Then A Miracle is Born...

After all our waiting, the day had finally arrived for us to welcome our newest  miracle to the world. The morning of the April 6th came and I was all nerves. You would have thought I'd never had a baby before. Part of it was I was so excited to hold my son in my arms and the other part was it meant that all the problems my pregnancy had brought would be over.

I had been told to not eat or drink anything after midnight, which made being up in the morning difficult because of course I wanted to have a glass of water or something to eat. We needed to be at the hospital at noon and the c-section was scheduled to start at 1PM. We kissed our other kids goodbye, leaving them with my sister-in-law and made our way to the hospital.

We arrived right at noon and it took them a few minutes to make sure my room was ready for me. My room was located right next to the doors that led to the c-section rooms. I got dressed in my oh so wonderful hospital gown and got situated on my hospital bed. Then the waiting began. (and boy do I hate waiting!) It took two pokes to get my IV started and I pointed out that it had been 12 hours since I'd had anything to drink, so I was dehydrated. When I get dehydrated my veins shrink and sink deeper in my arms. The first poke actually was decent, but she had to fish a little and ended up blowing  the vein. I ended up with a very dark bruise there.

They asked all the standard questions for before any surgical procedure and I signed four or five different papers consenting to this and consenting to that. My nurse told me that another nurse would be going back with me to my procedure. She also said that we were waiting for my Dr to come talk to me, the anesthesia nurse and to be hooked up to some antibiotics. Well the wait for my Dr wasn't very long, he came in and we talked about what his plans were. Go in and cut in the same place as all my previous surgeries & c-sections. He said there would probably be a decent amount of scar tissue and that would make it take a little bit longer. He headed off to get ready for the c-section. Now to wait for the anesthesia nurse. He took a lot longer because he was taking care of two other ladies who were delivering vaginally.

That wait proved to be a very long one. My 'cut time' as the nurse called came and went. Two o'clock arrived and we were still waiting. I texted a few people to let them know we were at the hospital waiting and I turned on the TV so I had something to focus on. Christopher was playing Sudoku on his Nook and talking to me occasionally. The longer I waited, the more nervous I became. Finally at about 2:15 the anesthesia nurse came in and talked to me. We talked about the spinal block he was going to do and what to kind of expect. I told him I was claustrophobic and that I had experienced panic attacks on the operating table before. He said he'd do everything he could to help keep me calm. I also got to drink that lovely little drink, that helps neutralize the acids in your stomach, but tastes very tart and kind of nasty.

Then just about ten mins or so later I was saying goodbye to my Husband (he was getting dressed in his very attractive white jump suit and cap) and making the fairly short walk down the hall to the OR. The butterflies in my stomach intensified the closer I got, but so did my excitement. I climbed up on the operating table with some help and watched out the big windows to see the snow that had started falling about 1 o'clock and was still coming down in big puffy flakes, so much for the warm April weather we'd been enjoying. The nurses talked to me and we talked about plans for Easter, which mine of course consisted of staying in the hospital.

I knew exactly what to do when they gave me my spinal and actually got compliments on being so calm about getting it. I knew it was something I had to endure and so I did, simple as that. Besides after all I've been through needles don't bother me. They helped me lay down and they started prepping me. I got to wear some lovely monitors, a blood pressure cuff and some oxygen. My blood pressure started to drop and I started to get a little panicky. I let the anesthesia nurse, uhm, I think his name was Mike, know that I was starting to feel panicky. That my chest felt heavy and I felt nauseous. He gave me some meds through my IV to help bring my blood pressure up.

It seemed that keeping my blood pressure up was very difficult this time around and so he had to keep giving me something to bring it back up. I normally run 100/60 and at one point my blood pressure dropped to like 68/32, not cool at all. Christopher came in to join us once I was settled in and he got ready to take pictures of our son. My first c-section to deliver Aislynn was a pretty bad experience and Rhiannon's was a piece of cake all things considered, but Fallon's proved to be almost as bad as Aislynn's. (Remind me to tell you that story later) Apparently there was a lot of scar tissue and it caused a lot of trouble for them to get in there. And then Fallon was kind of stuck under my ribcage, even though he was heads down. In a normal c-section the mom feels lots of tugging and pressure, its kind of disconcerting, but doable. The amount of pressure and tugging I felt during this c-section was awful. At one point I could swear the other Dr, who was assisting, was sitting on my abdomen  and pushing with all his might. (I'll have to ask my Hubby if that was the case, LOL)

I was struggling to stay calm. I kept reminding myself that all the pain and misery the pregnancy had caused me, as well as the current pain & misery was all worth it for that sweet baby boy. Finally after what seemed like an eternity, Fallon Robert came into the world. As soon as I heard his cry, I started to bawl. My miracle baby was finally here! The nurse came over and told me that Fallon was a red head (something I had dreamed about.) She also said he had a big boy head. So, Fallon was born at 2:52 PM and weighed in at 6lbs 13oz 19.5inches long (my second biggest baby and my longest baby) They finally brought him over to me and I got to see my son for the first time. I was crying and I just wanted to hold him. Of course not an option being strapped to the table while they put me back together. They got a couple pictures of us together, then Christopher went with the nurses and the baby to the nursery.

I just had to endure the putting back part of the surgery. It took another 30 to 45 mins and then they took me back to my room, to recover for about an hour. I was hurting pretty bad and was feeling quite sick to my stomach. So, between the pain meds they were pushing through my IV during the surgery and after I had all that they could give me at the time. I have a low pain tolerance unfortunately and so I still was pretty miserable. Christopher joined me just over an hour later, just as they were getting ready to take me to my room on Mom & Baby floor. I couldn't wait to hold my baby.

Within about ten minutes of being situated in my new room and talking to my nurse &  her assistant, they finally brought me Fallon. He was so tiny and so perfect. I opted to try and nurse him right away. And of all my kids he was the only one who took to nursing right away, we had very little trouble and I didn't have to use my breast shield more than once.

We stayed a total of five days in the hospital and we got to go home together, which was pretty amazing. Aidan was my only other baby who got to leave when I was discharged. I had tons of fun getting to call everyone to let everyone know that our little guy was here, including my Grandfather, who lives in Colorado. We had quite a few visitors, which was really nice. My Mom, sister C, brother D and my Grandma (my mom's mom) came to see us the first night. Christopher's parents and kid sister came to visit too, along with my other three kids. We had like thirteen people in my room and it was a tight fit, but so worth it. My sister J, came the next morning to visit. My aunt and uncle, my cousin and my grandma came to visit it that night. (It was nice having my grandma come back to visit) My mother-in-law came to visit again Sunday afternoon, at the same time my kids came to celebrate Easter with me. My sister A and her husband came to visit Monday morning (she's trying to have a baby and had actually been due three days after my due date, but she miscarried at about 12 weeks and hadn't found out til 20 weeks) My Dad and Mom came that night and enjoyed a much quieter visit. Then I got to leave the hospital the next day.

Such a crazy weekend, but all so worth it. My sweet Fallon, truly is my miracle baby, as are all my kids. I was told when I was 18 that I had endometriosis and that I might not ever be able to have kids. So each of my beautiful babies has been such a blessing and miracle to us. I'm glad that I have each and everyone of them.