Norah's extraction!

The big day has finally arrived!  Here is a little break down of the exciting day!

WARNING: There are some pictures of Norah when she first came out of the belly so some might find the pictures to be a little bloody...

Around 2 am Lucy woke up and after that I pretty much stayed up... I guess I was to excited or had a lot on my mind, but I eventually just got up and got on with the day a little ahead of schedule.  :)  I took a shower, and then got Gaetan up and made some breakfast for him.  I had to start fasting the night before, and honestly the hardest part was not drinking a ton of water like I was used to doing!  And, I know that the days can get really long at the hospital so I wanted to make sure that Gaetan started the day off with a little something in his belly.

We got to the hospital right on time and when we were trying to check it it seemed like everybody was running around like chickens with their heads cut off!  Phones where ringing off the hook, we had nurses running around barking orders and the poor girl who was trying to check us in was obviously new (also, because when I had come in a few months earlier she was getting trained) and she just looked way overwhelmed.  We eventually got checked in and put in their 'triage' area and just had to wait for a nurse to get us all squared away.

Waiting and hanging out... baby time!

Having a baby is easy right?  Just watch a movie and hang out.

It was a bit surreal as I sat there waiting for the nurse to come check us in because I just couldn't really believe that I was going to be a mother of three in a short little while, and that I was done being pregnant!  Usually the last little bit goes by slowly... but this sure didn't!  The nurse came in and started asking us all sorts of questions and then she asked if I had my blood work bracelet that I should've received when I did my pre-lab stuff and the phleb who did it was supposed to but failed to do it.  And then, I had this sinking feeling that I was going to have to wait to get my section done because I didn't have the bracelet and I was disappointed... but the nurse said that they would just have to draw some more blood and that everything should go ahead right on time.  Which, I don't think anybody is a fan of getting stuck more than they have too, but I wasn't worried about it.  So, while the nurse was checking us in this crazy looking nurse came in to get the IV started and get the blood work underway.  She was really good at her job but she seemed all over the place.. much like the rest of St. Mary's that morning!  She did get a good draw for the blood but when I looked down I was bleeding all over my arm!  I wasn't sure why but the last couple of times I had to get blood work done I've been pretty bleedy... anyhoo, she got the IV started on the first try, which is also something that doesn't happen.  I was thrilled.  Getting blood drawn and getting an IV are two completely different things.... so my faithful husband was sitting by my side as I was it done and I didn't realize that I was squeezing his hand so hard during the procedure that I bruised my palm!  I had imprints of where his fingers were because of my squeezing... what a lovely man for not saying anything about it.  :)

After they got all that squared away they came in and informed me that there was a woman who had come in fully dilated but her baby was breech so she was definitely an emergency c-section... so that meant that mine was getting pushed back.  No biggie.  We were getting pretty entertained by the people around us in triage.  I honestly felt bad for them because they were in labor but not quite ready to have their babies yet so you could tell they were in a lot of pain and discomfort... and it's interesting to see how different people handle those situations!  One of the ladies was a big black lady who was swearing up a storm!  Another lady, (whom I didn't see) was just crying... and then there was us.  I had been told that "Here Comes the Boom" was a funny movie, so we started watching that on the computer and let me tell you... IT WAS!  I felt bad because these other woman were obviously not in their happy place and then there was us who just kept laughing our asses off at this movie... it was a great way to pass the time.

The nurse came back in to check in on us and told us that the emergency section was finished but she didn't know if Dr. Leahy was going to be doing another surgery first or if we were going to get to go... and it turns out it was our turn!  So, Gaetan put on his scrubs and I grabbed my IV bag and we waddled down to the OR.  Got last minute stuff on and here we go!

Getting my spinal

Dr Papa!

Everything went great, except for getting my spinal.  :(  It seriously took the anaesthesiologist half an hour to get the spinal to work... which meant a lot of poking into my spine!  What?!  Ohh well... I was thinking better safe than sorry!  We got things underway and it seriously took them about 10 minutes to get Miss Norah out!

The face of a happy Momma knowing Norah was out and vocal

Cutting the cord

The first thing I heard the Dr say was, "ooh! You're a big girl!"  And she was!  8 lbs 15 oz and 21 inches long came our little bundle.  The Dr thought that if I would've carried the full 40 she would've been closer to 9 lbs 7 oz... which is out of control!  She gave a little yell at first but then quieted right down and has been really chill ever since.  :)

Gooey...

Holding Papa's hand

Everything went really well and then I was in recovery.  They did stitches on the inside but just used glue on the outside instead of staples, and so far I'm a big fan of the change!  Recovery went a lot quicker than with Lucy and I was in and out of there within an hour.  During that hour though Norah ate the entire time... which was good!  They moved me into my room, which happened to be at the end of the hallway and was a double room, so it was huge!

Foot print time!

Happy family!

Momma and Norah on the way to recovery

I had itchy face again, but this time I tried to not rub my nose off my face like I did with Lucy.  I remember having a really bad headache with Lucy too and this time was no different.  The headaches I would get (which I think are migraines from coming off the anaesthetic) made me really sensitive to light and really nauesous.  That didn't go away until later that night when I attempted some crackers because anything I drank made me really ill.  I was so thankful for Ratty who was always right there with the puke bucket in case I really was going too... I did keep it in though because I was worried that the stress from vomiting was going to pull my stitches.  After the crackers I felt much better and the road to recovery had begun!

Skin time

Eyes almost open!

Head full of hair and hairy shoulders!

It had been a whirlwind day.  I will blog about the rest of my experience and visitors who came to visit sweet Norah in another post.  But, as for now... Happy birthday my darling daughter!  You are an absolute joy and blessing to this family.  We couldn't be more in love with you!

JVG