How'd he get here?

So I'm sure you've all been waiting with baited breath, to hear about Nick's birth story. No? Well, I'm going to write it out anyway, if for nothing more than to remember it myself.

On Wednesday, February 2, 2011, Todd and I woke up around 8:30am, loaded up the car with our hospital stay bags, and drove to Alexandria hospital. When we arrived, we had to sit in the Labor & Delivery check-in waiting room for a while, as they cleaned a room for us. Apparently, there had been quite a few new babies born the night prior and in to that morning, so they were a little tight on space.

Once the room was cleaned, they whisked us in, told me to change in to a hospital gown, and hop in to bed. (A bed, mind you, that detached in the middle to provide extra room for all of the doctors and nurses to gather as you sit spread eagle trying to push out your baby). At about 10:00am, the nurse came in and started hooking me up to bags of fluid. This was possibly my second least favorite part of the whole ordeal -- the needles in the hand. ugh. Just thinking about it still makes me cringe. I hate having needles stuck in my hand, and even though I knew they were for a good cause, they still make me squeamish.

One of the bags of fluid was full of pitocin to give me a jump start and induce my labor. They started my drip at an 8, and said it could take a while until something, if anything, started to happen.

I laid in the bed watching TV and complaining of my boredom. Since I had been told not to eat anything that morning (although I'm pretty sure Todd snuck me some toast for breakfast before we went to the hospital), I was starving. But I was only allowed to have clear liquids. At one point the nurse told my mom "there are Popsicles in the freezer, help yourself" and I about peed the bed with joy. I ended up having about 5 Popsicles throughout the day.

The day dragged on very, very slowly. My OBGYN arrived mid-day, and checked to see if I had dilated. I was only at about 1cm, so she said "we'll wait another 4 or 5 hours to see if you dilate any further." As those 4 hours passed, my hunger pains got stronger, but my labor pains did not. The nurse came back in and said "well, you're having strong contractions, 1 minute apart...how do you feel?" and you could have heard her jaw hit the floor when I replied "hungry!" I said "is this how most people feel?" and she said "your pitocin drip is at a 21" (I still don't know what that means) "and your contractions are a minute apart...most people at this stage are doubled over in pain...and the thought of food makes them nauseous!"

Well, apparently I have a super high pain threshold, because I honestly was not feeling a thing. Other than my aforementioned hunger, that is. So mom found some clear broth in the kitchen, and I downed it like it was my last meal. Finally my OBGYN came back and checked me again. I had only gotten to about 2cm dilated. She looked me square in the eyes and said "so...what do you want to do?" and without hesitation I responded "just get him out!" And thus, I was confirmed for a c-section.

They had to check on availability of the operating room, and get it all sterile, but as soon as it was ready to go, they pulled me out of bed, and I walked into the OR(so weird to walk in to an operating room...every other time I've had any sort of surgery, I've already been in the bed). Todd had to stay behind in the labor & delivery room and get outfitted in his full head-to-toe scrubs. They told him that once I had my spinal, and was numbed, they would bring him back to watch Nick arrive.

The first order of business in the operating room was to numb my body from the chest down. Apparently at Alexandria Hospital, with a C-Section, if you haven't already had an epidural, they just do a spinal. Spinal = much smaller gauge needle being jabbed in to my spine = much happier me. The thought of an epidural was the one thing I had been dreading since the moment I got pregnant, so imagine my happy surprise when they told me I would just be getting a spinal (I'm sure it had a more "doctory" name to it, but I don't think I was paying attention to what the nurse was saying).

They had me sit on the operating table and hug a pillow, while leaning forward and rounding my spine. A nurse stood in front of me holding my shoulders, while the anesthesiologists prepped the slew of needles. The first needle she told me would be the worst...it would feel like a bee sting, followed by some pressure. WELL! She was just a little off... It felt more like a wasp trying to kill it's prey (my spine), followed by a terrible burning sensation surging through my back. The pressure part? That was the fire hose like speed and force that the burning spread through my spine at. Within seconds, I announced to the room "I'm going to vomit". All of the nurses scattered like ants whose hill had just been stomped on. One of them came flying back to my face with a bag. The male anesthesiologist in the room said "I'm going to put some zofran in your IV", and just as fast as I felt like I was going to vom, I felt better.

Then came the spinal. The anesthesiologist pushed around on my back until she thought she had found two vertebrae of my spine to insert the needle between. (This was hard for her to find because of all my edema -- water retention/swelling). Then a hugh-jass needle was stuck in my back, but because of that wasp sting I received earlier, I didn't feel a thing.

As soon as the shot was finished, I was laid on the skinny operating table, arms extended out on either side, looking like the scarecrow from Wizard of Oz...only I was buck naked. (That's right -- all modesty goes straight out the window when you have a baby.) My entire body from the chest down started to go numb. Although, it didn't really FEEL numb. I could still feel my doctor when she would touch me. I kept saying "I can feel you! I can feel you!" and she would say "you're GOING to feel me...but you won't feel pain!". I didn't believe her. She turned to the anesthesiologist, he handed her something, and she turned back and said to me "there, do you feel THAT?" I couldn't feel anything so I said "no...what are you doing?" and she said "I just poked you in the leg several times with a toothpick" to which I replied "was that toothpick in somebodies mouth??" Apparently that was hilarious because the entire operating room full of doctors and nurses busted up laughing. Silly me -- obviously they wouldn't be chewing on toothpicks in a sterile environment (at least, I should hope not).

At this point Todd had arrived. And while it was embarrassing to be laying on the table with all of my parts visible, because I couldn't feel them, I didn't feel as exposed. Kind of like when I take out my contacts at night and start picking my nose. I forget that just because I can't see Todd, doesn't mean he can't see me! whoops!

As soon as Todd was seated and holding my hand, the cutting began. They cut through my stomach, skin, fat, muscle (what little I had), and dug down deep inside to find Nick. I couldn't see what was happening on the other side of the curtain, but I could smell a burning smell. I said "eww, what smells like it's burning?" and my OB said "you!" Ha.

My OB and her assistant started pushing on my belly and tugging really hard. It didn't hurt at all, but I could feel all kinds of pressure. I announced loudly to the room "I feel like one of those dolls that when you squeeze it's belly, it's eyes and tongue pop out." That got another round of laughs from all the nurses and doctors in the OR.

With one last tug (as my OB was literally LAYING on my belly to push him out), Nicholas Matthew was pulled from my belly at 11:29pm. And boy did he come out screaming! I don't suppose I could blame him...here he was thinking he had three more weeks on his lease, and we evicted him early. And to make matters worse, poor guy was covered in all the nasty gunk that was keeping him company in there. Fortunately the nurses whisked him over to the scale, weighed him (6lbs, 10oz), and immediately started cleaning him off.

I could barely see him from my angle on the table, but Todd and the anesthesiologist reported back to me and snapped pictures from every angle. Finally I caught a glimpse of my baby boy, and tears escaped my eyes. He was so tiny, and had a head full of blond hair!

Once my OB finished stitching me up (I have to give her props -- she is a fabulous surgeon and my scar is perfect), I was moved to a hospital bed and I was covered with a bunch of blankets (hooray no more nudity!). They wrapped Nick up tight in two blankets, put a tiny little hat on his itty bitty head, and laid him on my chest. Then they rolled us out of the OR and down the hall.

As we rolled down the hall, my family all started to appear. I first saw my brother and sister-in-law. They were both crying (which I later found out got Todd crying as he hugged my brother. I'm bummed I missed this...I've never seen Todd cry, and I would've loved to have seen his tears over the birth of our baby boy). Then I saw my dad, who was also bawling (he became a big softy when I got married), and finally we rolled by my mom...who of COURSE was crying. It was a surreal moment...and I had never before felt such a sense of pride.

Everyone came in the room and took turns holding Nick and fawning over him, How could they not...he was perfect! (C-section babies always tend to look a bit better...no cone head).

I don't remember much else from that night because I was a bit out of it from all the numbing drugs, and I was exhausted. I think Todd held Nick for a while, while I dozed in and out, waiting to get cleared to go upstairs to recovery. Eventually they wheeled me upstairs to our recovery room, or our "week long vacation room at chez hospital Alexandria", as I like to think of it.

We spent the rest of the week attempting to catch up on sleep (which never really happened), watching a LOT of TV, having a million & one visitors, and spending every waking moment wondering how the heck we were going to take care of this little baby once we took him home and were on our own. (We've since (I think) figured this out).

Later my OB told my mom and I that when she started my C-section, the umbilical cord had prolapsed, and it presented itself first AND it was wrapped around Nick's neck. She said had I spent more time trying to labor and push him out, it would have been extremely dangerous for him. That combined with the fact that my placenta had hemorrhaged in the middle were all very bad occurrences. Had I gone past 37 weeks, Nick might not have made it. I can't even bear the thought of him not being here.

So how did our little Nick get here? Well, he got here literally in the "nick" of time!