Last Wednesday we headed to Texas Children's Women for Pavilion around 8:45 am. Our C-section was scheduled for 10:45 and we had to arrive a couple hours early for prep. They were running a bit late, but eventually I was taken to a prep room where I dressed in a hospital gown, the incision area was cleaned and prepped, and they started monitoring my and the babies vitals. They hooked me up to a lot of wires and contraptions (blood pressure cuff, IV for fluids, cuffs for my legs to prevent blood clots, etc.) and eventually the anesthesiologists came in and went over a few things about the meds. Luckily, I was able to see both sets of our parents before they wheeled me off to the operating room. I would say being in the prep room was probably the most stressful part of the day. We were just anxious to get the process started and didn't want to have to sit around and wait.
Once the doctor arrived, I was taken to the operating room by myself where the anesthesiologists inserted the epidural/ spinal block combo and started me on the anesthesia and pain meds. Before the surgery started, the doctor asked what type of music I liked and started playing the Alt J station on Pandora. The music was one of the best parts of the surgery experience. It really helped me calm down and focus on something other than my nerves and the technical stuff going on in the room.
Once I was nice a numb and the surgery sheet went up (so I couldn't watch the surgery), Jason was brought back into the room. (He had dressed in scrubs while he was waiting for my epidural to be put in.) The midwife also arrived shortly before the surgery. While her original plan was to just provide us emotional support and help with the baby, the doctor actually needed her to scrub in and help with the surgery.
From here, the surgery went pretty quickly. Jason was allowed to watch the surgery from my side of the sheet as long as he promised not to pass out. They gave me an option to watch the surgery from a TV screen, but I declined. When the surgery started, I felt pulling and tugging, but no pain, and was anxious to have little Matilda pulled out. After just a few minutes, the doctor said, "We have a butt!" Then she said, "She's out. She's just a little nugget." Matilda was pulled out butt first, quickly wiped off, and lifted over the screen for us to see her. I just remember thinking, "thank God she's ok," (since I had had concerned with her being tangled in her cord - a possible reason for being breech) and "who does this baby look like?" Ha. I don't know why I was so concerned with that, but it was like I was trying to recognize the little girl that I had been getting to know over the past 9 months.
They took Matilda over to a bassinet to the left of me where they checked her vitals really quickly. Jason was over there talking to her and holding her hand and I was able to watch everything going on from a TV screen above the operating table. I asked them to delay most of the newborn procedures, so we could start skin to skin pretty quickly. They brought her over to me and laid her on my chest while the doctor finished putting me back together. We had been told that most newborns won't want to feed for the first 30-45 minutes as they adapt to their surroundings, but this little girl came out ready to eat! She immediately started showing hunger cues (sticking out her tongue, sucking on her hands, rooting around) so we awkwardly tried to breastfeed while I was on the operating table.
After the surgery was finished, Matilda and I were rolled to a recovery room on a different floor for a couple hours of monitoring. Our parents and Jason's grandma were able to come in and meet Matilda at this point which was nice. We also had Amanda, our birth class instructor, come and visit us and help us get breastfeeding off to a good start. I was so happy she was able to come up and help. We were then taken to our final room on the 14th floor where Jason and I just tried to enjoy our baby girl for the remainder of the night.
The remainder of our hospital stay was a blur of nurses and doctors coming and checking our vitals, visitors coming to ooo and aww over the baby, and breastfeeding/ changing diapers. Other than a couple of hours Friday evening when the pain caught up to me, recovery has gone well.
Matilda is a happy, healthy, sweet baby. However, she has been diagnosed with hip dysplasia in her left leg. We knew that this would be a possibility when we were told she was breech, so we had already done a little research on this issue. We'll see the pediatrician on Monday, and we'll likely have to follow up with specialists and ultrasounds, but she'll likely have to start wearing a Pavlik harness starting in a few weeks. She'll probably be in it for a few months. Luckily, hip dysplasia usually does not cause pain in infants and as long as it is caught and treated early, it shouldn't cause her any issues with walking later in life.
We are so glad to have our baby girl home.
2 comments:
I've been waiting for this post! Thanks! And congrats!
She is so beautiful! Y'all are naturals.
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