'We’re all a little weird. And life is weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutual weirdness and call it love.'
-Dr. Suess

Monday, June 27, 2016

Harrison Paul's Birth Story


I cant believe our Harrison is almost a month old!  I figured I better record his birth story before I forget.  Its so amazing how suddenly you go from a family of 3 to 4, but it just feels like this new person fits.  With all the hormones and emotions before he came I was so worried about this.  I had all those feelings of thinking I wasn't capable of loving another person the way I loved Liam, or that having another would change the way I felt about Liam. I guess it is true that you just grow another heart.

Getting this guy here was really stressful for me.  It doesn't really make sense, but I think I was just done...and I had been done for a while.  Originally thought he was breech like Liam so I was feeling ok and just accepting that it would be a c-section, but then he turned and it opened the possibility of a vbac.  We thought we would go to the 39 weeks and see if there were any signs of labor and then just go from there.  Each week I would go and I was always dialated to a 1 and I never ever was any different.  I tried every wive's tale, labor inducing method and nothing was working.  I made it to my 40 week appointment and nothing was changing, and since I would have been a vbac my doctor couldn't induce me or get things going with pitocin.  At this point I was mentally just done, I felt like I couldn't take it anymore.  My doctor looked at me and said "you don't want to be here another week do you?  Do you want to do this tomorrow".  I looked at him and knew I just needed it to be over and I agreed to the c-section the next morning.  I couldn't stand just sitting around doing nothing that day so we took Liam to the Thanksgiving Point and did the natural curiosity museum.  We had lots of fun and it was a great distraction.  I hate being stuck in the hospital so much and the thought of being held hostage there (lets face it you are pretty much a hostage) would just send me through the roof of just sheer panic.


I made it through the night to the next morning and we left to get all checked in at the hospital and left Liam with my mom.  This was the first night I had ever spent away from him believe it or not.  We go get all checked in and they send me to the labor room, and it is the biggest one with huge windows and I think "go figure I get the beautiful room that I only get to be in for a couple of minutes".  I get changed and walk as much as I can since during my pregnancy I developed pretty bad clausterphobia (has since pretty much gone away).  Anyway I had a very hard time laying in one spot.  The anesthesiologist comes in and says he wants to do a spinal instead of an epidural and we get ready and they just have me walk into the O.R.  I get my spinal, Jeff holds my hand and looks away as he has a hard time with needles.  I was glad my doctor stood in front of me and pushed my shoulders down so I was in the right position and talked me through it.  The anesthesiologist did a great job and it really wasn't that bad.  Then they introduced me to the doctor who would be assisting and funnily enough it was the doctor that did my c-section with Liam.  So the c-section was underway.  After a few minutes I hear them say one more push and they will have the baby out, and then I hear my baby's beautiful cries.  I hear everyone say "show the mom, show the mom"...and no one did.  They swept him away along with Jeff and they ask me what baby's name is and I say "Harrison" and my doctor looks at me and says "My son and his wife are due next week and that's what they are naming their baby."  Go figure.  Anyway they finally bring him back and I get to meet him.  He was 8 pounds 5 ounces and 20 inches long.
After I'm in recovery for an hour while they do their thing with Harrison (even though they told me they wouldn't bathe him and stuff...apparently they did).  They bring him in and I nursed him, and man this kid knew how to eat right from the get go.  Then they wheel me down to the fourth floor to my room, and yeah not nearly as nice as upstairs. I think I had the smallest little closet room on the floor.  I did a lot of walking and saw other rooms and yeah mine was pretty small.  I also hated how all the chairs were in the corner behind me, so even if I had guests I couldn't see anybody.  Oh well thats why I wanted out.  

From the start all nurses asked me what my goals were and I pretty much said my goal is to get out of here as soon as humanly possible.  We had a little bit of trouble when I was ready to get up and walk and apparently I was bleeding through the dressing.  They let me get up and walk but then told me I had to stay down with this weighted sandbag on me and that i couldn't get up and that sent me into complete panic.  My doctor came in later and said that I didn't need to stay down but just when I was I needed to put the weight on the incision.  After that things were great recovery wise.  Very similar to Liam, hardly any pain.  I then found out that my doctor had done stitches rather than staples and that it would be possible if my doc gave the ok that I could go home the next day.  Oh I was so ready I was walking the halls all the time and I was tired of that same loop.  Also I was pretty much totally taking care of myself and my baby.  Pretty much the only thing they were doing was distributing my pills and lets face it I think I'm capable of doing that myself.  I dont know how people stay in the hospital...I just go crazy.  My doctor came in the next morning and I ask if I can go home today.  I was thinking I would have to fight but he just says "yeah that's fine", and just like that we were free.  We went home and Liam loved having us there.  And we were a family of four with our new addition of baby Harrison Paul.