So last we left off, we had just confirmed that Elise was still in a breech position and we would be going ahead with the C-section. It had been scheduled for 2 pm on Thursday. That meant another early morning breakfast and fasting throughout the day.
I had already packed a hospital bag for last Wednesday for the version in case things went sideways, so I made some last minute adjustments, coordinated with my parents on when they would be at the hospital, and set my alarm for 5 am and went to sleep.
I woke up at 5 am and ate the same breakfast I had a week earlier: bagel, banana, and water, then went back to sleep. We had to check in at noon, so we were out the door in no time. We had dropped the dogs off at my parents the night before as to not be stressed before the surgery. I was really nervous since I've never had major surgery before and anxious that I was going to be a real mom soon.
We went through the registration process where I was shocked back to reality when the registration woman asked if I wanted to pay part of my crazy high deductible today. I didn't even think about that, but luckily had my FSA card and emptied it toward the deductible, but sadly it made a small dent in it. FYI max contribution to FSA is $2550 and since I knew I was pregnant last year and had an estimate of the cost, I contributed the max if that gives you an idea of my deductible =(
After the payment was made, we were taken upstairs to surgery prep where I was shaved, given an IV, blood was taken, filled out a bunch of forms, tested for MRSA, and set up with a fetal monitor. We were here for the next two hours. My doctor and the anesthesiologist both stopped by to chat, but it really didn't do anything to calm my nerves. We did do one last ultrasound to confirm she was still breeched. During this time, my parents made it to the hospital and even though they told us that I was only allowed one person with me in this part of the process, my parents still managed to find their way in and stayed for 15-20 minutes. I'm pretty sure my mom was pretty nervous for everyone.
Before I knew it, the hubster was suited up and I was being walked to the operating room. Everything from here on out happened really fast. I didn't even have time to think. I was just doing what everyone told me to do. I left my husband at the entrance to the OR where he would be coming in shortly. Once inside the OR, I was put on the table and given the spinal block. Once that had taken effect, a catheter was inserted. The doctor came in and I'm pretty sure she started before the hubster had come in.
Thankfully, the hubster had entered and before I knew it, things were getting real. The table was shaking and the hubster stood up to video the whole thing. (If you want to see if, shoot me an email!) I was soon introduced to my darling baby girl, Elise. Of course, this wasn't a vaginal delivery so I couldn't even hold her. I saw her with the nurse and the hubster was holding her tiny little hand and all I could do was watch and cry. I think the hubster was mesmerized by her because he was totally ignoring me. At this point, I was getting nauseous and let the anesthesiologist know and she put something into my IV to help with it.
I was sewn back up and the hubster left with the nurse and Elise to get some drops put in and measurements taken. I was then taken to my recover room. Side note: They have this really cool apparatus that you are laying on and inflates with air and makes it super easy to transfer a patient from the operating table to the gurney. It was amazing!
In the recovery room, I finally got to hold my baby and I was not ready. She was laying on my chest doing skin to skin and she was moving around and I didn't know what to do. I kept repeating "I don't know what to do". This was also the first time that she latched on. The hubster spent some time with me and was sending pictures to my mom about the baby. Her response was "When can we come in?". So my mom. The hubster took this as his cue to swap places with her and she met her first grandchild. Then she swapped with my dad who wanted to take pictures of me while precariously covered up. During all these visits, the nurses were asking questions about if any feeling was coming back into my legs and if I could move them and intermittently checking the bleeding going on down there and status of my uterus.
I also got major waves of nausea and needed to get more nausea medication into the IV. I spent two hours in the recovery room and it went by very quickly. They moved me up to the postpartum room where I would spend the next 4 days. On this trip up, this is where my modesty would start to leave me. I had a male attendant taking me upstairs and on the way, Elise started crying. I did the only thing I knew to do to make her stop. I tried to get her to latch and feed. /shrug Moms gotta do what a moms gotta do!
The hubster was waiting for me in the room and we settled in as a happy family for the first time. And that is how Elise came into this world. The following hours and days are a whole different story which neither of us were prepared for.
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