Jackson's Birth Story - 3.5 weeks later (Part II)

know when I would go to the hospital, and I could spend that last day with Hailey before Jackson arrived, and finish getting the things I needed to get ready (like the mirrors in the car so I could see both kids from the rear-view mirror while driving).

I believe it was the Sunday (maybe the Saturday) before the c/s that I got a call saying the woman scheduled for 8 am on that day actually just had her baby, so I (being diabetic) would be moved up to that slot (from the 11 am) slot. Because the c/s was for 8 am, that meant I had to be in the hospital by 5:30 am. Eeek! This meant getting up around 4:15 am, so I had enough time to shower (as I wasn't sure when I'd feel up to showering at the hospital after the c/s) and blow dry and straighten my hair (as I knew that laying down with my hair in a ponytail would not be comfortable, and I kind of wanted to look nice). While getting ready, I actually suddenly felt extremely sick: nauseous, lightheaded, like I was going to pass out. It was awful! I think it must have been the fact that I was about to head in for a c/s. Anyway, because of that, I was a little behind schedule and arrived at the hospital at 5:45 am.

The woman who called me to reschedule my c/s didn't mention that because I would have to be at the admitting desk before 6 am meant that I'd need to go to the admitting desk in the ER. Instead, I went to the regular admitting desk and had to wait for 15-20 minutes for them to open. However, I was lucky to be called first because I told the woman I was hear for a c/s.

My mom, husband, and I finally made it past admitting and were sent to the (antenatal?) unit. I don't remember specifically what order everything happened in, but I know I had to change in to the hospital gown, was given an IV (two actually, one for insulin and sugar - though I think that's really stupid to have both, and the other for the c/s something-or-other; note that it took two people here and about 4 pokes to get the two IVs in, which didn't feel good), had blood drawn, tested my blood sugar multiple times. Another woman and her hubby actually was put in the bed next to ours. I found out later that they were scheduled for a 10 am slot.

Around 9:45 am (yes, almost two hours late!; there was an emergency one that came in early) we were told the time was here to get to the OR. I drank that AWFUL stuff, something to do with slowing the acid production or something in your stomach, so you'd be less likely to vomit during surgery. Anyway, Adam & I made our way down the hall (saying goodbye to my mom), he got his scrubs on, we spoke to the OR team, took our "couple before surgery" photo and just about got in the OR. Then we were told there was another emergency and we had to go back to our room and wait another hour or two. UGH!

My mom was surprised to hear that we were back. A couple hours later, it was "our turn" again. We got to the OR hallway, spoke to the team again, and I went in to the OR. (We didn't take the "couple" picture again, so now every time I see the one we did take, it's like it's "fake" cause it wasn't actually the very last minutes before surgery. Luckily I didn't have to drink that crap again before surgery (which I found out later that the anesthesiologist actually doesn't agree with giving that stuff to patients). I remember literally going in to the OR at 11:45 am and thinking "Cool, the baby's birth time will be somewhere in the noon hour, i.e. 12:xx pm, like "December XX", lol".

The anesthesiologist began the spinal, which he didn't tell me he was doing and I jumped! It took him three tries to get it in. I was told to put my legs up on the table, and I remember it wasn't long at all before they began feeling warm and heavy to move. Again, I don't remember the order in which everything happened, but I remember feeling really sick before the surgery even began and before Adam was even in the room. I gagged into a bucket thing and threw up a few times while lying down. Not cool. During the surgery, however, I didn't feel one ounce of sickness, nor did it hurt or do I remember feeling any pressure or anything.

When he was born, I heard someone say "14", as in he was born at 12:14 pm. SO COOL! He was born on December 14th (12/14) at 12:14 pm! Someone (the doctor?) showed my him about 6-8 feet away from me on my left side. They cleaned him up a bit, did what they do, and then brought him to me. As per my c/s birth plan (yes you can have those!!!), my arms were not tied down, and I actually got to hold him, unlike with Hailey's birth. Adam helped hold him, and we actually got a great family photo of the three of us. The photos I see now of that time, I can see he looked a little blue, but I didn't notice it at the time. Oh, his APGAR scores were 8 and 9, which was so much better than Hailey's 1 minute score of "2". And his sugar level was 3.something. I felt SO HAPPY about that. Despite the last few weeks of the pregnancy being so hard and stressful and like I was messing it all up, I actually felt incredibly proud of myself that his blood sugar level at birth was in the 3's. Again, it was so much better than Hailey's "0.8".

Hmm, apparently I'm going to have to make a Part III, since I am out of energy with regards to finishing this story. Sorry ya'll!