Noah Matthew

December 10, 2013 was the date of my scheduled c-section for baby #2. We had to be at the hospital at 5:30am, ugh I am so not a morning person even for the birth of my child (lol). I'll admit it though, I was a little nervous (mainly for the anesthesia part), but mostly excited to be meeting my little boy soon. I had already pre-registered at the hospital, so all I had to do was check in on the labor and delivery floor to get my delivery underway.


Prior to delivery (obviously)

It was pretty typical (for surgery anyways), you know, questions asked, started IV, blood drawn for labs, blah blah blah. I don't mind lab draws, but IV sticks still give me the shivers (luckily, I had a great nurse who got it on the first try). Anesthesia came in and went over their part, as did the OB doctor. My surgery was scheduled for 7:30am, and everything was running right on time. We went back to the operating room to start the spinal block. Did I mention how cold operating rooms are? I was shivering the entire time, and they kept telling me to keep still while they stick a gigantic needle in my back. Yeah, well that worked out well. Besides the initial burning upon injection of the lidocaine, the spinal wasn't that bad. OH, but once it kicked in, all I can say is OMG. It was WAY better than the epidural I had with Aidan. The nurses had to place a foley catheter after the spinal, and since the anesthesia was setting in while they were doing it, it continuously felt like my legs were not laying flat on the table. I kept asking, and they always reassured me that they were flat. It was the weirdest feeling ever.

Daddy & Mommy

So the doctor tested the effectiveness of the anesthesia by pinching me (or something of those sorts). I didn't feel a thing, so they started. I will tell you that one of the other weird feelings of the spinal was controlling my breathing. It was almost difficult due to the level of the anesthesia, and I almost had to focus on it. But that's really about it. I felt the pulling and some tugging, but nothing like with my first experience. My blood pressure dropped, which is normal, and they CRNA gave me some meds. But I felt great through the whole thing. It was awesome.

Moving on, my little Noah was born at 7:50am. I will never forget his first cry. It was beautiful. He weighed in at 8 pounds 5 ounces and is 21 inches long. His APGAR scores were 8 and 9, and he was perfect and healthy. I was surprised when they told me how much he weighed, since Aidan was born at 8 pounds 14 ounces. Of course, Noah was born at 39 weeks, and Aidan was born basically term at 39 weeks 5 days. I am glad though that he was smaller. All other measurements are the same though. Well, pretty much anyways. The two boys do look a lot a like, but have their own distinct appearances too.

 

 

 

After the surgery, I was able to see him right away. He was waiting for me in the recovery room, and I got to hold him. It was wonderful. He was so tiny. When I sat up to attempt to feed him, I was very dizzy though (normal post spinal I guess). My equilibrium felt off. I tried not to fall over while feeding him, thanks to the help of my husband and the nurses. The one thing I was not prepared for was the spontaneous vomiting afterwards. I guess it was related to the spinal and my blood pressure changes? I don't really know. All I do know is, anytime I moved for the first 12-24 hours, I immediately got sick. No nausea, just sick. It sucked, let me tell you. Finally that evening, I received a scopolamine patch that helped tremendously. No more sickness! Yay!

Papa Mike & Noah

The rest of the hospital stay was pretty uneventful. Just enjoying spending time with my newborn, getting the basics on breastfeeding down, and trying to relax. We went home after 3 nights in the hospital, and of course it was not only on Friday the 13th, but we were expecting a pretty good winter storm that night too.

Big Brother Aidan, Daddy, and Noah

 

Great Grandma & Noah

Upon discharge, Noah was weighing 7 pounds 10 ounces (down 8 percent from birth weight), and had a little bit of jaundice (levels around 10ish?). We are expecting to see the pediatrician the following week for repeat levels and a weight check.

We had some newborn photos completed, thanks to AM Photography, done when Noah was 4 days old. More pictures of those to come later....

Right now, we are just going to enjoy our time off and bond with our new little arrival.