Fielder's Arrival

I feel guilty taking so long to write this post since today Fielder is officially 4 weeks old, but the memories are still very fresh in my mind.
My C-Section was scheduled for 12:30pm December 17th. Fasting for that long is really hard on a pregnant woman, but I followed the rules and didn't eat or drink anything that morning. I woke up in a really good mood, and was very excited to start the process and to meet my little guy.

We arrived at the hospital shortly before 10:00am. My sweet friend, Jennifer, met us in the parking lot to give Fielder a personalized blanket and beanie, which I am obsessed with! (I love Jennifer's products! www.jenniferannstyle.com ) When we went up to the labor and delivery floor, all of the nurses were in such good moods, and we laughed and joked with them as we signed in and filled out a little paperwork. We were shown to our surgery prep/recovery room and got settled. Anna joined us shortly after. The two hours passed pretty quickly, and I was still in very good spirits and just ready to meet Fielder. My mom got there in time to see me before surgery, and before I knew it, it was go time.

Hooper got all suited up and they wheeled me back to surgery without him. Daddies aren't allowed in the room until after the spinal is given. I started to get a little anxious when I got in the room. It's really hard to be completely naked from the chest down in a room full of strangers. I had to sit on the edge of the bed and get the spinal. That part is no walk in the park. You naturally want to pull away from it, but the anesthesiologist is telling you to push into it. Ugh. When I got the spinal, I could feel the medicine running through my body. I don't like that feeling at all, and it just made my anxiety worse. After they give it, they start yelling, "Hurry lay down! Move your legs over a little! Can you shift a little to the right?!" All because in a few seconds, the numbness will take over. And I'm no little thing that they can just move around easily as dead weight. Finally Hooper joined me, and my anxiety eased a tad. Surgery started and I could only feel some tugging and pressure now and then. The room started out so cold, but it quickly got very hot. They had put this thing across my chest that blew warm air on me since the room started cold. But I started sweating and my heart rate increased because I was kind of freaking out on the inside. The anesthesiologist asked me if I was feeling anxious. I began having a stinging pain in my left shoulder and it didn't blend well with my anxiety. I told him about it, and he said that when there is pain in your diaphragm, you can sometimes have pain in your shoulder- that the two areas send the same exact message to your brain. He said if it was making me uncomfortable he could put something in my i.v. to help with the pain a little. I thought about it, and really didn't want to float through the day without really feeling "present", but I was so anxious that I figured it would take the edge off, as well as get rid of the pain, so I told him yes. He turned the heating thing that was on me to blow the room air on me instead. He also put a wet washcloth on my head. I finally got settled and felt more like myself (well, a medicated version of myself). My doctor was talking about how big Fielder was, and I was so anxious to see him! She was tugging around to get him and he finally came out. He came out peeing everywhere. When they handed him over to the nurse, he peed again. I looked over to my left and saw him. He was so cute, so very blonde, and reminded me of Finley. He was moving his mouth and bright eyed like Fin was when she was born. He was born at 12:49pm, weighed 9 lbs, 3 oz and was 21 inches long. I cried happy tears. Hooper was so giddy and proud. 

I had my tubes tied, so finishing the surgery took a little bit longer than it did with Fisher. Though I felt like it went by quicker, Hooper told me that it didn't. They wheeled me back to recovery, and I really don't remember much there. (Thanks to the shoulder pain medication. Ugh.) 

Meanwhile, in the waiting room.. They had received a photo of Fielder, and both Jude and Fisher were kissing the photo. :) Bennett and Finley were so excited that Poppy and Grandma were there!

My family came in the recovery room and met Fielder and visited with Hooper, but evidently I slept the majority of the time. Whoops. I do remember the moments of Finley and Fisher coming in, though. And that was the most important to me. Both of them were so adorable and excited. I had no doubt that Finley would be head over heels, but seeing Fisher so proud melted my heart. It's always a little emotional when your baby isn't the baby anymore. 

You can see how sleepy I was in the family photo above. Ha. I could barely keep my eyes open. Though I don't recall much from the recovery room, one thing that I will NEVER forget is that the nurse came in and was checking my incision and out of nowhere she pushed so hard on my stomach, which was no longer numb. I almost cried. It ranked in the top 3 worst pains of my life. It totally caught me off guard and it hurt like a SOB. From then on, every time a nurse checked me I would say, "You aren't going to push on my stomach, are you?" I'm telling you, it was horrible. Anyway, sometime after that they moved us to the room that we stayed in for the next two nights. I was a little more with it at this point, but look how worn out I look in my selfie with Fielder...

Speaking of being worn out after the surgery, about a week after he was born I was looking through my phone at photos and found a hilarious selfie that I apparently took right after he was born. Ha! Look at this "before surgery" and "right after surgery" comparison. HAHA! I don't even know why I took that, unless the medicated version of me thought it would be fun for the unmedicated version of me to find it someday. 

With Finley and Fisher, we were so lucky to get to have Vima as our nurse. She is the sweetest! And so smart and helpful. I personally requested her 3 months prior to having Fielder, and my doctor made sure that she was working and put in a request for her as our nurse. We were so excited!

The first evening my best friends and some more family came to visit us. I was still not 100% myself, but I could at least carry on somewhat normal conversations with visitors. Fielder did well, but he wanted to eat non-stop. I did a lot of my sleeping with him in my arms. In fact, most of our time in the hospital, I was holding him. Hooper and I laughed because one time when he went to hand him to me to feed him, it looked like he smiled on his way to my arms. 

First Bath

Look at that blonde hair!

The second day at the hospital, Finley and Fisher came to visit again. It was just as sweet as the initial meeting. They are both just so proud of their baby brother! 

We dressed him in the "Baby Hooper" onesie that Anna had made when we were first pregnant with Finley. All three of the kids wore it in the hospital. I must say, I was a little worried that it might be too small for Fielder! 

Here he is in the sweet blanket and beanie from Jennifer!

As far as pain goes this round, it was worse. I didn't have a c-section with Finley, and the recovery after her delivery was very hard on me. With Fisher, I had a c-section, and the pain was pretty rough for 3 days. After 3 days I felt like my normal self again. With Fielder, maybe it has to do with the fact that I had my tubes tied, or maybe it has to do with how big he was, I don't know. But I was in pain for the first 3 weeks. And my back had weird spasms for about 2 weeks. 

Saturday, December 19th, we got to go home. It's always bittersweet to me to leave the hospital. I love the whole hospital experience. I love the nurses taking care of me, and the feeling that if anything goes wrong at all with the baby, professionals are right there ready and willing to help. With that said, once they told us that we would be discharged, we showered and packed and got all ready to go. Then we waited. And waited. And waited and waited and waited. We had to be seen by the pediatrician once more and she was doing rounds at another hospital. When she finally came, we still had to be discharged by the nurse, and that took another 45 minutes or hour. We were more than ready to leave when we finally got to do so. Fielder wore the same outfit that Fisher and Jude wore home. :)

Fisher, Jude, Fielder

Our sweet welcoming committee was ready for us!

Overall, it was a wonderful experience (except for that lady pushing on my stomach!). We couldn't be happier. Fielder Augustus is so loved by so many people, but especially by Hooper, me, and his big sister and brother. Our family is complete.