Friday, May 24, 2013

HE'S HERE!!

Charles Everett was born at 1:31pm on Monday, May 20 via scheduled c-section! Here's his birthday story:

On Monday, May 13, I called out sick from work with abdominal pains and nausea. I really thought labor might be coming, I felt crappy and I had an appointment for an ultrasound and would have been leaving early anyway. At the ultrasound, everything looked good with Charley and he was measuring "around 9 pounds." As I posted before, this was right on the cusp of the decision to wait for labor, induce labor, or schedule a c-section.

I worked Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday all feeling great and with no signs of labor. Thursday was another OB appointment -- decision day. The OB decided to schedule a c-section for Monday morning because of his size and my blood pressure. It was only slightly elevated, but there was a trace of protein in my urine, so they didn't want me to stay pregnant much longer.

I stayed home again from work on Friday for my non-stress test and other appointments, and also because it was dreaded Field Day at work and I wouldn't be missing much. C had to work, but I spent the day with my mom getting groceries and making last minute preparations. C and I had a nice weekend just hanging out with family and friends and straightening up the house for Charley's arrival.

On Monday morning, we got to the hospital at 8am and began the process of bloodwork, vital signs, gathering the team of personnel which was expected to last two hours. The actual procedure was planned for around 10am. During their examination, they found some sores on my skin, which are pretty common for me. They were concerned, however, about their proximity to the injection and decided to take cultures for MRSA.

After waiting around for various specialists and the infectious disease doctor, we were seriously delayed for surgery. They even threatened to postpone until Tuesday. Finally, when the decision was made to proceed, the anesthesiologist had moved on to a routine thyroid surgery on another floor, so then we had to wait for her to return. All the while, I hadn't had so much as a sip of water since 9:30 on Sunday night.

When we finally headed into the OR, it was after 1pm. I was incredibly nervous, but decided to hunker down and show no fear, just like I did during the egg retrieval procedure. They performed the spinal before C was allowed in the OR and it really wasn't as bad as I had feared. It really didn't hurt going in and the doctor who held me in the "curled" position couldn't have been nicer and more reassuring.

As soon as it was done, they must quickly move you into a laying position and I was immediately really nauseous, which is expected. The anesthesiologist put something in my IV that stopped the nausea almost immediately. Then we were ready.

They hung a huge drape in front of me and brought C back in. The sat on a stool next to my head and held my hands, which were strapped down to the table. They began the procedure and I never knew exactly what was going on. I didn't even know whether or not I had been cut open until I heard the gurgling and crying of my son.
The second we heard him, we both just looked at each other with tears streaming down our cheeks. He was finally here. Four years of planning, waiting, trying, anticipating -- and finally one perfect little boy. They allowed C to bring in a camera and start taking pictures as he was weighed, cleaned, prepped and assessed. C held him there next to me for a few minutes, but I could barely see Charley. When we was on the warmer, I couldn't see much other than his foot beyond the drape.

Charley still had one big surprise for us -- his weight. All indications were that he would be huge. He measured 9 lbs, 4 oz at 39w and now he was late and still growing. His charts called him macrosomic and he was predicted to be nearly 9lbs 11oz. We all know that ultrasound measurements can be off by as much as a pound, but we were in for quite a surprise. When they plopped Charley down on the warmer, the scale said just 8lbs 3oz. A perfect little peanut, more than a pound under predictions.

He also had hair! Not a ton, but much more than the fuzz that C and I both had!

With all of his little surprises, he is absolutely perfect. We're all just crazy about him. He's nursing well, sleeping well and being his mom is better than I could have ever imagined. :-)

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