Labor and c-section

For those of you interested in the whole story, here it is. If you're queasy with pictures, just skip today (though they're not that bad). After having contractions on and off for weeks, hoped that if we went in this time we would not be sent home. We called Dan's parents about 2 a.m. to have them come down and be with the kids. If my kids would ever cooperate with their deliveries, we would have had a whole house full of people to take care of the older kids on the 30th when he was scheduled. I had been having contractions for a couple of hours, and since I'm a repeat c-section, the doctors don't want you to be in really active labor and risk a regular birth and rupturing, dying, etc. So we went in, again to Labor and Delivery in West Jordan. We arrived about 4 a.m. and they hooked me up to the moniters and everything. The on-call doctor was Dr. Langor, who delivered Jonah, who is not our regular doctor. (To this point, non of our children had been delivered by my OBGYN, it was always the on-call person). She came in and said if we were comfortable having the baby early, we'd just go ahead and have it today, but they needed to hurry because there was another scheduled c-section at 6:30 a.m. That's fine, with me. The shorter amount of time I had think about being cut open, the better.
So they gave me an IV, had me walk down the hall to the operating room and then did a spinal block and all the other fun surgery stuff. After I had no feeling in the bottom half of my body, the doctors come in and make sure I'm completely numb. My doctor had arrived at this point. YEAH!!!!

For those of you unfamiliar with c-sections, you lie there with your arms outstretched like this so they don't get in the way of the doctors doing the surgery. Some anethesiologist (sp) actually strap your arms down (which is torture) but this nice man didn't. I'm surprised Dan didn't get a picture of me with the oxygen and everything.

My picture of Dan while I was lying on the table.

Nytis first coming out of my tummy. He was born at 5:37 a.m.

My first glimpse of him (Dan's taking the picture though).

Us together. While you're being cut open, it seems like forever. There are 9 layers they have to cut through and when it's a repeat, there's all the scar tissue. And it's the weirdest feeling when they're pulling and pushing your stomach around and you don't feel anything, just the pressure and the moving. When Nytis was born he was small and loud. The nurses described him as fiesty. He cried until he was completely wrapped up.

As long as it takes to cut you open, it (seems) to take 5 times as long to get you put back together. And all you can do is lie there and wait and listen while the doctors chit chat back and forth. Nytis was taken to the nursery and Dan went with him while I'm taken to the recovery room to be watched for the next hour.

I ended up staying in the hospital for 4 days, leaving Sunday morning. By Sunday I was ready to go and feeling pretty good. As long as I stayed on Ibprofen and Tylenol, I was great. I was offered heavier stuff, but it makes me loopy and I hate it. On Saturday, Dan took my older kids to my family's campout in Southern Utah and my mother and sister-in-law came to visit me in the hospital. It's now, almost two weeks later and I'm feeling really good. I'm not on any medicine and, though I'm still a little sore, I'm doing good. I'm limited on what I can do or can't do, such as no vacumming (shucks) and lifting anything heavier than Nytis and if I try to do to much I can definately feel it. My in-laws have my older children today and Thursday and tomorrow will be my first day taking care of everyone on my own. We'll see how that goes. More post will come later.