I had a few contractions overnight on Friday, which I thought was odd, but I slept better than I had in weeks. I told Matt Saturday morning that I felt "different" but I thought it was because I'd slept late and so hard. We took Ben to the park and let him run off some energy outside and when we were catching a taxi home I had a pretty strong contraction. I realized I'd already had 5 that morning (6 in a day warranted a visit to the doctor) so I ended up getting out at the hospital while Matt took Ben home for his nap. I was immediately taken to the labor ward and put on monitors, all before they even asked my name, and it was quickly apparent that the contractions were coming steadily. Matt came back soon with my admission paperwork (a huge packet of papers I'd carried around 24 hours a day, except of course for that morning) and the doctor arrived soon afterward. She saw that the contractions were about 8 minutes apart and decided it was time to have a baby. All along she has been very concerned about the fact that I had a vertical uterine incision for Ben's delivery and she did not want me to be in labor for any amount of time in case it began to rupture. Plus, I was officially 36 weeks and 3 days so the outlook was very good for the baby.
Matt and I had that old familiar feeling of panic when a doctor announces that we're having a c-section very soon, but we had to remind ourselves that it was okay this time! We could be excited this time around because we knew the baby was much bigger and better prepared to face the outside world. I did ask if I could take a shower since I was really lazy that morning and didn't clean up before going to the park, but the OR and the anesthesiologist were both free and we had to get going so there was no time. Everything happened very quickly, but not with the urgency or tension we experienced with Ben's birth.
I was prepped and taken to the OR where the anesthesiologist started my IV and epidural. I had a spinal last time (one huge shot straight into the spine...very scary) and I never even felt him insert the catheter for the epidural so I'm thinking that's definitely the way to go! I felt a lot more sensation during the c-section but no pain. Matt came in and the doctor got started. This felt like a much quicker procedure, maybe because I wasn't stressed and vomiting like last time, but also because I was alert and hadn't been loaded up with nasty medications. The doctor pulled out little Alexander Lee and he started crying like a healthy little baby. After the neonatologist had cleaned him up a little I was able to hold him and look into my precious baby's face for a few moments before he was taken to the NICU for observation, since he was considered slightly premature. Those were some of the sweetest minutes of my life! Alex was just perfect. He came out at 6lbs 10oz and 22 inches long. He is what we would have called a "fat baby" in the NICU, back when we were enviously looking at all the chubby babies that came and went while Ben was working so hard to gain an ounce here and there.
Matt went with Alex to the NICU while they finished patching me up and sent me to recovery. I think it was apparent pretty quickly that Alex's lungs were still premature and he was started on some oxygen, then later placed on CPAP to give him both oxygen and pressure. We were disappointed but not too surprised since white male babies are the slowest to develop and the lungs are the last of the major organs to function. It was really nice this time around to be in the same hospital so I could get updates from the doctor while I was still confined to bed and Matt didn't have to drive 40 miles to take care of his wife and his baby! On Sunday morning I was able to get out of bed and go visit Alex down the hall and get a better look at him. He looks NOTHING like any of us yet, especially Ben. His little face is round and chubby and he has really dark hair on his head. Right now his eyes are brownish-bluish, so they could still go either way.
By Sunday night, I was getting depressed about having a baby in the NICU again, I think more from the deja vu than what Alex was actually going through. He hated the prongs from the CPAP in his nose, of course, and was crying and wiggling around to get them out so it was hard to see this little newborn already having to suffer through something uncomfortable. But he was already infinitely better off than Ben so we knew that his discomfort would be quick and his progress (hopefully) in hours instead of days or weeks. That has definitely proven to be true! Alex got off CPAP last night and graduated into an oxygen hood, and by this morning didn't even need that. Today he is breathing freely and resting very comfortably, which is ironic because he is officially full-term as of today. I guess he was really going by the calendar! I was released this morning so I got to come home and rest a bit before going back to visit Alex this afternoon.
Today was also a memorable day because both Matt and I got to hold Alex for the first time. I got to hold him first and give him a chance to nurse, but we got to the hospital a little later than we'd planned and he had spent quite a bit of energy letting the nurses know he was hungry and promptly fell asleep after a few swallows. Hopefully if we can time things better and catch him when he's alert and just getting hungry we'll have more success because he doesn't seem to have any trouble with sucking and swallowing. Matt and I still enjoyed seeing him sleeping peacefully and looking like a happy, healthy little baby.
Alex was showing some signs of mild jaundice today so he'll be tanning under the phototherapy light overnight. Once that is corrected and he is taking all of his feeds by mouth, we'll get to bring our little guy home! The doctor is estimating Sunday or Monday right now. Here are some pictures from this afternoon. We forgot the camera as we ran out the door to meet the hungry boy at the hospital so we had to use my phone instead.
I am well on the road to recovery myself. This c-section has been much less painful than my first, probably for many reasons like not being an emergency, not 3 1/2 months early, not being stapled shut, and just having experienced it previously. Also, they gave me a terrific little girdle to velcro around my belly and hold everything in tight so I'm much more comfortable walking or turning over in bed. I can't believe I didn't get one of these things in the states because it's made a huge difference. The doctor told me I didn't have to wear it all the time but I haven't taken it off for a minute except to shower because it's so much help. I'm still not looking forward to having to travel to the hospital and back (especially when I have to take a taxi) but it's only about a 10-minute ride from our place so that's not bad.
Even though we didn't make it to full-term like we'd hoped, Matt and I feel incredibly blessed to have made it so far with Alex this time. Just knowing everything Ben went through and all of the risks and difficulties he faced, it was scary getting pregnant again and knowing we might put another baby through the same thing. Each passing day and week helped us breathe a little easier and think just a little more about a big, healthy baby. Honestly, I was amazed things went as smoothly as they did but we did work very hard to minimize all the risks and give this little guy every opportunity to fully cook. And then all we could do was pray and leave things in God's hands because it was ultimately HIS decision on when we'd meet Alex and we're so thankful that it was at 36 weeks this time instead of 24! While I was in the recovery room by myself, all I could think was "thank you Lord for getting us this far!".
