The day before my scheduled c-section was spent hanging out with my two boys. We went to Walmart and stocked up on easy to prepare foods for the boys to eat during the week I would be in the hospital. It was a cart full of man food, I joked. Then, we headed to Hardee's for supper so that Morgan could play in the play place - something that has recently been a life saver as he's quickly outgrowing our apartment and needs somewhere to run around and play during these long, frigid winter days. We ended the evening cuddling on the couch as we picked up where we had left off on Season 3 of "Big Bang" as Morgan calls it (aka The Big Bang Theory).
I spent the day trying to keep my mind busy while soaking up our last day as three, but all day I felt that sweet anticipation as my mind wandered to the excitement the next day would hold. I topped the night off with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, washed down with lots of water and Tums - anticipating my not being able to eat again for far too many hours for a pregnant woman to fathom.
I hardly could sleep that night. I felt like a kid on Christmas Eve, but even more anxious because I was getting a present the next morning far greater than anything I have ever found under the tree. From about 2:30am on I dozed off and on, but couldn't fall fully back asleep...I kept checking the clock. Our alarm was set for 4:15am, as we had to be at the hospital at 5:30am, but I decided to get out of bed and start getting ready at 4:00am because I just couldn't lay there a moment longer.
We drove to the hospital filled with excitement. The thermometer on the dash read -8 degrees. We joked about how this little guy would be born on the coldest day of the year {thus far} and how his brother was born on one of the hottest days.
We checked in at hospital registration and sat there in nervous quiet as the lady checked us in. We headed upstairs and right away got to business. I barely had set foot in the room before the nurse was handing me a gown and ushering me in the bathroom to strip down to nothing. What's that they say again about having a baby and modesty? From there it was all IV's, wristbands, and checking in on baby's heartbeat.
The anesthesiologist came in to talk to us and the nerves really started to kick in as I remembered my last experience with an epidural. I was reminded that while I was here to have a baby, I was also having major surgery - a scary thought that I kept pushing to the back of my mind. After the anesthesiologist left, my OB popped in for any last minute questions. She told me that we would be heading back between 7:15am and 7:30am and that we should have a baby by 7:40am.
I spent those last few minutes on my phone, texting Mom and my two best friends.
Then, it was go time. I kissed Frank good-bye. We'd only be apart for minutes while he waited for them to get the spinal in and get me draped but it seemed like an eternity. Once they brought Frank back everything moved very fast and before I knew it my OB was telling me that she could see his head and it was full of hair. Soon we heard those first beautiful cries and she held him up quickly above the drapes so we could get our first glance at our little boy. "He looks like Morgan", she said. Tears flooded my eyes and Frank brushed them from my cheeks.
A few minutes later...that again felt like an eternity, they brought him up by my head so that we could get a slightly longer look at him. Tears again flooded my eyes and I just kept saying "He looks just like Morgan". Then, Frank headed back to the nursery with our sweet baby boy while they finished up with me. I waited, not so patiently, for the call from the nursery: "7lbs 11oz, 20 inches!". "Bigger than we thought!" says my doctor.
After, they wheeled me over to recovery where I chit chatted with the nurse and watched the clock. "When will they bring him back to me?" I asked. She called down again to the nursery to tell them we were ready when they were.
When they finally wheeled him in I got to hold him for the first time and kiss his sweet cheeks. Before we even headed back to our room I was able to get him to the breast - something that made me so happy - we were already off to a better start than with Morgan.
Once they wheeled us back to the room Frank texted my parents and gave them the go ahead to head up with Morgan to meet his little brother Cash Mason...
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