This post has been sitting in draft for some time, and unfortunately I can tell that my blog might get somewhat neglected now that Hunter has arrived! Spare time is precious these days, and it's usually spent making sure I have a shower and getting Hunter and myself out of the apartment each day for a good wander with the stroller, either down to Tribeca to see Mark or to Wholefoods, Buy Buy Baby, a pharmacy or to have a 'what's happening in the world' catch up with someone... but I'll go back to D Day before I carry on with the most recent weeks.
On the day of Hunter's birth, we arrived at the hospital just before 6am. There was barely any traffic on the West Side Highway so it was a very quick ride up to Columbia Medical University / NY Presbyterian Hospital in Washington Heights, past Harlem. Mark and I had a nervous wait in the maternity reception before we were asked to go to the pre-op rooms, which was followed by another anxious wait. Of course, naturally you're still thinking about what could go wrong at this point; will the c-section go smoothly, will he be healthy, what will he look like, will he have a birth mark all over his poor little face etc.! I changed into a hospital gown and had a cannula inserted. The baby's heart rate was being monitored, as well as my contractions, which had apparently already started although they were too mild for me to notice anything physically.
We were originally due to go in at 8am, but that came and went. We were told by our nurse that there had been two emergency caesareans that had taken priority in the operating theatres, so we had to wait until we were told anything further. Finally close to 10am, after what seemed like an eternity, we were told that we would be going in shortly. Dr Holden arrived at the reception desk and we waved a quick hello. I'd had to go to the toilet several times due to nerves, as well as the drip running through me. Unfortunately, I hadn't been able to eat anything after midnight, so I felt quite clogged up when normally my breakfast would get me moving!
Dr Holden came to collect me and Mark was to wait until they had done all of the pre-op stuff, such as my epidural etc.. He had been given his own hospital gown to put over his clothes and would be picked up when they were ready. I walked in with Dr Holden, the anesthetist and the rest of Dr Holden's team. Dr Holden asked me to sit on the hospital bed facing him and to slouch. He helped by putting his hands on my shoulders, and the anesthetist inserted the needle with the anesthetic that was to numb the area where the epidural would be inserted. I felt a tiny prick, which wasn't painful at all. Dr Holden then told me to be very still for the epidural, which was going in next. I was quite nervous, but it was over in no time and they quickly spun me around to lie on the bed.
A big blue sheet was drawn up in front of my chest so I couldn't see past it. The anesthetist was on the right side of me, monitoring the anesthesia by what I was able to feel. It was taking longer than expected to take effect, so they tilted my body so that my head was lower, allowing gravity to move the anesthesia more efficiently. Mark came into the room shortly afterwards and stood on my left side. He started peeking over the sheet and despite being asked to sit down because "many dads have been known to pass out", he actually tried to convince them that he would be fine because of all the fish he has gutted!
Dr Holden had already told me that I would feel poking and prodding but no pain. Soon he said to me from the other side of the blue sheet that I was about to feel a lot of pressure. It was a crazy feeling, like I was being pushed down into the floor a few times, and then all of a sudden I felt this huge WHOOSH and knew that the baby had come out. Mark and I had been looking at each other the whole time and had both started crying. It was such a colossal wave of emotion, like nothing I've ever felt before. They asked if Mark wanted to go over to see the baby under the heater, where they were cleaning him up and performing all of the required tests, while I was stitched up. It was very strange hearing his first cry from behind the blue sheet and not being able to see him. Mark came back around and told me he looked like my Dad, which wouldn't be such a bad thing later in life but I wasn't sure how cute a baby that would make him! Though, once the swelling from the fluid retention had gone down, he looked quite different and very cute.
Once the anesthesia began to wear off, I started to feel the pain of the incision. I actually couldn't move out of the bed for two days from the pain, even though I was taking some fairly hardcore painkillers. They managed to help me out of bed on the third day, so that I could shower and get cleaned up. I had Hunter in the room with me during the entire hospital stay, as opposed to my room mate who's baby was in the nursery for most of the time apart from feeds. Mark had been coming up to the hospital to spend each day with us, some days running up along the Hudson. It was a nice feeling being in the hospital with doctors and nurses to help you with everything and give advice. By Friday my milk came in, which was extremely painful and looked quite ridiculous! I still felt totally battered and not in any state to go home, so I requested to stay in an extra night. On Saturday, we packed everything up, left with numerous supplies of things from the hospital (diapers, wipes, baby blankets, giant hospital pants for me!), and made our way home as a family. It was such an overwhelmingly scary prospect that I was totally overcome with emotion when we came home and cried (happy tears!) for some time!
On the day of Hunter's birth, we arrived at the hospital just before 6am. There was barely any traffic on the West Side Highway so it was a very quick ride up to Columbia Medical University / NY Presbyterian Hospital in Washington Heights, past Harlem. Mark and I had a nervous wait in the maternity reception before we were asked to go to the pre-op rooms, which was followed by another anxious wait. Of course, naturally you're still thinking about what could go wrong at this point; will the c-section go smoothly, will he be healthy, what will he look like, will he have a birth mark all over his poor little face etc.! I changed into a hospital gown and had a cannula inserted. The baby's heart rate was being monitored, as well as my contractions, which had apparently already started although they were too mild for me to notice anything physically.
We were originally due to go in at 8am, but that came and went. We were told by our nurse that there had been two emergency caesareans that had taken priority in the operating theatres, so we had to wait until we were told anything further. Finally close to 10am, after what seemed like an eternity, we were told that we would be going in shortly. Dr Holden arrived at the reception desk and we waved a quick hello. I'd had to go to the toilet several times due to nerves, as well as the drip running through me. Unfortunately, I hadn't been able to eat anything after midnight, so I felt quite clogged up when normally my breakfast would get me moving!
Dr Holden came to collect me and Mark was to wait until they had done all of the pre-op stuff, such as my epidural etc.. He had been given his own hospital gown to put over his clothes and would be picked up when they were ready. I walked in with Dr Holden, the anesthetist and the rest of Dr Holden's team. Dr Holden asked me to sit on the hospital bed facing him and to slouch. He helped by putting his hands on my shoulders, and the anesthetist inserted the needle with the anesthetic that was to numb the area where the epidural would be inserted. I felt a tiny prick, which wasn't painful at all. Dr Holden then told me to be very still for the epidural, which was going in next. I was quite nervous, but it was over in no time and they quickly spun me around to lie on the bed.
A big blue sheet was drawn up in front of my chest so I couldn't see past it. The anesthetist was on the right side of me, monitoring the anesthesia by what I was able to feel. It was taking longer than expected to take effect, so they tilted my body so that my head was lower, allowing gravity to move the anesthesia more efficiently. Mark came into the room shortly afterwards and stood on my left side. He started peeking over the sheet and despite being asked to sit down because "many dads have been known to pass out", he actually tried to convince them that he would be fine because of all the fish he has gutted!
Dr Holden had already told me that I would feel poking and prodding but no pain. Soon he said to me from the other side of the blue sheet that I was about to feel a lot of pressure. It was a crazy feeling, like I was being pushed down into the floor a few times, and then all of a sudden I felt this huge WHOOSH and knew that the baby had come out. Mark and I had been looking at each other the whole time and had both started crying. It was such a colossal wave of emotion, like nothing I've ever felt before. They asked if Mark wanted to go over to see the baby under the heater, where they were cleaning him up and performing all of the required tests, while I was stitched up. It was very strange hearing his first cry from behind the blue sheet and not being able to see him. Mark came back around and told me he looked like my Dad, which wouldn't be such a bad thing later in life but I wasn't sure how cute a baby that would make him! Though, once the swelling from the fluid retention had gone down, he looked quite different and very cute.
Once the anesthesia began to wear off, I started to feel the pain of the incision. I actually couldn't move out of the bed for two days from the pain, even though I was taking some fairly hardcore painkillers. They managed to help me out of bed on the third day, so that I could shower and get cleaned up. I had Hunter in the room with me during the entire hospital stay, as opposed to my room mate who's baby was in the nursery for most of the time apart from feeds. Mark had been coming up to the hospital to spend each day with us, some days running up along the Hudson. It was a nice feeling being in the hospital with doctors and nurses to help you with everything and give advice. By Friday my milk came in, which was extremely painful and looked quite ridiculous! I still felt totally battered and not in any state to go home, so I requested to stay in an extra night. On Saturday, we packed everything up, left with numerous supplies of things from the hospital (diapers, wipes, baby blankets, giant hospital pants for me!), and made our way home as a family. It was such an overwhelmingly scary prospect that I was totally overcome with emotion when we came home and cried (happy tears!) for some time!
