Really. Even with hourly nightwakings, some truly nasty diapers, and a body that feels like it’s been hit by a Mack truck. I am having a wonderful babymoon and enjoying every minute of my tiny girl. I feel so incredibly blessed.
From the moment we figured out my due date, I was convinced I would deliver in the middle of a snowstorm. Well, that one came true! I still can’t believe I missed what will probably be the only big snow we’ll get for several years, but I guess it was for a good reason. I also missed pretty much all of the inauguration ceremonies because I got “bumped” by an emergency c-section. They took me back to the OR right as Rick Warren was delivering the invocation, which was probably a good thing because I was starting to get a little emotional about the enormity of the day! By the time the ceremony was all over with, there was a new baby in the world. (If this blog is right, she was born right as Obama finished his inaugural address.)
While I was being monitored before surgery started, I was having some contractions. They started getting closer and closer together and more and more intense. By the time I was taken back to the OR, it was looking like our little girl might have arrived on January 20 whether she was scheduled to or not! It seems we had the c-section scheduled not a moment too early, which was my goal. After having a baby (my second child) who showed a lot of signs of prematurity despite being “full term” at almost 38 weeks, I wanted to give her as much time to cook as I could.
The spinal has never been pleasant for me. Or more correctly, the act of getting the spinal has not been good. Generally I enjoy the effects. This time it was super quick and easy, though. I have to give a shout out to the nurse anesthetist for this one because he was a rock star! Seriously, it was done and I was starting to feel numb before I even realized he had started. The other 2 were scary and painful and took forever to get placed properly. I always thought there was something wrong with my vertebrae because they were so difficult, but apparently that’s not the case. Good news in case I ever need another one!
Once the spinal took effect and they brought my husband in, everything moved pretty quickly. The only glitch was meconium in my amniotic fluid, so they had to suction her before they let her cry. But as soon as they got me opened up, Dr. Delaney announced that she had a ton of dark hair. And after that I held my breath until I heard the words “It’s a girl!” For some reason, I’d convinced myself that she was going to surprise us and be a boy after all. By then she was crying and I was just relieved that she was here and healthy.
Once I was able to move my legs they brought her to me and we were able to start breastfeeding right away…she was a natural and I never even needed the help of the lactation consultant. After 1 child that absolutely refused to nurse and 1 who took several days to really get it all figured out I never believed it could be that easy. I am sure it helped that I was more experienced this time but I think Violet deserves a lot of the credit for this one.
I really couldn’t have asked for a smoother birth and postpartum experience. Though it would have been nice if I could have typed this blog entry without 37856 interruptions…to nurse a hungry baby, break up feuding brothers, eat a snack or 2, show my mom where something is kept, change out the laundry, and inject a little order into the chaos that seems to surround me now more than ever. So I hope you’ll understand if this post is a little more scattered than normal. And maybe every post for a while is really scattered, has more typos than normal, and they become fewer and farther between. Because this mama job just got a lot harder. I already can’t remember the days before there were 3!
