Birth

I am so excited to finally be writing this post because it means that our family is finally complete. Our sweet baby is now one week old and things have finally slowed down enough for me to tell you all about it.

This birth story wasn’t one of those “oh my god my water broke rush to the hospital” situations but it was thrilling for us, nonetheless. A VBAC was an option that was on the table the entire time but in the end, a scheduled repeat cesarean was the option that seemed the safest and best for both baby and I. While it’s still fresh in my mind, here’s the story of how Little Baby Guess came into this world.

Our day was set for last Monday the 21st. Chad’s parents came into town a few days before to share in the fun and it was awesome to have them there. On Sunday we went to the Blue Crab Festival in Little River with both of our families and we had a really awesome time. After a crab feast, Cole’s first pony ride, and later a BBQ at my parent’s house, we headed home for the last time as “just the 3 of us.” We knew we needed a good night’s rest for the following day so we did our best to get some sleep.

Monday morning came and with it, lots of emotions!! It was the last time we would ever eat breakfast alone with our son, the last time we would kiss him goodbye as an only child. I was playing the “it’s the last time” game for basically everything we did and it was making me a wreck. I cried a lot, let me tell you. Chad was extra supportive and knew it was “just my hormones talking.” As I was getting ready all I could think about was how nervous I was, second-guessing myself about what I thought the sex of the baby could be, and trying desperately to enjoy the last of the baby kicks in my belly. It was bittersweet knowing I’d never be pregnant again.

 

The boy’s last breakfast :)

We said goodbye to Cole and left for the hospital excited that we were going to be meeting our baby in just a couple of hours! Chad’s parent’s kept Cole and they would later meet us at the hospital along with my family for the big “It’s a boy/girl” announcement.

Pre-op took a couple of hours but an excited Daddy made sure to take lots of embarrassing pictures of me. He was “that guy” when it came to taking wayyyyy too many pictures. We’re talking pictures that screamed “this is lauren filling out paperwork” “this is lauren strapped to the bed” “here she is being rolled down the hallway and into the elevator!!!” He was excited and this was so comforting to me.

     

“Sorry, Sir… You can’t come any further just yet” they told him when they wheeled me into OR 1. From here I got my epidural, cath, and was officially paralyzed from the chest down. (don’t worry… super excited dad was still snapping obscene pictures through the tiny square window the whole time!)  The anesthesiologist was kind of a sicko because he kept playing a game called “can you feel THIS?” where he showed me a six-inch-long needle and would poke me all over just to see if the anesthesia was working. It was, thank God, and the surgery finally began. Chad was brought  my side just as the incision was made and was instructed to “stay behind- the- blue- curtain- big- guy, we –don’t- want- you- to- face- plant- when –you- see- blood.” Chad said “Oh I have seen much bloodier things than this and I’ll be fine.” To which they replied, “ That’s what every big tough  guy says right before they pass out.” He stayed put, just like he was told :)

The anesthesiologist was really nice but I could tell he was trying to distract me from hearing all of the medical jargon coming from behind the curtain because he started showing my pictures on his iPhone of his grand daughter and I’m pretty sure his dog … come on, guy, my guts are in a bucket over there--- I don’t care about your DOG!!! I did manage to hear my Dr. tell me that my original incision was crooked and that she would try to fix it. Little did I know that “fixing it” would involve making it about 3 inches longer! Thanks alot, lady! Anyways…apparently I had tons of scar tissue from when Cole was born so it took about twice as long for her to get the baby out. At one point I heard them slapping someone’s skin and they all got pretty quiet. I turned to Chad and whispered “ the baby is out but it’s not breathing.” I probably shouldn’t have said that because his eyes got HUGE and then he was very quiet. After what seemed like one million billion trillion years, we heard that first beautiful cry out of our baby. Holy tears of joy!!! I was an absolute mess and couldn’t even look at Chad. He quickly stood up to get a better view…

It’s a GIRL!!!

 

See that super puffy ugly crying face??? That’s what you do when you find out you have a daughter :)

Emerson Kate Guess

May 21, 2012

11:35 am

6lbs. 13 oz.

19.5 inches long.

               

After this, Chad took the baby out of the OR and down to the nursery. On the way, they passed the waiting room where our families were patiently waiting to hear the good news. My friend Erin took pictures from this point on of their reactions, and Emerson’s first moments in the nursery. I will share those PHENOMENAL photos later… they deserve their own post for sure.

The unfortunate part of that day was that I had to go to recovery on another floor for TWO HOURS. In the meantime, my whole family got to drool over our baby through the nursery window while I was stuck looking at the rear-end of a 90 yr old man who had just had a colonoscopy. Nice! Chad took gorgeous photos of her in the nursery and I am really thankful for those :) Once I came out of recovery, Chad was snapping away as I came down the hall.

  

There were Lots of tears when I saw my sweet boy decked out in his pink shirt for his baby sister.  He has been so tolerable of all of the changes over the last week and I am so proud of him. 

This was a day that we’ll never forget and I am so glad that our families were able to share in all of these precious moments:) Emerson, you are one very lucky and blessed little girl to have the daddy, brother,grandparents, aunts, and uncle that you do!Everyone loves you so very  much and we can’t wait to celebrate every little thing you do!