The Birth of a Kai: Part III: The PACU

Finally, we have made it to the final installment!  To review, the nurses are wheeling my illiterate self to the PACU and I am feeling good.  I don't know what they shot into my IV, but my body felt like it was floating and my mind was gone.  I was just present enough to know that once I turned the corner I would finally get to hold my baby.  With a goofy smile on my face, I arrived at the PACU to find...nobody.  No husband.  No baby.  WHAT?!?  This is not how it is supposed to be.  When Max was born they were waiting for me!  What is wrong?!?

My face fell.  "Where are they?"  I asked.  The nurse calmly replied that they were in the nursery getting checked out.  Huh?  Why would they be in the nursery when they can do all the routine stuff here by my bedside in the PACU?  "Why?  What is going on?" I asked in bold font style.  "It's ok, they are just in the nursery.  We'll send someone over to find out what is going on."  "What do you mean, 'what's going on?'  What is wrong with him?  Why isn't he here?!?  GO GET HIM."

Thus, my transition from loopy patient to crazy lady was complete.  The nurse at the nurses station chimed in, "We don't keep things from you.  He is probably in the nursery because there are too many babies being born and not enough nurses to have one at every recovery station."

"Where is he?!?  What's wrong?!?  Someone go find out what is happening RIGHT NOW.  Where is he?!?"

"We do not keep things from you.  If there was something wrong we would tell you.  He is just getting checked out in the nursery.  He will be here soon.  We just don't have enough staff today."

"GO GET HIM.  I need to see him.  RIGHT.NOW."

"You need to calm down."

"I actually feel really calm right now."

Nurses snicker all around me.

"Well, I mean my body feels really calm.  I can't read and I'm floating.  But my mind is going crazy."

At that moment, Andres came around the corner (I think the nurse at the nurses station had gone to get him because...someone please come and calm this cray).  The other nurses quickly excused themselves from the situation and the poor PACU nurse was left all alone to deal with floating, illiterate, cray cray Heather Frowow.  I asked Andres how many babies were in the nursery and he said two.  What?!?  Just two!?!  I can't be certain, but I may have shot some dirty looks toward the nurses station.

The poor PACU nurse tried to ask me questions about my pain and if I could wiggle my toes, feel this prick and that prick in between me shouting at Andres to "go back to the nursery and stay with him.  He's scared."  Apparently my dear husband never received the memo to not argue with an illiterate post-partum woman all jacked up on toradal and who knows what.  He refused.  Again, I calmly requested Andres to "go back to the nursery and stay with him.  He is scared and needs you."  Andres looked around and I think he saw the pleading looks in the nurses eyes because he complied. 

Seconds later he returned with Kai and suddenly all was right with the world.  Plus also, I could read again. My literacy came back out of nowhere. The nurses badge said "Anne."  It was reported that his Apgar scores were 8 and 9.  We tried nursing, but Kai was too tired.  I asked to do skin-to-skin with Kai.  This was something I had missed with Max because I was too busy worrying about stuff like "what do Apgar scores even mean?"  I wasn't going to make that mistake again.

Anne helped me unsnap my gown and push up Kai's onesie.  She laid him on my chest and the most wonderful feeling I have ever felt in my life rushed over me. 

  

So.Freaking.Happy.

We only stayed in the PACU for about 30 minutes instead of the usual hour...yeah, they rushed me out of there real quick. Probably because they were incredibly busy and needed the bed.  Don't you think!?!  wink.

The Birth of a Kai Part 2: The OR

As I mentioned, once you are in the OR, there are things to do.  First, you meet the anesthesiologist.  I really liked mine.  She was very nice and personable.  Anesthesiologists will always try to trick you by asking what you had for breakfast.  The correct answer is nothing, so even if you dove face first into bacon the morning of the surgery...make sure to say "nothing."  (Note:  I did not, unfortunately, dive face first into bacon.  I seriously had nothing.  And I was hangry).  The team set me up to receive my spinal.  First, the numbing medicine goes in and it really does feel like a bee sting.  I know because in August a bee flew up my skirt at Harris Teeter and stung my leg.  For realz.  The difference is with a real bee sting you can do the "ow, I got stung by a bee" dance but with a needle in your spine you can only sit still and pray.  Which makes it a bit more uncomfortable, in my opinion.  After the area is numb, the spinal medication is inserted.  I'm not quite sure how it works, but I think they "thread" the medication in with a really long needle?  I definitely felt like a piece of thread was being put in my back...it just kept going deeper and deeper.  It was the strangest sensation.  I don't remember it from Max.

Here is where this c-section started to surprise me:  with Max I felt numb immediately.  As in, I couldn't even move my legs when I laid back down on the table.  The nurses had to move them for me.  This time, I was able to lay down on my own and wiggle my toes.  The spinal took gradually, which is probably what is supposed to happen.  However, it sort of freaked me out.  What if I felt the surgery?  What if I had to be put under?  Not that I'm dramatic or anything.

Anyways, the anestheiologist was really good about checking my pain tolerance with a pokey thing and within minutes she looked at me and said, "Heather, he's started."  Couldn't feel a thing.  :)  Andres came into the room shortly after that and took his place by my head.  Suddenly, Dr. A said, "Uh-oh, that's not supposed to happen."  I don't know what drugs they were pumping through my IV but hearing those words didn't phase me a single bit.  And, as it turns out, they didn't need to because he was referring to the music.  In triage we had a lengthy discussion about my music preferences which were:  no Britney, no angry music, no Ariana Grande, and no "All About that Bass."  Apparently Britney had come on, but I couldn't even hear the music from my position.

Within minutes everyone in the OR was singing "Ice Ice Baby" and someone told Andres to stand up.  Well, they told him to stand up a bit prematurely as he quickly sat back down and told me that he saw more than he wanted to.  "I just saw your guts," were his exact words, if I'm not mistaken.  Seconds later he was told to stand up again and announced, "it's a boy!" while Vanilla Ice played in the background.  Unlike Max, Kai cried right away and of course, I started crying as well.  "I can't believe we have two boys!"  were my first words.  We had really been expecting a girl.

Kai left to get cleaned up and Andres went with him.  Soon they were back and I confirmed with Andres that Kai was indeed a Kai Lucas.  He was.  :)  The nurses put Kai right near my head and even untied one of my arms so I could stroke his head.  I really appreciated being able to touch him.

After a few minutes, Andres and Kai left to do whatever it is they do to newborn babies in a hospital.  Dr. A finished up the c-section and I became horrifically nauseous and anxious.  I had to have an anti-nausea med put in my IV and I think I also got something for anxiety and pain.  I was definitely starting to feel lots of pressure and it made me nervous that the spinal would wear off before Dr. A was finished.  This is the point where things got all loopy:  all of the meds they gave me made me feel REALLY relaxed and totally out of it.  And rendered me unable to read.  I was looking at the nurses badges, trying to read their names to thank them, and I couldn't do it.  "Wow, I can't read," I thought.  There was some sort of acrostic on the OR wall.  I squinted and tried my hardest, but I totally could not read it!  "Hmmm, I hope I'll be able to read again," I thought.  "Although I know that letter is an S."    Looking back the thoughts I was having are really funny!  I was so calm in my head, despite being illiterate.  Just an "oh, look at that, I can't read.  Ho-hum."  I never mentioned that I couldn't read, I guess the anxiety meds made me so relaxed that I didn't even care!

I may not have cared about my newfound illiteracy, but in the PACU there was something I did care about...passionately and vocally.  

To be continued...

The Birth of a Kai: Part I: Triage

Leave it to me to break a scheduled c-section into 3 parts.  If you don't appreciate long-windedness here is the short version:  I walked into the hospital, said "I'm here for my c-section," they were all "Ok", and so they cut me open, pulled out Kai, and sewed me up.  The end.
Now here is my version:

October 2, 2014.  It is crazy to me to think about how I lived through 32 mundane, ordinary October 2nds and now suddenly it has become one of the most important days of my life.  Sometimes during nighttime feedings, I will lean back in the glider, close my eyes, and recall every detail of Kai's birth.  I love to try and relive the feelings I had the day October 2 wasn't so ordinary anymore.

To begin with, October 2 had been burning in my mind since the day I found out I was pregnant with Kai.  According to the calendar, October 2 was my due date.  However, my body wasn't in sync with the calendar and at our first ultrasound we learned my due date was actually October 9.  I was disappointed.   First, who ever wants to hear that they are a week less pregnant than they thought?  Second, isn't 10-2-14 such a pretty date?  In the end it didn't matter because I was able to schedule my c-section on the day I hit 39 weeks--10/2/14.

I awoke that morning and took my final shower.  I even blow dried my hair and straightened it as I knew I wouldn't feel like showering again for at least 36 hours, possibly longer.  I made sure my makeup was of "I'm attending a wedding" quality, threw the last few items in my hospital bag, and went downstairs to cuddle with Max.  I always thought I'd feel weepy  upon leaving him that morning, but I was too excited to be nostalgic.  My parents took a few pictures of us as a family of three and I remember getting a little peeved at Andres because I thought he was taking too long to pack his bag and load the car. 

 We arrived at the hospital a few minutes after 8:30 and went straight to triage.  I had two nurses and they hooked me up to monitors and started my IV.  I only had one nurse back with me when my IV was put in.  I must have looked like I had it all together because with Max I was crying and all these nurses came in to give me moral support and hold my hand.  She tried my left hand first but the IV wouldn't go past my vein?  Something like that.  It hurt like a mother and I definitely said the f-word when she pulled it out.  My right hand took the IV like a champ.  A painful champ, but at least it was quick.  My left hand started to cramp and bruise so I asked for some ice.  I also told the nurse that I was dying, which made her laugh.  I laughed too, because I knew I wasn't dying...but I actually sort of was.  Both my hands really hurt and it's hard to function without hands.

Andres and I hung out in triage for the next hour and a half or so.  It sounds like such a long time, but it went by incredibly fast.  Before I knew it, a team of nurses came in and threw a surgical cap over my hair.  Andres kissed me good-bye and left to change into scrubs while the nurses wheeled me to the OR.  That is when I started to get weepy and nostalgic.  For 2.5 years it had been just Max and me.  His whole life was about to change and he didn't even know it.  Our family would never be the same.  The nurse saw my tears and thought I was scared of the surgery, but really I was just mourning the loss of "the way things used to be."  My tears didn't last long, because as soon as I reached the OR I became extremely excited.  I also didn't have time to cry because once you are in the OR, there are things to do...

Stay tuned for part 2!

Bachelor in Paradise?

Last night was the premier of my new favorite weekly train wreck, Bachelor in Paradise.  I told my friends that I would take a shot of ginger ale every time Clare cried.

It only happened once, so thus far Crazy Crying Clare has exceeded my expectations, but only kind of because she cried and poured her heart out to an audience of a FREAKING RACCOON.  I kid you not.  And the raccoon was all like:

Clare was crying because AshLee got upset when she asked Graham (some dude I don't remember) on a date.  Apparently, Crazy AshLee Frazier had claimed him as her property.  Remember this?

Well, you'll be relieved to hear that AshLee is still completely batty.  AshLee came on the show only because she hoped some dude I've never heard of, named Graham, would be there.  AshLee arrived with the preconceived notion that Graham and her were, in fact, married already.  Or something like that.  All I know is that when Graham accepted Clare's date invitation, AshLee ran to her bedroom crying and proceeded to talk to herself.  If not forClare's heart-to-heart with the raccoon, AshLee would've been my number one cray.

HOWEVER, there is a third crazy girl.  Elise Mosca, from Juan Pablo's season is making a concerted effort to equal Clare and AshLee on the crazy scale.  This was our introduction to Elise on the show:

Then she proclaimed that she was experiencing "connections" with Dylan...as in love at first sight.  I'm telling you, her brand of crazy is one to watch out for in the coming weeks.  I'm predicting a steady rise in intensity.

As far as the guys and crazy, all the mans went crazy over some girl named Lacy who didn't even make it through the first rose ceremony on Juan Pablo's season.  I'm wondering why she was even cast and why the guys were so crazy about her?

I haven't the slightest idea.

And let's talk about Marcus.  Why does everyone love Marcus?  Apparently he's good looking, but when I look at him all I see is a stalker/murderer who probably has a collection of women in his basement.  Why the attraction?  I just don't see it.  Plus also, in one sentence he's talking about how he's still not over Andi and with the next breath he's plotting to kidnap Lacy for ransom in love with Lacy.

Call.the.police.

What do you think?  Do you like Marcus?  Explain it to me.

Pregnancy: Week 16 Recap

This was written a very long, long time ago.  I really don't even know when week sixteen was...maybe late April?  I wasn't going to post it...but why not?

It feels a little late to start documenting the weeks of my pregnancy and I get an even bigger feeling that people don't really care but:  I do.  I may be one of the only people who enjoys reading weekly updates on other people's blogs...maybe you do too?  I hope you stay but you can always click away...

I never documented my pregnancy with Max in written form or even in pictures.  I was so wary throughout my pregnancy with him because it took us a long time to conceive and my first trimester was somewhat dramatic.  I was afraid excited documentation would jinx me.  I'm a lot more relaxed this time around so here we go...

Pregnancy symptoms:
-round ligament pain

-increased hunger

Cravings:

-hamburger and fries from Backyard Burger

(On a side note, I always always indulge my cravings.  I've found that if I don't I eat lots of other stuff that "aren't it" to try to satisfy an unhealthy craving, only to eventually cave and eat what I wanted all along.  To me, it's better to just have the hamburger and fries once than to eat 3,000 calories that you aren't craving and THEN the hamburger and fries).

Aversions:

-broccoli

Movement:I felt a few flutters!  It's funny, because 16 weeks was when I felt Max move for the first time.  His movements felt like bubbles popping.  This baby feels like a butterfly flapping it's wings.

Gender: I'm not sure, but this pregnancy has been really different, so I'm going to say girl.

Best moment of the week: Having an extra morning to myself to take a Preparing for (Another) Baby class.  

Looking forward to: Our ultrasound in 2 weeks!  And strawberry picking sometime soon!

Max's First Easter Egg Hunt

Around Easter the babysitting co-op at our church held their annual Easter egg hunt.  This was Max's first experience hunting eggs.  He started out a little confused, but quickly got the hang of it.

Of course, the best part of any Easter egg hunt is a visit from the Easter bunny!  Max tends to be timid and cautious in new situations, with the exception of characters!  Santa Claus, Smoky the Bear, the Easter bunny...he loves them!

Look at my sweet boy!  He noticed that the Easter bunny didn't have a basket, so he ran to get his and placed it in the Easter bunny's paw.  So sweet!

Five Favorites: Bachelorette

I am linking up with Five Favorites again this week.  I had planned to do some hair/makeup products but the lovely host done stole my first favorite.  Seriously, Not Your Mother's Sea Salt Spray is fantastic.  Buy some and fall in love.  And speaking of loooove...(haha, see what I did there??)

This season of the Bachelorette has been pretty good.  Definitely better than JPs season, but really there was no where to go but up.  My favorite season ever was Sean's because, you know, Sean.  Plus also Tierra.  That was good TV.   Here are my five favorites from this better than mediocre season:

1. Farmer Chris Soules

Hey Chris.  I'm married with one kid out and one in utero. Call me.

2.  The way Andi awkwardly holds the roses:

Maybe it's just me?  She is always holding them way too high and too far out from her body.   Is she doing a smell check?

Let's contrast her to Bachelorette Perfection:

See?  Up by chin vs. down by chest.  Arms extended vs. arms relaxed.  What?  Ok.  It's just me.

3.  Staaap it

I keep waiting for one of the guys to get angry and call Andi out on her catch phrase, a la "esss ok."  But no one has, because no one scorches the earth over linguistics like Andi Dorfman.  (Esss ok and "I swear if you say acting one more time").

4.  This tweet from Jennifer Weiner:

"Chris is not here.  Because, honestly, after two Fantasy Suites and a horseback ride in shorts, I just could not even."

5.  You know that article thingy circulating around facebook feeds about resting bitch face?  Seriously, one of my favorites this season has been watching Andi have it:

Andi probably never realized (until now) that she made that face so often.  And to be honest, I have no idea what my resting face really looks like.  But I hope it's not that.

To see other favorites:  GO HERE..