Well honestly, she’s been here for a little over two months and I’m just now taking the time to sit down and write about her birth. Newborns leave little time for writing or reading or cleaning or anything else that doesn’t involve the newborn. Who knew?!
Because of the cerclage, a c-section was our only option so we knew pretty early on that October 26th would be Mila’s birthday. This pregnancy seemed SO long up until the last few weeks. As the day got closer my anxiety grew and I was not ready for the surgery or the recovery, but I sure was ready to hold our baby girl. We didn’t have to be at the hospital until 9 am since the surgery was scheduled for noon so it wasn’t a rushed morning and we took our time getting ready. My parents (Neen and Papa) arrived around 8:15 to stay with Liam and get him to the hospital when it was time.
Hugging Liam and leaving him was hard! I knew it would be his last few hours as my only baby and I shed a few tears.
We took our last picture as a family of 3 and headed out the door. (Is it me or do we all look a bit anxious?!)
When we arrived at the hospital they quickly got my IV in and got me hooked up to the monitors. I was having a few contractions and as the morning progressed they got closer together and stronger! Apparently Mila didn’t get the memo that I was having a c-section and there was no reason for the contractions and making Momma uncomfortable.
A little after noon they wheeled me to the operating room. James waited outside while they got me prepped. The spinal went in easy and not painful at all, the sheet went up and my vitals were being monitored. This whole process went very quickly, though James said he felt like he was waiting forever. Once he was brought into the room and set up right next to me, they started. For the last few months of the pregnancy they found that I had some extra amniotic fluid and when Dr. Kyle opened me up everyone in the room was shocked at how much fluid there actually was. It normally takes about two minutes to get the baby out once they reach them, but it took about 6 or 7 minutes to get Mila out. Because of the fluid she was “swimming” and kept going back up, so much so that Dr. Kyle’s assistant had to stand on a stool and apply pressure up by my ribs to push her down. It felt like a really long time to get her out and then she was here… crying.
They did a quick assessment, let me see her and then took her to the nursery, because she was having a hard time breathing.
James went with Mila, while they finished up with me. In the nursery they gave her some fluids through an IV and got her lungs cleared out. He said she was a little blue before her fluids, but by the time I got to the room and got to see her she was nice and pink.
James, Liam and I all took a little time with her before the rest of the family came to see her.
When the Grandmas came to see her we were able to get our first picture as a family of four!
Besides the little extra time it took to get her out and her little trouble breathing, we really couldn’t have asked for a smoother day. We were all so thankful that she was here, healthy and OURS.
On a side note: It took me three days to write this post. Thankful for the weekends with Daddy home so that I can get some things done. 🙂