Amanda
Mum of 3
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- Dec 21, 2006
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As you know it was an elective C Section, so slightly different to most birth stories, but I'll try to cover everything so that mums who are having one for the first time sort-of know what to expect.
Sunday I surprised myself. I managed to eat as normal, was not at all nervous, and then had a decent nights sleep. I woke at 5am Monday morning and showered, then woke DH up, followed by Kayleigh and Charlie. We had to be at the hospital by 7:30, so it was a bit of a rush, and I didn't have time to panic/worry. Said bye to Kayleigh just before 7, then dropped Charlie off at MILs so she could take him to nursery.
We got to the hospital at 7:25am and the first person we saw was my best friends mum - she's a cleaner on the ward I was on and such a laugh that again, I didn't have time to start panicking. I was then shown to a bed, given gowns, signed consent forms, and spoke to both surgeon and anesthetic doc. We had a lovely mw assigned to us, and she relaxed us both so much. At exactly 9am, she came and said they were ready for us. Offered me a wheelchair because of my SPD, but I declined and said I'd rather walk.
We walked into the theatre area, and because I was the first of the 2 electives due on that day, there were about 20 people just standing round all waiting for me! They were all so funny, chatty and relaxing. One of the theatre assistants actually helped deliver Charlie as well, so that broke the ice chatting to him about that!
Stu was taken off to get his scrubs on, and they started to do my epidural. That was probably the worst thing if I'm honest. It was a real struggle to get it in the right place for some reason, and for almost 30 minutes I was curled up on the edge of the bed holding the mw hand and squeezing a pillow. Every time he got the tube in where he thought was right, then he'd try to put the drug in, I got an excrutiating pain in my right buttock cheek. After 30 minutes, he gave up. He said he was just going to go with a spinal block and not have the epidural to back it up. That meant they had to work quickly as there would not be a tube in my back to top it up. With Charlie, they had struggled to get him out and therefore the eipdural and spinal started to wear off while they were stitching me, and they had to top it up, so I told them I was worried about that happening again, and that I didn't care how big they cut me, just get him out and me sewn up before they had to knock me out!! So they got me settled on the bed, all rushed around and started the op before Stu was even in the room!!!!
Of course, when they finally got him in, he caught a glimpse of me being open to the elements before he sat down!!
I was being pushed, pulled and prodded so much as they were racing the clock that it was actually painful. It felt like someone had pushed a whole arm in the cut at my bikini area and was trying to literally hook him out! I was almost bouncing off the edge of the bed!! It wasn't nice as I started getting feeling back and could move my toes, so was beginning to worry that I'd have to have a general. But, within 2 minutes of Stu being sat down and holding my hand, there was an almighty scream and a very purple boy was held up above the curtain, weeing all over me and the surgeon!! He was born at 10:06am. Charlie hadn't uttered a noise for ages after being born, but Ben didn't stop screaming!!!! He's got a cracking pair of lungs on him! All the doctors and mws commented on him being a big boy, and we had been told before that he was measuring big, so were fully expecting a 9lb-er. Stu got a cuddle while they were stitching me, and managed to lay him down next to me so I could see him properly.
The nursery nurse was stood behind Stu, and it was a good job! He suddenly went grey and said to her to take Ben off him. I asked if he was ok, and he said he felt 'odd' and hot. I told the mw to take him out, and she had to practically drag him to recovery as he was bouncing off the door frame!! He was nearly sick and so close to passing out, which gave me something else to worry about while they stitched me, so I suppose that was good in a way!! Finally, they'd finished with me, and wheeled me out into recovery, straight past a very very pale looking husband into a lovely quiet room across the hall. 10 minutes later, Stu came in looking almost yellow, but feeling 100% better. He's never fainted in his life, so no idea what happened there, but he's been fine since.
After we'd managed another cuddle, they took Ben to clean, examine and weigh, and both mw, nursery nurse, and Stu and I were very shocked to hear that he only weighed 7lb7oz! He looks so much bigger than Charlie who was 7lb8oz. He's in Charlie's babygrows that were too big until he was about a month old, and they fit him perfect. So it must be that he is just a very long baby - I think Charlie will be short and solid like his Dad, and Ben will be tall like me.
We were in recovery for 2 hours and wheeled back to the ward at about 12:30pm. Stu went and got me some lunch, and they sat me up a bit to attempt a couple of spoonfuls. Didn't know me did they? I ate the lot!!!! Including pudding!! I asked them when I could have the catheter out and they said following morning at the earliest which didn't please me. I'd already got complete feeling back in my legs, and just had a numb bum. I wanted to get up and about! There was another woman in the bed next to me who was having her 3rd elective, and she had her baby at just before 2pm and then just refused to move after that. She even buzzed the mw's to pick her baby up to feed her! I was sat up in bed, did all he feeding, changing and clearing up of baby vomit. I only had to buzz the mw's to bring me bottles of formula as I wasn't allowed up.
6am the next morning, I begged the mw who brought the drugs round to take my catheter out, and she agreed to do it as she had 5 minutes spare. She then went to give me a fresh pad to sit on, so I asked if I could have a shower instead and then I could sort myself out. She looked very suprised and said that I could if I felt up for it. Well, my legs were off the edge of the bed before she could finish the sentence!! So, by 6.30am I was showered, in pj's and sitting in the chair next to the bed. They then moved me to a private room as I was told that the one I was in was specifically for Section ladies first night as it was right next to the mw station. Once I was in my own room, there was no stopping me. I wouldn't get into the bed unless I was sleeping, I put Ben in his cot and just kept wheeling him around the corridors to get me walking. I ate like there was no tomorrow - I still can't quite believe my appetite!!
That night was lovely. Because it was a private room, I was able to shut the door and it was just me and Ben all night. I managed to get some really good sleep, and so did Ben.
In the morning I waited until the shift change, and then went and found the head mw and asked when I could go home. She looked at my notes and said she'd be in to see me shortly. She came in, saw me packing my case already, and said yes!!
So, Ben was born at 10:06am on Monday and I was home at 12:30pm on Wednesday.
We're all settled already. Ben is so good. He looks just like Charlie did at that age, so much so that I keep calling him Charlie!!
He's a lot longer than Charlie, but his features are the same. He also is a lot louder! But, he is exactly the same as Charlie in everything else already. He is feeding every 3 hours during the day, and going 5 hours overnight! Seriously - the last 2 nights he's fed at 8pm, then slept till 1am, fed, changed, back sleep for 2am, then sleep until 6am! Exactly what Charlie did!
Charlie adores him, and is trying to help mummy already by forcibly putting Ben's dummy in if he pops it out!
We are trying not to reprimand him even if he is a tad rough as I don't want him to get jealous. So it's a case of "thank you Charlie, just be gentle please!" while Ben's looking shocked to have had a dummy shoved in his mouth!!
Right - that has took 3 hours to write, with feeding, changing, MIL visit and mw visit in between, so must go and eat myself now!!
Couple of pics for you:
https://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b101/famanda33/Ben/16309020.jpg
https://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b101/famanda33/Ben/16309019.jpg
Big sister!
https://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b101/famanda33/Ben/16309006.jpg
Sunday I surprised myself. I managed to eat as normal, was not at all nervous, and then had a decent nights sleep. I woke at 5am Monday morning and showered, then woke DH up, followed by Kayleigh and Charlie. We had to be at the hospital by 7:30, so it was a bit of a rush, and I didn't have time to panic/worry. Said bye to Kayleigh just before 7, then dropped Charlie off at MILs so she could take him to nursery.
We got to the hospital at 7:25am and the first person we saw was my best friends mum - she's a cleaner on the ward I was on and such a laugh that again, I didn't have time to start panicking. I was then shown to a bed, given gowns, signed consent forms, and spoke to both surgeon and anesthetic doc. We had a lovely mw assigned to us, and she relaxed us both so much. At exactly 9am, she came and said they were ready for us. Offered me a wheelchair because of my SPD, but I declined and said I'd rather walk.
We walked into the theatre area, and because I was the first of the 2 electives due on that day, there were about 20 people just standing round all waiting for me! They were all so funny, chatty and relaxing. One of the theatre assistants actually helped deliver Charlie as well, so that broke the ice chatting to him about that!
Stu was taken off to get his scrubs on, and they started to do my epidural. That was probably the worst thing if I'm honest. It was a real struggle to get it in the right place for some reason, and for almost 30 minutes I was curled up on the edge of the bed holding the mw hand and squeezing a pillow. Every time he got the tube in where he thought was right, then he'd try to put the drug in, I got an excrutiating pain in my right buttock cheek. After 30 minutes, he gave up. He said he was just going to go with a spinal block and not have the epidural to back it up. That meant they had to work quickly as there would not be a tube in my back to top it up. With Charlie, they had struggled to get him out and therefore the eipdural and spinal started to wear off while they were stitching me, and they had to top it up, so I told them I was worried about that happening again, and that I didn't care how big they cut me, just get him out and me sewn up before they had to knock me out!! So they got me settled on the bed, all rushed around and started the op before Stu was even in the room!!!!
Of course, when they finally got him in, he caught a glimpse of me being open to the elements before he sat down!!
I was being pushed, pulled and prodded so much as they were racing the clock that it was actually painful. It felt like someone had pushed a whole arm in the cut at my bikini area and was trying to literally hook him out! I was almost bouncing off the edge of the bed!! It wasn't nice as I started getting feeling back and could move my toes, so was beginning to worry that I'd have to have a general. But, within 2 minutes of Stu being sat down and holding my hand, there was an almighty scream and a very purple boy was held up above the curtain, weeing all over me and the surgeon!! He was born at 10:06am. Charlie hadn't uttered a noise for ages after being born, but Ben didn't stop screaming!!!! He's got a cracking pair of lungs on him! All the doctors and mws commented on him being a big boy, and we had been told before that he was measuring big, so were fully expecting a 9lb-er. Stu got a cuddle while they were stitching me, and managed to lay him down next to me so I could see him properly.The nursery nurse was stood behind Stu, and it was a good job! He suddenly went grey and said to her to take Ben off him. I asked if he was ok, and he said he felt 'odd' and hot. I told the mw to take him out, and she had to practically drag him to recovery as he was bouncing off the door frame!! He was nearly sick and so close to passing out, which gave me something else to worry about while they stitched me, so I suppose that was good in a way!!
Finally, they'd finished with me, and wheeled me out into recovery, straight past a very very pale looking husband into a lovely quiet room across the hall. 10 minutes later, Stu came in looking almost yellow, but feeling 100% better. He's never fainted in his life, so no idea what happened there, but he's been fine since.After we'd managed another cuddle, they took Ben to clean, examine and weigh, and both mw, nursery nurse, and Stu and I were very shocked to hear that he only weighed 7lb7oz! He looks so much bigger than Charlie who was 7lb8oz. He's in Charlie's babygrows that were too big until he was about a month old, and they fit him perfect. So it must be that he is just a very long baby - I think Charlie will be short and solid like his Dad, and Ben will be tall like me.
We were in recovery for 2 hours and wheeled back to the ward at about 12:30pm. Stu went and got me some lunch, and they sat me up a bit to attempt a couple of spoonfuls. Didn't know me did they?
I ate the lot!!!! Including pudding!! I asked them when I could have the catheter out and they said following morning at the earliest which didn't please me. I'd already got complete feeling back in my legs, and just had a numb bum. I wanted to get up and about! There was another woman in the bed next to me who was having her 3rd elective, and she had her baby at just before 2pm and then just refused to move after that. She even buzzed the mw's to pick her baby up to feed her! I was sat up in bed, did all he feeding, changing and clearing up of baby vomit. I only had to buzz the mw's to bring me bottles of formula as I wasn't allowed up.6am the next morning, I begged the mw who brought the drugs round to take my catheter out, and she agreed to do it as she had 5 minutes spare. She then went to give me a fresh pad to sit on, so I asked if I could have a shower instead and then I could sort myself out. She looked very suprised and said that I could if I felt up for it. Well, my legs were off the edge of the bed before she could finish the sentence!!
So, by 6.30am I was showered, in pj's and sitting in the chair next to the bed. They then moved me to a private room as I was told that the one I was in was specifically for Section ladies first night as it was right next to the mw station. Once I was in my own room, there was no stopping me. I wouldn't get into the bed unless I was sleeping, I put Ben in his cot and just kept wheeling him around the corridors to get me walking. I ate like there was no tomorrow - I still can't quite believe my appetite!! That night was lovely. Because it was a private room, I was able to shut the door and it was just me and Ben all night. I managed to get some really good sleep, and so did Ben.
In the morning I waited until the shift change, and then went and found the head mw and asked when I could go home. She looked at my notes and said she'd be in to see me shortly. She came in, saw me packing my case already, and said yes!!
So, Ben was born at 10:06am on Monday and I was home at 12:30pm on Wednesday.We're all settled already. Ben is so good. He looks just like Charlie did at that age, so much so that I keep calling him Charlie!!
He's a lot longer than Charlie, but his features are the same. He also is a lot louder! But, he is exactly the same as Charlie in everything else already. He is feeding every 3 hours during the day, and going 5 hours overnight! Seriously - the last 2 nights he's fed at 8pm, then slept till 1am, fed, changed, back sleep for 2am, then sleep until 6am! Exactly what Charlie did!Charlie adores him, and is trying to help mummy already by forcibly putting Ben's dummy in if he pops it out!
We are trying not to reprimand him even if he is a tad rough as I don't want him to get jealous. So it's a case of "thank you Charlie, just be gentle please!" while Ben's looking shocked to have had a dummy shoved in his mouth!! Right - that has took 3 hours to write, with feeding, changing, MIL visit and mw visit in between, so must go and eat myself now!!
Couple of pics for you:
https://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b101/famanda33/Ben/16309020.jpg
https://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b101/famanda33/Ben/16309019.jpg
Big sister!
https://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b101/famanda33/Ben/16309006.jpg
cant wait to meet him properly xx
