So I will start from the very beginning (cause that's a good place to start).
Saturday morning, after spending 15mins getting Tony out of bed, we headed off to the hospital. Being that it's now Wednesday, I have very hazy recollections of Saturday but I will try my best.
We got there, were admitted and then settled into a room, where we waited.. And waited.. For a while we thought we might be taken in early but it was not to be.. 10:30am came and went and we still waited.
At one point a nurse came in to prep me and had to lie me down flat on my back. I told her that this was a bad idea, but she said she would be quick. And as predicted, the results were spectacular. Blood pressure dropped like a lead balloon, I lost the ability to breathe and I thought for sure I was going to faint, at which point she took one look at my very blue face and quickly raised the back of the bed.
Then at 11:00am they finally came for us. As I was being wheeled down the corridor I noticed the digital clock on the ceiling said 11:11am. Yes that's 11:11am on 1/10/11. Freaky!!!
Then I was taken to the pre-op room where they do the anesthesia and Tony was taken to change into his scrubs.
There were three things that sucked about the whole experience. The first was the canula. The first place the doctor put it in was bad. There was some kind of block and it wasn't good, so he had to put another one. The first one was ok cause he had given us an anesthetic patch to put on at 530am that morning. The second one.. Not so much. That was unpleasant. And then I had to have the two in until after the op.
Once the canula was put in it was time for the second thing that sucked - the epidural. The last epidural, I remember that the local anesthetic was heaps worse than anything else, but since I had put one of the anesthetic patches on earlier, I figured it would be a cinch! And I guess in the grand scheme of things, it wasn't so bad, but the epidural is a fairly big, long needle, and although I didn't feel pain as such, I did feel a whole lot of very uncomfortable pressure going into my back. This was also unpleasant. And then they had to very quickly lie me down before the epi rendered me completely useless.
Now they put me on my side, because of the whole blood pressure thing, and then wheeled me into the operating theatre, where they had to transfer me to the operating table, and when they did that, they put me flat on my back again, which leads us to the third and final thing that sucked - another blood pressure drop, which I couldn't do anything about because I couldn't move. Once again the results were spectacular.
Now I have had three very very brilliant doctors during this whole experience. I am in awe that I seem to have scored brilliantly in my obstetrician, my anesthesiologist, and in the pediatrician.
So when my blood pressure dropped again before the op started, my anesthesiologist worked his magic and spent a lot of time verbally assuring me as I struggled to breathe and not panic, that it was about to get a whole lot better, and it did. His voice calmed me a lot.
And then the Caesar began. This is how it looked..
Now see those lamps above me? They gave me a great reflection of the surgery to watch. It was fascinating watching my own operation :-) it took heaps less time than Josie's Caesar because before I knew it, I was watching them lifting Jordan out of my stomach, and then watching Jordan pee all over my OB :-) Brilliant! If you look closely at the below image, you will see the proof :-)
I heard his cry and knew it was all good. He has a lovely cry. Nothing loud and piercing, just a short and to the point mewl.
Birthdate: 12:27 01/10/11
Apgars: 8, 9
Weight: 2.108kg
Height: 45cm
Head: 31.5cm
So then they took him away to the Baby Station to weigh and measure, along with Tony who was busy throughout the whole experiencing giving Facebook a blow by blow, as well as video taping and keeping me amused.
I'd like to thank Tony at this stage. As always he is my steady rock who just gets me through anything. I would have gone mad through this whole thing without him. I love you baby!
And unlike Josie's Caesar, Tony got to cut the umbilical cord!
After the Baby Station they finally brought Jordan over to me and it was just love at first sight. Adoration and devotion. The anesthesiologist, having done the majority of what he was there to do, was running around with my canon taking photos. He took some truly awesome photos and I am so grateful to him for this. He got the shot of Jordan and his first pee, and Tony cutting the cord. And then he managed to take a photo which was so identical to the one we got with Josie, I had to do a double take when I saw it. I haven't had a chance to do a composite, and I don't have access to the original Josie equivalent from the ipad, but here is the photo of Jordan, Mummy and Daddy that blew me away. I will post a composite when I have a moment to breathe :-)
So they took Jordan and Tony away, and I stayed to get sewn up. This didn't take long at all before I was being wheeled into recovery. And in recovery, I discovered I was quite weird.
Having watched my whole Caesar via reflection, and found it fascinating to watch, when they started moving my legs around, my dead weight, epi induced, unfeeling legs, I was completely grossed out.I couldn't watch. To see my legs being moved around and not feeling them.. Blergh, it really freaked me out. Watching the Caesar was great though!
Meanwhile they took Jordan up to the Special Care Nursery, where he currently resides. They would only allow Tony and Josie in to see him though, the rest of the family had to wait because the hospital has a policy that until mum has been in to see the baby, only immediate family can be there. Which suited me just fine :-) I couldn't wait to get my hands on my son.
So Tony and Josie stayed in the SCN with Jordan till they released me from recovery and took me to see him, bed and all.
Josie is just besotted with him. She constantly wants to see him, hold him, just be there.
And 6 days on, he seems to know her. He always looks at her and the times she has held him he settled and fell asleep while looking up at her.
And I am just blissed out. Utterly and completely euphoric. Day after day I am happy. I haven't been this happy in a very very long time, he has just brought such blessing into our lives.
So after the initial meeting I was itching to move into the SCN to be with him. I couldn't wait to see him again.
Tony went and got the family through to see him and he was gushed over from head to foot. Becca especially is all gushy. Jordan has come at the most inopportune time for Becca. Four weeks till HSC, she is trying to study, and Jordan is not making it easy for her :-)
Now initially Jordan was in a special crib with a heat lamp above him. It wasn't an incubator, just an open cot with a heater above it. He had no breathing issues, in fact no issues of any kind, so after a day or so, they moved him to a standard crib, where he still is.
He is being tube fed every 3hrs, and I am putting him on the boob every second or third feed. Now that I have come home, I am going in to feed twice a day, and really loving each visit, and really loving breastfeeding. So different from last time. I really hated the whole breastfeeding experience. My milk never came in, I was stressed out of my mind and Josie just wouldn't latch properly. It was a traumatic experience. Now, my supply is getting there, I am expressing every 2-3 hrs in the day and 3-4 hrs at night and I am seeing results. Jordan is now sucking so well and latching and drawing, and each time I put him on he is better and better at it. It's just a matter of getting my supply up now.
So I think I will end it there for now. I'm not going to scare people with breastfeeding photos. That may be carrying the blogging a bit too far :-)
I am also going in to bathe him every second day. I will blog about the bathing after tomorrow when I will have some photos of it. It's quite an experience, and Jordan loves it :-)
So thats it for now. I hope you have enjoyed the photos!
Mari
Newly appointed mummy to Jordan Emrys :-)
