Birth
Stories & More
Part V –
Noah
The day was Wednesday, May 5, 2010 and I
felt quite anxious and excited to be welcoming Noah into our family. Danny’s middle older sister was going to be
Eli’s babysitter for the next few days, off and on shared with Danny and the
rest of the family. DiDi (What Eli calls
his aunt) arrived in plenty of time to our house for us to leave and head to
the hospital. I think we got there on time, or maybe just a couple of minutes
late. It was around 8am, and the c-section was scheduled for 10am. Those 2
hours felt like an eternity! I was getting extremely anxious with each passing
minute. Downright scared actually. Even
though I had already gone through one c-section before, I was terrified of
having another! And I’m sure it’s because I knew what to expect.
It was nearing the time for my spinal,
which ended up being an epidural because that was the specialty of the
anesthesiologist that day. Instantly I was fearful of another excruciating
painful experience. But it wasn’t that bad at all this time! I was put into a
different position, and the epidural went in so much easier!
Finally, I am wheeled in my bed to the
operating room. Again, I see a very large, bright room with a lot of surgical
staff. And again, strong hands I could not feel move me from my bed onto the
operating table. Such a crazy feeling floating weightless! Right away, I feel
absolutely scared to death! I kept asking for Danny, but one of the staff had
to keep telling me it wasn’t time for him to come in yet. But my fear was
taking over, I kept asking for Danny anyway. Finally I hear somebody say, “Go
ahead and bring Danny in”. Thank GOD!
Yes, it was early and they were not ready yet to begin the c-section,
but I was so terrified and didn’t want to be ‘alone’. Danny came in quickly, and although my hands were
stretched out far to each side, they were not strapped down. I held Danny’s
hand with my right hand and squeezed tightly, and told him I was scared. I don’t remember everything said to me during
this time, but surely it was words of encouragement.
The c-section was beginning, and
apparently while its being done, somebody rubs a cold swab or something on the
upper part of the belly to lower chest area to check to see if I respond with
feeling. I don’t remember that with Eli’s birth, I must have been extremely
numb! But this time I whispered, but in the loudest voice I could, “I can feel
something cold rubbing on my stomach”. I said it with confusion as I wondered
why. And I’m not sure why I struggled to
speak so much. Something with the anesthesia must have made my voice nearly go
away. Which was even MORE terrifying! I was so glad Danny was there to listen
to me, so he could tell the staff things I said if they couldn’t hear me. The anesthesiologist increased my epi drip so
that I was numb again. But very shortly later I could feel more cold. He
increased again. And this repeated a couple more times. Finally I hear the
anesthesiologist tell the OB, “I can’t give her any more, she’s maxed
out”. WHAT?!!! I can’t stop being numb NOW! I’m cut open! The
OB says, “Give her morphine”. WOW!! I thought to myself, morphine?! Holy cow!
But that sure did the trick. I was NUMB!
So soon after that, I heard the most
amazing sound in the world, Noah’s first cry! I began crying, tears flowing, my
face soaked with tears of joy. OB held Noah up high for me to see and my
immediate thoughts were ‘he’s so small! And white! And cone headed?!’ LOL! Not as severely cone headed as Eli was,
but still, gosh! Haha! The time shouted out, “10:20 a.m.” Ironically, this is
the exact minute I got my positive pregnancy test, 10:20 a.m.!
I don’t remember who, but a concerned
surgical staff asked me if I was okay because I was crying so much. Maybe
fearing I was feeling pain. Still,
hardly able to speak, I mutter through the tears, “I’m so happy”.
They finish putting me back together and
I’m wheeled into the post op recovery room where I’m monitored and await my
first meeting with Noah. He’s brought to me MUCH faster than Eli was first
brought to me. My hormones began to go
completely hysterical, completely out of control. I held Noah, loved each
second of it. He had a successful first after birth feed. But then I told Danny
he had to take him. I could not hold him anymore. My emotions totally
unraveled. I cried, hysterically, loudly, uncontrollably. What in the world was
going on with this crying?! I couldn’t stop, it was bizarre! Some thought it
was the effects of the morphine, some thought it was the enormous release of
hormones. Who knows! But the hysterical crying lasted a couple hours and I was
unable to share news with family or do much of anything other than weep.
After the insane sobbing episode, life
was amazing again! I was on top of the world and ready to share this great news
with everyone! My sweet baby Noah was here and he was perfect! He weighed 7
pound and 1 ounce, with dark brown hair and blue eyes. We took him home 3 days later on May 8th,
and we had much reason to celebrate this day. Welcome home Noah, and happy 2nd
birthday to big brother Eli! The following day, May 9th, another
very happy Mother’s Day to me! <3
Ha I was more scared of Aidan's section than Elisa's oddly enough. I was scared of a section to begin with but with Aidan's I knew what post op was like and was NOT looking forward to it. Dreaded that part of his pregnancy the entire time.
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