When I walked into recovery my heart was pounding. I didn't know what to expect. I've heard horror stories about C-sections and how difficult they can be. But I also knew that I, along with Brian, Keven, and Sarah, were all C-section babies and our mother survived each one. I peeked around the curtain and asked if I could come in. Jill was in bed, eyes closed. She had a nurse with her and the anaesthesiologist. I said "hello" to Jill and she opened her eyes and said "hi" to me. She was shaking quite violently and I was nervous. The nurse told me it was normal, but I was worried. I sat by while they both worked on her, making sure she was stapled (ew) right and that she wasn't feeling too ill. By this point Jill was so tired from this long day that she struggled to keep her eyes open. I sat by her and did my best to just show some support for her. It's almost a blur to me now, and I'm sure it's all a blur to her, so I don't remember if we talked much. I did run back out after a few minutes to tell everyone that she was doing ok. When I came back in they brought Lucille in too.
It was now time for Jill to try breast feeding. Jill was half awake, torn in two, but she sure did a damn good job of feeding our baby. Lucy, being the stubborn one she was, didn't take right away. The had to do some tricks with shields and formula, and I'll spare the details of the process. In any event, they got Lucy fed. Ken wanted to see Jill so I left for a bit so they could visit. Recovery only likes one person in at a time, and he deserved some time with his daughter.
After awhile they took Jill into our room. They set up her bed and brought in different monitors to check her vitals. We were both so tired we kept falling asleep in between visits from nurses. Jill's oxygen was low and the needed to hook her up to an oxygen machine. Problem was the one in this room was broken. They did wheel in a portable device to watch her oxygen levels, but anytime it had a low reading it would beep. Sure enough, anytime Jill fell asleep the machine would beep because her breathing would slow down and it would wake us both. Between 5am and 8am when they brought Lucille to us, we may have slept for 30 minutes total. Very rough night indeed.
But when they brought Lucy to us, we both got our 2nd winds (maybe it was our 5th wind by now). The nurse was bathing Lucy in the sink and she taught me what to do. Again, I couldn't believe how "rough" they were with Lucy. I know that they are professionals, but it's my baby and you need to treat her like she's made of glass damn it! Anyhow, the nurse got our clean baby into her first shirt ever, and she barfed all over it. The nurse laughed, passed her off to daddy and said you get to put on the next shirt. She also told us that because of Jill's oxygen levels we needed to pack up again and move into our new room down the hall. I very carefully changed our little girl. Jill and I took turns holding her. We smiled, we cried, we laughed, and we both realized this is just the start of our story....
2 comments:
It is all a blur to me, too, but I do remember you brought the camera in and showed me pictures of Lu. I also remember you were super excited and happy and didn't act sleep deprived at all. I was also anxious to see my family. Too, my dad looked like a little kid on Christmas morning. Huge smiles for us all!
I had a low oxygen level with my first c section. It seems to be a normal thing. Your next kid, if you are planning on having more, will be easier. They will schedule the c section. Glad everything went well though!
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