Monday May 23rd started off as a very early morning. We were experiencing some major storms which didn't help my already light and anxious sleep. I finally decided to get up around 3:30 and hop in the shower....why not get dressed up, there were going to be lots of pictures today :) That morning I got dressed (hair, make up and all), vacuumed, mopped, I even made my bed....All of that and we still made it to the hospital by 5:30 am as instructed.
After registering at the hospital, we walked into triage to get prepped for surgery and sat in our little room for an hour and a half with absolutely no action. I literally laid in my bed and watched each tick the clock made. At 7:00, the nurse came in, instructed me to change, inserted an iv and brought our parents in. After some quick pictures, and a prayer from my very worried (and a little emotional :) daddy, we were off....it was baby time!
After walking myself to the OR, my big belly and I climbed up on the table and I leaned over and received my spinal....before I could count to 10, I was numb. I waited for three minutes before the anesthesiologist gave the Dr. the ok. Matt walked in, grabbed my hand and it was go time. I was so aware of everything that was happening. Two nurses (who were waiting for Harper) were having a conversation about chocolate truffles, the two Drs. performing my c-section were trading tips on how to deal with raising teenagers, and the anesthesiologist and another nurse were comparing new restaurants in town. I gave Matt's hand a couple squeezes to reassure him I was ok, I think he was more nervous than I was. Within fifteen minutes of me entering the OR, I heard my sweet girl's first big cry. Tears of joy filled my eyes as I waited for what seemed like an eternity to see my daughter.....my daughter. I have a daughter!!!!
My c-section with Harrison was a completely different experience. I had already been in labor for 25 hours before being told we were going to have to have him via c-section. During that c-section, my epidural wore off and it was exactly the nightmare you would imagine that to be. I remember his first cry, but I would be lying if I said my number one priority at that time was just to endure the pain. My Dr. counted down each stitch with me as I squeezed the arms of the operating table (I think to this day, that table has my finger indentions in it!!). Harrison was born at 9 pm and the rest of the night was spent trying to recover any traces of energy that were drained from me over the course of the previous two days. With Harper, she was born at 7:40 am and I spent the rest of my day holding, feeding, and loving on my little girl. My c-section experiences were night and day, and I could not be more thankful for that!
