Well I finally started a blog! I meant to do it the entire time I was pregnant and never got around to it. Baby boy came 3 1/2 weeks early (on my Dad's birthday!) and things have been crazy ever since. What better way to start than going back to little R's birthday.
Robert Stewart Lombardi (We call him Robby) was born on March 9, 2013 at 7:22 am weighing in at 6 pounds, 9 ounces and 18 1/2 inches long. He wasn't due until April 1, and we had a C-section scheduled for March 26 because he was breech. About his name: Robert is Andy's Dad's name and also the name of an uncle who was very dear to me. Stewart is my middle name, and my maternal grandmother's maiden name. When it comes to baby names, I am all about using family names. I just think it is so special to have a name with personal meaning behind it. I love the idea of using names from the past to connect generations.....maybe I've been on ancestry.com a little too much!
At 4 in the morning on March 9, I got up to go to the bathroom and when I stood up, I was pretty sure I felt something trickling down my leg. I woke Andy up and told him I thought my water had broken. He thought I had peed my pants. I thought maybe he was right and I was just so pregnant that I couldn't hold my pee anymore. A few minutes later, it became very obvious when the "trickle" turned into a gush. The very first thing I did was take a shower and shave my legs. My priorities were definitely straight at 4am! Who wants to show up to the hospital not well groomed?! If I could help it, I was showing up squeaky clean and hair free. We ran around throwing things in bags and calling our families.
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| Andy took this right before we left for the hospital. |
We made it to the hospital a little before 6am. They put us in a triage room and we waited to be checked. I wasn't in pain but had some mild cramping. The nurse was shocked when she found that I was already 5 cm dilated and didn't really feel much of anything. Apparently a lot of people are screaming at 5 cm dilated. They confirmed he was still breech and within minutes we were in the OR being prepped for surgery. This was moving WAY faster than I anticipated.
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| Waiting to be checked in triage. |
I felt so nervous and was having a mini panic attack at the thought of being cut open awake! Andy had to leave while they did my spinal. The poor nurse that was holding my hand...I think I was cutting off her circulation. Within a few minutes I felt numb from the chest down. Andy came back in and they set up the drape. They did some tests on my stomach to see if I had any sensation before cutting. I was able to feel a little bit lower than they thought I should so anesthesia made an adjustment. Total numbness after that - Thank goodness! They asked Andy if he wanted to watch - he didn't. Although he later told me he accidentally saw my intestines when they were piecing me back together post surgery. GROSS! Major surgery y'all - they take your insides out people! I had no clue...but it sure did feel like it later.
When they started the surgery, I remember thinking I'd never felt so much pressure in my life. They were tugging so hard I felt like I might come flying off the table. (You are restrained of course.) I kept thinking it was taking forever and I wanted to hear my baby cry. Soon enough, we heard a loud cry and I looked at Andy and the first thing I said was, "He sounds so sweet!" (A few weeks later the 3am cries didn't sound as sweet - ha!) I got a quick glimpse of him and then he went to be checked out and cleaned up. He was considered preterm but thankfully was just fine, and in fact rather large for being 3 1/2 weeks early. The nurses laid him on my chest and we were wheeled into recovery. We passed our families in the hallway- they had all made it there after we went into the OR. It felt surreal that this was our son's birthday and everyone was here to meet him.
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| Meet Robert Stewart! |
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| Andy meets Robby. |
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| And so we finally meet! |
In recovery, I started to get really loopy from the drugs. I wish it wouldn't have been that way but you need some pretty hard stuff after getting sliced open! I said some hilarious things - I even asked the doctors and nurses if they were glad I shaved my legs......EMBARRA! I was going in and out of consciousness and hardly remember getting to my room. The next few days and weeks were definitely some of the most challenging in my life but it was so worth it to see this little man we created.
C-sections are rough (I'm sure any delivery is, really)- If we have more children in the future, I might look into trying a VBAC mostly because I want to be able to be more mobile during recovery. It was SO frustrating to feel like I couldn't take care of my baby because I could barely walk. Recovery is so personal and different for everyone - I have heard of people who really bounce back quickly but I just had a hard time. Trying to breastfeed also complicated things...I seriously can barely say that word without breaking out in hives! Things got better with chocolate, wine, and sleep time, and 6 or 7 weeks postpartum was a huge turning point for me as far as feeling better goes. I distinctly remember that that was when I didn't feel so sore and stiff when I got out of bed. It was also when I said I might consider doing this again! It was a long seven weeks! Little R is so much fun now though that I can't imagine not having at least one more.
I am so grateful to my amazing mom who came and stayed with us for two weeks. We couldn't have done it without her - Thanks Marmi! And a HUGE thank you to all the friends and family who brought us dinners and helped us out over the course of two months. We plan on paying it back to all of you in some way!
Here's a little video of our first days and weeks as a family of three:
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