Saturday, March 21st, 2015 is a day that I will never forget! Early in the morning I was given the OK to order some breakfast to start our day. We ordered room service - a western omelet, bacon and potato "stars" and an order of chocolate chip pancakes. I was so hungry when the food arrived after being on a light (mostly no) food restriction for the past 2 days, I was excited for food. Rich and I were sitting there hanging out just talking, playing on our phones and iPads. Dr. Johnson came in around 9:30 and did a follow-up ultrasound to see how my amniotic fluid levels were and to check out the little man. My fluid levels did increase, but not by much - they went from a 3.4 to a 5 - which confirmed what we already knew - that I was most likely going to be in the hospital until he made his arrival.
About 15 minutes after Dr. Johnson left, the heart rate monitor on RJ indicated he was having a deceleration in his heart rate - we were used to this as his typical pattern was about 1-2 an hour. Shortly after the first one, he had another - I rolled from one side to the other, adjusted the monitor a little on my belly and went back to playing Candy Crush. Shortly after the second, another one came along...that is when Rich got up and was looking at the strips of output from the machine and in comes the nurse. She asked me to move again from one side to the other, and we got him back on the monitor. A few minutes after that, Dr. Johnson and Dr. Ntoso came in and were looking at the output strips of the heart rate and contractions, which is when Rich and I looked at each other and basically communicated that we think "it's time", which was confirmed a few minutes later by both doctors.
At that point I was calm, but waves of panic started to flood. I think I teared up a little, took some deep breaths when the nurse gave me a hat to cover my hair and I started to remove all of my jewelry. I also got nervous belly and asked if I could use the bathroom. While in there, I took a few more deep breaths, said a prayer and gathered my strength. I walked out and Rich was starting to dress in his scrubs and I sat in the hospital bed, gave him a kiss and off they whisked me to the operating room. After the monitoring, it was determined that when RJ told us it was time, he was going to arrive via c-section.
Once we got into the operating room, I was introduced to the anesthesiologist (who was fantastic!) and instructed that they would be prepping me, giving me a spinal and once everything was set, Rich would be coming in to join me. I was nervous but all I could think of was my baby was going to be here. If you know me, you know I am terrified of needles...I think I was more worried about the one they were putting in my back than the fact that they were going to be slicing open my belly! During the prep of the spinal, the nurse stood in front of me and talked to me - I was taking in my surroundings - how cold the room was, how the nurses kept their discussions and preparations lighthearted, the brightness of the lights. I only remember feeling one pinch in my back and then everything under my chest being numb. I was shivering in my arms so they draped a heated blanket across my upper body and arms.
Rich arrived and sat next to my head and they began the c-section. I don't remember how long we were in there, but I do remember staring up at the ceiling, looking at Rich (who I remember his leg shaking the way it does when he is nervous or thinking about something) and listening to the doctors. After a few minutes, I felt a little tugging under my boobs, and then Dr. Ntoso saying "11:39, baby arriving" - he was making his way into the world. I'm not sure how many minutes went by - it felt like an eternity until the nurse said "Mom and Dad, look to your right your baby is here" - and then I turned my head.
My heart stopped. Tears filled my eyes as I turned my head and saw the tiniest little person I have ever met. And then he let out 5 loud wails and it was the most angelic song I ever heard. It was like time stood still during those precious seconds. They whisked him off to the stabilization room next too the operating room and I turned my head back to Rich and said "He wasn't supposed to do that!" Our little miracle was here and he took his first breaths. It was time for them to finish up my surgery, to which Rich asked if he could peek over the curtain to watch. I can safely say that he has seen parts of me that no one else has!
As they were finishing up my csection, there was a lot of activity around the room. Dr. Johnson kept coming back and forth giving us updates - he was stable and breathing, they were waiting for the ENT group to come up to intubate, the chaplin was ready for baptism, that RJ had these big hands and thumbs and was being a feisty little bugger when the nurses were trying to do their assessments. All of this was music to my ears!
When all of my stitching was completed, they wheeled me back to my room to wait for them to bring RJ to us before heading to the NIICU. As I was arriving to my room, we were welcomed by lots of smiles and tears from our families - my mom and sister, Rich's mom and Jo, his dad and Holly, my Aunt Louise and Uncle Bruce. It was wonderful (and a bit overwhelming!) to have them there to share in his birth.
After about a half an hour, the nurse came in to let us know the team was bringing RJ in to meet us! Since I was still a bit loopy and couldn't feel my legs from the spinal, they wheeled him right into the room and right next to my bed. The neonatologist talked to Rich to explain that he was stable and all I could do was reach over and touch his tiny little hand. At that moment it hit me just how tiny he was. 2 lbs, 2oz. Everyone got to see him and say hi and then he was off.
It was a truly magical day - being surrounded by our families - having him arrive safely into the world and coming out as feisty as he did truly showed us how blessed we truly are!
Welcome to the world Richard Joseph III!
Here are some stats:
Time of Arrival: 11:39
Height: 13.4"
Weight: 2lbs 2ozs
