Welcome Nicholas David!

I have a new personal best record: 17 days early! Imagine my shock when my water broke during the middle of the night 5 days before my scheduled c-section! I was ecstatic to know that this would be my last pregnant day ever and that my son would have an even birthdate (of all 10 first cousins, the boys all have even dates and the girls all have odd dates, so I didn't want to mess it up with #10!), but having him come on the 24th did add a level of complexity: namely that my parents were traveling up that day to help with the baby, thinking that 5 days before my scheduled surgery would be plenty of a buffer! Of course we had no plan B, other than keeping Sean home from school to watch the girls while Don and I went to the hospital.

We got there around 5 and the nurses assessed me to see if I would need a c-section right away, or if I could "hang in there" until a more reasonable hour. After all, they'd hate to gather all the nurses and doctors in the middle of the night for no good reason!

The nurse couldn't find a heartbeat for awhile. And then when she did find one, it was faint. Yeah, that was a little unsettling. So she brought in an ultrasound machine and scanned me and found the little buggar baby at the very northern most point in my uterus, and sideways to boot! She had been looking for the heartbeat much lower, like near the birth canal. At that point she called in the doctor on call and let us know that the c-section would most likely be a.s.a.p. although not an emergency. With my water broken and the baby not down plugging up the hole, there was a threat of the umbilical cord prolapsing.

So the obstretician on call came in and started rallying the troops. She called our family doctor, Dr. Morgan to come in and assist. He did : )

We were wheeled into the operating theatre at about 6 and I was given the spinal. Langley hospital has an excellent anesthesiologist...I've had two spinals from him (Patience's birth and this surgery) and it really wasn't uncomfortable at all to get. They set up a drape (thank you, Lord) so I couldn't see what they were doing, and I couldn't feel any pain, but I could feel the pressure and the tugging involved in evicting Nicholas from my uterus's "penthouse apartment." Because he was so far up, the surgeon had to make the standard lateral cut along my bikini line, and then start cutting vertically from there until she could reach something on the baby. The vertical cut was only through the uterus, not the skin.

They delivered him at 6:37. He was 6 pounds, 13 ounces and about 20 inches long. He was very bloody when we first saw him, but I guess this is more standard with c-secion deliveries. Shortly after that, the baby nurse, Don, and Nicholas all went up to the maternity ward.

They took almost 90 minutes to give me a tubal ligation and repair all of the incisions. I bet Dr. Morgan wished he'd taken a pass on this morning's surgery! I was in recovery by 8 and they told me I couldn't leave there until I could move my feet. I was able to move them sideways and up and down the bed and begged for some water, some ice chips, anything wet! I think they saw me for the difficult patient I am and decided by 8:20 that I could go ahead on up to the maternity ward!

We still had some logistics to deal with...Don had to be at the Bellingham airport at 1:30 to pick up my parents! Don's aunt Dorothy came and spent most of the day with me and Nicholas at the hospital. Don took Sean to school and lunch hour and sprung Dylan to stay home with Jordyn, and Pam was so kind as to let Patience come and play with Danica for the afternoon. Phew!

We were in the hospital until Friday morning around 11. I've been home under the care and very watchful eyes of my mom, dad, and Don. My job is to sit or lay, preferably with my feet up (what's with the swollen feet/ankles? Good grief, they were never this bad when I was actually pregnant! It was actually difficult to walk on them on Friday and Saturday...), and hold and feed the baby. I feel really good right now. I can't imagine not having this support system in place, though. Imagine the women who come home from a c-section with a passel of children already at home who have to hit the ground running! I am so thankful for my family : )