The arrival of Caroline!!!

Well...It only took me 6 weeks to get this written but here goes...

September 10, 2012 finally arrived!!! My c-section for Caroline was scheduled for 9:00am, and we were told to be at the hospital 2 hours early. Our wonderful neighbor Sharon came over about 6:30 to watch Olivia while we went to the hospital. We are so very lucky to have great neighbors willing to help us out!!!

The morning was rough. I took a shower bc I wasn't sure when I would get to take another. I was pretty emotional. I was crying easily...mostly bc I kept thinking about the fact that something bad could happen during the c-section and I might not get to see my girls grow up. It was not a good thought but I couldn't shake it for some reason.

We made it to the hospital and got all signed in. Then the triage nurse got all the paperwork ready. I signed my life away again like last time!! I got dressed up in the fancy hospital gown too!! I was looking great!!!

It was finally time!! They wheeled me to the OR and made Jay wait outside while they prepped me. This was a way different experience than last time. Because I had pushed so long with Olivia, I was pretty drugged up by the time we went to the OR. This time, I was wide awake!! I got the spinal when I first got in the OR. I had an awesome nurse helping me through it, and the nurse anesthetist was great too...he was trying to be funny to ease the tension and nerves. I definitely felt numb after this. After the doctors and nurses had everything set up, they got Jay. Then the procedure started. I couldn't feel anything at first while they were cutting. When they got to the point where it was time to pull out Caroline, I could definitely feel pressure from the tugging and pulling. There was extra scar tissue from the first c-section, which made this a little more difficult. They had to use the vacuum on her to get her out.

Finally she was out at 9:41 am and she was beautiful. She was crying as they were cleaning her up...what a great sound!!! Jay actually got to cut the umbilical cord for Caroline!! He didn't get to for Olivia bc she was whisked away to be taken care of immediately after she was born. He was excited to do this!! She looked so big...8 pounds, 2 ounces. Her head circumference was about 12 inches. She was 21 inches long. She was not happy to have all this done to her!!! She looked so much like Livy as a baby. We were very glad she came out healthy and full of spunk...unlike Livy who came out blue and calm.

Once Caroline was all cleaned up, they gave her to me!!! I remember the nurse saying, "Mom first"!!! I got to hold her and give her a few kisses. We even got a few pics taken. Then I started to feel sick so Jay took her from me. All the medicines and pulling/pushing made me nauseous. I kept feeling like I was going to throw up.

Caroline was all clean, and I was all sewn up, so they wheeled us to a recovery room. It was so nice to be done and have our baby girl!!! More people came to check out Caroline and me to make sure everything was ok. People are always in and out of the room. I tried to feed Caroline for the first time too. She seemed to do very well with this. Everything was going great so Jay went to get Olivia!!! We were very excited for her to see her new baby sister!!

Seeing Olivia with her baby sister for the first time was priceless!!! At first she cried and acted afraid. I'm not sure if it was the whole environment or that she was just scared of the people bringing Caroline in the room, but she was frightened. Then, Jay showed Caroline to her and she seemed ok after that. She wanted to hold her!! It was so adorable!! She just kept giving her kisses!!! It was present time too!! Caroline gave Livy magnetic set to dress up dolls and Olivia gave Caroline her first babydoll!! We all had a great time together!!

Then Jay and Olivia went home to nap. They came back later to visit again...and brought McDonald's for Olivia's dinner and mine!! My doctor told me I could have whatever I wanted right after I got out of surgery, as long as I felt up to eating it!! I def followed her advice!! I had a few fries and chicken nuggets that night!! That was my first meal after Olivia too...why mess up a good thing!!! The nurses told me I could have a liquid diet and I was like, "I already ate chicken nuggets and fries!". They had to go back and double check my file...and it said I could eat whatever I felt up too!!!

It was definitely crazier this time with an older child. Jay didn't get to stay in the hospital with us, and Olivia was very hard to entertain. We thought that bringing her movies to watch and toys to play with would work, but they didn't entertain her for long!!! Luckily, we all survived Day 1 as a family!!!