A Birth Story or at Least Part 1

The baby was instantly placed on my stomach. This is the first time my baby has been placed on my belly. Oh the pure joy of being able to see him laying there and touch him. I delivered the placenta within a couple of minutes. I remember the doctor asking me if I wanted to keep the placenta. That totally shocked me in a military hospital. I was still shaking. Now here is where you may want to close this blog down if you are squeamish. My husband took the baby over to the warmer to be examined. He scored a 9/9 on the apgar. A first for my children. I could see everything. This again was a first and I was enjoying every minute of it. I felt like I had the perfect deliver like a story. I always envied those women who held their babies after delivery. Now comes the painful part. Remember I said it just kind of happened. I have delivered five babies but this one just felt different. Apparently I tore, tore is an understatement. They called in a third doctor (the one they screamed for because of the sac); she was in the OR and never made it. Well it took two doctors over an hour to stitch me up. They took turns stitching me. I was told that I had torn all four directions. At one point they gave me something in my IV. I thought it was for pain but it was to help the shaking stop. Within seconds I stopped shaking. RELIEF is what I felt. The doctors kept working making jokes about how they were carving their names and asking my husband what else he wanted written. Ten minutes later the shaking came back. The doctor asked the nurse to give me more meds but she said I had already had the highest dose. He could not believe I was shaking again so quickly. It was mostly my legs. I did hold the baby during this time which was heaven. They eventually finished sewing me up. Painful is an understatement. They then had to go inside all my cavities to make sure they did not stitch into them. That is how bad it was. They kept me in the delivery room for a couple more hours. My blood pressure was still up. Several doctors came in to discuss the baby and how exciting it was that he was born in the sac. I cannot believe no one got pictures. This is where things got a little scary. The baby had a temp and it was confirmed that he had DAT. They still did not make him leave my room but had several specialists come and check on him. During this time I was able to hold him and love on him. Finally at 1am we were sent to our room. You know after they do the whole rubbing on your stomach which is horrible on its own but the nurse had long nails and it felt like she was scratching me. The pediatrician informed me that they would need to do blood work and would need to keep the baby at least 48 hours. They called in a NICU team to do the blood work. They had to pull the curtain to do it but he did not have to leave the room. They were checking to make sure he was not sepsis. Especially since I did not complete my antibiotics. But that he would be in my room. This hospital was amazing at keeping mom and baby together. My blood pressure was still up but not terrible and the shaking had stopped. I sent my hubby home at 1:30 to get some rest. Oh and this precious boy is already nursing like a champ. Just hours after delivery and he is nursing like a champ. He is wide awake and his eyes are so beautiful. His cheeks are so chubby. We have always wanted a chubby baby and we finally have one. He weighed 8 pounds 12 inches which is a pound heavier than any other baby. And was 20 inches long which is an inch shorter than any other baby. I have so many more details to share but they will have to wait because this precious little blessing needs his momma. Pamela