Our son was born on Monday 4 Jan 2010 by C-section at 10.45am. This is his birth story.
I was due to have a c-section because of the 3rd degree tear and fractured coccyx that I suffered during the birth of my first son 2 and a half years ago. I have to say that the idea of major abdominal surgery when women have been birthing babies for generations wasn't particularly attractive - but then just a couple of generations ago I probably would not have survived childbirth with son number 1 either so thank goodness for modern medicine.
I was given some antacid tablets to take Sunday night and Monday morning and then ordered to fast until the procedure. A friend had had her baby by c-section and (like me) tends to get cranky when not having eaten so I was a little concerned about this fasting and what that might mean for my mood. I was due to be second on the list so was hopeful of an early surgery. We arrived at the hospital as requested early at 7am and were left to wait in the waiting room until after 9am. Hubby tried to curl up and sleep on one of the 2 seater lounges - and judging by the sound emanating from his nose was reasonably successful. I had been given the new Paulina Simons book which is 700 pages long, so found myself wiling away the time with a book.
Before too long a young woman who was to be our midwife came along and introduced herself and showed us to one of the delivery rooms. Kirsten seemed so young (does that mean i'm getting older??) and competent and was a delight the entire length of our stay. She got me into a gown and hubby into his scrubs and then we settled back down to wait again. My mother had wanted an approximate ETA on my surgery so we were told that we should be in theatre by 10am. As we waited in anticipation we were told that there was an emergency so that we wouldn't be going in as soon as expected. Still it was only about 10.15am when they finally came for me.
I was walked into the theatre where it was absolutely bloody freezing! They did tell me that it was going to be cold, but I had no idea - draped only in a hospital gown I was so cold my body got the shakes and my teeth were chattering. It was quite difficult to hold still enough for the spinal - but as soon as that went it I felt the heat rise up my body (as I lost feeling in my legs). The spinal worked its way all the way up to my neck and was making me dizzy, so the anaesthetist had to dial it back (I then got a headache) and then dial it up until it was working right. The procedure itself seemed to go off without a hitch. Hubby could see some reflection in the light but I couldn't (thank goodness - he said there was lots of blood) and before we knew it our son was born. He gave a pleasing wail, and was checked for the important stuff before being brought over to me to check out.
I then got all stitched up and was wheeled back into the delivery room. I then find that i've lost a bit of time and I'm not sure exactly what happened, except that Bubba was brought over so I could try to put him on the breast, and Hubby made some important phone calls and sent out a broadcast text message.
Sometime a little later on my parents arrived with Master 2 who got to meet his little brother. Much to our delight he seemed excited and thrilled and covered him with kisses and demands to hold him. He was fascinated by his little hands and feet and that he was asleep lots.
I stayed up in the delivery suite until about 6.30pm when a bed was available in the ward and we went downstairs. I still was unable to eat but did manage to get some juice and some tea into me. That first night is a bit of a blur - I had a catheter in as well as a drip and was bed bound and unable to do anything for myself. The midwives who were around were great, they helped me to change Bubba and to try and feed him - though I have to say he did a great job on my nipples and by the next morning they bared the scars of his feeding attempts with grazes. Oh the pain!
The following morning when Master 2 came for a visit he was again taken with his baby "brover" and showered him with kisses and affection. He was not impressed that I was "stuck" in the bed and couldn't get out, and I had a phone call from him at 7.30am to say that he wanted me to "coddle him". He also wanted "Daddy pick me up" so he was ready to come home - which also meant that the time that I could have hubby with me at the hospital helping (rather than waiting on the understaffed nurses and midwives) was limited.
It was morning of day 2 when I also got to have my catheter, calf massagers and drip removed which left me free to get out of bed and have a shower. I had had some low blood pressure overnight (70/40) so the nurses and midwives weren't keen to let me move about by myself so there was one camped outside the bathroom door in case of a "thump". Hubby showed up when I was about half way through and he came in to supervise which was handy. I could hear Master 2 outside the door - "My Mummy's in the shower", he said to anyone who would listen.
One of the best things about 2nd babies (or maybe not - but from my perspective anyway), is the lack of people who feed the *need* to visit you in the hospital. It was lovely to have just a small number of close friends and family dropping in rather than being inundated with guests. There's also the rise of facebook and text messaging which mean that lots of people contacted us via these medium's rather than coming to visit in person. I just hope that there's not any reason for jealousy about these things as they grow up.
So day 2 was filled with visitors and trying to teach Bubba the in's and out's of breastfeeding. We'd been advised not to give him a dummy for the first 48 hours but he didn't want to settle and I had a dummy so I gave it to him.
In hindsight not the best idea.
The following day (day 2) Bubba found it much more difficult to latch, and consequently I have some horrible grazes on my nipples - he had gotten used to sucking a much smaller dummy. Night 2 I held off giving him the dummy - he used my thumb in his mouth to suck on until he settled and them managed without. It made for a much easier day three though attachment was still painful as the damage was already done. Maybe the experts *do* know what they are talking about.
I have to say that the staff at the hospital were amazing. I think that of everyone we had contact with there was only 1 person who was not incredible in their patience, understanding and expertise. There were a few characters who stood out. One was a young male nurse who told me that he usually worked in paediatrics and wasn't used to working in maternity. He was on the overnight shift the first night I was there, when I was still "stuck" in my bed. He responded to the buzzer on a couple of occassions when Bubba needed a nappy change. The first time he changed a nappy it was thick with meconium, the thick tar like substance of a baby's first poo. He struggled to clean Bubba's bum (not unexpectedly) but then when Bubba's penis was exposed to the cold air, he did what lots of baby boys tend to do and pee'ed everywhere. Male nurse was taken by surprise and had to go and get change of clothes and bedding for Bubba. Lesson number 1 about baby boys and keeping their little penis's covered when changing their nappies - or so I thought.
When it happened a 2nd time it was perhaps slightly more amusing as male nurse was slightly bamboozled - but surely lesson learnt.
Some of the other characters were a young student midwife who was eager to help and who seemed very taken with Bubba (and who wouldn't be??!!) and a young midwife who did 2 of the overnights who was incredibly competent. Her looks were exotic, very dark skin but not sure if she was from the sub continent or elsewhere but she spoke with a broad Australian accent. She had a no nonsense approach to getting me self sufficient and some of her tips for getting Bubba attached stayed with me and helped me get him back on the boob with limited assistance.
Day 3 I was keen to go home and if it weren't for the hiccup with the feeding I'd probably have been discharged then, but because Bubba still wasn't attaching well, and I had a hell of a headache we decided to stay one more night. This decision was also aided by the early departure of my room mate and the news that I was unlikely to have company until the following morning. Master 2 came in for an afternoon visit and together we took Bubba for his first bath. Hubby was the bather, and Master 2 and I watched on as Bubba screamed at the coldness of being naked and bathed. Master 2 was a little amazed by the entire process and stood eagerly on a chair to watch his "baby brover" get his bath. Day 3 saw me recognise my horrible headache as being due to poor posture from breast feeding and try to make an effort to prevent this from happening (not good, still getting headaches). It also saw us get everything ready for an early morning discharge from the hospital.
Bubba attached well for his feed about 9.30pm and by just after 10pm we were both tucked in and asleep, looking forward to a night in a room to ourselves.
At 11.40pm our peace was ruined.
Another patient was wheeled in - lights turned on, baby crying, peaceful evening never going to happen.
Day 3 blues were always going to be an issue and I couldn't help myself. I found myself quietly sobbing as my hopes for a quiet evening were in tatters. Tears running down my face I tried to sob quietly (it wasn't her fault, and I didn't want her to think I was crying because of her - even though I was). I sent Hubby a text message "I want to come home", and tried to give into the despair with dignity.
Day 4 arrived, it hadn't been too bad of a night after all that. I didn't actually wake up until almost 8am - then it was feed, shower, hearing test for Bubba, pack up my stuff (deal with another horrible headache) and wait for hubby to arrive to take us home. About 10am we were ready to go. Pressed the buzzer cause the last thing that needed to happen before discharge was my measles, mumps, rubella vaccine.
5 mins, no one came.
10 mins, no one came.
15 ....
20....
Finally, the midwife who would have been looking after me, had I been staying showed up. She was friendly enough to me, though obviously short staffed - she said she was ready to cross me off the list, and I said that I just needed my vaccine and was good to go. She was very short with the woman who'd come in with her hubby the night before though. She'd had an emergency c-section it was her first child, and they also had been waiting for someone to help. Their little girl had thrown up and they had no idea where to find clean clothes, bed linen etc. This midwife was the only person in my entire stay at the hospital who wasn't amazing in her treatment of patients. I have to say that I was glad to be leaving if this was what staying would have meant.
Hubby finally (30 mins late) arrived, we dressed Bubba in his own clothes and made our way home. Which is where I am now.
Day 4 was my first day at home with my new larger family and it was pretty great. Master 2 was a bit excitable this morning and wanted to jump up all over me before hubby got out of bed, but fortunately my Dad came over to give him someone else to focus on. Bubba is feeding well, he sounds like a breast pump when he's on the boob - my milk is in and my boobs are enormous, like a porn star breast enlargement gone horribly wrong - and there's no bra fitting over these babies! My wound seems to be healing well - the midwife who visited today was happy with me. I'm back on a normal diet, can sleep without other people's babies waking me and have a wonderful family. I know things will change and that Bubba will "wake up" soon and will become more challenging.
But for now I couldn't be happier.
