c-sections

Megan was born 1/2/03. On Dec.31 I went in for an ultra sound to see how big she was because she was measuring huge. The doc said he wanted to see how long he was going to let me go to see if I was ever going to go into labor. Well the ultrasound place forgot to sent the weight to the doc. He didn't get the weight until 2 days later. I went in for the results and he said "If you tried to have this baby vaginally it'd tear you to shreads..." yep she had a huge head too. So in I went for a c-section.... this is after talking about it and praying about it and wondering if I should wait for natural labor. We felt good about going in.... good thing too. I went in that day for a 2:30 check in time. I was pretty calm after Kevin gave me a blessing. I started getting really nervous though after several nurses failed to be able to start an iv on me. Really nervous. I was also really tired. I hadn't slept the night before. Finally, my hero, my anethesiologist, Dr. Maras came in pushed the nurses aside, put the iv in and started doing mothering sounds to me. I don't remember her nationality all I remember is she had an accent. She rubbed my feet shooshing me and the nurses. She then wheeled me into the OR. She was right there with me the whole time. After scrubbing in she administered a spinal block. She was good, really good, I didn't even feel the needle. When I asked if it was going to hurt she laughed and said the needle was already in. Ummm OK I was good with that. Kev, came in all scrubbed and ready and the surgery began. The doc was amazing and fast. Out came the big blob of a child with absolutely no chin to speak of. She scored a 2 on the apgar test. I know, she was laid back. Aparently the nurse said that Megan knew what the nurse was doing but was refusing to respond (meaning deliberatly, not because she couldn't, she just didn't want to cry)..... ahhhh telling for the future. 9lbs 7oz. After that surgery I was tired and sore and the meds weren't working for me. When I asked for more they looked at me and gave me some Advil. Ahhhhh Advil the wonder drug. Seriously, I was on percocet, tylenol, nothing doing. They gave me a bit of Advil and I was just fine. I didn't need percocet after that, just the advil. Getting up and walking was a bear and I was sore for a bit after the c-section. Then came my second. Hee hee. If only I knew with my first what I know now after my second. 1. Stay up on your meds, even if you're not hurting for the first bit. 2. Get a girdle. 3. Walk as soon as your block wears off. Do those three things it will help more than anything else in the world. With Spencer born 4/28/04 It snowed on the day he was born. Ahhh the difference. I actually tanked in the OR before Kevin went in. I had a reaction to the medication and started vomiting uncontrollably. They had this hippy anethesiologist come in and he immediately made things go better. He said that I didn't react to the medicine it's just that my heart rate plumeted. Ummm.Ok good thing it came back up... is all I remember thinking at that time. Hee hee. I was pretty drugged. The anethesiologist was really nice. He kept stroking my head and arm and gave my happy medicine. I like him. :-) So they opened me up for Spencer and well if you havent' had a c-setion you wouldn't know this but the baby doesn't just pop out. They have to lean on the top of your abdemon and on your ribs to squeeze the little kiddos out. So yes you definitely have people literally jumping up and down on your ribs trying to get the babies out. Makes it hard to breath but knowing the drill I wasn't fazed with Spencer's birth. But then the nurse (I think she was little) actully was lying on my ribs pressing down as hard as she could. Then you heard the ob kind of chuckling saying.. "Um get me the foreceps". ON a c-section? OH yeah baby. We were having bets in the OR before it started on how big Spenc was going to be. I was calling it over 8lbs. He was a week early too. Because of the measurements the doc was saying he'd be lucky if he was 7lbs. I told him. Nope Spencer was all up under my ribs. literally. Guess I was right. Hee hee. 8lbs 4oz. That's my boy! This time as soon as the block wore off (meaning I could move my legs, if not yet feel them totally) I was up and moving. Hey I figured I'd get all the walking done while I was still drugged. The nurses came in and were like, ummm maybe you should sit down. OK but I need to get up again. So they helped. I was walking the hall that afternoon. WITH MY GIRDLE ON! Seriously the difference of with and without is immense. Without it, I felt like I was sore and achy... (which is a whole different thing after a c-section vs. normal sore and achy). With the girdle on it felt like a big relief... like hopping into the pool while in preggo status... it's the "ahhhhhh" feeling. I guess it was a good thing I was up and walking because Spence decided to stop breathing that evening (a constant theme in our house... another story, another time). I held him and went tearing down the hall to the nurses station. The took him. Checked him out, sucked out his nose and gave him back. They did come in more often after that but he was ok. They did look at me like I was crazy though. Not because of Spence but because I was going down the hall.... fast. Hee hee. Yea! for girdles and Advil. Seriously. After that the whole "you can't lift anything for 6 weeks other than your newborn" went right out the window. I had a 16 month old who needed me too. And we lived on the second story. And I had to go up and down the stairs about 2 weeks later. Without my girdle, not happening, with I was super woman. Hee hee. Seriously I could carry my 16 month old and the baby in his carrier up the flight and a 1/2 of stairs. I'd have to rest of 30 min after to be on the safe side but hey there it is. (I tried going down the stairs without once. I made it down 5 stairs then had to turn around. Not good) I was on Advil for about a month after the c-section but I never needed to take anything heavier once I got home. Now that I know what to do I am totally like "bring it on, I can take you down! grrrrr!" Not that we're preggo. But whenever we do have another I'm ready.