Birthday! Henry Edition

February 10, 2015 was our scheduled date for Henry's c-section. We dropped the girls off with our friends, snapped a few pictures and head out to the hospital at 11 am for a 1 pm surgery.

Not much room on that lap for Clara.

I had a lot of anxiety about this delivery. Not because I thought something would go wrong or anything like that. There was no real reason for it. The night before I barely slept because baby names were running through my head all night. It was really annoying. I should have asked Zach for a blessing that night, but I didn't get around to it until we were already at the hospital in between nurses checking in on us while we waited.

Taking a selfie while we wait for our turn in the OR. They had me come two hours before the scheduled time.

After four failed attempts to put in my IV (two tries on each arm), they finally gave up and shoved it up the back of my left hand, which  really really hurts. A lot.

Throughout my various pregnancies I've adopted two mantras that I tell myself over and over in my mind:

1. "I'm healthy, I'm happy. I'm healthy, I'm happy"

This one is great when trying to trick myself into smiling and pretending that I feel great while battling nausea, etc.

2. "I can do hard things."
This one is great to say to motivate yourself through something that is awful, like pregnancy!

During this delivery/IV fiasco I adopted a new mantra to add to my growing collection. In order to not focus on the anxiety/pain of getting needles shoved into me repeatedly I told myself:

"Soon this will be the past."

Reminding myself that this awful present would soon just be a bad memory of the past helped me push through it.

Such a trooper.

When it was time, they wheeled me in, gave me a shot in my back to numb me up, and quickly got to work to bring our baby into the world.

He's here!
9 lbs 10 oz. 21 inches. Born February 10, 2015 at 1:36pm

I did notice something different with this c-section. I could smell something burning, which Zach later informed me was the doctor using some sort of torch to cut me open? Mmmm, the smell of burning flesh!

Henry was having a hard time breathing for awhile. They were roughing him up to get him to cry and try to clear his lungs. 

Mad wild-man.

The first wave of relief came after Henry was safely delivered. The second wave of relief came after they had finished stitching me back up.

The first thing that came to my mind when they brought him around the corner for me to see for the first time was, "Whoa! That's a lot of black hair!"
None of these pictures do his head of hair justice. Super long, black and silky.

They were using this oxygen  mask to help him breathe. 

First picture of all three of us!

Oh, be still my heart. Cute little button nose.

Our dear friend brought the girls over later that evening so that they could meet their new baby brother. She snapped these pictures for us before heading home. The girls spent a little time visiting at the hospital, and then Zach took them home for the evening while I stayed at the hospital to recover from surgery.

I think this picture really captures three things perfectly:
1. Lucy's pure happiness at meeting her new baby brother
2. Clara's amazing self-restraint, holding back her own hand from her new baby brother after I asked her to fold her arms
3. Me on drugs.
Lucy's face alone made this picture worth sharing. Too cute.

I was actually feeling surprisingly great at this point, besides the fact that holding my head up any farther than a few inches off my bed made me nauseous. Thankfully, this only happened three times, and I only got sick the last time. I was glad when that medicine finally wore off, but not happy when excruciating neck and abdominal pain came along with it. 

Once I got a heat pack for my back/neck on the third day it made a huge difference in comfort level, I was actually able to sleep. Henry was sleeping like a champ, but a little too much. I had to try to force him awake to nurse pretty much every feeding.

Lucy and Clara inspecting the new addition.

I think this picture really captures the essence of what a 9 lb 10 oz baby looks like.
I seem to be approving his heft. "Acceptable."

Dad and Clara making their examinations, respectively. Me looking on, surprisingly pain-free at this point.

My favorite thing in the world. A baby snuggled up on my chest.

Heaven, I'm in heaven!

My handsome men. <3

Henry needing a break from holding his head up high. Snuggling up with Mom is acceptable. 

The lady in charge of the social security paperwork kept stopping by and calling the room to ask if we had picked out a name yet. (We hadn't.) Finally after a few days of pestering, I told her that we would be there at the hospital until at least Friday, so she could stop by Friday morning and we would have the paperwork filled out then.

We came home from the hospital Friday the 13th. The hospital paperwork had said that checkout was at 11 am, but we had to wait ten hours for the pediatrician to come and clear us to check out. Ooof! Luckily I had arranged a baby sitter to watch the girls that afternoon so that Zach could come pick me up. We thought it would only be an hour or so, but the babysitter ended up staying until 9:30 pm until we finally got home. We were lucky that our babysitter and her mom were able to spend the day and evening with the girls!

I always enjoy my stay at the hospital after having a baby. I take full advantage of the time to rest, heal, and sleep while there are nurses, food delivery and no one else for me to take care of. Just a sweet newborn to nurse every few hours.

Thanks to all the help and care from the hospital,our friends, and family! We love our new addition!