When I went to my routine appointment with the midwife at 35
weeks, she noticed that the baby was breech. At the time, she wasn't overly
concerned, since there was plenty of time for it to turn, but did say that most
babies settle into a head down position by about 35-36 weeks. She told me to
google exercises to encourage the baby to turn, and said that its position
would be monitored at my weekly appointments. Some of the suggestions I found
on the internet were absolutely RIDICULOUS - what 9 month pregnant woman can do
a headstand for 30 minutes at a time 3x per day??? Another one said to place a
bag of frozen vegetables at the top of your abdomen in an attempt to
"chase" the baby's head away from the cold (and, I kid you not, they
went so far as to say that the found frozen peas to be particularly effective).
So, I did the easy ones (getting on all fours and letting your belly hang,
which also helped ease the back pain caused by the baby sitting on my sciatic
nerve) and even though the baby was very active and I pretty much had a dance
party at Club Uterus from 2-5am every morning, every week when I went back to
the doctor's office, the results were the same. So, after multiple ultrasounds
confirming that baby was stubbornly comfortably
stuck head up, we began to discuss scheduling a csection. Actually, the one
doctor offered to try a procedure called ECV, in which he would try to forcibly
manipulate the baby to turn.The optimal time to do it is between 36-37 weeks,
and I was already past that time when it was discussed (plus when you do it at
that time there is no guarantee even if it is successful that the baby won't
turn back). The other option was to wait until 39 weeks, at which time you show
up at the hospital and if it is successful, they induce you right away (so
there is no chance of it turning back) and if it is not successful they do a
csection right away. After reading about the risks and relatively low success
rates (and after being induced with Connor, which resulted in a very LONG
labor), I opted not to try the ECV. I was really disappointed at first with the
news that I had to have a csection, but it really was the best and safest
option. So, we went ahead and scheduled it for April 22nd (my actual due date
was the 27th). I promptly went home and freaked myself out even more by
watching 2 hours of YouTube videos of csections and reading articles about the
how much more difficult the recovery is. Big mistake.
I must say, it was so weird knowing the
exact date the baby is going to be born ahead of time, and to a certain degree,
having a choice your child's birthdate. We chose the 22nd on the recommendation
of the doctor because it was on a day that Dr. Donato performs csections (as
opposed to the other doctor in the practice) and was a few days before my due
date so it minimized the chances of me going into labor on my own and having it
turn in to an emergency csection. As a result, Baby Linn #2 shares a birthday
with my dear friend Adrianne, and it is also Earth Day. As I mentioned in
our last post, Easter was the Sunday before the scheduled date and I took off
that Monday, thinking I would just relax. Turns out, I had so much nervous
energy that I burned off by cleaning, organizing, doing laundry, grocery
shopping, etc. I'm surprised I didn't put myself into labor that day! I was
hoping to get a good night sleep but the discomfort of being approximately 73
weeks pregnant and the combination of nerves and excitement made that nearly
impossible. My csection was scheduled for 10:00 a.m., and I had to be at the
hospital by 8:00 a.m. It was a little surreal dropping Connor off at daycare,
going to get a coffee for Ryan (I was practically drooling because I couldn't have
any food or drink after midnight), and then just showing up at the hospital
knowing that a little more than two hours later we'd be a family of four. I got
checked in and they did one final ultrasound (but not before they hooked me up
to an IV and drew labs, at which point I said that even if the baby hadn't
turned they were going to have to induce me because I wasn't leaving without a
baby). Thankfully (?), the doctor said "that's definitely not a head down
there" so we were ready to proceed as planned.
A few minutes before 10, I walked myself
to the OR. I'm sure I looked pretty awesome wheeling my IV and catheter bags
but it was a short walk and I was too nervous to care. I'm so thankful that my
doctor is a family friend (Ryan grew up next door to him) because I knew I was
in good hands. Ryan had to wait outside while they gave me the spinal block. It
wasn't too bad, and within seconds I couldn't feel my legs. Things progressed
extremely quickly from that point. There seemed to be a lot of people in the
OR. I don't know what I was expecting, but I am amazed at how fast the actual
birth was. Dr. Donato didn't exactly tell me he was beginning the surgery, but
he was talking to us the whole time about what he was doing. I never fully
understood when people said you can feel pressure but not pain. Until then. I
guess they really have to help manually push the baby out since you don't have
contractions because I briefly felt like they were going to break my ribs. But
then, I heard Dr. Donato say "okay Ryan, in about 30 seconds I am going to
tell you to stand up and make the announcement....legs are out, butt is out,
shoulders are out...any day now, Ryan..." And, just like that, at 10:09
a.m., we welcomed Grant Patrick Linn. He was 7 lbs. 13 oz. and 20 1/2 in. of
perfection!
Ryan was able to walk to the nursery with
Grant while I got stitched up and about 1/2 hour later they wheeled me into the
recovery room where I got to hold him for the first time. We spent about an
hour in there before being transferred to our room, where we called my parents,
who were at our house anxiously awaiting the news. I just loved not knowing the
sex of the baby ahead of time. It made it so much more exciting. Plus, this
time around we really had no idea what we were going to name him or her ahead
of time. I think we tentatively decided our names just a few days before giving
birth and we didn't have a definitive middle name - that wasn't decided until
we were in the recovery room! Grant was my mom's father's name. I never met him
as he passed away long before I was born, so he's not really named after him per se, it was just one of the
few names we both liked and agreed on, but it is a nice coincidence that it has
a special meaning (my Dad told me that he was pleasantly surprised with the
name, as he was afraid we were going to name the baby something
"weird," whatever that means...).
I must say, after being in labor for 25
hours with Connor, it was REALLY nice, despite the pain, to have the whole
thing over and done with in about 15 minutes! The only problem was that the
pain medication I was on made me really sleepy and really loopy! After a while
Ryan left to go pick up Connor and bring him to the hospital to introduce him
to his brother. I was expecting him to go nuts with jealousy but he was
surprisingly subdued - he was interested in the baby, but he was also enjoying
the attention he got from his grandparents (and probably a little confused as
to why Mommy couldn't get out of bed).
We had several visitors that day (mostly
family), but as I said before, I was in a lot of pain and the meds made me
super sleepy. I definitely fell asleep mid-sentence more than once. I also fell
asleep while eating my dinner and ended up waking myself up by a coughing fit
as I choked on some Ginger Ale - holy crap was that painful! My parents offered
to take Connor home and get him dinner and ready for bed so that Ryan could
stay with me and Grant until I finished my dinner and got settled for the
night. About 15 minutes after they left, my Dad knocked on the door of my
hospital room. When they walked into the house, the dogs got excited and one of
them knocked Connor over. He fell head first into one of our baseboards and
split open his forehead, so my mom was two floors down with him in the ER and
my dad came up to get Ryan to go down with the insurance cards and to sit with
him. At this point I had about 15 Percocets and was quite confused, but
apparently I uttered some pretty choice expletives! They ended up just gluing
him back together instead of trying to stitch it and Ryan said he was such a
good boy throughout the whole ordeal. I can only hope that Grant has the same
laid back disposition as Connor.
The next day, even though I was in a lot
of pain, I was anxious to get up and move around a little. That first shower
was glorious; the nurse extender that stood in the bathroom with me and dried
me off/helped me get dressed afterwards (and talked to me the whole time)...not
so much. I learned very quickly when I had Connor that you have absolutely no
privacy (or modesty) during/after childbirth, and it was twice as bad this time
around, as I pretty much needed help with everything. Plus, there is a constant
stream of doctors, nurses, nurse extenders, housekeeping, phlebotomists,
lactation Nazis consultants,
dietary, etc. coming and going at all hours of the day/night so it makes it
difficult to rest. As painful as it was, I definitely felt better the more I
moved (provided I was sufficiently medicated, which, by this time the dosage
had been corrected so I was comfortable without being incoherent)!
The following day (Thursday), I got
discharged. Dr. Donato told me I could stay the extra day if I wanted to, but I
was ready to leave. Even though I was a little concerned about being home by
myself with the baby on Friday while Ryan was at work, I knew ultimately I'd be
more comfortable at home. So, Ryan came to the hospital after work, we buckled
this little sweetie pie into his carseat, went to pick up Connor at daycare,
and headed home to start our life as a family of four.
Grant was down
to 7 lbs. 2 oz. when we left the hospital. He won't be a tiny little thing for
long!
