Family of 5!

So last Tuesday I drove myself to the hospital and had a baby. Jason came along for the ride as he has on both of our previous baby-having excursions, but we decided it makes for a better story if I can say that I drove myself. Baby Baxter #3 was scheduled to arrive via c-section at Noon. Monday night we sent both soon-to-be big brothers to stay at Grandma Marion’s house so that Tuesday morning we could be free to get up and get to the hospital on time without extra distraction.

I had breakfast at 3am to coincide with one of my bathroom breaks, and then started fasting. We woke up to a cold spring snow storm, and after a slushy drive to the hospital we checked in at about 10:30am. Apparently it had been a busy morning before we arrived, with quite a few laboring moms arriving during the storm. One of the nurses commented that they don’t like to believe weather events and baby deliveries are related, but some days it certainly seems so. Check-in was uneventful–hospital gown, blood draws, vitals, start an IV. The nursing staff was trying to get back on schedule after the morning rush and managed to still have me ready to go fairly close to on time. Even though this was my 2nd scheduled c-section (and 3rd overall), I was more nervous for this one than for the previous one. With Christopher’s c-section, I was optimistic that it couldn’t be any worse than William’s unplanned one had been, however this time, I think knowing what was coming wasn’t all that helpful. It isn’t easy to be completely calm about somebody sticking a big needle in your back, cutting you open, and then pulling out a baby…unless that’s your kind of thing, and you’re most likely insane.

Delivery went about as well as it could. My spinal was easier this time than with Christopher and I really liked my anesthesiologist–we chatted while everyone else was doing the surgery business. Andrew came out much easier than Christopher did with almost zero rib-crushing from my OB and her assistant. The only downside was all of the IV zofran in the world couldn’t keep me from throwing up mid-delivery (reminiscent of William’s delivery). At one point the anesthesiologist told me to hang on as he was “throwing everything I’ve got at you”. These are the glorious things no one tells you about having a baby. That you can dry-heave after fasting for 10 hours even though you’re numb from the rib-cage down. An odd sensation I hope not to experience again any time soon!

Andrew emerged with a healthy cry letting me know everything was OK. At my request, Jason took a handful of pictures of his actual delivery. I figured any photographic evidence of what had happened wouldn’t give me post traumatic stress problems for future deliveries (knowing there won’t be any). The pictures (in my opinion) are not too gory, and rather interesting. Definitive proof that a little person (or 3) has grown inside there. They had offered to lower the drape if I wanted to watch them pull him out, but that seemed a little too intense for me. At one point I realized I could see a partial reflection of what they were doing in an overhead light (sort of like at the dentist) and decided it wasn’t really something I wanted to watch directly.

Andrew officially arrived on 3/22/2016 at 12:50 pm weighing 8lbs 10oz and 20.5″ long. He has the same large round head as both of his brothers and one of the nurses told Jason he has large hands. I think he looks very much like Christopher did, only perhaps with Jason’s nose instead of my “DeBaets” nose as we call it. He had a little trouble with jaundice in the beginning due to something called Coombs disease (which has since resolved) so he got to spend some special time tanning under the lights. He was already sucking his thumb in the recovery room, so I anticipate he will be thumb-sucker like William once he can better coordinate his currently uncooperative fingers. In his first week he seems to be a better sleeper than both of his brothers, which I can only hope continues. William ate constantly and was very restless/fussy. Christopher was on a set 3 hour schedule round the clock with his feedings lasting no more than 10-15 minutes. Andrew nurses a little more frequently during the day and is content to suck as long as I’ll let him, but has already given us a couple 4-5 hour stretches at night.

C-section recovery has been going well. Due to a mistake in the kitchen, they brought me a regular meal (instead of just broth) after surgery so I was able to eat almost right away (AMAZING). The nurse laughed and told me I was a big girl and could eat at my own risk. I was hungry!! I came home on day 3 feeling pretty good. I’m not adhering as strictly to my pain medication schedule this time, partly because I’m busier, and partly because my pain has been pretty mild and warns me when I’m doing too much. Raging hormones have again given me a lot of itching and night sweats, but I know they will resolve as things even out. Easing into nursing has been much more comfortable this time thanks to a good on-demand nurser, and my body not over-reacting/overproducing initially. I look forward to the coming weeks when I can start exercising again and feel less like a deflated balloon. Post-partum belly is depressing–but having room for my lungs, stomach, and bladder is pretty amazing. Also I got another cute boy out of the deal, so no more complaining.

Here’s the real question…can you tell them apart? 😉