Birth
I very much did NOT want us to have a Csection. My dream was to give birth to you naturally and without any medication. I wanted to fully experience you coming into the world - and I wanted to be able to have you on my chest immediately, breastfeed you, and recover quickly to be the best for you at home.
May 27 was a Friday and your dad took off work (he only had 5 days of vacation to use. They didn't give him any paternity leave) We went to the hospital at 5am to get ready. They gave Mommy an IV and prepared her for surgery, but they almost forgot to look at you to make sure you were still feet down. GUESS WHAT - you, stink! you'd flipped last minute. I guess you didn't want a Csection either. :)
But - even though we didn't need surgery anymore, they encouraged us to go ahead and induce labor. They said that you had a chance of flipping back around if I went home. Because of that - that we were already prepped, and that Daddy had taken off work already and it was a holiday weekend... we decided to go ahead and induce. They gave mommy some medicine to help make things easier for you to come out, and they did a few different things to help my body release you. None of it was working though - and we stayed in early labor for 48 hours.
Sunday morning they told me that we had to have a Csection because your heart rate kept dropping when I had contractions on their medication and they wanted to get you out of me. I disagreed with them, but I didn't feel comfortable going against their medical advice. It was scary and I didn't want to risk anything happening to you. They took us back for surgery and in less than an hour you were in our arms.
Mommy wanted to see you when you first came out - so she asked for a clear screen, made sure that they'd put you on her chest immediately, and that daddy could be right next to us. They offered to play music during the surgery - so we played Ludovico Einaudi's songs. When they were about to pull you out of my belly they lowered the opaque screen and let me see through the clear one. I got to see you being pulled out of me. It was so surreal, baby boy. It was beautiful and amazing and I loved you so much. Really soon after, they put you on me and Mommy got to hold you for about 15 minutes. Daddy got to hold you after as they put my belly back together - and then we went into recovery and I got to cuddle you, try and feed you, and the nurses and anesthesiologists came in and did their checks.
In the post natal unit - we stayed for 3 nights so Mommy could heal enough to come home. It was painful, so they gave me pain medication. Unfortunately it went through my breastmilk and you got some too - because you slept for 16 hours straight. We tried many things to wake you up and feed you, but the moment you got onto my breast you'd fall asleep again and even rubbing ice on your face wouldn't work. You clusterfed Monday night as you were very hungry, but on Tuesday morning they circumcised you and you slept another 16 hours after that - which is normal apparently. By Tuesday night you were so hungry that you were inconsolable, and Mommy wasn't producing much milk. I was scared and wanted to comfort you. The nurse came in and offered to give you formula. I didn't know what else to do, so we decided to. She gave it to you from a bottle - and you calmed. After that, you didn't really want to drink from Mommy because the bottle was so much faster. We tried for 6 weeks to breastfeed, went to a lactation consultant, Mommy tried pumping, but nothing really worked. Mrs. Randi Holbrook from church donated her milk to you because she had so much for Lucia. We also used formula.
Your Gamma came on Tuesday to the hospital to meet you, and we got to go home on Wednesday afternoon - and you got to meet Jaz Dog and the kitty cats!