expected. But the doctors were taking their time to ensure they were careful with our little girl.
And soon enough, she was out!
And I got to see her as they held her next to the curtain.
My first thought... "She looks SOO much like Nathan did!!"
The baby went directly over to the nurses for suction and cleaning. I didn't expect that, I thought they'd hand the baby to Jacob first. So I was a little disappointed, but able to watch from where I laid. Turns out c-section babies are typically born with a LOT of fluid on their lungs, ears, etc. Some told us it was because fluid doesn't get squeezed out of them as it would if they went down the birth canal. Others told us it's because hormones don't force all the fluid out during the labor process, because there are no contractions before the baby comes out. Our baby was no exception, I watched as they used that tube a dozen times to get fluid off the baby's lungs, out of her mouth and nose, etc. Jacob told me that she had to have more removed when she got to the nursery for clean up (while I was stitched up).
After initial suction and light clean-up, they weighed the baby and measured her.
She was 8 lb, 10oz and 21 inches long.
They also did apgar tests - she got 8 and 9. Mostly due to her color.
Her hands and feet were especially discolored.
Which, apparently is another thing that's normal for c-section babies.
Then they wrapped baby up and handed her to Jacob. And then he came over so I could see and touch the baby, too. It was hard not to get to hold her right away, but the nurses were pretty good about getting her to daddy as quick as possible. And they let us spend some time together before taking her down the hall for a bath and other tests. Jacob followed the baby and I waited for the doctors to finish, then was wheeled into recovery - where I stayed (very pleasantly pain free) for 2 hours. And I waited for Jacob and baby there.
The nurses were suppose to bathe the baby and bring her right back to the recovery room for warming and nursing. But somehow there was a miscommunication, and it was almost 2 hours from the time of her birth, before she came to me. I was upset about it, but there was nothing I could do. I tried to be patient, but made my requests to nursery nurses known. And my L&D nurse (the same one I'd had since admitting, who really was super awesome) helped fight for me to get baby asap.
C-section policies (in regard to how long they kept the baby away from mom) was the primary reason we picked the hospital we picked (Methodist at Stone Oak). Ok, it was the only reason... the other hospital my OB delivers at (North Central Baptist) is much bigger, much more business-like and has some pretty unfriendly mom/baby policies, in my opinion. They also offer a lot of perks though... perks that Jacob wishes we had at Methodist. So when it took so long to get the baby in recovery, I felt kinda bad about picking a hospital with small postpardum rooms, and no filet mignon meal for the daddy.... but at the same time, I'm grateful to be here - I've loved all (ok, most) of the nurses and staff and have been so well cared for. And 2 hours of waiting wasn't too bad... the baby nursed like a champ immediately and knowing Jacob was allowed to be with her when I wasn't, was a blessing!
It was worth the wait, once I finally had the baby in my arms in the recovery room :)
There's proud daddy, in the recovery room - he carried the baby down the hall as I got transfered to a post pardum room.
Once baby & I were settled, Jacob got all my stuff from the van and brought it to my room. We spent a little time together with our newborn and then he headed out to go pick up Nathan, Faith and some dinner for them all (I was unlucky enough to be on a liquid diet... bleh). Before I knew it, Jacob was back and our whole family of five was together. I'll share those pictures in a a later post :)
Thank you all for your prayers, encouragement and advice during our last few weeks of pregnancy and delivery. I know there is no way I could have been mentally or phsyically prepared for that day without friends to share their experiences. And there's zero possibility that I could have been at such peace and low stress going into surgery, without your prayers and God's grace. This pregnancy has been quite a roller-coaster ride for me... but God has used it to teach me much about myself, and even more about Himself. I am eternally grateful for His love and His blessing of our new little baby girl - Ruth Noelle Wuenschel. I pray she grows into a woman who puts all her trust in the Lord, and is filled with His peace and patience in every trial of her life. I can't wait to see how the Lord works in her life - or in our family's life as we move into our new normal.
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