Can you swaddle this thing? birth and hospital stay

For those of you who want to know more than his weight and length. This is my experience with a c-section and our little boy. It doesn't sound right to say that I gave birth to him because really all I did was endure a planned medical procedure. I would have loved the chance to experience it otherwise but Silas had different plans for me :)

First let me say that everyone at the hospital was excellent and generally super sweet and helpful. We have only good things to say about them. We got to know a couple of nurses over our stay and 2 of them were hilarious! I'll have to include the low-jack story in here later! LOL And before reading this know that I found the whole process scary! It wasn't a bad experience though -everyone knew what they were doing, well everyone except me which is why it was scary!

We were supposed to go into surgery at 10:30 but I think it was closer to 11 when I finally headed into the room for the anesthesia. The room was so much smaller than I pictured it being. Watching medical emergency shows or even a baby story made me think we would be in a huge operating room but it wasn't so big. Weird thing to notice, huh? I remember thinking ok, I'll get the spinal block here and they will take me to the operating room ha ha ha

Let's talk about the spinal. This was what I was most nervous about. I have never really had any medical procedures done so even the IV was a new experience for me and I hated that Nate couldn't be there to hold me hand. The nurse was really nice though and helped to remind me to hold my position and just let me know she was right there. First the gave me the local anesthetic to numb the area- that burned a whole lot! Not like going to the dentist (I guess I made these expectations without realizing it). Then the anesthesiologist said, "Ok, we are gonna start the block. You shouldn't feel any pain just pressure and movement. Let me know if you feel any pain." Ok, BAM my whole left leg jumped as she hit a nerve. "Oh, sorry. Sorry, is the pain gone?" Did she just say sorry?! Oh my goodness, this doesn't seem normal! Then I felt pain in my hips, then leg, then both...finally she got it and there was no pain.

They laid me back and began to scrub my belly, put the curtain up and then who knows that happened! I thought that I would be numb right away - like pretty instantly but that wasn't the case. It took a little longer. They did a temperature test (eventually I shouldn't be able to feel cold) and a poking test (I shouldn't be able to feel sharp just touching instead). After several attempts at testing me and I'm still feeling things, I admit, I was just plain scared and worried that it wasn't going to work and they would have to put me under. Nate was there finally!! And eventually I did go numb. The anesthesiologist was really good at reassuring me that they wouldn't start anything until I was comfortable. She even said to Nate, "She is really nervous, I can see it. It's ok though." My teeth were chattering at this point.

They worked away and I really just felt a lot of pressure and pulling. I thought I could feel Silas move but it was just my stomach muscles twitching. I could feel them press on Silas' head as they pushed him out and I knew he was just about to be in this world. They announced that it was a boy and then you're baby is here! Out came the tears as Nate jumped up to go see our son and nurses worked crazy fast all around him. I could see Nate's tears falling and him taking pictures and I caught a glimpse of Silas' hand. Then he let out a really high pitched squeal followed by a few short, normal sounding cries. I asked Nate if he was ok and he said yes. And then I waited and waited. I heard then announce 8lbs 11oz and his length 21.25 inches. And I thought, well the estimates were pretty darn close (8.9 and 8.12 were the estimates) Nate came and sat down next to me and they brought Silas up to my face so I could see him. It is hard to cry and keep your eyes open so you can see! His face looked so plump and moist and juicy! HA HA HA I know it sounds like a fruit or something but that's the best way I can describe a fresh baby :) I kissed his sweet little check and said hi buddy. I've never felt anything so soft in my life. No one ever told me that babies skin was so beautiful, squishy and soft. Then Nate held him in the chair next to me for what seemed like 30 seconds. His eyes were so full of tears and Silas was just looking around alert. Truly one of the most indescribable moments ever - just plain AWESOME! We have a baby and I know what he looks like and I can touch him - he is gorgeous! They left to go to recovery pretty quick and then I was alone, again.

Then a weird moment happened. I don't really know how to explain this other than it felt like pressure LOTS of pressure under my ribs and like my organs were being moved around (they were btw). The anesthesiologist asked if I needed something for the pain and I could only say, "I don't know there is a lot of pressure." She made the call for me thank goodness! Suddenly that feeling was gone and I had a head ache and was feeling loopy...she turned it down quickly though. She was really sweet and she stayed with me the whole time, holding my hand after that, she could see I was so nervous. We talked about our nephews and that helped to distract me some but I still knew what was being done. From here it was pretty basic - they closed everything up, I said by to the doctor and oh of course they torture you by pressing on your uterus (to make she that there are no clots) but that HURTS people! They nurses were all commenting on how great my incision looked and that it looked like a plastic surgeon had done it. That's a nice thing to hear!!

Finally I went to recovery. We were the only patients so it was very quiet. Nate was standing over Silas in his little plastic crib under the warmer, still fresh with tears. I was so happy to see them and then they brought him over to me. Finally! Ah, relief! I have my baby and my husband and all is well. Nate is in love with little boy for sure! He had said before that he didn't know if he would be baby person and was looking forward to him being a little older but I can tell you that has completely changed! He has even said he doesn't want him to grow and he just loves holding him. Anyways, back to the recovery room; we talked to him and each other about how cute and sweet he is. Attempted to feed him but I needed some other preparations first. Silas was ready to eat though! He was SO awake and content, peaceful. We took pictures and kissed those little checks over and over and I still don't have enough check kisses! And at this point, I didn't care that the spinal or numbing took longer or that I felt that icky feeling in surgery. We are a family and we are together. We are so incredibly blessed!!

Low-Jack story! So every baby has an ankle bracelet on their ankle to prevent babies from being stolen or switched or who knows what else. If you get too close to a certain exit then the alarm will go off and you will hear a voice on the intercom say "Code Pink WIP, Code Pink WIP" This means the area goes on lock down until they can ID which baby it is and where they are, what the problem is. Most of the time it is just that it fell off or that someone whose room is near the exit did something. Then you hear "Code Pink all clear" Well, Silas started to fall off so I called the nurse and she came in, unsnapped the bracelet and put it back on. All was good. THe next time it came off, I tried to just slide it back over his foot but I couldn't really get it. So Nate decided that he had it under control after seeing how it worked. He unsnapped it and put it back on. NExt thing we know, Maddie our nurse tech was in the doorway asking what was going on with the baby's bracelet. "Well it was coming off so I put it back on" "You didn't unsnap it did you?" "Yeah, well, I had to, to get it back on" "No no no no, you don't unsnap it! You call me! Look you got security at your door" "I do? Oh oops" ME: "I told you! Didn't you hear the intercom? We are the code pink!" "Code pink all clear" Nate to Maddie :Hey, can you help me swaddle this thing before you leave?" Maddie's eyes got huge at the fact that he just said "this thing" LOL LOL LOL My stomach was so sore and I was trying not to laugh but we had Chris Kostyk, Jacob, Bailey, and Jody all in the room witnessing the whole thing go down. Maddie did swaddle that thing and he liked it a lot as usual. Maddie ended up coming back the day we left just to say hi and see how we were. I told you the nurses were great!

I have to admit that there is one thing that I can't help but be sad over. That is my lack of faith. My fear overcame me in moments when I could have demonstrated trust in God. I know that He will protect me and is guarding me yet I couldn't focus on that in those really scary moments. This makes me really sad because I want to be able to trust in Christ through every situation - even ones that are completely scary and out of my control. I know I trust for things that are part of daily life...I believe yet I have unbelief or at least my actions show it at times. I can really relate to a bible study message a few weeks ago on Mark 9:14-29 The man believed but was asking for help in overcoming his sinful tendency towards unbelief. Then Christ tells them that the reason they couldn't cast out the demon was because it required prayer. No doubt it was the kinda of prayer full of faith that believes whole heartedly in God's sovereign hand over all situations and that His grace i sufficient in all circumstances. That is my prayer: that the Holy Spirit would be helping my unbelief and that my prayer life would be stronger.