Aubree is Here

Well, here we are. We are now a family of four. All and all, it was a really great experience and we'll definitely be having more. Ha!

Monday night we did manage to get some sleep despite the fact that we knew we had to get up at 4:45. Duncan and Gigi took me to the hospital while Papa stayed behind with Calleigh. We checked in at 5:30 and the nurse took me to the room to get me shaved and hooked up to the IV. This time the IV went in my right hand, as opposed to my left forearm. I would say that the IV was the most pain that I had during the entire time in the hospital and it wasn't bad at all. After they had that done and we did some paperwork, we had a lot of downtime while we waited for 7:30 to come around. There was a little excitement when they looked at the printout from the fetal monitor and the nurse wondered if we were having twins because two distinctive heartbeats were showing up. We were quite certain we were having one and it turned out that it was just some system malfunction.

Just before 7:30, Dr. Lincourt stopped by to ask if we had any questions (we didn't) and then they brought the gown that Duncan would wear. I was expecting that they would be doing the spinal in that room but the CRNA came in and reviewed things with us and said they would do it in the OR. Furthermore, Duncan would not be allowed back in the OR until that was completed and they finished setting everything up. I wasn't too thrilled with that because it would be nice to have a hand to hold on to when the giant needle was put in my back but what can you do? At about 7:35, the brought in the wheelchair and wheeled me down the short distance to the OR. I climbed up onto the table and then the two CRNA's came in to do the spinal. I had to lean forward into the nurse and arch my back. They numb the area first with a needle and it was really only a little pinch. Then they use the big needle. You can feel some pressure but not much else. Unfortunately, they had a problem with the needle. They kept hitting into bone. Even though I couldn't feel pain, I started to feel shortness of breath and that I might pass out. Just when I thought I might have to alert them to this, they finished and I could immediately feel it going down into my legs and within seconds, I had no feeling from about the top of the breastbone down.

The two doctors came in next and did a test on my belly to see if I could feel anything. Just about this time, someone noticed that the baby's heart rate had gone way down or disappeared all the way. The doctor said with some urgency to get my on my side and I said with some urgency to get Duncan. But before much could really happen, the heartbeat came back and all was well again. Once they put the big drape up, they went and got Duncan and things got underway. During this time, it was pretty quite in the room and you couldn't help but notice the 80's music blaring on the radio. I'll always associate Billy Joel "This is My Life" now with getting my belly cut open to have a baby. After what couldn't have been more than about five or six minutes, they asked if we wanted to see a mirror for the actual birth. I said "Yes!" and they brought it over and we got to see Aubree being born. It was amazing! We didn't have that option last time probably because of the emergency nature of the event but this time, we got to enjoy it. I'll never forget getting to see that. She had the cord wrapped around her once but they quickly got it off and she started crying which is quite possibly the nicest sound in the world. The official time of birth was 8:08. Duncan took video of them weighing her and doing tests. She weighed six pounds, nine ounces and measured 19 inches. Calleigh was seven, fifteen and measured 21 1/8 inches and we really thought we could tell the difference since she looked so tiny comparatively. Her Apgar scores were eight and nine so that was good.





After a few minutes for them to get out the placenta and stapling me up, it was all done and they wheeled me to the recovery room. About this time, I started having a stomachache that lasted for about another hour but I was very thankful this was the worst of my problems. Last time it was just after the recovery room that I started feeling the excruciating pain. No repeat this time. The spinal (as opposed to the epidural last time) lasted for a full 24 hours. I was in the recovery room during which time they brought Aubree in. I had held her briefly in the OR but this time I could really look at her. I couldn't believe how tiny she was. Although she was only about a pound and half lighter than Calleigh, it seemed like so much more. She has just a little blond hair. I was planning on nursing her immediately but she was asleep so I held off. We were in recovery for an hour and then they took us to our room. Thanks to some connections of Duncan's, we got one of the two VIP rooms and it was huge! It had it's own sitting room even. Compared to the dinky room at Orlando, we felt like we were in a palace.

My dad, Ron, Aunt Lori, Shannon, and Ricky were already there at the hospital so they immediately came up to see us. We put the call in to Elaine that we were ready and then we waited for the big introduction between Calleigh and her new sister. Calleigh waltzed into the room with the cameras rolling and went over to her sister. She looked at her and gave her a kiss and we let her hold her. It all went very well. In fact, each time she came to visit, she always wanted to hold Aubree and give her lots of kisses.






Our stay over the next two days went very well. Every six hours, they would give me some pain medication, Toradol, through my IV. This worked out very well. The previous time, they only gave me pills and I would have to ask them when I wanted it. Eventually, they did stop the Toradol and I had to ask for the Percocet but at no time during my stay did I feel pain. Yahoo! On Wednesday morning (the day after), came the challenging task of getting my bandage removed and getting up for the first time. This was a nightmare the last time. My mother had removed my bandage in the shower and I briefly passed out in her arms from the pain. This time, I stayed in bed while the nurse did it and it was no big deal. And then when I got up to walk, it was great. I had no pain and found it to be a pretty easy thing. I was counting my blessings for sure. I would say that the rumors I heard about the second c-section being easier than the first were definitely true.

The hospital treated us great. The nurses were really good, particularly the night nurse, Sheila, that I had both nights. There was a masseuse that came in each afternoon to give Duncan and me free massages. It was wonderful! On Wednesday night, we were served a five course meal that was wheeled into our room. Typically you have to pay for this but they gave it to us for free. They also gave us a huge plant - - I think it was because we were in the VIP room.

As far as the baby went, she was and is, pretty darn quiet. She slept most of the time and when she wasn't sleeping, she barely made a sound. I had to wake her during the nights to nurse or else I think she would have just kept sleeping. The only thing was that during the night, she didn't want to sleep in her cradle (or whatever you want to call it). So I ended up letting her sleep in the bed with me. I think she just wanted to be near a warm body.

Since I was feeling so good, I told the doctor on Thursday morning that I wanted to be discharged and he gave the go ahead. Typically with a c-section you're there three nights but I really wanted to get home to be with Calleigh and plus, it's $250 a night so we could save money too. The pediatrician gave the go ahead too and at about one o'clock, we left.

Things have been going well here. Calleigh has been adjusting about as expected. We've had a few instances where she's claimed ownership of things that Aubree was using like her changing mat and a blanket. This all goes down with a big "NO! That's mine." And she tries to take the item back and even sheds a few tears. But other than that, it's been pretty smooth. I'm sure there will be constant updates on this transition.

On Friday morning I went and had my staples removed. After that, we took Aubree to the pediatrician. She had lost 7 ounces since birth which is in the 10% range that they look for. Everything else checked out perfectly.

The nights here at home have gone well. Aubree cries very little which is the exact opposite of Calleigh. The only thing has been not wanting to sleep in her pack-n-play during the night, similar to what we had at the hospital. So I've let her sleep next to me in my bed - - something that I'm not a big fan of whatsoever but I've done it so far. I don't sleep very well with her in there so something needs to change with that. We shall see.

Nursing has gone better than expected. With Calleigh, I had a horrible experience starting on about day 4 with really bad cracking and bleeding. I was just about to give up on nursing when I found the thing that saved me - - nipple guards. They totally saved me. They were going to just be a temporary thing but I ended up using them the whole entire 19 months. Of course, they do make things a little burdensome with the washing and always having them on hand so this time my goal was to try and avoid them if possible. And so far we haven't had a problem. There's been a little soreness but nothing to make me cringe. I hope this will continue and that I'm not a day or two away from major problems.



The only downside to this whole giving birth thing is the weight that I now need to lose. I weighed myself when I got home from the hospital and I almost screamed aloud when the scale read the EXACT same weight as when I checked it on Monday night, you know, BEFORE I gave birth. Holy cow that was depressing. You would think it would at least drop by 6 pounds, 9 ounces at the very least. Fortunately I've calmed down a little today since it says I've lost 7 pounds. I guess those were very heavy staples.

Well, that wraps things up for now. There is a lot more that could be said but I've run out of time and I'm tired. I'm sure you'll be hearing that phrase a lot.