I'll start with the day before. November 2nd. Nothing super out of the usual, but I wasn't feeling the greatest. Daniel had a cold and by afternoon I could feel my throat drying out. Thank goodness I still had 2 weeks to get rid of it before James made his appearance. I did have 2 rather large contractions that day. They were hours apart and nothing seemed to come from them, but boy did they hurt! I also texted Ashley that morning to tell her that with all of the pressure of James' head pressing on me, I felt like he might just fall out at any point. She got all excited and told me he was coming soon. I told her, no way. He'd be staying put until the 17th.
Monday, November 3rd, I woke up around 4:00 am for one of my usual middle of the night bathroom trips. I laid back down in bed, and a few minutes later I knew something was wrong. I was kind of hoping my water had broken, but instead I was bleeding pretty heavily once again.
I managed to stay calm. I went and woke Jacob up and then called Brenda to ask her to start heading over from Villa Grove. Jacob went down and got the suitcase and I started packing while he showered. I couldn't find the camera and Jacob realized he had left it at school over the weekend. I decided the point and shoot would do, but in his sleepy state he insisted he drive to the school and get it! We had time before Brenda would get there anyway, so he took off and I took a shower.
I think we were out the door for the hospital around 6:00. I called my mom to tell her that James would probably be arriving that day.
Jacob dropped me at the doors while he went to park so I could get checked in. We headed up to triage, where I was put in the same room I had been placed in the previous 2 visits. I assumed the process would be slow. My bleeding had slowed some, so I figured we'd be sitting in triage for at least 2 or 3 hours. At 6:55 a resident (?) said she wanted to get a doctor's opinion before they met at 7. My own OB was out of town at a conference, but her associate was there. I had met him the 2nd time I was in for bleeding as well, and really liked him. The decision was made that I would indeed be having a c-section that morning.
I had no idea how quickly everything was going to move from there. I was getting IV sites placed. A catheter was put in. (And they lied and said it wouldn't hurt. HA!) People were in and out. I talked with the doctor who explained everything that would happen. I talked with the anesthesiologist. The next thing I knew they were handing Jacob all the garb to change into, and I was being wheeled down the hall to the OR.
Everyone in there was so nice. I was nervous, but I didn't have time to panic. My spinal block was up next. I was nervous for that. Not the placement so much as worrying that it wouldn't take since my body doesn't like the cooperate when it comes to being numbed. I had expressed my concern over that and my scoliosis. The anesthesiologist talked me through everything though, and next thing I knew my toes were tingling. Soon I couldn't feel my feet and the numbness kept spreading. I thought for sure I could still feel my stomach, but they rubbed something icy cold all over me and I didn't feel a thing. Such and odd feeling. The drape went up so I couldn't see what was going on. Jacob was brought into the OR and the procedure was about to begin.
Jacob was working to send off a quick text to our mom's to let them know James was on his way, but the next thing he knew that doctor was saying, "Dad! Get the camera ready. He's coming!" They had started cutting me open at 7:58 and James was born at 8:02 am. The entire thing was surreal. There was so much tugging and pressure as they pulled him out. I heard his sweet crying seconds later. I smiled. I cried. I got a quick peek before they whisked him across the room to clean him up and check him out. Jacob followed to get pictures.
I was laying there thinking, "Um. I just had a baby. WHAT!?" I was also thinking, "Wow. This wasn't so bad." Although, I just wanted to hold my baby.
They started sewing me back up and had told me it would take anywhere from 30-45 minutes. That part was not so much fun. I think I thought I was more with it than I was. I remember everything, I think, but I remember just wanting to be out of there. So much tugging and pressure. I got so nauseous and light headed. They were pumping Zofran into my IV and apparently my blood pressure was dropping as well. I didn't find out until the next morning how much blood I had lost. I was pretty close to needing a transfusion. I remember a lady laying one of those kidney shaped metal bowls by my head, because I kept saying how sick I felt. I knew I wasn't going to actually get sick, but now I know why they don't want you to eat beforehand! It also didn't help that my cold was in full force at this point too.
After what seemed like forever, they brought James back over and placed him on my chest so we could have some skin to skin time. He was perfect. I couldn't stop myself from crying again. Here he was. This little boy who had already been through quite the journey with me was right here wrapped in my arms. In that moment all was perfect.
Not long after that I was taken to recovery. They brought down a NICU nurse to check him out because he had fluid in his lungs that just didn't seem to be clearing up. A little after 9 they took him up to the NICU. I was devastated and did a little crying. They assured me he would be fine and that he'd probably be well enough to join me soon.
All was kind of a blur for awhile after that. I was eventually taken to my actual room. I remember wanting food so bad, and finally got the all clear to order, except there was some mix up and it took 4 tries before I could order because it kept showing I was not allowed to eat! If you know me, you know I get a BIT irrational when hungry. I think I had my whole meal inhaled within 5 minutes!
I called up to the NICU to see if Jacob could go up and visit. He came back down awhile later with an update and pictures. Daniel was placed on a CPAP machine to help him breath a little better. I loved seeing the pictures, but oh how I wanted that baby in my arms.
That alone was my motivation to get up and moving when the block finally wore off. I think around 5:30 I was able to get into a wheelchair and go see my sweet boy. We wore masks since we both had colds.
At that point we couldn't hold him. It sucked, but it felt good to just touch him.
Jacob went home for the night and I think around 9:30 I went back up to see him. At first I wasn't going to get to hold him, so I sat there holding his hand for a half an hour. The nurse came over and asked if I'd like to try and hold him, as long as I was okay putting him back if his oxygen started to drop. Instead he did perfect. I got to hold him in my arms for another half an hour before heading back down to try and get some sleep. I think I kissed that boy a hundred times before I could bring myself to leave him though.
All in all, it was a very eventful birth day for James Michael. He came into the world 2 weeks early, weighing 7lbs 8oz and was 20.5 inches long. He is a perfect fit into our family!
