Happy BIRTHday, Andy!

We are HOME! I wanted to blog as quickly as I could, so I wouldn't forget anything, but it's taken me a while to find the time... I am sure you can imagine!

I wanted to take a few minutes to jot down the birthing story while it was still fresh in my mind...

It was a MUCH different experience this time than last. 

This time, the section was scheduled, so we were to arrive at the hospital at 7:00 am on the 18th.  I woke up at 4:15 to go to the bathroom and couldn't fall back asleep since I was so excited, so I started my day a little early! (Last time, my water broke at 2:30 and we got ourselves together to get there, while I was trying to breath and not scream at Eddie the whole way to the hospital.).
My mom got to our house at 6:30 so she could be there with Cal when he woke up and when the babysitter came over.  Cal woke up right as we were leaving the house and I went in to kiss him goodbye, and I pretty much started crying and didn't stop until about 5 minutes from the hospital.  Eddie's mom called us to wish us luck, and I couldn't get it together enough to talk to her.  Eddie, bless his heart, was SO understanding and SO sweet.  I think a lot of guys in that situation don't know how to respond to their wives acting like that, but he was really sweet...

Here is me, 39 weeks pregnant, about to leave the house:

We got to the hospital right at 7:00 and walked into the check in area.  (last time, we went to the ER) They brought me my chariot, umm, a wheelchair, and we were off to our "labor room." I got dressed in the gown and Eddie and I just hung out waiting for what was next. 

My mom arrived shortly after us and then my sweet sweet nurse came in!  I have written about her before. She literally got me through the first delivery and we have kept in touch ever since-- I LOVE HER!  If you deliver at Durham Regional, you must request Kelli!  It's funny, after my birthing experience with Cal, I have told all of my friends about her and she has been requested by all of them since!  They all say the same things I do-- she is outstanding. 

She came into the room and we caught up a little bit and then she started prepping me for the c-section.  (last time I pushed for 3 hours, while Kelli coached me the entire time...she was the one who prepped me for the section with Cal too, but that was an emergency situation so there was no small talk then!) My dad arrived and we were all hanging out in the room while I got my IV and we asked some last minute questions. Kelli came back into the room with two sets of "scrubs" to wear over the clothing.  She gave one to Eddie so he could be there for the delivery, and the other set was for my mom (!!!) so she could come in to be with me once Eddie left with Andy after he was born.  I thought that was SO sweet of her.  (There was NONE of that last time-- although Kelli did try.)

The anesthesiologist came into the room to ask me some questions and the next thing I knew, it was 9:00, and they told me to hop up out of bed.  Ummm...wha?  I was wheeled down the hall last time with people yelling things at one another last time, and this time I was just going to stroll down the hall in my totally awesome, yet backless gown?  Okay!  They draped a sheet over my shoulder and off we went! 

We walked into the OR and I sat on the edge of the bed while they inserted the spinal tap.  Last time I had an epidural, so this was a totally different sensation. They told me I would feel heat running down my legs.  I suuuuuuure did!  As soon as I felt that, they swept me onto my back before I became total dead weight.  It was awesome. 

Before I knew it, the doctors told me they were making the first cut!  They talked to me through the entire precess, which was pretty neat.  If they did that last time, I missed it.  Kelli ran out to grab Eddie and he was there immediately talking to me as they delivered my baby!  I was crying again, pretty much right away. 

As soon as Andy came out, he was screaming.  It was the best sound in the world.  They took him over to the baby area of the OR to examine him, and Eddie followed with the camera.  Here is why I love Kelli: she stepped right over to where Eddie was standing and held my hand and explained what was going on both to me, and to the baby.  LOVE HER!

Here is a picture Eddie got of Andy right after he came out! And below it is a picture someone took of me when Eddie was bringing him to me for the first time-- gotta love being tied down when you meet your son for the first time!

Eddie left with the pediatric team while they cleaned up Andy and my mom came in to hold my hand while they cleaned me up.  The whole procedure was over in about 35 minutes-- it was great!  After they were done stitching me up, they wheeled me into the recovery room.  As the doors to the OR opened, I could hear my brother, dad, and sister-in-law cheering! HA!  They were all right there waiting for me...it was so sweet. 

We were just sitting there waiting to see Andy and then all of a sudden, I saw Eddie walking down the hall with a blanket in his arms.  Being the drama queen that I am, I let out a huge gasp.  Kelli thought something was wrong, but I was just so excited to see my new little guy!  With Cal, they took him to the special needs nursery and I was unable to hold him until the next day. Eddie brought him right in to me and I started bawling.  A ton of pictures were taken of this, but I have about a million chins in all of them...see below:

Andy was hungry right away, so I attempted to nurse right away...and he took to it like a champ.  We are still in the recovery room here, but he is chomping away!

Here is a picture of me with the greatest nurse in the WORLD! My face always gets really puffy after the drugs-- puffy and SUPER itchy.  I wanted to claw my face off it itched so badly! haha  But there is Kelli!  Isn't she cute??

We were only in the recovery room for about 45 minutes and then we were off to the postpartum room!  Eddie was thrilled to be holding Andy-- it all came back to him right away.  With Cal, we were unable to hold him until the following day, and I could not attempt to feed him until the day after that. 

My brother came back to meet Andy...and he woke up a little for him:

Cal came to the hospital the day we delivered.  I was worried about him coming up there too soon, but both Eddie and I were missing him and wanted him to be a part of the day.  He didn't want a thing to do with me and even less to do with Andy.  It was very hard for me to take, obviously, but I knew that he was just overwhelmed with everything going on.  Cal is actually yawning in the below picture-- we were clearly boring him.  More to come shortly about Cal and Andy...

Thursday morning I was able to take a shower, and it was much needed!  I felt like a new woman! Wednesday night was rough because every hour, someone came in to check my vitals, I was getting drugs every few hours, and then they brought Andy in to me every 2.5 hours to feed, so it was a night full of visitors!  Eddie stayed with me Wednesday night, and my mom stayed Thursday night to give Eddie a break.  It was also nice for Eddie to be home with Cal. 

Thursday morning:

So, that was Andy's birthing story!  It was about 100 times easier than his brother's experience. 

I will attempt to do a post about life at home now and sleeping, etc...it's difficult with a bambino in one arm!!!