Settling in...

The maternity ward of any hospital is certainly an interesting place. When I checked in, it was fairly quiet, but it quickly filled up overnight. There was a flurry activity as women were continually being admitted in various stages of labor. We heard woman shrieking in pain, crying, vomiting, nurses scurrying everywhere, shouting orders. After a particularly loud round of primal screams, Dayven asked "Is that a human or an animal?" It's amazing what women go through to bring a child into this world, isn't it?

Of course, since I had a planned c-section, my experience was a little different. Going in for any surgery is a bit intimidating, certainly more so when you're awake for it. Even though I knew what to expect, I was nervous as they wheeled me into the operating room. The bright lights, the medical equipment, all of the people - I think I counted 8 in all - dressed in full scrubs, masks, gloves and hats, with only their eyes visible, all busying themselves preparing things. Even Dayven, who was in the operating room when Wyatt was born too, was not really looking forward to it again. I think it's the being awake part - you're just too aware of what's really going on. No big deal for someone in the medical profession, but to the average person, a little scary. They draped a sheet up just above my rib cage so I couldn't see what was happening, but I could hear it all going on. I made the mistake of reading the surgical notes from my doctor in Nashville (who provided them to me to give to my doctor here) so I now know exactly what was going on behind that sheet. I just tried focusing on Dayven's face and intermittently chatted with the anesthesiologist "so, where are you from?" to keep my mind off things.

My doctor was on holiday so he enlisted another doctor to do the surgery, a petite Asian women who could not have been a day over 40. I met her earlier in the week and felt she was really knowledgeable and personable and also has a great reputation so I felt good about her. I felt a sense of comfort when she came into the OR. She asked if I was nervous and I admitted I was. She laughed and said, "Well, I'm not and that's all that matters". So true. The whole thing happens fairly quickly actually. I had an epidural so I felt no pain, only a strange tugging sensation and a lot of movement. The doctor was having a little trouble getting the baby out, so she kneeled on the operating table and began pushing on my stomach to push the baby down towards the incision. A resident used forceps on her head (she had a little bruising on her cheeks) to pull her from the other direction. I could just hear the doctor yelling with each push - "THIS! IS! NOT! A! SKINNY! BABY! ....... SHE! JUST! WON'T! COME! OUT!" Dayven said he could see the doctor's head bouncing up and down over the top of the sheet as she tried to use her weight as leverage. At one point, she requested a taller stool so she could get higher. When I complained later that my abdomen felt bruised, Dayven said it was no wonder since he felt like he had just watched an episode of the WWE Smackdown! My entire body was bouncing around on the table from all the maneuvering, until finally she made her way out and we heard her first cries. The Anesthesiologist joked "well, that's what happens when you try to squeeze something that size out of a button hole". The doctor replied she preferred to keep the incision as small as possible, which I certainly appreciate. We learned later that her birth weight was not accurate (they had just gotten a new scale/warmer combo and were still learning how to use it). We'll never know for sure but they estimate her birth weight was more likely around 3660 grams (8lbs, 1 oz), not the 4100 grams (9lbs, 1 oz) they reported when she was born.

We didn't decide on her name until later that evening. We were down to two names (the other one was Avery, in case you're curious). We were still tossing them around trying to figure out which one to go with. As the doctor was closing me up, she was chatting away with me as though she were just down there giving me a pedicure or something, "Does this baby have a name yet?" I told her our two choices. She said "wow, I sure have delivered a lot of Avery's lately". Another strike against Avery. I really liked both names, but in the end, we just felt Hadley fit her better.

We're back home now and settling in. I was released after two days, a little sooner than I would have been in the states after a c-section (I stayed 3 days with Wyatt), but I was ready to get home. It's actually kind of nice that they let you go home if you're ready. My girlfriend, who had a vaginal birth, was in the hospital only 17 hours total. I'm not sure if it's a cost savings thing (the government pays for all medical care here - more on that later) or if it's a recovery thing. The nurse said they find if you go home and get back to your regular routine, you're moving around more and recover a lot faster. Makes sense to me. Looking at those same four walls and lying in a hospital bed is depressing to me so I couldn't get out of there soon enough.

They also do a lot more home health care, which is really nice. The following day after we came home, a nurse came to our house, examined both me and Hadley, answered any questions I had, watched her nurse, etc. She will come back in a week to check on us again. I'm feeling much better this time around after the surgery and seem to be bouncing back much quicker. I'm sure knowing what to expect helped a bit.

I'm incredibly grateful to have my parents here. My mom has been cooking all the meals and just taking care of daily things I can't do. She's finding the life of a stay at home mom a bit more time consuming than the life of a retired nana, but she's having fun with Wyatt. It is so nice for him to get the individual attention that I can't give him right now. She reads to him, plays with him and takes him on an outing everyday (they're at the library right now). Dayven has really been giving him a lot of attention too, and even took him swimming on the day we got home. His attitude toward Hadley fluctuates from mild curiosity to indifference to outright denial. I'm sure he'll warm up over time. We tried to bribe him into taking his picture with her at the hospital, but he wanted nothing to do with her. My dad is on his third book since he's been here - he loves to read too. I've also put him to work with a few fix-it projects around the house.

Hadley is doing great. She has her days and nights confused of course, as all babies seem to in the beginning. Her longest stretches of sleep are in the middle of the day when people would actually like to see her. We're still in that "honeymoon phase" where she's basically sleeping all the time, waking only briefly to eat. She spends her time nursing, napping in the swing, nursing, napping in the bouncy chair, nursing, napping in someone's arms, nursing.... you get the idea. She seems to waking much more frequently in the night, "Cluster feeding" they call it. Whatever, it's exhausting. Even Finley has jumped ship, preferring to sleep in the basement guest room with my parents where it is quiet and peaceful. I know the time will pass quickly, each day gets easier and these early days will eventually be a blur. Since she's napping, I'm missing my window to shower and eat so I'm signing off now. More to come...