Birth Story---Part 2

Here's beautiful Jack at 6 days old...I brushed his hair for the first time and gave him a hair part like Daddy.

More birth story..I think I ended last time after the amnio at about 3:00pm....So, I made my calls to my parents & sisters and Mr. Tarheel called his parents. Everyone was so excited and so was I, with a little bit of nervousness added in there. I thought...it's almost show time! I was waiting in OB triage and about 4:30pm, Dr. Tracy came by to tell me the lungs were mature and it was a go! Deb & Cheryl (NNPs extraordinaire) came by and I knew Jack was in great hands with them, if needed. Mr. Tarheel & I were all smiles and the planned time was 6:30pm. They wheeled me over to room 451...a room that I had been in many times before but now, I was in the bed. A very nice nurse...Jarret got me ready for the surgery. I had to get undressed and put on the hospital gown. On the monitor, Jack was perfect. I had to have an IV done (2 sticks but it didn't hurt with lidocaine) and I got my antibiotic. I remember Monday night football being on and I was mildly interested in the game but it didn't hold my attention. Time passed quickly and there was a delay b/c the anesthesiologist was busy. Then George came by and did my pre-op exam and he was very laid back and proficient. A little before 7pm, I walked over to C/S room #3...another room where I go at work...it felt more & more weird. Mr. Tarheel was very interested in the surgical part of the delivery and he began to walk around the room, taking lots of pictures. George started doing my spinal and I called out for someone's hand...Dr. Tracy was waiting, so she ran over to support me. Mr. Tarheel got the idea quick and rushed over to relieve her. The spinal was only about 20 seconds of discomfort and then WOW...they told me to lay down quickly and boy was that feeling quick...it's hard to describe but you can feel certain things, but not pain. It felt alien, for sure. I quickly started feeling nauseous....a common side of effect of the drop in blood pressure. George gave me some quick drugs for that & luckily, I didn't throw up and felt great within 2 minutes. I had some unusual sensations and one was the feeling of hunger! Dr. Tracy said the adhesions from my previous surgery were more than she expected, so luckily I didn't need an emergent delivery...it took some time to get to the uterus. I laughed when Dr. Tracy said my uterus was beautiful!

Then, a surreal moment happened...time stood still for me and the event that would separate the two parts of my life happened...Jack was born and he cried! They showed him to me on the way over to the radiant warmer...he was very pink and kept crying....(apgars 9 & 9) giving me lots of reassurance. Now, I'm wondering how all the mothers feel when we are there and immediately intubate their little premie....I can never take hearing him cry for granted! Deb & Cheryl were there and they were the best...taking pictures and helping Mr. Tarheel trim the cord. I could see him as they weighed him and my thought at that time was...he doesn't weigh 8 lbs...I was right...he was 7 lbs, 10 oz. They wrapped him up and Chris held him and walked over to show him to me. Some of my first thoughts were...he is so beautiful! Wow, he's here---finally!