Anniston’s Story

As many of you know, Monday was a big day for our family.  We would go from a family of three to a family of four!  Monday morning was the day Anniston was born, and what a day it was!  Let me share a story about this special day.

Sunday night was a restless night for me.  Kyle had been sleeping on the couch so I could be more comfortable in our bed, and around midnight Ava came in bed with me.  She was very talkative and wanted to stay with me the rest of the night.  It was like our last few hours with her being my only baby.  So of course, I didn’t mind at all. I tossed and turned the rest of the night and woke up at 2 a.m.  I tried staying in bed reading a book, but I was just too distracted.  This was a big day!  Many things were running through my mind….first I was a bit nervous/terrified of going through a csection again.  No, the surgery isn’t that bad, but all the waiting and anticipation before the surgery is terrible.  And the recovery is simply the worst thing ever.  Second, I had spent the entire evening preparing and still didn’t feel quite ready for leaving our home for 2-3 days.  Thirdly, I was just praying that everything would go okay and that the baby would be healthy. 

We left our house for the hospital at 5 am. We went to Kyle’s mom’s house and she followed us to the hospital.  Ava and I went up and registered in labor and delivery, I changed into the MOST awful outfit ever, and started the waiting game, which consisted of sweating, shaking, and a terrible feeling of sleepiness that I could not control.  I gave my blood, I got my IV, and then my doctor came in (on time….I love her!) and verbally prepared me for what was about to happen.  The anesthesiologist came in and verbally prepared me for what he was going to do….(I shudder thinking about it still).  A few minutes later I was wheeled into the operating room.  Kyle and I had to separate for the prep work for the surgery.  That’s the especially no fun part.  I scooted to the edge of the operating table, had to bend forward and get ready for the ever exciting spinal tap.  Yeah, I know I’ve done this once before, but that doesn’t take away how scary it is.  I mean, they are about to stick needles into my spine, numb me from the waist down, and slice me open.  And….there’s a chance that the spinal won’t work, and if it doesn’t work they just have to completely put you under.  They had to stick me twice, I’m not sure why, but they did, and then the numbing started.  They laid me back on the table, put the blue drape in front of my face, and started prepping me.  The anesthesiologist kept poking me with something sharp and asking if I felt it.  A few minutes later they started cutting and Kyle came in.  It was SO hard to breathe during the surgery.  I kept telling the anesthesiologist that I couldn’t breathe and that it hurt so bad to breathe.  They gave me something to “relax” me after that.  The c-section overall was a very pleasant experience.  The doctors kept telling me what they were doing, we joked around, and then it was time for the baby to come out.  The doctors acted like it was the world’s largest baby saying, “Oh gosh!  She’s so big!”  (After having gestational diabetes, I feared that I would have a 42 pound baby, so this was a little crazy to hear!  Later on they called and said she was 8 pounds even which was 5 oz less than Ava….take that diabetes!)  I heard our sweet baby’s cry for the first time, and they walked her over to show her to me.  She was absolutely perfect.  10 fingers, 10 toes, and a healthy cry.  I immediately started crying and watched as they got her cleaned up.  I only got to see her for a minute or two before Kyle took her out of the OR to show her to our family.  This was the part that I dreaded….I wouldn’t get to see Ava’s reaction and I wouldn’t get to do skin-to-skin with her.  But, there were pictures and videos to capture those precious moments, and Kyle did skin-to-skin with her. 

It seemed like it took FOREVER for them to finish the c-section.  Once they were done, they lifted me onto a stretcher and took me out of that freezing cold room.  I was wheeled into the recovery room, where I had to wait an hour before going to a regular post-partum room.  I had a great nurse named Mark and he took fantastic care of me.  The hour went pretty quickly and then they wheeled me down the second floor past my family.  I was so happy to get to a regular room.  Our family came in and said hello and dropped off lots of sweet treats and then most of them left and said they’d come back later.  A few minutes later they brought in our baby girl!  She was beautiful and so petite!  Ava came in and loved on me and in such a short moment we went from a family of three to a family of four.  I was so nervous about the transition and how Ava would react, but it was all smooth and happy.  I was so glad to see Ava with her new baby sister.  She was very interested in her and very gentle around her.  Ava gave her new baby sister a minky blanket she had picked out and had her name put embroidered on it.  Anniston gave Ava a cute frame that says “sisters” on it.  Then Kyle gave me a sweet necklace that has two discs on it with each of the girls’ names on it and a dainty little pearl. 

The recovery process was terrible with this c-section.  They had me on pitocin for hours to get the uterus back to normal and they also gave me a morphine button to push that I could use every six minutes to take away the pain.  The morphine didn’t do anything for the pain.  Nothing.  I complained and cried for hours and just kept asking if there was anything else they could do for it.  Eventually they took the morphine away and started putting something straight into my IV and giving me an oral medicine too.  It still hurt like crazy.  That evening the pitocin was over and then I just had the normal c-section pain to deal with, which was nothing compared to the pitocin.  (It still hurt, but much more tolerable.) 

We stayed in the hospital Monday night and Tuesday night and I was begging to go home on Wednesday.  With Ava we stayed the three days, but all I wanted to do was go home by Wednesday morning.  The doctors allowed it and we were discharged before 11 a.m. 

Coming home was so great!  We unpacked our things, and started settling into the new routine.  Feeding every three hours, diaper changing, “resting” when the baby was asleep.  Later in the afternoon Kyle picked Ava up from daycare and she was SO excited to see her baby sister and her mommy and daddy at home for good.  We missed her so much while we were in the hospital.  I hated being away from her. 

Ava has done a great job adjusting to the new baby.  The only problems we’ve had with her is that she gets a little rowdy, but being teachers we came up with a sticker chart to solve the problem!  She earns stickers for using quiet voices and for helping mommy and daddy.  When her chart gets full she earns a reward.  We’ve also been trying to do special activities/crafts with her while the baby is resting. 

It’s still surreal that we are a family of four now.  I’m one happy momma with both of my girls!  Kyle is an exceptional father and husband and has gone above and beyond the call of duty while I’ve been recovering.  God has blessed me with such an amazing little family!