Welcome to the World, Charlie!

Charles Spenser Finnegan B***** was born at 8:43 am on January 17th, weighing 5 pounds, 11 ounces and 19 inches long.



He was born via scheduled csection -- actually, the csection had been scheduled and rescheduled--we had juggled schedules around quite a bit and my mom even had to change her flight after the 37week amnio came back with immature lungs, so we had to wait another week. I had PIH/PE and the balance was to get as big a baby as possible before my blood pressure got so bad that my head popped or something. At least my kidneys and liver weren't involved this time.




The csection was pretty easy this time around, compared with having an emergency one under general anesthesia. We got to the hospital at 6 am -- and yes, I drove (I'm not sure Alex slept at all the night before). We got settled into our room, although there was a little confusion at first because the wing was so crowded that we had to share our room with another mom getting prepped for a csection. I was pretty upset and probably overreacted -- I had visions of having to share the room the entire time, which would have truly sucked big time.



After getting changed, the IV, and swallowing the nasty anti-heartburn med they give you, we met with the anesthesiologist. Meriter is a teaching hospital, so we met with a resident who was supervised by the actual dr. They were both really nice and spent a lot of time talking about pain management options with me and my weird history and reaction to anesthesia and meds.



I got a spinal, which was probably the most annoying part of it all. It took forever for the dr. to get enough of the medication in, and forever for the the initial shot of lidocaine to work. I had to tell them that when I go to the dentist, it can take three or four shots of novocaine and up to an hour before I'm numb enough for a filling. But they give you the lidocaine so you don't feel the needle with the spinal medicine, or I guess feel the medicine go in, although I sure did -- it felt like being zapped with a cattle prod in your spine!


Meanwhile, you have to hold perfectly still so they don't paralyze you for life or cause a bleed that will give you a nasty four-day headache. I finally said, "Um, I can only stay in my happy place for so long here, guys" which got a big laugh but didn't make the process go any faster. "My" OR nurse (as opposed to the doctor's or Charlie's) held my hand and talked me through it.

It's a weird sensation to feel yourself go numb and to want to move your legs, but not be able to. They kept testing how numb I was by squirting cold water up and down my sides. If I could feel the cold, then I wasn't numb enough (the goal is to have the sensation numbed up to your mid-chest).


This was once we were down in the operating room. Alex had to wait outside the room while they did that part. Then he got to come in, all dressed in his scrub finery. He looked so cute, and was so excited and nervous, it was sweet.

The actual operation didn't take too long; we were scheduled for 8 am, but our doctor was running late because of the snow (it's been a record-breaking winter in WI). They wouldn't take me in the room until she showed up. I'm not sure what time we actually got started, but I think once she started cutting, it only took maybe 10 minutes until baby time.

I couldn't see anything because of the drape, and I wouldn't let Alex peek over either -- no one needs to see my intestines except the doctor. I know Alex was behind me, but I couldn't see him and I don't remember him talking to me, although I'm sure he must have.The feeling of the surgery was odd -- you don't feel pain, but you do feel pressure and tugging. The doctor told us what was going on, although it was kind of a surprise (to me anyway) when we heard the first cry. Charlie was here!

The doctor popped the baby over the drape so I could see. He looked small and slippery. Alex went with the baby to the pediatrician's table, where Charlie was weighed, measured, wiped down, etc. (We opted for the vitamin k shot, but not the Hep B vaccine or the eye ointment.) Alex got to trim Charlie's cord, which we didn't expect. Charlie scored 9 and 9 on his Apgar scores (tough crowd).

Then Alex brought Charlie over for me to see.
 He was completely swaddled so all I could see was a bit of a little face.
 Unfortunately, I really couldn't crane my neck around enough to get a good look and I was kind of distracted by the sensation of things being tugged around and sewn up. I was also feeling a bit weird, like I couldn't breathe well and was very light-headed and dizzy, not to mention nauseous. I was concentrating hard on not coughing (I had been sick with a bad cold) or throwing up. (I was also listening to the anesthesiologists talk about how high my blood pressure was and how they didn't think I would have made it much longer -- it's always nice to have a little valdiation).




Once everything was sewn up, the team moved me to the mobile bed. That was weird; I couldn't feel anything from the chest down and they were leaning me over and moving me around. I felt as if I was going to fall right off the OR table, although of course I wasn't. But I also couldn't move myself to compensate.




We went to the recovery room and the nurses helped get Charlie latched on right away. Charlie did great; he had (and has) a really strong suck and took to breast feeding like a champ. Alex and I really enjoyed looking at our beautiful baby boy and bonding a little with him. 




It was weird trying to move my toe and having my entire leg jump, but eventually the spinal wore off and they moved us up to our recovery room on 6 North (which we had to ourselves). Our adventures as parents to Charlie had begun. We both felt so lucky and blessed to have this healthy little boy to love.