Flash back to the recovery room on Sunday, September 25th:
I am alone, doped up on morphine and am in total shock. The entire thing felt like a dream. I could not believe it was real. I just had an emergency c-section and my little boy is here...and his Daddy just got to go with him to the NICU. While in the recovery room I get my cell phone and realize I have a missed call from my Sister, who is in India on business. I call my Mama and tell her that her grandson is here and she let's me know that my Daddy, Kateland and her are on their way. Soon after I get a phone call from Malissa. She is so upset and I felt so bad for her. My Sister and I are best friends, we are so close and I can only imagine how hard it was for her to be completely cut off from our family during this difficult, yet extremely exciting time. She ended up being my biggest support system after Matt in the hospital, when I wasn't able to get right to sleep at night I would send her long email updates of what I was feeling and what had been happening with me and my little boy. Matt ended up coming in 30-45 minutes later. We were both extremely optimistic about our little one because of how much he weighed, our doctors and nurses were constantly commending it which made up feel better. We finally got ourselves a moment together to discuss what had happened from the blood scare to the delivery of our son. We had just been on the biggest emotional roller coaster of our life and now we had a precious little boy with no name. We had been discussing names for a while and had our top 3 choices: Noah, Joshua and Lucas. We'd decided that we were gonna wait to see what he looked like in order to finalize his name. We had already decided on his middle names: Clinton after my paternal grandfather (my Pop PoP) it was his middle name and Irving after Matt's maternal grandfather. Both men played important roles in our lives growing up and we have very fond memories of them. So we decided on Noah in that recovery room with Mama all doped up, but it just fit our sweet cheeked little boy! Matt went back up to the NICU to check on Noah while I was recovering. In order to move to a post partum room I first had to be able to move my legs. It took about 2 hours for the spinal to wear off enough that I could wiggle my legs back and forth, that was about it. In the recovery room I realized the following:
1. I had things on my leg that are like blood pressure cuffs that help to keep my blood circulating to prevent blood clots
2. A diaper like pad was in between my legs.
3. I had a catheter and its bag was strapped to my right thigh.
4. IV still in my left arm.
5. Gauze on my incision and a gauze/Velcro belt strapped around my waist to keep it in place.
6. Medicine pouch with a catheter/iv into my incision to help me heal quicker. The medicine would empty by my discharge and then they would remove it. The first thing I asked would be if I would need to have a stitch when it was removed and thank sweet baby j the answer was no.
7. My blood pressure cuff was still on my right arm.
8. I still had my oxygen.
9. My pulse rate finger thing was still on too.
I was soon told that when I was ready to leave recovery then I could be wheeled into the NICU to get a look at my little Noah. I worked as hard as I could to get feeling back in my legs and was willing those suckers to move! I finally got wheeled to the NICU to get a look at my sweet boy. At this point I really don't remember very much. Matt said that while I was in recovery I was acting like a heroin accident going through withdrawals....seriously I had the shivers, then I was sweating bullets and the worst part was after we left Noah's room and I was being wheeled to my post partum room...I threw up in the hallway. No worries I gave the nurse warning and she was able to get me this high tech barf bag. When I got to see my little boy for the first time this is what he looked like:
Due to Noah being 6 weeks early, his lungs are underdeveloped and he needs some help keeping his oxygen levels up. He was in an oxygen tent to start with to help with his saturation. He has an IV in his little hand and a monitor on his little foot. The stickies on his chest monitor his oxygen levels, heart rate and heart beat.I was then moved to my post partum room where our families could come visit. Marty, Debbie, Dan and Liz had been at the hospital for a while and were able to come up quickly. My parents and Kateland made it to the hospital about 10-15 mins after they got there. Matt was then able to take them by twos into the NICU to see Noah.
Later in the afternoon my Mama helped me to pump for the first time. I was able to get out two droppers full of collostrum. Breastfeeding was something that I was ready and willing to work extremely hard for. And with Noah being a premie, I was more determined now to pump him some good milk.
I was told that I would get the catheter out at 10PM and then once I peed twice in the potty I would be able to have the IV taken out. All went as planned and my nurse Vange was fabulous. I was lucky and she was the night nurse my entire stay at the hospital so we got to be good friends.
The neonantologist came to speak with us about Noah later that evening and explained his oxygen/lung situation. With Noah coming early, his lungs were not quite developed. In the last weeks of gestation surfactant is generated by the body to coat the lungs and it helps you breathe. Noah's lungs did not have as much as they should with caused him to work harder to keep his lungs saturated. Luckily surfactant can be given in a quick intabation procedure. We consented and Noah received his first surfactant treatment that night. Soon after the treatment was over Matt went back over to the NICU and checked on him. In that short amount of time he could see progress from our little fighter. When he was first taken to the NICU the amount of oxygen having to be pumped into the oxygen tent to keep his oxygen rate in the 90s was 48%. After the surfactant treatment they had reduced the amount of oxygen to the low 40s!
Time for a little TMI...just so you know you still bleed after a c-section. People think because all your stuff is taken out that you won't but everything still contracts and is reducing back to its original size, which still creates a heavy period. Due to this little predicament, I got to wear a diaper...not really a diaper but it was the biggest damn pad I have ever seen in my life. It felt like a diaper.
I got myself on a breast feeding schedule and started pumping every 3 hours. Matt stayed in the room with me. And he would help me in and out of the bed when I had to go to the bathroom and he set me up and helped me pump. He cleaned all the bottles and equipment after each pump. Hands down the most supportive and wonderful husband in the world. He was extremely encouraging and I know that the only reason I have done as good as I have is because of him.
We went to visit Noah in the NICU that night which was a B with all the stuff that had to be taken with me, my IV, catheter, and medicine bag. But we made it work. The only thing that was annoying at all was my IV any time my arm was not completely straight out it would beep and as long as I moved it back the beep would stop. This was hard breastfeeding because I need to get situated and use both my hands...so often the IV would go off and moving my arm didn't stop it. So the nurse would have to come in and reset me. It was hard for me to go see Noah and try to touch him from a wheel chair in his warmer as was, but then add in the face that the IV would go off...frustrating.
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