The Birth {aka Part 2}

Well, I couldn't figure out why the scheduled posts didn't pop up last week, so I had to create a new post altogether... hence the delay. I left off prepping for surgery.

As I mentioned, J sat next to me and held my hand while my doctor started to preform the c-section. Unfortunately, I was staring straight up at the ceiling-- into a silver light fixture that reflected the image of what they were doing to me. Ugh. It wasn't pretty. It was like I was rubber-necking at an accident that was gruesome, but I just couldn't look away. Thankfully I couldn't feel anything, but my body was shaking uncontrollably!! The anesthesiologist told me that he would give me something for it once the baby was delivered and then told J that they were getting ready to pull the baby out if he wanted to look. Just as he stood up, I heard the doc say, "So, that's why you never turned." (He was breech for the entire pregnancy.) J told me later that the umbilical cord was wrapped around Finley's body like crazy, which is why he was measuring small for his gestational age during the last two ultrasounds. All of the nutrients had been going to his heart and brain. The assisting doc handed him over to the neonatal nurse practitioner who began to check his vitals. For a while, no one was talking. Then, I heard the NNP say to the doc, "There's a lot of fluid... a lot." At this point, J asked if he could go with the baby. Unfortunately, Fin was whisked off so quickly that I didn't get to meet him.

After the doc stitched me back up, I was taken to recovery. I remember being a chatty Kathy. I couldn't stop talking. J had looked like he was near tears when he left the room, but I could tell there was fear in his eyes. So, I asked the anesthesiologist and recovery nurses if they knew what was going on. That's when I was told that my baby had had 60 cc's (about 2 oz) of fluid in his lungs when he came out and was not fully breathing for nearly 7 minutes. Thankfully, the NNP that had been on duty for the surgery was filling in from a larger hospital in Denver while the normal staff was at a conference because she was a rockstar. She told J that was the most fluid she'd ever had to aspirate from a baby after delivery, but she was super calm and just kept working without fully letting on to J how scary the situation was.

After I left recovery, I went back to my room. I was alone for the next hour and a half and was still sick from the meds they had me on to prevent seizures. I was throwing up and miserable. Let me tell you... throwing up with fresh stitches in your belly is not fun. I just wanted to see J and know what was going on...

Stay tuned for the rest of the story.