On Friday, I had my regular appointment in the morning, my dad was with Austin at our house. In the office I was having a non-stress test and the babies heart beat was dipping a little. The doctor said that it was probably nothing but she wanted to send me to the hospital to be monitored a little longer instead of having me sit in their office for a few hours. She said they would monitor my progress and then they might give me a stress test, which would consist of giving me some pitocin to start contractions and see how the baby reacted. Since I had been in the hospital so many times with Austin before he was actually born, I really thought nothing of this and was not concerned at all. I didn't even go right to the hospital, I first went home to explain to my dad and pack up a few things so he could take Austin to his house for the afternoon, again expecting to only be at the hospital a few hours max. Since John was at school, it was also very hard for me to get ahold of him. I was again not too concerned because I thought this would be like so many times before where I spent the day there and then they sent me home.
I finally did get ahold of John but told him not to rush home and I would text him updates. I arrived at the hospital around 10 and they hooked my up to the monitors. I relaxed and watched TV while the baby was being monitored. During this time I was telling John not to come home until we knew something for sure. Around 10:30 a.m. they decided to give me pitocin to start some contractions. This concerned me a little bit but never did I think I was going to have the baby that day! At this point we decided John should come home just in case.
I was joking the whole time with the nurse about the pitocin because I was on the highest dose with Austin for 3 days and never even had enough pain to take medicine. I was very skeptical that it would even work. Well boy was I wrong. Within a few minutes I was having strong enough contractions that I was very uncomfortable. During this time I still didn't know what was going on but started to get a little worried when whoever walked in the room would ask when I ate last. Finally after some very strong contractions, they shut the pitocin off and the doctor informed me that my doctor wanted to deliver the baby today. I was so surprised I didn't even know what to think. They ensured me that in terms of the baby's size and everything he was OK to be born at 37 weeks but he might have some breathing trouble being so early and it being a c-section.
So I called John up and told him the news. He was almost to the hospital. We were told the c-section would take place around 3 p.m. We were both so in shock... here we were, thinking we still had a week and a half, nothing packed, nothing prepared and we were going be having a baby in a few hours. At this point it was time to make phone calls and try to get some things together. First order of business a camera! Our camera was of course at home but not only that completely dead. Luckily John's mom was going to bring one. My mom was going to go to our house and get our video camera and a few items for me but most would have to wait until later when John could get there.
As it came closer to 3 we found out that they were extremely busy that day and had many c-sections. Because mine was not an emergency per say, I got bumped which pushed the time back even further. We finally got the time of around 5:30 p.m. we would be having ours. At this point it was safe for John to run home and get enough stuff for us and Austin.
So needless to say it was a very long day at the hospital, and silly me never ate before my doctors appointment at 8:30 that morning so I was starving and was not even allowed ice chips. around 5:45, John got dressed and they took me into the room where I had my spinal block. It was not that bad which I was happy about. I did get really nauseous for a few seconds but they took care of that right away. During the c-section it seemed to take forever for them to get Mason out. At one point I heard my doctor say she needed help. Come to find out, our little Mason had the cord wrapped around his neck 3 times! This is why he was not handling contractions well and would not have made it another week if I was having contractions off and on.
So at 6:17 our precious Mason John McMahon came into this world, weighing 7 lbs 1 oz and measuring 19 1/2 inches long. He did not have any trouble breathing and had a healthy cry right from the beginning. Because it was my second c-section it took a little longer to stitch me up, and then it was off to the recovery room.
When I was wheeled in holding Mason, I was greeted by John and Austin. I was so happy. We were excited to spend time as just a family of four before all the visitors came in. To our amazement, Austin did great. He was a little scared by be and everything looked up but he did want to see his brother. After some family time, everyone came in to see the new addition and finally learn his name which had been kept a secret for the entire pregnancy.
Unfortunately after a few visitors, I got extremely sick and was unable to even open my eyes. I was extremely nauseous and extremely itchy. I had to just lay there with my eyes close. This made me sad because I was not even able to nurse or hold Mason that night. Daddy came to the rescue though and gave Mason his first bottle and was able to give him all the cuddles he needed that night.
After some medicine and a good night sleep (yes I said sleep, our little man slept for almost 5 hours the first night) I was all better and ready to jump into mommy mode. Luckily since this all happened on a Friday, John was able to spend the whole weekend with me at the hospital.
Mason has been doing wonderful. He is slightly jaundice which we went through with Austin so its not as scary this time around. Austin is absolutely loving his little brother and can not be more excited to see him. John brought Austin to the hospital each day for a couple of hours and Austin loved to touch and look at his baby brother. We definitely can say he has not missed being at home with us when he has had Grammy and Papa all to himself.
We were able to leave the hospital on Sunday, which surprised the doctors and nurses that I was doing so well after a repeat c-section. Was was anxious to get home and see Austin. It seemed like he grew up so much while I was in the hospital and I missed being around him. Fortunately we are able to stay with my parents for a couple of weeks while I recover since John has to go right back to work. This has been a huge help since I am unable to drive or lift Austin for at least a week.
There are some definite differences between Austin and Mason that we have noticed right away. Austin had strong McMahon features right from birth, Mason seems to resemble more of me this time. He still looks a lot like John and Austin but its not as noticeable as Austin who is still a mini John. Mason also has very dark almost black hair and well as we all know Austin was bald and is now just working on getting some very blonde hair. Mason is a little more sensitive then Austin was in terms of being picked up and held. Mason also is still working on nursing. He tends to like to nurse for about 5 minutes and then sleep. Austin was a champ right from the beginning. Both boys are wonderful sleepers. Austin was 4 hours right from birth and Mason is following suit at 4-5 hours also. Mason of course is bigger and fits into newborn clothes. Austin was so tiny he was in preemie for about a month.
All in all it has been a wonderful transition. Austin is doing better then expected and each day he is making us laugh at his new and wacky personality. He is very helpful with Mason and already bringing him his pacifier, bottle or whatever else we need. Today he was also helping me burp Mason. We just continue to encourage him to play an active role in the baby and cheer and clap whenever he does something nice. He loves kissing Mason and patting him. I cant wait to see the two grow up and interact with each other as Mason gets bigger.
We are planning on returning home sometime next week as long as some of my pain is gone. We are going to the cloth diapering store tomorrow and I am so excited to start using them. Mason has been in one and it was so cute on him.
Hopefully with 2 baby boys running around I will be able to update more next week.
No comments:
Post a Comment