I know this is three weeks late, and if I don’t do it now, it might not get done. So here’s what happened on Molly’s birthday! (I took a notebook and jotted down notes because I knew I would forget things if I didn’t.)
August 13, 2008...
7:15 a.m.: Doug and I wake up 45 minutes before the alarm goes off. The first thing I say to him is, “Okay, now I’m nervous.” He says, “I know. I am too.” After weeks of people asking me if I was nervous, I could honestly say I wasn’t… until 7:15 a.m. the morning of her birth.
8:15 a.m.: Everyone starts taking showers and getting ready to go. The plan is to leave the house by 9:30 a.m. to be at the hospital at 10 a.m. (Kay and Mom spent the night with us the evening before so they could get up and go to the hospital with us.)
8:45 a.m.: The doctor’s office calls and says that dr. k. won’t be able to do the c-section until 4 p.m. because of scheduling conflicts at the hospital. Of course, we are all disappointed because Molly’s supposed to come out at noon. This also messes up Mary’s plan to stay at the hospital with us until early afternoon before she has to fly to Austin for a meeting. And there’s the problem of me starving because I haven’t eaten since the previous night at 8 p.m. I can’t have anything to eat or drink except a “few” ice chips until after the surgery. Doug, Mom and Kay go to Chick-fil-a for breakfast and bring me back a cup of ice.
10 a.m.: I try to lay down for a while and rest. I end up watching Doug play with his iPhone instead of napping.
12 p.m.: Mary comes over for one last look at my big ol’ belly. She won’t get to meet Molly today. She will have to wait until Sunday.
1:15 p.m.: Doug and I go upstairs to take one last belly shot before we head to the hospital.
1:30 p.m.: I post one more entry before leaving.
2 p.m.: We arrive at the hospital right on time.
2:30 p.m.: After putting on a hospital gown that shows my entire backside, the nurse comes in to ask my medical history and talk about my drug allergies. She starts my IV and puts a monitor on my belly for Molly.
2:45 p.m.: Waiting…
3:15 p.m.: Still waiting… And hungry… The nurse tells us that dr. k. is still at her office, so it will take a little while longer to get started.
4 p.m.: dr. k. comes in to do one last ultrasound to make sure Molly is still breech.
4:25 p.m.: The anesthesiologist comes in to explain my epidural and spinal block. After explanations, I walk back to the operating room. My “team” has the satellite radio on a hip hop station, and I think it’s funny (and weird). They change it to elevator music, and I ask them to turn it back to hip hop. (I think we settled on a top 40s type of station.)
They are a well-oiled machine in the operating room. The anesthesiologist puts my epidural in. It isn’t all that bad. I mean, I wouldn’t say it didn’t hurt, but it isn’t that bad. I think my IV was worse. I lay down on the table and start to feel nauseous. I know if I throw up, I won’t get anything to eat afterward. The anesthesiologist adjusts my meds to get my blood pressure back up (an effect of the epidural), and I start feeling okay again. There’s a nurse at my head telling me every exact step. The anesthesiologist is there too. They go get Doug and put him on a stool by my side.
I ask if they’ve started, and the nurse tells me they are almost ready to pull Molly out. She lets me know that I will feel pulling and tugging and that it might feel like someone is sitting on my chest. dr. k. says, “This is a big baby. Probably 8.5 lbs.”
I’m feeling fine. The c-section is much easier than I thought it would be.
4:59 p.m.: Molly’s born! dr. k. says, “She’s huge! She’s at least 10 lbs.!” I’m shocked. I can see her over my right shoulder, and she’s huge and screaming at the world. I say, “That baby is made of Taqueria!” And the anesthesiologist says, “I love that place!” Then dr. k., dr. j. and the others start talking about Taqueria while they sew me up.
Molly's Apgar scores are 8 and 9. Her feet and hands are blue, but they tell me it's normal. They bring her over so I can see her briefly before they take her to the nursery.
5:10 p.m.: Molly and Doug go to the nursery so she can get weighed, measured and cleaned up. dr. k. has one of the nurses call the nursery to confirm her weight guess of 10 lbs. They tell us she weighs 9 lbs. 13.5 oz. dr. k. was close! I can’t believe she’s so big!
5:30 p.m.: I go to recovery. After a bit, Doug comes in to check on me and shows me pictures of her.
6:40 p.m.: Molly comes to me in recovery. Finally! The first thing we do is try to breast feed, and she latches on like a champ. She nurses for about 50 minutes total. Yay, Molly!
8 p.m.: We go to our room. Doug pushes Molly, the nurses push me. As soon as they get me transferred to my bed and settled in, Mom, Kay and Betsy come in to meet Molly. The nurse gives me a “menu” so I can order dinner. I’m on a liquid diet until the morning. Doug calls “room service” and orders apple juice, chicken broth and orange jello.
I just keep looking at her and saying how beautiful she is. Everyone takes turns holding her. I can't believe she's really mine and how perfect she is.
9 p.m.: My dinner arrives. It's the best broth ever. The orange jello is gross.
10 p.m.: I nurse Molly again for a total of 45 minutes.
10:45 p.m.: The nurse teaches Doug how to change his first diaper.
***
The next four days were spent eating and sleeping. Everyone at the hospital was great. I was able to take pain meds without any troubles at all. I always made sure to have something in my tummy before taking anything. I kept my epidural and catheter the first night. Then I got Toradol by IV until the second night. Then they switched me to Motrin and Percocet.
We kept Molly in the room with us most of the time. The last two nights, she went to the nursery for a few hours at a time so we could get some sleep. If I woke up before they brought her back to me, I would push the magic button and say, “Can I have my baby back?” And one of the nurses would bring her back to us.
In all, the whole experience was so much better than I thought it would be. It was about 10% as bad as I had imagined it. Molly did great, I did great, Doug did great. It’s just so awesome to have her here!
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