Friday, May 25, 2012

Nya's Birth

I want to write this out before I forget it in a haze of newborn-ness. There are some photos of surgery, fallopian tubes and all that jazz...be warned! It's just mostly about the C-section with some photos:)

On May 22nd, we had a booked C-section for the birth of our little girl. Her due date was May 28th and that was the closest date I could get to it. We were scheduled to be at the hospital at 6:15am. I had so many different emotions as the date approached. I just wanted her out so that I knew she was safe in my arms. I wanted her to stay in me so that she could grow as much as she could. I wanted to stay pregnant because she is our last biological child. I wanted her to be on the outside because the Braxton Hicks contractions were very, very strong for the last two months and very uncomfortable.

That morning, at 5am, the rest of my mucus plug came out and to me it sort of signified that she likely would have been born soon. We had brought the boys to Gary's parents house the night before and so it was easy getting to the hospital on time.
We arrived at 6am and the nurse got me into a gown, got my IV in and prepped me for surgery. I was quite emotional and I don't know if I was having contractions or just really nervous but I made a LOT of trips to that bathroom.
The surgery this time was a little different as we could actually walk to the OR on the maternity ward. If you are having a C-section, there is definitely a benefit to having it on the ward. Baby was able to stay in the operating room for a good 20 minutes after she was born and I could watch her being checked over, hold her, be with Gary etc.
Compression stockings were also new this time. One of the worst things about a C-section is being attached to so many tubes for 24 hours (IV, catheter, compression thingys).
Gary got suited up and we walked down the hall to `the room'.
I talked to the OB, Dr. A (who actually did Kai and Koen's sections as well). I like her a lot as she is very informative, understanding and efficient. We went over any last minute questions I had and I also talked with the anesthetist. I was in the OR at about 7:45am.
The second I walked into the room, I started crying. I tried to pull myself together but I was overwhelmed. Soon I would meet the daughter I had waited for. Soon she would be coming out by C-section. Could I have pushed her out? Would she be okay? Would I?
As soon as I was frozen (which happened so, so quickly), they got to work. I think because everything happened so quickly, I didn't have time to mentally prepare for each step. Gary came and sat beside me and rubbed my forehead. I was overwhelmed. I also was feeling nauseated which has happened each time I've had a C-section. I let the anesthetist know and he took care of that with medications.
Suddenly she was out! Gary got a bunch of pictures but I'll spare you the bloody ones:) We were allowed to photograph as much as we wanted which I appreciated. All the doctors and nurses were pretty fascinated by the amount of Whartons' Jelly on her umbilical cord (the white part). It was also wrapped around her neck.
She screamed and screamed which I took as a good sign. I could see her the whole time which was awesome. I was shaking a lot so they got me some warm blankets and the adrenaline had my teeth chattering like crazy. I was overwhelmed with happiness. As soon as I saw her, I realized she was small. Like, way smaller than the boys. I turned to the midwife and said, `I could've gotten her out'. I let myself grieve that for a few minutes and then celebrated the fact that I would have a smaller baby that would just stay little and cute longer:) I have since talked to the OB and midwives and am totally okay with her birth. She does have a bigger head (37cm) so it could've been tricky for me. We did the best we could with all the information that we had.
I was having my fallopian tubes removed. Not just cut, removed. The reason they do that is to decrease the chance of ovarian cancer. So, to do this, they actually had to take my uterus out of my body once the uterus was sutured. I had asked before hand to see the fallopian tubes because I had never seen ones in a human before:) The removed the end closest to the ovaries and pretty much 2/3's of it. The picture below shows her dangling one of my fallopian tubes above my head. I got to see both:) It kind of looked like a fat worm.
Having my uterus put back in my body was painful. It felt like someone punching me in a giant bruise. The anesthetist pumped me full of fentanol when I complained of pain and immediately I thought I would pass out. I went to la la land and I think I told him that I loved him. I think the way I coped with the surgery was just letting everyone know how I was feeling the whole time and needing to know what was going on.

Nya Greta Chapman was born at 8:30am. She was just 7lb 14oz (my boys were both about 9.5-10lbs each!) and 21.5" long. By 9:30am I was in recovery and Gary was holding Nya in our room, skin to skin. I was back up to the room at 10:30am and after a quick wipe down by the nurses, I got to feed my baby!!

Both of the boys had low blood sugar levels when they were born but she was totally fine. So nice to be able to feed her before she got a bottle of formula. So nice that she didn't need her heel pricked over and over and over.
At 1pm, the boys came to meet their baby sister. I was still feeling nauseated and actually vomited that afternoon. Yuck. I lay in bed the whole day with the automated compression leggings on which were new this time. Sort of feels like an itchy, sweaty, non stop massage on your legs.
The boys were hesitant to touch her but were excited that baby sister was here! Koen was adamant that her name was Carla (from Cars 2). He still is:)
I sort of can't believe that I am the mother of 3! The first night I did not sleep well (probably just 3 hours) because I was on a high and also, she had a lot of mucus that she kept gagging on. We finally put her on her side and that helped to get it out.
Nya continued to feed and sleep well, so awesome!
I was exhausted from the surgery and just rested and rested. That night they got me up for my first walk to the bathroom. The second day was the worst but still not as bad as my previous sections. We were able to get discharged early and head home after 48 hours. I feel pretty good now (just dealing with the usual engorgement issues) but am glad I won't have another C-section again. Surgery of any kind just sucks.

I am very much in love with baby Nya. She is a sweet mix of Kai, Koen and herself:) She has really long fingers, a lovely long tongue, and a cute little cry. Her head is so, so soft and kissable. Nothing in the world feels better than having a newborn sleeping on your chest. I've missed it so much.

Last night, we slept quite well at home as I was just up every three hours to feed her and she would go back to sleep. She is sleeping in a bassinet in our room and I'm sleeping in a recliner in our room (for now). Gary is being superdad and taking care of everything. I think he's a little excited to have a little princess in his life:)

Also to those who were wondering...her original name for the whole pregnancy was going to be Mckinley. However, a week before, we changed it to Nya. I love it and as soon as we saw her, we knew she was Nya.

So, that's how we met our little Nya. Time to go snuggle her some more:)

Love,
Louise

PS Thank you to all those who prayed for our health (and particularly respiratory wise). I just had one good cough in the OR and we were both all good!

13 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness, the pictures are just beautiful! So so happy for you guys (again haha)

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  2. Thanks for sharing Louise. I smiled and shed a tear or two while reading. She is beautiful and you (and all your men) all look very happy to have her in your life! I cannot wait to meet her.

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  3. Really enjoyed the read! And yes - I also noticed the cord and was like 'wow' :) Cool how you got to see your F-tubes! So neat. Glad to hear she was on a bit of a schedule for you last night - thats awesome.

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  4. Enjoyed reading Nya's birth story. Hope you continue to recover well and that Nya continues to sleep well! Enjoy her sweet little head on your chest - I agree there is nothing much better!

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  5. Thanks for sharing! The cord may have been one of the first things I noticed --- woah! Pretty cool though. And seeing your fallopian tubes -- that would be neat as well. Hope you continue to heal well and that she lets you sleep. She is beautiful.

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  6. SOOO awesome! Loved reading about Nya's arrival into your family :)
    Love both names - i can see why it was a tough choice, but so good that you were able to choose before she was born :) She definitely suits it! (and SOOO special that you had a girl so you could use your moms name!)

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  7. Thanks for sharing about Nya's birthday! Love her name! That's so weird that you wanted to see your tubes... but fair enough for being a science teacher :)

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  8. I love reading birth stories!! Thanks so much for sharing that and having pictures to go along with it. I'm so glad that everything went well!

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  9. o what a beautiful post! so excited for you!!

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  10. Such a great story - you write so well. I also love that you wanted to see your Fallopian tubes. Gross, but cool :)
    I think Nya is so pretty and now you have 3 kids with 3 letter names! Praying that your recovery continues to go well!

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  11. Apparently I'm not getting enough sleep. Koen has 4 letters. Yeesh. Still love the name!!

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  12. Oh, you made me cry!!! Thank you for sharing the story in such detail, and with so many remarkable photos. =) Wow. Just wow. You are an amazing momma, and this birth was beautiful. I'm so glad you are at peace with it!! Birth is beautiful, no matter how you shake it. And I LOVE her name. It suits her perfectly.

    xxoo

    Do you want to share this with Mothers of Change? You can totally change your mind if you like. If you do still want to share it, do you want this version, or another one?

    I will come over soon to meet her but I know it's not always best to be inundated with visitors the first few days at home =) I'm all better from my sickies....

    I'm also really glad there were so many signs you would have delivered her that day or the next anyways, because it helps your mind to rest that she was ready to be born. And that cord! Amazing!!! And the fallopian tubes are way bigger than I thought they were! COOL!

    You're a champion, Louise. I'm so proud of you. xo

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  13. Thanks for sharing so much with us about Nya's beautiful entry into your lives and our world. She is just beautiful and I'm so happy you all are doing so well. I LOVED the photos, getting to see so much. Oh and I love her name.

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