THE BEST LAID PLANS: Part Three

If you need to read parts one or parts two, they are linked there.

Still in total shock, but at this point starving (since we hadn’t had any lunch and it was now 4:00), we left the hospital in silence.  After being on the road for 15 minutes all we could agree on was that we needed to stop to eat.  We pulled into one of our favorite restaurants, sat down in a booth (that I was almost unable to fit into because of my swollen pregnant belly), stared at each other for a few minutes,  (okay, actually we were eating the biscuits and coleslaw the waiter had dropped off), and finally began to talk.

We discussed our disappointment with some of the care we had received, some from the past and mostly what had been happening lately.  We discussed our issues with some of the procedures in the past.  We discussed our concern over the impending surgery.  We discussed how much the doctor was so kind and willing to put us ahead of her schedule, how she tried to put our minds at ease.  We discussed what was going to happen with our children.  The more we talked, the more acceptance started to settle over us.  We knew we wanted Jacob’s birth to be different, we just didn’t realize how different it would be!

Saturday morning dawned bright and early after a restless night.  We packed my bag, the car seat, and Jacob’s bag.  I kissed each one of my sleeping kiddos goodbye, thanked Robert's Mom (Mimi) for being there, and loaded up into the car to head to the hospital.  Nerves were starting to take over, but I deliberately purposed to focus on the fact that today I was going to meet my son!  Today I was going to have a new baby! 

We arrived at the hospital to be set up in the room to met the surgeon and begin the pre-surgery prep.  After a total review of everything the doctor himself came in to meet us and do an ultrasound to ensure that Jacob was still breech.  Of course he was.  Next we met with the surgical nurse and the anesthesiologist.  All was set to go.  I was a nervous wreck about the IV line (of all things, this might seem silly, but they stuck me SEVEN times before they got it to take with Cole), but it went in the first time. The nurse arrived, it was time to head into OR.  I kissed Robert good bye and was wheeled into the operating room, and I wasn’t scared at all.  I was at peace, something that I will admit, I found satisfying and surprising at the same time.

I will also must admit that women do lose some modesty in either a natural birth or a c-section.  To me there isn’t one that is worse than the other, they are just different.  I will also share that being awake and totally aware of all of the surgical prep was a very new experience.  Yet, through it all, I was calm.  I kept trying to close my eyes, not out of fear but so I could relax.  I was hoping to do a natural hypnobirth at home, so the breathing and relaxation techniques were really helpful at this moment.  I was getting so relaxed that they kept asking me if I was really okay!  I would smile (as much as you can with an oxygen mask on), and nod my head and keep thinking about how good God was.  I was not afraid.  I was not anxious.  I was about to meet my son.  I was at peace, which is odd for me; normally I am in a panic.  It was just one more way that God was showcasing His awesomeness to me at this time.

The prep work was over and I was put under.  Within five minutes Jacob was out of me and being cleaned up and within 15 minutes in his Daddy’s arms.  One of the things that made this experience so awesome was the fact that the nursing staff was more than willing to take a ton of pictures for me.  I also felt so much better knowing that Robert was going to be the first person to hold my son since I couldn’t.

 

Jacob Alexander Best is here!

A whopping 9 pounds, 11 ounces and 20 3/4 inches long.

I am amazed at how "BIG" his "little" feet are!

What a face.

Meeting a proud Daddy for the first time.

 

Waking up from surgery I was in a lot of pain.  I woke up feeling very woozy but I noticed that there was also something on me.  As a nurse held my left hand, another nurse was giving me some pain medication into the IV line, and Robert was holding my right hand.  I did not know where my son was.  I started to panic when I felt a tug on my chest.  I looked down and there was a beautiful and big baby boy, laying skin to skin on me and nursing.  It turns out as soon as I was wheeled into recovery the nurse had Robert put the baby on me skin to skin so we could bond.  I woke up and there was my son.  I was woozy, I was in pain, but I was getting the one thing that I had specifically asked for.  Jacob was nursing too, that was the little tug I was feeling.  I tried to smile and be coherent, but to be honest, I’m not sure if I was or not.  My eyes kept drifting shut and I was hurting and feeling the affects of the anesthesia.  I really don't remember much.  I do remember thinking that they told me he was 11 pounds and 13 ounces, but I was too out of it to remember everything. 

All I knew was that I was alive.  My baby was safe, and he was beautiful.  My husband was holding my hand after holding our son. The staff were all amazed at how calm Jacob had been the entire time, no whimpers or loud cries, just staring at his Daddy while his proud Daddy talked to him.  More than that, I was heard and cared enough for by this hospital staff to have my skin to skin wish granted.  I was not a problem patient, I was a new Mom who had to endure something that could have been heartbreakingly scary, but I was treated with dignity and respect.

Little did I know how much this staff would really care and go above and beyond in their treatment of not only myself but my entire family, right down to all the siblings that would soon be showing up.