I had decided that I was going to make this a truly special occasion, and that I was going to do everything in my power to remain positive about EVERYTHING… even the difficult parts.
So we get to the hospital on time and my nurse comes in and gets me all hooked up to the monitors… when we realize that wow… I’m having contractions and they are 5 minutes apart. The nurse said, “it looks like this was all meant to be today… with contractions like that baby would have probably come today anyway.” Since it was a scheduled C-Section there was no need to check me, so I got to skip all those fun checks. My nurse started my IV and got me all prepped for surgery and Jon got all dressed in his scrubs.
At 8:50 my OB came in to see us and to see if we had any last minute questions… which of course we didn’t we were just ready to get the show on the road. A few minutes later I was walking to the OR. My spinal went okay. It took the anesthesiologist a few more pokes than I would have liked, but soon I was numb and ready to go. A few minutes into the C-Section and I began feeling really weird… kind of like I was going to pass out… so I mentioned it to the anesthesiologist and he said he would take care of it for me. I closed my eyes and tried to relax and within a minute I was feeling MUCH better, and now Jon was right there with me. I also had some trouble swallowing during the procedure, but the anesthesiologist said that too is totally normal. The doctors all started talking about how big they thought baby was going to be and one even said, “I’m guessing 10 lbs…” A few minutes later I heard… “Oh the head is so round…” then I heard this HUGE scream… I just knew at that point we had a good and healthy baby coming. Seconds later, at 9:27am I heard… “It’s a GIRL!!! And She is just PERFECT!!!” Jon started snapping pictures and followed our little Constance every step of the way. Soon Jon brought her over to meet me… it was such a special moment… he had huge tears in his eyes and he was just so proud. Our nurse was great and snapped some pictures of us together and then Jon took Constance to the nursery for the rest of her tests.
Constance was not 10lbs, but she wasn’t “little” either… weighing in at 8lbs. 10oz. And measuring 19 ½ inches long. She was born with a FULL head of hair and looks a lot like her big sister Claudia did when she was born. I was just SO happy that it was all over. I couldn’t wait to go and hold her. I have to say that is one of the worst parts of having a C-Section… but that’s just the way it is.
By 10:00am I was back in my room and Jon immediately came into the room with Constance. By 10:05am I was already nursing her… it was FABULOUS!!! I still couldn’t feel my lower half of my body, but I didn’t care… I had this little miracle right where I wanted her… in my arms!!!
Constance started nursing right away… it’s so amazing to me how they just know what they are supposed to do. Jon stayed with me for a while and we started to make our phone calls to our family and friends. Soon he left to go and get Claudia. I was so excited to see how she would react to her new little sister!!! Daddy and big sister finally made their way back to the hospital and it was truly special. At first Claudia wasn’t too sure of everything, but I think she was a little scared seeing mommy hooked up to all these tubes and having the nurses checking all my vitals all the time. Claudia soon warmed up to everything and has been completely in love with Constance ever since.
The next few days were absolutely crazy busy. We had so many visitors and are truly blessed. My nurses were absolutely WONDERFUL. I do think it really had a lot to do with my positive attitude with everything. Many on them even commented on my upbeat and positive attitude. By Saturday evening I was ready to go home already, but I ended up staying until Monday morning. Physically I really think my body needed it, but mentally and emotionally I was SO ready to go home, it really made it hard being away from home. But I continuously kept that smile on my face.
Monday morning Jon came and picked us up. I cried all the way home. I thought I was just super excited to get home, but once I got home the tears kept coming and I soon realized that I had a case of the baby blues. I had worked so hard to be so strong while I was at the hospital that once I got home and was away from all the extra people I just mentally crashed. Thankfully my Jon is AWESOME and really stood by me the whole day. Other than me being totally emotional ALL day, everything went perfect with Constance. She ate ALL the time, especially since my milk had finally come in and she just couldn’t get enough of it. When she wasn’t eating she was sleeping and even managed to sleep in her cradle a few times throughout the day. Our first night wasn’t even bad. She would sleep in her cradle for like 2 hours and then would be up to nurse, and then right back to sleep. She did finally have a rough time from 4am-5am when she just cried, but Jon and I let her cry. She hadn’t cried all day and we both new that she was fed, clean and just needed to let it all out. She finally went to sleep for a bit and then it was time to eat again. After that feeding it was right back in the cradle where she slept for 3 hours… it was GREAT!!!
We actually all overslept the next morning… Jon was even late for work… LOL!!! My mom and I took Constance to her doctor in the morning just to make sure she was gaining weight well… and of course she was… thanks to all the feedings the day before. Her doctor checked her all over and all he could say was that she was absolutely perfect!!! Let me tell you, that sure feels good to hear that about your little miracle. Now we just keep adjusting to our new life… thankfully the baby blues were MUCH better on day 2… I know I’m still going to have my moments, but I know that they will too pass and that everything is going to work out just the way it is supposed to.
So that’s my story… I know it was long… but you all know me… once I get talking I can’t stop… LOL!!!
Well if you made it this far… congrats!!! What a wonderful journey this has been…
Here are some of the long awaited pictures…
Friday morning...
One last picture of our family of 3...
All ready to go...
9:27am... It's a GIRL!!!
Welcome to the family... Constance Joy!!!
1 comment:
What a great story Jenn and adorable pictures! We're very happy for all of you! I'm sure Claudia is going to have an awesome time with her new little sister!
God Bless!
Sonja
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