We did it!

Ahhh, we are home. Actually, we were lucky enough to be able to come home late yesterday afternoon and it feels soooo good.

We had to be at the hospital at 5 am on Friday morning. Needless to say, neither Bruce nor I got much sleep on Thursday night. In fact, Bruce had actually been called into the hospital on Thursday evening for an emergency and that kind of threw our evening off. We were both so tired but so excited to check into the hospital and get prepped for the c-section. The morning started off rough, with it taking the nurses 3 messy attempts to insert the i.v. and 2 irritating attempts at inserting the catheter. On the upside, our OB told us that I was having major contractions...looks like we would have had a baby over the weekend one way or the other!Finally, it seemed like I was ready to head into the O.R. to have my baby delivered. Unfortunately, the anaesthesiologists (3 of them) were not able to get a spinal or epidural going after poking around my spine for an excruciatingly painful 45 minutes and we were left in a terrible situation. The only way for me to have the very necessary c-section was by having general anesthesia and being put totally under. By this point, every nerve ending in my body was singing in pain and I was starting to black out from the stress so falling asleep did not feel as disappointing as it could have been. It was definitely more difficult for Bruce who had been kept waiting to enter the O.R. through the whole ordeal and then was told he could not be present to watch the operation. He was seriously disappointed and worried about both his girls, but was relieved when at 8:31, just 1 minute after her birth, he was able to hold his baby girl.
I started to come out of my sleep at about 10:30 and was able to finally hold my baby girl. She was so precious, I had a hard time understanding that she was really mine. The nurses were all cooing over her and our O.B. was beaming at this healthy girl we had. They told us that as they delivered Lucy into the hands of the waiting nurse, everyone in the O.R. gasped, shocked by her thick curly dark hair. It is so long and layered, I can already brush it.



We were allowed to call my Mom right away and her and Griffin joined us in the recovery room within a half hour of when I woke up. Griffin was kind of shocked by the room. I think I looked different to him (puffed up from the anesthesia) and the room was buzzing with medical activity. He coped by busying himself with his Leapster and kind of ignoring the chaos around him. We allowed him the space to do this and figured he would react/interact when he was ready.

When we were finally all moved into a more permanent room, we were all pretty exhausted from the events of the morning. Unfortunately, I was not able to nurse Lucy for the first 24 hours due to the anesthesia in my system so I just had to pump and dump instead. The nurses helped Bruce and my Mom feed Lucy formula out of a little cup in the meantime (this prevented her from developing any nipple confusion that may happen by giving her a bottle.) The nurses were incredibly loving, gentle and kind to us. They allowed us to set up a little "nest" for our family in our room, respecting our space and need for a calm and quiet environment. We were able to keep the lights dim and quiet music playing so that we could all start to recuperate. I was able to nap off and on throughout the day while starting to bond with my baby girl and tend to my little boy's flying emotions.

Bruce's parents were able to come by and visit with us that afternoon. Griffin had such a great time playing with his grandparents. By about 8:30 that evening, I was feeling much better and much stronger and was able to have the catheter removed so I could begin to walk around. I remember that after I had Griffin I resisted walking but as soon as I did, I really did feel better and the same was true again. I rejoiced at how quickly my body was willing to respond and begin the healing process.

We were able to sleep off and on Friday night and by Saturday morning, we all felt a ton better. Lucy was able to breastfeed early Saturday morning and latched right on. She has been nursing like a champ ever since and we have not had to supplement with formula at all!!!!! Over the next couple of days, I will try to post more stories and pictures from the hospital as time permits. Thank you all so much for your kind words, prayers and healing energy. Our little girl is home with us now, and we feel like the luckiest family on the planet...all of our dreams have come true.