Then, it was time to get started! I walked down to the recovery room, peed one last time (I knew I was NOT going to miss having to go to the bathroom every 5 minutes!!!) and was walked into the operating room. Nelson had to wait until after I was prepped, so I went in with only the doctor's and nurses, which I hadn't realized would happen. I started getting really freaked out, especially when I sat down on the operating table, but the nurses were so kind and the anethesiologist was so nice and reassuring. He administered the spinal, which wasn't painful, just weird. He gave me a shot to numb me before the spinal, which hurt quite a bit, but was over quickly. My body responded fast and well to the meds and they laid me down and started getting everything ready. During this time the anesthesiologist was right by my side, saying so many positive things and telling me how well I was doing. The drape went up and Nelson came in. After that, I was ready! Everything happened REALLY fast after that. I didn't feel any pain, but I was aware of everything going on behind the drape and they let us know everything that was happening. The next thing I knew, they said they were going to cut open my uterus, push on my tummy and she'd be here! They said, "Yup, she is a breech baby, I see her buttocks!!" and the next thing we knew, we heard a big beautiful strong cry and Kalaya had arrived! They brought her around the drape to show her to me and then took her to the warmer. She looked so big and round and red to me and so beautiful! Nelson and I were crying and just so happy. She kept crying and it was so strong! They also told us that my uterus was healthy and that I would likely be able to have a VBAC in the future. Kalaya knew what she was doing staying breech; the cord was wrapped around her neck twice and turning would have made for a harder delivery, with a cesarean likely anyway. Nelson went over to see her, take pictures and cut the cord:
She was swaddled, given a hat and went right over to me. I was able to touch her and kiss her and have her up on my shoulder the whole time they were finishing up. They weighed her, 7 lbs, 3 oz. Then I was wheeled into recovery, where Nelson was able to have her skin-to-skin, until my body had calmed a bit (I was really shaking) and until I was hooked up to everything:
Then, I was able to hold her skin to skin and she immediately latched on and started to nurse like a champ! She had tried to nurse on Nelson, unsuccessfully! She nursed for a good long time and then had her exam with the nurse. Her Apgar score was a 9 and she was 20 1/2 inches long. She had her first pee on the scale and then Nelson got to help give her a bath:
I got to continue to hold her and spend time with her, while eating ice chips and while the feeling started returning to my toes. We were all taken to our room and then all of our family came to visit. Our time in the hospital was great, I recovered very quickly and was able to go home on Saturday, as hoped. I had some very minor complications with pain meds and then needed some extra help with nursing, but other than that (and pain from my incision) everything was wonderful! Nelson got lots of practice changing diapers. He did an amazing job with me during my recovery and with Kalaya. He is already a fantastic father and I have fallen in love with him all over again. You start to learn the true meaning of romance when your husband has to help you do everything, most of which are very personal. Kalaya is beautiful, healthy and wonderful and I wouldn't change anything about our experience. We are so, so happy and honestly don't know how life was before she arrived! Thank you to all of our visitors, friends and family who came to see us in the hospital! We love you!
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