They soon came in with a whole set of gear for Kelvin to wear. I think it made him a little nervous to get that dressed up for the procedure. The nurses told him that there were 3 types of dad's when it comes to babies being born; The "discovery" dad who is looking the whole time fascinated and asking tons of questions, the "I don't want to see" dad who stays right by his wife and doesn't look the entire time, and then the "looky loo" dad who takes a peak every now and then when his curiosity is sparked. All the nurses agreed that he would be the looky loo type. I thought he would be too even though he said the whole pregnancy that he didn't want to even know what they were doing.
They finally started to wheel me into the surgery room where is was COLD! Then I was given a spinal block anesthetic along with a 24 hour lasting pain killer. They told me that it was much like the epidural only they go in a little farther and there is no tube left. It's just a dose of medicine to the spine and then we are good to go. It really didn't hurt much, only felt like a little pinch even though the anesthesiologist was teaching someone how to do it and talked about hearing a "pop". Not exactly something you want to hear when someone is sticking a needle in your spine. Then I was moved to a table that looked like a cross. My body downward and my arms both out to the side. I found it a little weird to tell the truth but they all knew what they were doing. Soon I started to feel numb and the nurse anesthesiologist told me that I would feel pressure in my chest like a 10 pound baby was laying on me. She had prepared me before we went into the room with everything that was going to happen, but I was NOT ready for that! It didn't feel like a 10 pound baby, it felt like someone was crushing my chest. What happens is that the medicine numbs you up to your chest and therefore numbs your lung muscles. You can still breathe but you can't feel the muscles which makes you feel like you can't breathe. I started to freak out a little because it was really scary, but with Kelvin right there and the nurse telling me to take shallow breaths so it will get better it didn't last long. She kept talking to me and asked me to tell her when I could feel some pricking as she rubbed something up my stomach. I was very grateful for the distraction. I am one who handles things much better when I can't see them or know when they are happening. After a min we started to smell burning flesh and she told me she forgot to tell me that it would smell bad in the room. That was when I knew they had started because I knew the burning flesh was from them cauterizing me as they were cutting me open.
Sure enough, Kelvin became the "looky loo" dad and was curious about what was happening. He did see the baby come out and then came back to me and told me he was here. I started to cry when I heard my little baby cry for the first time, so grateful that the pregnancy was finally over and I had a huge blessing in my life. It was a rather intense spiritual experience. Jason swallowed a lot of fluid before they got him out so they couldn't bring him to us or let Kelvin hold him until they were sure he was okay. They were still stitching me up when Kelvin finally brought him over for me to see. He was so beautiful and perfect! I couldn't have asked for anything more. I was in love with him! When I was finally all stitched up they sent me to recovery for about an hour. I was very tired and felt weird with all the medication in me, but extremely happy. Kelvin's parents had come to the hospital that morning and they were allowed to visit me in the recovery room and hold the baby. Just before they got in the room though (they could only come one at a time) my IV infiltrated in my hand and a new one had to be placed. This meant that I wasn't able to even hold my baby yet until they fixed the problem. One nurse came over and tried and failed, then tried again and failed. Then they brought over the nurse anesthesiologist and she tried twice and failed. So they had to call in the big guns, the anesthesiologist, and he tried once and failed and then had to go in my elbow. So they got the IV working again but in a position that I couldn't move my arm. After about an hour I was able to finally hold my baby and held onto him like you wouldn't believe.
That day was filled with visitors and family anxious to see the new addition. Lydia was quite scared when she saw me in the hospital. I can't imagine how scary it would be to see your mom hooked up to all sorts of tubes and gadgets when you are not even 2! It really had an effect on her which made me feel incredibly guilty because I had to be in the hospital for 4 days and she is very attached to me. She did have some issues afterwards that are finally calming down. She is doing much better and feeling much better about things. Although I have to say, Lydia has never shown any signs of jealousy toward the baby. It has never been anxiety about the baby, jut about mom being gone for so long.
The next few days were trying. The pain was a lot more than I expected. The IV was left in all day and night and I couldn't feed Jason without help because I could only use 1 arm. The catheter was giving me so many problems in the night that I asked them to take it out. They did and then I had to go use the bathroom so they could measure the volume. But when I tried to go, I couldn't go. I had to completely relearn how to use those muscles again because the anesthesia had paralyzed them. Luckily I was able to go after a while otherwise they would have had to use another catheter. It did take a few days though to get back to it being something you don't even have to think about. Before that I was having to concentrate really hard to get them to work at all. I was put on a liquid diet until my bowels started working, which didn't happen until day 3 when they had to start things themselves because my body wasn't cooperating. I was exhausted and starving but wasn't allowed to eat. I thought that was just plain cruel since I was the one who had done all the hard work. Getting in and out of bed was VERY difficult and painful but the bed itself was pretty comfortable and I was able to sleep for little bits on and off when the nurse wasn't coming in and out, or the baby wasn't coming in and out, or an alarm wasn't going on and off. Needless to say, the hospital wasn't very restful.
I tried to stay on top of the pain but pain killers can only do so much when they blow torch your stomach! Kelvin told me later that they actually took my uterus out and stitched it up with a fish hook type needle. I knew that a c-section was major surgery, but not that major! No wonder I felt so much pain. It did make me feel better that it has taken me 2 weeks to start feeling really pretty good again. I still get some pain if I turn wrong or move wrong because where they started the cut is where the most damage was done and all the nerve endings were damaged and have to grow back. Still, after 2 weeks, I think I'm doing pretty good.
On a side note, I remember having one thought run through my head for about a week on a continuous basis. That thought was "I'm SO glad I'm not pregnant anymore!" When Kelvin took me on my first walk down the hospital hall, I told him this and he just started laughing. Pregnancies are very hard on my body and my Dr told me that they would just keep getting worse. With how bad this last one was, I don't know if I could handle another one. Most people won't understand that because most women have no real issues or problems with pregnancy other than the typical uncomfortableness of the pregnancy itself. That's fine, everyone differs with how their bodies handle things. I'm just grateful that we were blessed with 2 incredible spirits in our home. I'm thankful for what I have and am honored to be their mother.
My little Jason is perfect! I can't imagine life without him and I am so grateful that we were able to have another child. This will most likely be the end of children for us, but we feel very blessed to have them both. Lydia is just in love with her brother and Jason actually will sit and stare at her when she holds him. These two are going to get a long fabulously! While having 2 kids so close together is difficult, it will be so much fun as they grow older. I'm really looking forward to the days when they can start playing with each other. Lydia is already wanting Jason to get up and play with her or feed him her snacks etc. It's adorable how cute they are together. Right now, life is the best it's been and we look forward to many more days and years like it!
Getting ready for the big surgery!!
All geared up and ready to go!
Meeting my baby for the first time. Such a precious moment.
Father and son. He is so excited to have a boy.
Lydia meeting her brother for the first time.
Not quite sure about this yet.
Anything to keep this toddler busy while she was at the hospital.
Ready to go home.
Even more ready to go home!
Home sweet home.
"Cheese" She asked for a picture taken of her which is very rare so we gladly obliged.
If you look closely, he has a birthmark in the shape of a W on his head. Yep, he's a Wager!
