This is a bit of a late introduction since Charlotte is now a month old!   Time seems to be moving at warm speed this time around, but I am still excited to announce the birth of our second daughter and share our birth story with you.

Early in my pregnancy, I decided that I wanted a repeat c-section.  Charlotte was born 5 days before her due date, on Tuesday, September 2, 2014 at 9:16am.

The morning of my c-section was bittersweet. I had a hard time saying goodnight to Chloe the night before. She had been my sidekick for nearly three years, and I was having a hard time imagining her not being my only anymore. Just like last time, the biggest advantage of a planned c-section was the calmness that surrounded it.  Ben and I were able to get up and shower the morning of surgery, and weren’t in any real rush. I was in minimal pain, (I’d been having prodromal labor for weeks!), but excited and anxious to meet our sweet pea.

My c-section was scheduled for 9am and we had to be checked in at the hospital by 7am. We live about 45 minutes away without traffic, so we had to leave by 6am. It was a very early start to our day and we hardly got any sleep the night before, partly due to nerves but mostly because of excitement. My mom got to our house by 5:45am to watch Chloe. We gave her a quick run-down of how we expected the day to go. Chloe woke up at 5:30am, which came as a huge surprise to us. She slept through both of us showering and me drying my hair, but it’s kind of like she knew something was going on and needed to see us. I was secretly okay with this, since it meant I got in a few more hugs and snuggles before we left the house.

The hospital was eerily quiet, unlike the last time I gave birth. I checked in at triage and got my ID bracelets, and then we sat and waited, and waited, and waited. I was fidgeting and getting increasingly nervous. There were other women there that morning for inductions, and they were all called back before me even though I’d been waiting the longest. My husband encouraged me to ask what was going on, and while I was at the desk pre-op called to see where I was. I had checked in during a shift change and the person checking me in didn’t put my papers through! Pre-op had no idea that we’d been waiting for 45 minutes. I was worried this meant my surgery wouldn’t start on time.

P R E – O P
Pre-op was very different than it was the first time. We were shown back to a much larger pre-op/PACU area. I met my nurse and she had us sign a release form before having me get undressed. She let me use the bathroom then shaved me. An IV was started and she drew some blood. I was shocked at how quickly everything was moving! My last pre-op was much slower paced and I had so much more time to sit and think — close to three hours from the time I was taken to pre-op to the OR. Before I knew it, my nurse Sarah was in my pre-op room going over the c-section consent form. She read it out loud to me, explained everything in detail, and was patient while I asked silly questions. Even though I’d been through this before and it was my preferred birth experience, I was still sick to the stomach nervous.  But here I was, minutes away from meeting our sweet girl. There was no turning back now!

Each respective team came to meet with us.  The anesthesiology team, the pediatric team, my OR nurses and finally, my OB. My pre-op room was small to begin with, and I was starting to feel a little crowded.  Around 8:40am, my OB said, “Since the gang’s all here, why don’t we get this party started!?”

Hoooold up! I was mentally prepared for a 9am start time and figured I’d be pushed back since I didn’t get to pre-op on time. Was she trying to give me a heart attack?! It was only twenty minutes, but it threw me for a loop. In hindsight, I had very little time to think or react, which actually helped calm my nerves. I wanted to take a picture of the two of us before I was taken back, but forgot to ask someone to take one for us. Everything was happening so fast!

T H E  O R
We kissed, gave each other a high five, and then I was wheeled down the hall and into OR 2, where they asked me to climb onto the operating table myself. I kept my eyes down. I could see the instruments on a tray and I knew I didn’t want to see them or even have a vague idea of what they’d be using. My OB helped me up on the table and anesthesiology got to work. Boy, they weren’t wasting any time!  I didn’t get back to pre-op until almost 8am, and here it was barely 8:45am and they were ready to roll. I was still scared to get the spinal, but also knew I was minutes away from meeting our baby.

First, the male anesthesiologist put a blood pressure cuff on my right arm. It tightened so much it popped off. I told him if he can’t put a blood pressure cuff on correctly, then he sure wasn’t putting a needle in my back! The entire OR laughed while my OB and Sarah let me squeeze their hands. He had me sit hunched over with my chin on my chest then gave me a quick shot of lidocaine. It pinched just like I remembered, but didn’t hurt. Then he put in the spinal, and I felt my bum get warm and heavy. They had me scoot forward a bit (which was hard since I was getting numb!) then helped me lay back.

The rest is a blur. Someone put a wedge under my right hip while someone else attached monitors to my chest. I was given oxygen and my left arm was strapped down. My right arm remained free. A blue curtain went up and the anesthesiologist showed me a sharp object. He poked my shoulder, which I could feel, to give me an idea of what this should (or shouldn’t!) feel like. Then he poked my belly. I could tell he poked me there, which alarmed me, but he said it was a very sharp object and he really poked me hard with it. I wasn’t feeling any pain, which was a good sign. My husband was shown into the room and gave a pediatric nurse our camera. It was time to get started!

T H E  C – S E C T I O N
My husband and I held hands the entire time. We talked and we wondered out loud who Charlotte would look like. What color would he hair be? Her eyes? How big would she be? My OB guessed 8 or 9lbs based on feeling my belly. Would she be correct?  We could hardly stand the wait. We were filled to the brim with excitement!

Unlike my surgery with Chloe, I could feel all the tugging and pulling this time. I also knew that my chest would feel heavy from the spinal, making it feel like I couldn’t breathe. I felt better breathing through my nose than my mouth so I concentrated on that. I didn’t feel anything with Chloe — I was completely numb — so it was weird feeling the tugging and pulling. It wasn’t in the least bit painful, but it’s so hard to describe the sensation. A lot of women had told me about this tugging and pulling sensation, and I didn’t fully understand what they meant until I experienced it myself.

T H E  B I R T H
It felt like ages, but at 9:16am Charlotte was born. I couldn’t stop the tears from flowing down my face and cried in joy. We could hear her crying before she was even pulled out. My OB held her up for us to see. Charlotte was here and we were officially a family of four!

Immediately after birth, Charlotte was taken to be weighed and cleaned. My husband was able to hold her the remainder of the surgery, and since I had my right hand free I could easily touch her. My husband held her on my chest so we got skin to skin time in the OR. It was absolutely amazing and another incredible birth experience.

While it felt like ages for her to be born, it felt like seconds before they were finished with my surgery. In no time at all, my husband was shown back to the PACU while Charlotte was put in a bassinet. She and I were both wheeled back to our PACU room, where I stayed for close to four hours. Unlike my surgery with Chloe, it took a very long time for the spinal to wear off. I had Chloe at 11:33am and was in my post postpartum room by 1pm. I had Charlotte at 9:16am, was back in the PACU by 10:13am, and didn’t get to my post postpartum room until after 4pm.

When it became obvious that I wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon, my husband asked my mom to bring Chloe to the hospital to meet her sister. We wanted at least an hour alone as a family of four before having anyone else meet Charlotte, and we didn’t announce her birth on social media until Chloe and all the grandparents had met her. It would have been ideal to have the girls meet in my postpartum room because my post-op room was rather small. But we filmed Chloe meeting her little sister for the first time and I am so glad to have this memory on tape.  It brought tears to our eyes! There is nothing sweeter than seeing your two girls meet for the first time.

The hospital staff did a great job at making Chloe feel special and letting her help. Chloe helped push the bassinet to my postpartum room and helped give Charlotte her first bath. It made Chloe feel so special and like she was such a big girl, and I am so thankful for their patience and letting Chloe participate! We invited our families to meet Charlotte once I was in my postpartum room, and you could see how excited and proud everyone was! Chloe was very protective of her little sister and would tell everyone to be careful. She told Daddy and me that she loved Baby Charlotte so very much and she would like to keep her foreverly. I hope I never forget that — foreverly. It’s my new favorite word.

 

 I am so thrilled to share this with all of you!  Thank you for reading along & sharing in this exciting time with us!