11.05.2014

Marcus' Birth Story

Its been almost two months since we welcomed Marcus into our family, and its not been without its ups and downs; but the one constant is how he's made our family feel so complete since his arrival.  I feel like his pregnancy flew right by me in the blink of an eye.  I'm sure having an active toddler and filling the summer with a slew of fun activities with him so as to soak in the last days of being an only child, really contributed to the speed in which September came upon us.  Marcus' birth went off with not a lot of incident, but I just wanted to jot down some highlights for posterity.

We had a scheduled C-section this time around, and knowing what day we had to be at the hospital, and avoiding the hassle that Lucas' induction turned out to be really helped ebb some of the anxiety that I had leading up to little brother's arrival.  This way we made arrangements for Lucas for the day, and planned how I would be managing our stay at the hospital post partum.  Being able to plan for me was a huge bonus, since I'm definitely a planner at heart, and like everything in neat little lists.  I had some pretty bad insomnia the last two months of my pregnancy brought on by a the obvious constant need to pee coupled with just a huge amount of anxiety that would keep me up most of the night, so to say that sleep didn't really come the night before surgery was a forgone conclusion.  We dropped Lucas off at his grandparents on the way to this hospital, and as we drove off I had a huge rush of emotion take over me and balled the whole half an hour drive.  This would be the first time I was leaving Lucas overnight, and for any real extended period of time, and the weight of that hit me like a ton of bricks.  The fact that his world was about to be rocked to the core didn't really help my overload of emotions.  I'm sad to say that it didn't ease up any after Marcus' birth, but that is an entirely other story. 

We were bumped an hour after getting to the hospital due to another emergency surgery, and the waiting was absolutely killing me.  I was so ready to have my baby.  We were finally admitted to a communal room with three other moms awaiting surgery, given the required pre-meds, and waited a little longer.  Finally at 12pm they took me to the operating room to administer the spinal tap, I wasn't really worried about it, I was fine the last time; however this time the doctor had a rough time getting the right spot and it took what felt like forever to get me numb.  I had a different OB this time around, and I loved her.  My main OB is a little rough around the edges, and he has the worse bedside manners for a doctor who deals with hormonal pregnant women, so I was pleasantly surprised to have a woman this time who was just so caring and overall put me at ease throughout the whole process.  She was actually the one who held me while the spinal tap was being administered and talked me through it the whole time, and really helped ease my anxiety.  Unfortunately just before the hubby was let into the room I had an adverse reaction to the spinal tap and ended up being sick all over the table.  I felt better afterwards but it was definitely something I could have done without.  Shortly after Gianni came in the team got things moving pretty quickly.

Unlike with Lucas my water was not broken prior to surgery, so Marcus was happily unaware of what was coming, and as a result he was awake and alert the whole time.  I could actually feel him moving inside of me as the doctors opened me and started the surgery, and they were even quick to comment how active he was, which isn't really surprising considering how much I felt him throughout the pregnancy.  The first words out of the doctor's mouth when she got her first glimpse of him was of the size of his ample cheeks, and I knew without seeing him he was going to be a chunker just like his brother. 



Marcus came into the world at 12:30pm, wailing from being ripped out of his cozy little temporary home, and quickly proceeded to pee all over the floor, making his displeasure quite apparent.  Sure enough he weighed in at a healthy 9 pounds 8 ounces, slightly bigger than his big brother, and with the biggest cheeks I just wanted to kiss forever.  They swaddled him and he was quickly placed in the waiting arms of his daddy who was just as smitten.  It felt much quicker this time around the wait to be stitched up and then getting to hold my newest baby, which I'm so grateful for, since the downside of having a C-section is not being able to have that instant touching and connection.  Once in recovery, we breastfed, and waited until my oxygen levels were back to normal before being transferred to our room for the duration of my stay.

We spent the rest afternoon basking in the glow of our new bundle, breastfeeding on demand, and checking his sugars regularly since I have a history of gestational diabetes.  I cannot really put into words how you just fall in love instantly with your baby, and I'm still in amazement when I look at both my children for the miracle that is a woman's body who makes and grows these tiny humans.


Although I was grateful that my mom came to spend the first night with me in the hospital so that Gianni could get Lucas and have him sleep at home, and therefore not disrupting his routine too much, I was really emotional and sad to see my husband leave that night.  He's my best friend, and truly my rock and not having him by my side was a lot harder than I expected it to be, especially the second night when I was all alone.  I'm really grateful for the nursing staff at the hospital, they were extra helpful knowing that I was alone, and I got some great women who made the stay all that more bearable.  On the flip side I truly enjoyed the one on one time I had with my newborn, knowing that the moment I got home I would soon start the precarious dance of learning to divide my time between my two sons. 


Marcus passed all his tests the next day, and I benefitted from a class with a lactation consultant, even though my milk did indeed never come in as it didn't with Lucas.  It was just as disheartening as the first time, but I'm learning to deal with that disappointment.  I am glad for the breastfeeding time we had in the hospital though, and feel that it helped him as much as it could, especially since his sugar levels came up a lot quicker than they did with Lucas. 


We left the hospital early afternoon after two days in the hospital, still really sore on my part, but I was just dying to get home to my own surroundings and to my other two boys, so I dealt with the hard recovery that was coming my way.  I want to detail the meeting of the brothers, and my own recovery in a separate post.  So I leave with that, a pretty standard delivery if I say so myself. 


SHARE THIS POST - {PINTEREST}

No comments:

Post a Comment

 
SITE DESIGN BY DESIGNER BLOGS