The arrival at the hospital. My last belly shot!
Excited mom & dad to be in a few short hours!First off and most obvious Josh & I had our first little girl on August 18th, 2010 at 12:20pm weighing in at 7lb. 7 oz. We had the date and time scheduled because we knew beforehand that I was going to have a C-section.
When going in for our ultrasounds our little Harper was Frank Breech (she was basically folded in half in my belly with her head by my left rib, her bottom was down by my abdomen and her feet were up by my right rib). Needless to say this created a lot of difficult breathing along with multiple kicks to the ribs & sides during the last part of pregnancy! When I was about 35 weeks pregnant at the doctors check up she still had not turned into the correct position for a vaginal birth. Our doctor gave me the option of either trying to have her and another doctor turn her manually & then they would induce me, or I could go for the c-section. I know it sounds strange that I would automatically go for the C-section but something in me knew the whole time that would end up being the way I would deliver her. When my mom was pregnant with me I was positioned the exact same way and she had a C-section with me. Like mother like daughter!
The benefits of having a C-section:
1. Knowing the exact date of when your baby will be born
2. I never had to experience any contractions or pain
3. I was able to have my bags packed, shower and put make-up on before the delivery
4. Being able to read about the procedures and talk to those who have gone through it
5. I never had to experience any contractions or pain =)
6. Your baby comes out with a perfectly shaped head
7. All my family and friends were able to take off work and be there
8. Being able to stay in the hospital 3 nights and utilize all their resources for questions
9. Did I mention that I did not experience any contractions or pain?
The disadvantages:
1. It is major surgery (but a very common one)
2. I was not able to get up and walk for a day (hooked up to an IV & catheter until the following morning)
3. The morphine kicked my butt!!!
4. Having a scar
5. My husband watched them do the surgery (creeped me out, I just figure a husband should never see my insides!)
6. Finding a comfortable position for breastfeeding without bothering the scar
5. Recovery takes a bit longer...but the pain medicine was my savior!
The process of the surgery was amazing to me. If you know me at all I am someone who thinks that ignorance can be bliss but when it boils down to it, I need to know all the details! I am pretty sure every day after I made the decision for a c-section I got online and read about others experiences, called my friends, watched a Baby Story on TLC every single time it came on and read whatever I could get my hands on. This is just my way of preparing so I do not have a freak out. I survived most of the entire process with out freaking out at all.
We arrived at the hospital and they put me in a room and got all my information to check me in, put in my IV and checked to make sure she was still breech. Then they rolled me down to the operating room where they numbed by back, then did my spinal. This was the point of me freaking out just a bit. I was all smiles and cool calm and a collective until the feeling of numbness came upon me. I HATE the feeling of being numb! They had to help me put my legs back on the table and then my doctor was asking me to wiggle my toes. Fortunately I was unable to wiggle my toes but that was the point that I started to panic. Oh my gosh what if I am paralyzed forever? I can't even move my toes! What if the feeling never comes back??? I kept saying "This is so bizarre, this feels so weird" My nurse then looked at me and said "You are not going to freak out on us now are you? You have been so great!" I then pulled myself together because that was when they brought Josh in the operating room with me. He stood by my side and held my hand the entire time. In his other hand was his iPhone which he used to videotape me throughout the whole procedure. Although I did not like the idea of it at first it is very cool to go back and watch now. Anyway, Josh was chatting with me and then the Anesthesiologist told me the doctors had already began. I had no idea anything had even happened yet! About 5 minutes later I felt some pressure on my stomach and then I saw a stream of something (soon to find out pee) go up in the air and hit me. Yup, the first thing my daughter did was pee on me! They pulled her out, wrapped her up and handed her to daddy. This was the moment I broke down. I can not even put into words what it was like to see her for the first moment. All I can say is perfection.
They then took her over and started cleaning her off and gave her oxygen so she would turn pink. The funny thing is that since she was breech she came out with her legs stuck in the air for about a day or so.
Harper with her legs crazy & the family checking her out in the nursery for the first time! After they finished sewing me up they rolled me out of the operating room. That very second I saw the swarm of family and friends heading towards my room with me to see our sweet baby girl! We literally had 20+ people in our room taking turns holding Harper for the first time. It was such a special day that I will never forget. Harper Adalyn Pluid is one very loved little girl and I am a very blessed person to have such a perfect family.
Our first Pluid family photo!!