Birth Story. Welcome, Henry George!

Henry George was born February 16th at 10:35am, weighing 8lbs 5oz and was 20.5" long.

Here is the story of how he got here.

My c-section was scheduled for 9:00am, which meant we had to be at the hospital two hours prior. We left the house at 6:15 to be sure we were early and not caught in traffic. Being President's Day, the roads were smooth sailing! Before we left, A took one last belly picture for me.

The Last Belly Picture!

We arrived by around 6:45am and were taken back quickly. We were in pre-op room #2, and our nurse started prepping me right away. I had blood draws, a nasty IV insertion that took a few tries, and lots and lots of fluids. Mostly though, we waited. 

Last picture as a family of two! 

My doctor came to see me and talk to me about the surgery to come. The anesthesiologist came and explained the spinal and how it would work. We were so close! The clock hit 8:45 and we were told "any minute now" to get the surgery started.

While we were waiting for the go-ahead to enter the operating room, we started to hear a lot of activity on the other side of the door. Pre-op rooms are attached to the ORs, so that patients can walk quickly from one area to the next. At first, A and I thought that the noise was final preparations for me.

And then the noise got more frantic. Loud voices, clinking, so much activity for a routine c-section. And then our nurse came in and told us that we'd been bumped for an emergency. So THAT explained all the sounds coming through the door. Waiting longer was nerve wracking, but it meant my mom had time to come see me in the pre-op room. A went out to get her and bring her back. While he did, I got to hear the emergency take a turn for the better - I heard the first cry of the other woman's baby. It was such a relief to hear it, and I was grateful that whoever was in there had a healthy little one despite the struggle. 

Around 10:15, it was finally my turn. I had to take a long walk around to operating room #1 (as my original room was not ready for another surgery yet after the emergency). I went in and hugged a pillow while the spinal was administered. This was the scariest part because A wasn't with me. Dads aren't allowed in the OR until the spinal is administered and mom is lying back on the table - I assume too many fainting episodes when dads see that loooooong needle! Within seconds my body started to go numb and it was truly the strangest feeling I've ever had. Your brain fires signals your body can't answer. 

In the OR, Spinal administered, waiting to start.

A came in and sat by my head, though he could see over the curtain. Originally he'd said he didn't want to look, but in the end he did. I think I would have too. As he said later, "I watched your INNARDS become your OUTARDS!" A thought both hilarious and also terrifying. 

The hardest part of the surgery itself was the fact that I couldn't feel my lungs working. You take for granted that you FEEL yourself breathe. I felt like I was unable to breathe, though monitors showed I was okay. The anxiety of that (and probably the cocktail of drugs) made me nauseous too. A few minutes in I turned to A and said, "did they start yet?" and he said they had . . . and it turns out that we were moments away from meeting Henry! 

And then, at 10:35am, just minutes after they began, Henry George entered the world with a cry. Alex caught the moment on film, and I'll share it here. I promise it's not too graphic. 

The moment of birth

Moments after birth. One of Henry's first pictures.

Henry was immediately whisked to the corner where they checked on him, making sure all was okay. They also cleaned him up some. This was a hard moment for me, as my surgery was not over yet. Now began the process of closing me up. They had briefly shown him to me, but being so short I didn't get a good look over the curtain. A was also asked to go over with the baby to take pictures, so I was left alone on the table for a few minutes. It seemed like much longer than it was. But soon, the baby was in A's arms and they were both by my head so I could look at him. 
Quickly, the surgery was over. All told it took something like twenty minutes start to finish. I was wheeled in to recovery and finally able to hold my little guy.

Family.

Brand new.

In recovery the feeling slowly came back to my torso and legs. Nausea hit as well, and I was throwing up intermittently for hours after the surgery. But everything was perfect - Henry and I both were the picture of health! 

Henry looked JUST like his 3D ultrasound.

That first day, Henry got to meet his Grandpa (A's dad) and my family - grandparents, Great PopPop, and Aunt Kel. 

It was a long, tiring, and emotional day. But we all came through it and I fell in love immediately.

We were in the hospital for four days. Finally on Thursday morning, since my recovery had gone so well, we were allowed to go home. After days in a small room, A sleeping next to a freezing window (it snowed and hit 5 degrees while we were there), we were so ready to go home and start being "normal."

Goodbye, GBMC!

 

Foxy pair

Home. Home at last.

**Bad mom alert. This post took months in the making. Things at the time were so hectic and stressful that this blog fell by the wayside! So I'm finally catching up!**

Nursery Design!

So instead of spending a ton of money ordering fancy prints to hang in Henry's nursery, I decided to get creative myself!

I made these digitally and am having them printed at Walgreens as 8x10s. I think they will hang over his dresser. I hope they print well! Then we can just frame them and get them up on the walls asap!

I have to admit that the "no wake zone" is my favorite for how fantastically pun-y it is for a nautical nursery :)

31 Weeks

How far along:  31 Weeks, 5 Days (I continue to slack. I blame holidays and being wiped out.)
Maternity Clothes: Yes, and I love them.
Stretch marks: Indeed.
Sleep: Ugh. My hips are destroying my sleep right now. No matter what side or what pillow, I wake up all the time with horrible hip pain. I guess they're really "making room" for baby.
Best moment of the Week: All of the lovely gifts from my students for Henry. I normally get Christmas gifts from my kids, but this year there was a clear baby theme! We got some adorable onesies, shoes, pacifiers, and toys for the little guy. The kids are so excited, and it is genuinely so sweet.
Miss Anything? Still my shoes. DO YOU KNOW how bad I want to wear my boots? Ugh. It's not worth buying new because I am HOPING that my ankles/feet go back down to normal post-baby, though I know there is a chance they won't.
Movement: He is a mover and shaker!
Food Cravings: Not really! I've been having too much fun with holiday food :)
Queasy or Sick? Nope! So lucky.
Have you started to show?  Oh goodness, yes! And only going to get bigger...

Christmas Bump - 31 Weeks!

Gender: My boy.
Labor signs: No. But I am using my break to prep hospital bags. HOSPITAL BAGS. WHAT THE WHAT?
Belly button in, or out? In! How long can this hold?
Wedding rings on or off? Off. 
Happy or moody? Happy! A little overwhelmed at how little time we have to go and how much we have to do, but it's all exciting!

30 Weeks!

How far along: 30 Weeks 4 Days (I am seriously slacking these days - and also WHAT how am I down to LESS THAN TEN WEEKS?!)
Maternity Clothes: Yes. No way around it now, and I'm starting to really "fill out" the shirts.
Stretch marks: Yup. But they're holding steady for now.
Sleep: Quality comes and goes. Some nights I am SO ridiculously wiped out that I sleep great. Other nights I'm up all hours due to pain or potty breaks.
Best moment of the Week: Definitely a low key week here on the baby front. So I guess the best "moment" is really just every opportunity we have to check off things from the "baby to-do list." My breast pump came, my FMLA paperwork is in and approved, we got a new chest freezer to store freezer meals (need to start working on those over break!) and breast milk. It's not too exciting but it is all stuff that needed done. Now to finish the other million things on the list. Oy.
Miss Anything? All of my shoes fitting. I want to wear my cute boots. My ankles do NOT want me to wear my cute boots :(
Movement: Indeed. Today while listening to student presentations I actually laughed out loud because he kicked my hand so hard it startled me.
Food Cravings: Mashed potatoes. Having them tonight. Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeees. 
Queasy or Sick? Nope! 
Have you started to show?  For sure. In fact I've "popped" again which has led to DELIGHTFUL commentary by some that I am sure to go early or must be having twins because I am "so big." Yeah, no. Measuring right on time, thanks.

30 Weeks, 1 Day

Gender: Henry :)
Labor signs: No. And the fact that now we are in the part of this pregnancy where that is a real possibility and I need to start thinking about a freaking labor bag is INSANE and TERRIFYING.
Belly button in, or out? In! And not super flat or anything. Do I have an extreme innie?
Wedding rings on or off? Off. 
Happy or moody? Happy, and also kind of stressed. So much to do before this kiddo gets here. Can we really be "ready" on time?

The More You Know!

Who knew that the baby's name was SUCH a family name? Not us!

When we decided on Henry George, we were putting together a name we fell in love with - Henry - with a family honorary name - George. George is A's grandfather, and as the baby will be the only boy carrying on the family name, we thought it would be a nice gesture to him as the patriarch of the family.

Well, we just found out today that A's Great Uncle Peter (George's brother) isn't named Peter after all.

His real name is HENRY.

Yup.

So unintentionally we named the baby after both brothers!

What a fun little surprise!

November Showers Bring February Babies!

I don't really know where to begin in recapping my amazing baby shower experience!

I had no idea going in to Saturday what to expect, other than that my awesome family had worked really hard and were VERY excited for their chosen theme. The big reveal as A and I walked in was wonderful. No, really . . . "WONDERFUL Wizard of Oz," of course!

The Oz "Welcome to Munchkinland" shower was just perfect. The big day combined so many of my favorite things in to a loving and exciting celebration.

First of all, LOOK AT THIS AMAZING STUFF!

The invitation, and handmade art for Henry by Aunt Kelly!

Aunt Amber made these adorable signs for the room, including this lollipop!

Aunt Maria made this adorable diaper cake, complete with a yellow brick road!

Welcome to Munchkinland - OH MY!

Yes. This is a knocked-up Dorothy. Personally? I suspect the Scarecrow...

The yellow brick road for the mama-to-be, including ADORABLE ruby slipper socks!

Just two preggys...

My mom! She put in so much work on this shower!

My sister, who also worked so hard all the way from TN!

A's side of the family - I love this family portrait!

My family! So happy to have them all in my life.

Obviously this was just THE BEST. We were truly showered with love from our friends and family, and when we left had two full car loads of gifts for Henry! Somehow we found homes for most of it, though we have a lot of BIG boxes in the basement just waiting for a certain someone to show up and use their contents! I was honestly so overwhelmed by the generosity of the people in our lives.

We are so loved, and it was thrilling to see how many people are excited to meet this little guy. I welled up with tears quite a few times during the shower, and I'm doing so now. How can you not be emotional when shown so much love? 

We are incredibly, incredibly lucky.

28 Weeks!

How far along: 28 Weeks!
Maternity Clothes: Yes. Looking forward to trotting out one of my new dresses for tomorrow's baby shower!
Stretch marks: Since super early on. No worse as far as I can tell, though.
Sleep: Okay. Up a lot in the night for bathroom visits. And now I kind of have to roll out of bed, which is weird.
Best moment of the Week: Hard to say! Best moment number one was all the work on your nursery! It is now painted AND has a crib and dresser in it, mostly thanks to A busting butt in there. I did help, and I also made the crib skirt. Hard to see, but the crib skirt is a light denim fabric with red embroidered anchors!  

Henry goes here. Ah!

So many little clothes can fit in this thing!

AND I also ordered navy blue blackout curtains with white sheer accent curtains and hardware, plus this ADORABLE rug! Thanks, Black Friday online deals! I got the curtains, hardware, and rug for all under $300 which is a steal, I think.

Ocean waves for a Nautical Nursery!

The other best moment of the week would be Thanksgiving with the family yesterday! It was so nice to have all of us together in one place to enjoy each other's company! 

Miss Anything? Moving around better. Sometimes I was more a hinderance than a help trying to assist A with the furniture putting together.
Movement: Yes! Mostly in the mornings or at night. He is much quieter when I'm active and running around.
Food Cravings: Not much. Still eating tons of cereal, which is fairly abnormal.
Queasy or Sick? Nope! Can I say I seriously am so grateful for the easiness of this pregnancy? I see so many ladies suffer
Have you started to show?  Yes! Definitely pregnant to all who see me.

Thanksgiving - I swear I didn't eat the whole turkey.

Gender: Sweet boy.
Labor signs: No, thank goodness.
Belly button in, or out? In! Though I did have some pulling pain right at my belly button the other day. A sign of things to come? 
Wedding rings on or off? Off. 
Happy or moody? Happy! And excited! And very, very thankful.