Welcoming Henri Louis

Friday morning I got up at about 4:45am. We were expecting Gramma & Poppa Rick about 5:15-5:30am as I was told to be at the hospital between 6-6:30am that morning. The night before I double checked my paperwork from my pre-op appointment and found that the OB had written to CALL L&D at 6am to find out what time to be there, something completely different than what she had told me a few minutes before typing that up for me... Anyway, 6am rolled around and I called L&D, I didn't need to be there until 9am as my c-section was set for 11am! Graham went back to bed for a couple of hours and the rest of us relaxed in the living room until Oliver woke up about 8am. We finished packing our bags and giving Oliver instructions to the grandparents and headed off to the hospital. There was not a single parking spot open in Labor & Delivery lot or the 3 lots surrounding it so we had to park a ways away and walk over, not getting checked in until 9:30. 

They took me to my room and got me hooked up to the monitors to check on baby as they went over procedures, anesthesiology, & put in my IV. Turned out I was having contractions about every 2-3 mins apart. ( I actually had them most of Thursday morning/early afternoon as well but wasn't quite sure as they weren't too painful. I did give Graham a heart attack though calling to tell him that I thought I was having contractions and would call L&D if things progressed, which they didn't. After getting home and resting, they went away).

I had a really great nurse taking care of me and a very sweet, grandfatherly man as my anesthesiologist. He came in early to do an interview with me and check my airways etc. At this point I was able to mention the difficulty the previous guy had with Oliver and my epidural. (about 5 attempts and some blood loss before getting it in & then the pain I had been experiencing since.)

Dad showed up at about 11am as we had thought my c-section was at 9:30am and that I was going to have been at the hospital since 6am. I had to drink the most awful drink I have ever tasted before going into surgery. It tasted like a metallic super sour grape shot of yuck. It is supposed to neutralize the acids in your stomach help with nausea. At 11:15am they walked me down to the OR and Graham into recovery to wait for the time to be let in.
It is such a different experience walking to the surgery and being completely aware of what is going on. The OR was freezing and I think the nerves made me shake like crazy. They took my sheet away and wrapped me in 2 blankets that had been sitting in an oven. I all of a sudden got really sleepy also and couldn't stop yawning. I was so nervous and starting to wish I HAD gone into labor!! Everything was on hold until the Dr. arrived and confirmed who I was and what I was there for. While we were waiting the anesthesiologist checked out my back. Turns out I have a form of a curvature in my spine where it curves in a way the tilts my pelvis forward, making my vertebrae more closely fitted together. Since I was able to give a heads up and he knew to check it out, he decided to put my spinal in a little higher than normal. It only took one shot and was in right away, super simple and easy. It was really amazing how fast and strong that drug works. you can't feel a thing from that point down. Next they put in the catheter and my little ankle booties to make sure I didn't get any clotting in my legs. They also had to mark my old incision line as it healed so well that it was really faint. Everyone was also amazed at how low it was also, but luckily they were able to use the same line.

Once I was laid out and draped and all hooked up to the machines, they brought in Graham. I think the spinal is really the way to go. I felt even less than with Oliver and only slight pressure in my chest when they were getting him out. I apparently healed very well and had very little scar tissue. Once they got to the little man they told us he stuck his hand out first! Then they saw his head and all they could say was Oh My God this is a BIG boy! At least 10-11 pounds! They got him out and could not believe how big he was. His head was not engaged in my pelvis at all and my uterus was thin as well (the same as with Oliver). I also had a very healthy cord, one of the healthiest they have seen in a long time and a very healthy placenta too. I guess those all were contributors to his size. After the nurse assessed him and got him breathing, she let Graham come over to take pictures and cut the cord. Tehy got him wrapped up and brought him to show me. She took a couple of pictures for us too.

Just minutes old.

We took a moment to look at him and talk about his name. Since he was such a big boy the first thing we both said was Hank the Tank, thus Henri Louis was named.

The baby nurse took Graham and Henri into recovery where they could weigh him and give him his shots, first bath and take care of his admittance so that as soon as I was ready I could nurse him.

Everyone requested that they page them Henri's weight as soon as they knew and my Dr. kept telling me how glad she was I didn't labor! They were also gloating on how little blood I lost and how well everything went back together. I was a star patient!

When I was all stitched up, they slide me onto a bed and wheeled me over to recovery for about 1-1 1/2 hours of monitoring and nursing. It took awhile before Henri was even interested in eating.

First Bath.

In Recovery.

Looking at Henri for the first time.

Day 2.

Alone with Mama and the camera.

Meeting Auntie Marci & Uncle Chad.

Post circumcision.

Turkey Buzzard on our window sill. There used to be a tree where this wing now is. The birds often hang out on the window sills.

Ready to go home.

We had quite a few visitors Friday afternoon and Saturday as well, which was really nice. On Saturday I expressed interest in leaving on Sunday rather than Monday to the OB checking up on me. She said that since I was doing well and knew the routine, it was very likely that I could. The first night I barely slept at all, having a catheter in and compression bands on your ankles and an IV in your arm makes it hard to sleep let alone get comfy. Any time I would doze off there would be a sound that made me think someone was coming in the room, or Henri would make a funny sound/wake up for a feeding, or I would just wake up. The longest I ever slept was 15 mins. The previous night I had about 2 1/2 hours of sleep as I was up late trying to get things done and then of course, unable to turn my brain OFF! Saturday night was better, but Henri had been nursing constantly all day. He had dropped down to 9lbs. 13oz. and I was concerned that he wasn't getting much from me. I had a really great nurse that night and she offered to take him for about an hour at 2am and I finally got a larger chunk of sleep. It was just what Henri and I needed as I was replenished and ready to go. I got another few hour chunks of sleep before waking up for good at about 8 am. At that time my day nurse told me that I would be able to go home by noon. I think we actually left the hospital at 11:30am and was home in time for lunch.

So far life has been pretty mellow. We got a visit from the Dinsmore Family last night which gave Oliver someone to play with for a few hours. He has been a bit of a pill the past couple of days. He was already having an attitude last week which I think could be related to him still teething 2 teeth. He did also get to have undivided attention all weekend long, so having to share that now is annoying to him. He is very curious about Henri and nursing. Like to look at him and is concerned when he cries. He has also had a few bouts of jealousy too when he loses attention to the baby. All in all it is a learning process and I am very thankful to have Graham home for the week. I am really not sure how I am going to handle next week with having to deal with my recovery and not allowed or even able to pick up Oliver for a few more weeks.