Button is here!!

It's a boy!! And yes, he's been here for almost four weeks now. I'm just now getting around to writing up his birth story.

Here are his basic stats. He was born on 8/24/09 at 11:40am. He weighed 7lbs 11oz and was 19 inches long. Button's name is Matthew Carter and we will be calling him Carter. Now on to the birthing part of the story.

DH and I woke up on Monday morning to get ready for work, just like usual. I was waiting for him to get done in the bathroom so we could take a shower when I realized that I needed to get the pot roast ready for the crock pot. So, off I waddled to the kitchen. As I got to the kitchen, it felt like I was leaking. But I was thinking maybe I didn't empty out my bladder all the way? So I waddled back in to the bedroom to my little half bath and pee'd some more. Then back to the kitchen I went. And again with the leaking. I repeated the above once more. By this time DH was out of his bathroom and had come to see if I was ready to shower. He found me in my bathroom and wanted to know if everything was alright. By this time, I was pretty sure that my water had broken. I was leaking way too much and it didn't smell like pee. So I told him that we probably needed to head to the hospital, that my water had broken. He took the news pretty calmly. So we hopped in the shower. Then, since I did not have a hospital bag ready and I was leaking pretty steadily, I had to wake up Killian, my 13 year old son to help me get things together. Also, he needed to know what was going on. What a way for a teenage boy to wake up, "Son, it's time to get up. My water has broken and I'm having a baby".

Anyway, we get things packed up, DH calls his work and my work while I call my parents. Killian is ready for school and knows to get on the bus without fail and that Grandpa will pick him up once either from school or home once the baby gets here. Then off DH and I go to the hospital.

Thank goodness for pre-registration! It only took us about 5-10 minutes at check in. Then we went up to the L&D triage. By this time, I had pretty much soaked a pad! The nurses hooked me up the monitors and tested the fluid that was coming out. Yes, my water had broken. But I was not dilated or effaced at all! That was okay though because I knew I was having a c-section. So we got to hang out in triage for a little bit while they got in touch with my doctor. Once they got a hold of her, we were told that we would be going to the ER at 11am! We were then moved to the L&D pre-op holding area. In there DH got to put on all his OR gear - the net had, the scrubs and the booties. He looked cute! Then a little after 11, I waddled over to the OR. DH had to wait outside until my spinal was done and I was prepped. The spinal wasn't near as bad as I thought it was going to be. Yes, it stung and pinched. But it didn't hurt like I thought it would. And it worked fast!

When I was ready, DH came in. I made sure he had the camera ready. I had to give him a lesson on how to work the camera in when we were in triage! I have to say, the sensations I felt during my c-section were most bizarre. You always hear that you don't feel anything, but you will feel pressure and tugging. That's exactly what it felt like. I couldn't tell you when they made the incision at all. It's very much like when you go to the dentist and they numb your mouth for a procedure. You know that the dentist in there doing something, but you can't feel the exact particulars.

My doctor was wonderful. She gave DH a heads up on when it was time to stand up from behind the curtain to take Button's first picture. He got a couple great ones. And he even got one from when they were cleaning him up. I did get to see Button for a second before they took him out to recovery. DH went with him while they sewed me up.

When I got to recovery, DH and Button were waiting for me. Because I had told the nurses in triage that I was planning on breasfeeding, as soon as they had me hooked up to my morphine pump, the recovery nurse helped me with Button's first feeding. I love that my hospital is so very BF friendly. I think all of the nurses have some lactation training. Once he had a go at it and all my recovery stuff was done, we headed up to our room on the maternity floor.

I really don't remember much about the rest of the day. I think by then the morphine was starting to kick in. I do know that Daddy brought Killian and my sister came with them. I know that DH changed all of Button's diapers that day and night. As a matter of fact, he changed almost all of them the whole time were in the hospital. Such a good Daddy! And I think they made me get out of bed that evening too. Which was a big difference from when I had Killian. I think it was the next day before I got out of bed with him. But maybe the fact that I had general anesthesia with Killian is why it took longer.

We stayed in the hospital until Thursday. There were some latching issues with breastfeeding and a LC had to come by and help me on Wednesday and Thursday before we left. Also, Button lost more than 10% of his birth weight. So, they wanted to make sure the breastfeeding was down pat before we went home. Button weighed 6lbs 13oz when we went home.

All and all, it was a wonderful delivery. And this c-section was nowhere near as painful as my c-section with Killian. I really think a lot of that has to do with me having more support this time around, from both my family (especially DH) and the staff at the hospital.

Would I do it again? Yep! But the question is will we do it again......that has yet to be determined!

In triage
In pre-op holding
Put me back!!
Carter at one day old