Wow! It's been a long time since I created a new post to the blog. So, I'm going to spend the next few weeks catching everybody up. I think I need to start with Mason's birth since another friend recently said, "Oh! You had a c-section?" I'm not gonna get gory, but since only Mom and Chris were the only ones in the room, I know everyone else is dying to know what happened. So, here we go...
I was miserable. I was so miserable that Mom and I decided to try to walk this baby (remember he didn't have a name yet) out of me. With the mercury rising to 107 degrees, it wasn't a very smart idea. I huffed and puffed but made it the whole way. I know Mom thought I wouldn't make it, but she really hung in there with me lugging my extra weight along. Needless to say, we only did that once.
At four days past my due date, Mom and I decided that we needed to be proactive when we went to the doctor's office. Chris was not invited as he wanted Baby Boy to stay in as long as possible. We were determined that I was going to have the baby that day. After trying our hardest, Dr. Atkins was not budging. Good for you, Dr. Atkins! I'm glad that my doctor can stand up to two headstrong women! (I wasn't as pleased at the time.) At the end of the conversation, I mentioned that I had felt this tearing sensation in my upper abdomen and that the baby had been moving less. No, Christopher, I did not make this up. I was really so concerned about it that Mom and I stopped in the hospital parking lot a few days prior because the baby just wouldn't respond. He finally did, but it still worried me. Dr. Atkins decided to send me to the hospital for a non-stress test to make sure that the baby could make it to my scheduled induction date (3 days later on Thursday the 19th).
When we got to the hospital, they started running a lot of tests. Dr. Krombach came by and asked, "So, do you want to have this baby today?" For a second I was afraid he was trying to see if I had concocted a charade to get myself in the hospital, so I hesitantly said, "yes..." He said, "Okay. Let's get started." When I called Chris, he said, "do you want me to come to the hospital?" I think my response was, "your son is about to be born, so, yeah, I want you to come to the hospital!" There's a big blur with a lot of the time between this and the actual birth, but I remember that we watched Old Dogs, at least Mom and Chris did while I was suffering through contractions before the epidural. Finally, the nurse said, "Do you think you might want an epidural now?" I politely said yes. As soon as she left, I said, "I'm pretty sure I was ready an hour ago. Why couldn't she have asked then?" As the doctor was administering the epidural, my water broke on its own. But, apparently no one knew since the nurse and I were whispering to each other. I think she was whispering to keep me calm, but Mom said they thought we were praying. Really? Seriously?
Baby Boy has a stubborn side. He was determined to stay in. With every contraction it seemed he moved higher instead of lower. As his heart rate dropped consistently after every contraction (Chris said some were in the 40s), the doctors tried to get us ready for the possibility of a c-section. I remember one point when Dr. Krombach came in and just stared at the monitors while stroking his face. It was so scary. I knew he was wondering just how long he should let me continue. As soon as the decision was made to have a c-section, things really went into high gear. I was rushed into a surgery room, and Chris was no where to be found. I remember saying probably a hundred times, "Where is my husband? Please let him in now." They were very patient with me, but I really needed someone with me. Everything went great and very fast though it seemed like forever to me. As we were about to leave the surgery room, they said, "you need to hold the baby." I was shaking so much from the drugs that I was afraid I would drop him. I actually said no. They told me I didn't have a choice, so they wedged him between me and the bed frame.
When we got back to the L&D room, everyone was there. Sue, Dave, Mom, Cliff, Joe, and Felicia. I was still shaking and too nervous to hold my little boy, so I was very happy that everyone was there to pitch in. Then, I looked around, and I was alone. Where did everyone go? Dr. Krombach came in. He was doing doctory stuff and asked where everyone had gone. My very bitter response, "I don't know. I wish I did know. Could you please hand me my phone?" "Christopher. Where are you? Someone needs to come in here with me. Yes. Now." I don't really remember what he said, but I was a little ticked to say the least.
The nurses set up morphine for me which wasn't working. I told them it wasn't working. Nurse smarty-pants was sure that it was working. After I insisted that it wasn't, she checked it and said it was working but got another nurse to come in. When her friend came in, you could tell that something was wrong. They got me a whole new set up with a working mechanism, and the friendly nurse chastised the smarty-pants nurse. I know she knew that she could get in a lot of trouble because the machine really didn't work (she seemed very afraid that I might complain), and I had to bring it to her attention.
The next few days flew by. I'm not sure if it was the drugs or my body recovering, but I remember very little of the hours upon hours I spent in the hospital room. Nurses kept coming by asking for his name. I had to keep telling them to come back. We got his first pictures taken which were lost by the company though we do have some terrible quality proofs. Dr. Atkins came by, and my first words to him were "I told you he was big." Mom would come by during the day to hold Mason while I slept. Lots of other people came by to visit. The sweetest thing I remember was Mason's little chirping noises he'd make while sleeping. He only did this in the hospital. I miss that.
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