Birth Story Carnival

I almost forgot about Sarcastic Mom's super Birth Story Carnival, but luckily I checked her awesome blog today. Head on over to read her fabulous story, find other stories or to add your own.

Ironflower

When I was pregnant with Ironflower, I swelled up like a balloon. Seriously. I had so much fluid that the poor child just kept floating around in there - some days she was breech, some days she wasn't. About two weeks before my due date, my OB suggested that I would need a c-section. She was pretty sure that between the MASSIVE amount of fluid and the size of Ironflower's head that I was going to wind up needing one no matter what - did I want to schedule one or wait and see what happened? I thought about it over night. I talked to three people who'd had emergency c-sections. I was at a point where I couldn't fit into my own shoes, my feet were so swollen. I wanted it to be over, though Ironflower had not hinted that she was ready to come out at all. I scheduled the c-section.

All was well until the epidural kicked in. I was lying flat on the operating table, but all of the sudden it felt like I was tipping over backwards and that there was an elephant sitting on my chest. Apparently this is not uncommon, but no one had mentioned it to me. I started to panic. My blood pressure dropped and I started to fade in and out. The kind anesthesiologist gave me some kind of drug and things got better. Meanwhile, they were having a hard time pulling Ironflower out. The fluid had literally gushed out of me and soaked the floor and she was in some odd position and I don't know, it took them awhile to get her out. So long that she got some of my happy drugs into her system and was pretty lethargic at first. It took her five minutes to cry.

FIVE LONG MINUTES. Finally, she started crying and so did we. I couldn't see her, but Hubby made his way over to the bassinet (trying not to slip in the fluid and quickly averting his eyes from my guts) and not too long after that I FINALLY got to see her. I couldn't believe she was really there. We all got about twenty minutes together in the recovery room, then she and Hubby went to the nursery and I sort of slept.

It felt like forever until we were all settled in our room together. I couldn't get over how beautiful and tiny she seemed (though at 8 pounds, 10 ounces, she really wasn't that tiny as newborns go). She was pretty mellow, too. We hardly slept for the three days we were in the hospital. I couldn't sleep when she went off to be weighed and bathed in the middle of the night and I felt like I needed to be awake whenever she was in the room. Even though she was extremely mellow and rarely cried, I just felt like I had to be hyper-vigilant. Sometimes I dozed, but only when Hubby or my mom was there. Ironflower had trouble nursing at first, but eventually (thanks, really, to Hubby's encouragement and support) we got there. We've been marveling at her beauty and trying to get her to eat ever since.



Lovebug

This time when my OB asked if I wanted to try for a vaginal birth or have another c-section, I was ready. I picked c-section. I was nervous about VBACs and since I knew what to expect with a c-section it just seemed the way to go.

This time, I was asked if I wanted a spinal or an epidural. I was told that spinals were better and since I hadn't been all that impressed with my epidural, I went with it. Which was a mistake. Because it hurt like a son of a bitch. Now I realize that it was nothing like giving birth the natural way, but at least then you know the pain is coming. I was actually in the early stages of labor when I went in for my c-section. Even though it was 12 days before my due date. Lovebug had been banging his head against my pelvis for a few days. I was expecting a pinch and instead I got hot knife slicing my leg in half. Or so it seemed.

After that, though, things went swimmingly. I didn't panic on the table (no upside down feeling or elephant on my chest) and Lovebug popped right out. The first thing my OB said was, "He has a HUGE head." And that right there made me feel a whole lot better about choosing the c-section. Lovebug cried on cue and didn't really stop until about an hour and a half later, when we first tried breastfeeding. Which he took to like a duck to water. The lactation expert dropped by my room the next day and started to tell me that I was holding him "wrong", but when I invited her to lean over and check us out up close, she realized that we were just fine. She didn't drop by again.

Lovebug was so vigorous and so hungry - he was his own little person right away. And while I still had a hard time when he was out of the room, I was able to sleep a bit this time. The best was watching Ironflower check him out for the first time. She was so in awe and really didn't exhibit much jealousy. Of course, she was only 15 months old.

Lovebug's passion still amazes us, though he seems to have lost his champion eating ability.