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Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Reign's Birth Story

We were scheduled to be at the hospital at 9 am on Wednesday, September 14th. At 8 am, I was still snuggling Tai in bed, hadn't packed a hospital bag and was altogether feeling pretty nonchalant about the whole situation. I was extremely excited but also anxious at the idea of impending surgery, huge life changes, and meeting our new baby boy after so much anticipation.

It sort of felt like Christmas morning, when you have waited all year for it to come and you just want to savor those first few minutes under the tree because after all the gifts are open you have to wait an entire year to do it again. Babies are such an amazing thing, and Tai's birth was such a special time for Colton and I, so considering it was 5 years between this babe and Tai, I just wanted to enjoy every minute. 

Colton packed the hospital bag, and ran from room to room collecting items to take to the hospital. I slowly did my hair and makeup (the best part of a planned delivery) and got Tai ready. I spent quite a while holding Tai and snuggling him, because I knew everything was about to change.

We dropped Tai off at my moms around 9 am, and headed to the hospital. It was so surreal being there but we were very ready. Everything went really fast once we got to the hospital. They greeted me at the door and I had two nurses taking care of me. One was asking questions while the other set up an IV, and monitors. From 9 am to 11 it was non stop tests and questions and meetings with the doctor and anesthesiologist. I think we had 10 minutes total to breathe and prepare mentally for everything.

The anesthesiologist was one of the funniest parts of the whole event. I was told by my doctor that he was new and I was told by my nurse that he was thorough. And thorough he was. He explained IN EXTREME DETAIL exactly how and why they were numbing me, why I was having a c-section (yeah dude, I know why I'm here) and exactly how the anesthesia would enter my body and numb my nerves. Being 9 months pregnant and not having the anesthesia yet made him hard to bear ;)

They wheeled me back shortly thereafter. I was most nervous about the spinal. I had a previous epidural that didn't work correctly with Tai, and I was so nervous that it was going to happen again. The last thing I wanted was to be put under. We gave specific instructions to the staff that if I was put under, no one was to be in our room or allowed to hold baby until I could recover.

Even though his bedside manner was bizarre, and felt like he was trying to pass a medical school test, the anesthesiologist really pulled through. The spinal was by far the most uncomfortable part of the day, but he walked me through every step, and as soon as it took effect I was the most comfortable I had been in months. 

The c-section itself was a breeze to me. The anesthesiologist really walked me through everything that was happening, kept me comfortable, and even told the doctors to pipe down a few times ;) at one point I had some weird pains and he told them they needed to stop what they were doing until he could get me more comfortable again. 

I was so content on the operating table. I was smiling at Colton and trying to get him relaxed-he was for sure more anxious than I was. All day he was pacing back and forth and letting everyone know how stressed he was. It was a lot of nervous and excited energy. I remember just laying on the operating table, knowing the hard part was over (the spinal) and knowing that I would be meeting my baby boy within minutes.

Pretty soon the doctors told me it would be any second now, and I could feel them pushing on my stomach. Then I heard them say that baby was out-and I heard his first little cry/scream. I heard nurses saying that I "was all baby" and that he was a big boy. Colton told me that "he has dark hair-a lot of it!!" They lifted him up over the barrier for me to see-and he immediately started peeing on me. So I barely got a glimpse. He screamed and screamed and screamed. From the second he was out he let everyone know how he felt. 

Colton was torn from that second on. I could tell he wanted to go be with the baby as they measured and bathed him. But I also knew he didn't want to leave my side. I told him to be with baby-I was sleepy, and comfortable and knew my baby was healthy-I was good. 

Eventually they got him all cleaned up and weighed and they bright him back over to me. It was such an awkward angle and all I wanted to do was sit up and take a good look at him. Finally they took him away, and finished closing me up. I kept asking-when do I get him back? When can I feed him? The nurses were great because they told me as soon as I was done being stapled up, and they took me back to my room-I could have my baby. And from that point on there would be no need to separate us again. That was such a relief to me. And they definitely kept their word-as soon as I was in the room I said "baby???" And they said "he's on his way." 

Colton wheeled him in with a nurse, and was so quick to get him into my arms so I could hold him. I immediately latched him on so that he could nurse-and he caught on immediately. 

I had loved the name Reign since pretty early on in my pregnancy. Colton wasn't really on board, but we were having a hard time agreeing on other names. As we sat there holding him and staring at him, Colton walked up to the whiteboard that had all of his details on it, and wrote "Reign." He said, "that's what his name is." 

Shortly after, we called my mom and had her come over to the hospital. She works next door, and was anxious that she wasn't there all day. Colton and I had decided early on that the hospital was just for us, and we would have visitors as we were ready. I was definitely ready to see my mom. 

Shortly after my mom came, my siblings brought Matai to meet his new baby. He was very nonchalant about the whole thing. He rubbed Reigns head, told me I smelled weird (Like uncle Curtis) and then went on exploring the hospital room. I don't think it was a lack of interest, but rather he was so well prepared for what was coming that he just accepted it as the new situation. 

Tai opened a present from the baby at the hospital-some new Legos, and all of my siblings got to hold the baby.

A few hours later, my dad came with my Nana, my uncle Clint, and cousin Phoenix, who were all flying out the next day to New Zealand. I know it was really special for them to all get to see the baby, especially since my uncle Clint was there when I was born.

The night was rough, as hospital stays always are, with people coming in and out. I wasn't being given anything but a liquid diet (which is the worst) and Colton kept sneaking me goldfish. I didn't sleep well because I was worried about Reign breathing okay, I wish they had some kind of monitor in the room just to reassure the moms. I should have brought my Owlet..I would have slept so much better. We finally sent him out with the nurses so they could watch him, and I could sleep, and I think that's just what we needed, but I hated doing it.

The worst part was that the nurse came in around midnight and told me I needed to get our of bed and try to stand-because that was the expectation 12 hours after surgery. I stood up for the nurse, and then started walking around (to her amazement.) I felt like it was way better than I had anticipated.

By day 2 we were very ready to go home. The nurse took all of the IV's and monitors off of me, which was fantastic. With nursing and a soft new baby, I hate having wires and tags all attached to me. Reign was doing great with nursing, Colton was sick of sleeping on a plastic couch, and I was ready to have my whole family together. Our doctor told me he would let us go first thing in the morning, and so we prepared for another night. My family stopped in with warm brownies at one point (my mom came over 5 times a day with any excuse she could think of just to peek at the baby-she couldn't help herself), and we got an amazing steak dinner that the hospital specializes in. 

The next day Colton was up and had everything packed and ready to go. All we had to do was wait for Reign to get circumcised and the nurse said we would be out by 10 am-as long as he peed. We were excited to get out of the hospital, and were going to introduce Reign to Colton's parents. We were glad to be able to spend more time out of the hospital with them and be able to visit. When they finally brought Reign back, we thought it would be a matter of minutes before he had a wet diaper. He had been having 9+ a day, and every time you took his diaper off he would pee on you.

We waited ALL DAY. We were checking him every half hour and it felt like I couldn't settle back into bed because I expected to leave any time. Pretty soon it was 6 PM and he still hadn't had a wet diaper.  I was tired, and ornery, and worried. Our sweet nurse finally called the pediatrician, and he consented to let us leave as long as we promised to call him the next morning if we didn't see a wet diaper (it literally took all night-he finally had a wet diaper at 7 am, right as we were headed to the pediatricians office.) Colton loaded the car so fast, my mom brought Tai to the hospital, and we were ready to go within 10 minutes.  

It was nice to bring Reign home to a professionally cleaned, ready to go, house (Thanks to Colton's hard work before we left and a cleaning lady.) I was excited to put Reign in a new outfit, take a shower, kick people out of my house, and enjoy my bed, my Owlet monitor, and a little bit of quiet.

Shane was able to see Reign that morning, and Jana was able to see him the next day.  We had many friends and visitors come and see him in the following weeks.

Reign's Hospital Video: https://vimeo.com/183731233

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