This is kind of long, especially for c-section story.....

I was scheduled for an uncomplicated repeat c-section for December 27th at noon. I was hoping the baby would come early (my first son did!), but I was settled in to that date and ready to not be pregnant anymore. I worked on trying to get him out early, that is until December 15th when I received the following text message from my husband at 2 in the morning: “broke my leg. Going to the hospital.” He was playing hockey with his league, and this was the last game before the baby and the new season. I always feared something like this would happen, but never thought it actually would, and certainly not 2 weeks before our third child was due to be born.

The next two weeks were hard. Like really hard. We had to figure out how to exist with him on crutches, what he could and could not do, and throw in Christmas for good measure….. Oh, and my enormously pregnant self trying to keep up and do more, instead of enjoying the last few days of my pregnancy.

The day of my c-section was the first time my husband had been out of the house since the surgery. The nurses were just as worried about him as they were concerned about me! Luckily we were able to get him a wheel chair and he could be in the room for the birth of our third child. That had been a major concern for me since the day of the accident; I didn’t want him to miss the birth.

The surgery got underway completely normally. I distinctly remember the chill in the room, the warm blankets they threw on me, and the smell of burning. Then, all of a sudden I hear my OB/GYN say “I’m going to need a vacuum,” and this is where things started to go into slow motion. I remember thinking, ‘why does she need a vacuum? This isn’t a vaginal birth.’ Then, as if I were a piece of road kill and the nurses were vultures, I had two grown adults jump on my stomach very close to my rib cage. I knew that wasn’t right. I started to ask the anesthesiologist what was going on, but she kept saying “it’s all going great!” It was obviously her job to keep me calm. But the panic was starting to rise. Luckily a few moments later I hear the cry of my baby! I started to relax a little and forgot my temporary role of a trampoline.

As they were doing whatever they do during a c-section I kept hearing my OB/GYN and the nurses saying, “That is interesting” “I’ve never seen this before” “that’s so crazy” and other comments that were the same. I didn’t ask what they were talking about, because I had a feeling that I wouldn’t get a straight answer anyway, so I just watched them clean up the baby from afar. I figured as long as he was ok, it would all be ok.

The rest of the surgery went smoothly. I truly hate the end of a c-section, the pulling and tugging don’t hurt, but it just kind of sucks. I remember my daughter had told me to sing a little song from Daniel Tiger, so that’s what I did! I closed my eyes and just thought of my other two kids and try to imagine I was somewhere else besides that room.

Once in recovery I asked the nurse what had happened during the surgery, luckily I knew here from our work out class and I wasn’t afraid to ask her. Apparently I had so much amniotic fluid that when they opened me up it gushed out and onto the floor (ewww!) and the baby got sucked back inside of me. So the people jumping on me like I was a trampoline were really trying to get the baby out!

The other comments that I heard were about the DOUBLE KNOT HE HAD IN HIS CORD!!! I am very lucky that I hadn’t attempted a VBAC because I would have ended up with a c-section anyways. I guess my OB/GYN had seen a single knot, but not a double knot. My nurse/friend told me that I didn’t need to worry though because had a big strong cord and the double knot didn’t affect it.

The last few weeks have been intense to say the least. The full affects of my husbands injury has sunk in and we are realizing his limitations (let’s just say that I’m basically solo parenting). I know that I have been pushing my recovery, and doing too much too soon, but how can I not? Even though my Mom is here to help, I just haven’t had the luxury to sit on the couch with baby cuddles, because there is so many people in my house that need to be taken care of.

I’m totally in love with DS#2 and I’m so very happy that he is here, but I wouldn’t wish this arrangement on my worst enemy. This experience has been truly awful and I’m so stressed that it has partly clouded the happiness that a beautiful new baby brings. I look forward to the day that my husband can walk again, and start taking on even 30% of the household duties. That being said, my other two have been AMAZING! They are so in love with the new baby, in fact it is a new thing to fight over.

I would like to introduce Everett Henry born 12/27 at 12:21 weighing 9lbs 2 oz and 21.5 inches long.