My 4th Cesarean

Hospital Bracelet Bling.

Before it gets too far in the past, I want to record a few of my thoughts about Irene's birth.  On the whole, it was not different from the other kids', but I guess you notice new things each time, since parts become familiar enough not to be remarkable.

This was the first one where I felt like I had a good pep talk with the surgeon.  I have had a different main doctor for each c-section - although I've seen the same midwife for the prenatal exams.  A friend who had her kids "the old fashioned way" had said it was important to her that her doctor was there when her babies were born, but that blue drape between my face and the doctor just makes that side seem so far away that it never bothered me who was the one in charge.  Because of some previous issues with scar tissue, I told the surgeon my concerns.  He asked questions and then I overheard him discussing the issues with a nurse.  After everything was over, one of the nurses came back to tell me about what they had seen and how they had sewn everything up.  I can't see what they did, so all this was very encouraging to me and I'm sure this is a good plan for any kind of surgery - know as much about your previous medical history as you can and express your concerns clearly.  Beyond that you have no control - trust in the Lord!

You would think I would have been as cool as a cucumber going into this.  I wasn't.  I was just shaking when they gave me the spinal.  I think I was mostly shaking with cold, but I was nervous too.  I took a long look around the room and when I saw all the medical instruments, I just turned away because I needed to not think too much about it!

I learned some new surgical trivia.  I could feel them wipe my belly with iodine, so I panicked a little and spoke to the anesthesiologist.  She said that the iodine is actually ice cold and if I couldn't detect the temperature of it, I was fine.  She was right.

Rob took this amazing video of Irene's birth.  I never thought I would want to see my own c-section, but the video is not bloody at all, it's just amazing.  When her little body pops out she flings her arms and legs all out like a spider with this gurgling wet cry.  I thought about posting it here, but thought better of it.  You'll just have to take my word for it - I'm so glad he got it on video.  I'm sure the other kids' births were similar enough (except Caleb came out feet first of course).

After her birth, they put Irene on my chest and left her there for a few minutes.  With all the other kids, all I got to do was press my check next to theirs and kiss them, so I thought this was a big improvement.

Although they sutured the inner layers, they glued my external incision.  So I've been clamped shut, sewn up, stapled, and glued.  Glue is the best.  Second best is sutures.  Staples and clamps, I could have done without.  The scar looks a little neater than before - another thing, you'll just have to take my word for!

In recovery, I couldn't sleep - just too early in the day.  Too bad, I was up ALL NIGHT that night.  Hindsight...you know.  The only funny thing that happened there was that they brought someone else's husband to me accidentally.  He and I looked at each other very confused and then the nurse realized the mistake.

The recovery room at this hospital was like horse stalls - a wall of beds divided by curtains.

Once I got settled in to my room and could take stock of things, I noticed there was a patch of totally numb skin and it is still numb today.