No More Bumps: The Birth of Matthew Aaron (Part Two)

Welcome Matthew Aaron!!

So Matthew was born at about 5:00 a.m. the morning of the 14th of June.

I quick sent Matt to call my parents (who at that time were actually at the airport and my mom was boarding the flight to come out). My Dad who was still seeing her off, luckily, told her through the metal detectors that she had a new grandson!

Ahhh the sweet relief of finally getting that baby out! We had chosen to delay the newborn procedures, the weighing, measuring etc for an hour just to enjoy the bonding with him. Unfortunately that didn't really work out too well, for me at least. Similarly to the last delivery I had A LOT of bleeding. Also in Matthew's swimming descent he shredded the bag of waters. With all the crazy kicking and rotating it was in pieces and they couldn't get it all out and I was bleeding and bleeding. Luckily for me I did not need a transfusion :-) but, I did need a D & C. They tried for a long time in the delivery room to get everything out, but after all that I had to go into surgery and be completely put under. (They worked for a long time without anesthesia and honestly I don't even remember the decision to do that, but I think they understood that I would rather not have an epidural and though I don't remember conversing about it in surgery, I didn't end up with an epidural...) Before we went to surgery I had to ask about the weight of the baby and length. They still hadn't done it and let us know that he was 9 lbs 1 oz and 21 inches. As Matt pointed out to me recently this was hours after his birth (and after 2 diapers!) so his initial weight was probably a bit higher, but we don't really know. We also never heard an apgar score. It was a little nuts!

Waking up was very strange since I didn't really remember a decision to be put under in the first place. It was hours later and I didn't know where I was (in the hospital) or even that they had to do a D & C (as there was a chance in surgery that they would be able to get out everything they needed without doing one), Matt appeared RIGHT as I was waking up which was a Godsend because everything after the delivery had been pretty discouraging and just finding out that I had to have a D & C and not having seen the baby for hours would have been difficult without him to talk me through it. He said he had to really pressure people to find out where I was and what had happened. Apparently when they took me to surgery they said I "would be out soon" and no one came to tell him when they decided to put me under OR when they decided to do the D & C. He was in the nursery with our (as yet unbraceleted child) watching him like a hawk. He told me later that he had to fend them off with their little bottles of formula because they were saying they didn't know where the baby's mom was and it had been too long since he had eaten. *grateful sigh* Thanks to my wonderful husband who flat out refused the formula and came and found me and then brought me my newborn so he could eat!

All in all, I'm glad the whole thing is over. The labor and delivery themselves were remarkably similar to Joey's and not too difficult, the recovery was a little bit tougher though and my heart goes out (for all reasons!) to all the women out there who have had a D & C. They are very painful. There is also a big difference between an 8 lb baby and an over 9 lb baby and I was shocked to find out that he was so big, especially since I had gained 15 lbs less this pregnancy.

Matthew ate and slept well for the rest of the stay in the hospital and we were so glad to leave the next day and come home! We were all pretty tired as it's so hard to sleep in the hospital with people coming in and out but grateful for the help and support.

I feel very blessed to have had the generous support of friends to watch our first little baby in the pinch of another fast birth, and the care of both of our families who have been visiting since Matthew's birth (I hope to post more about that later). I am especially grateful to my husband who has unwaveringly been a rock through the births of these 2 little boys. I literally could not do it without him by my side, through the whole thing. He is spectacular! And although there have been difficulties, I wouldn't trade either experience for anything. Birth is truly amazing and we continue to be thankful for the healthy births of 2 wonderful little boys!