Welcome Baby Linn #2

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!