He's here! He's here!

Ok. I have been quite anti-social the past few days. I'm feeling a bit better so I thought I should write some.

First, Isn't he beautiful!!! He really is just a sweetie. If you go to look at the pictures- you should know- the first set are typical birth pictures- complete with blood and guts. If you don't have a strong stomach- skip to the second set.

Anyway- I feel I should write about Ian's birth and everything- so here we go.

Ok. So the night before Ian was born, we stayed up and cleaned. My friend good Janine came over and helped. Thank goodness- she is an angel. Not that things were pitiful before, but I was just not going to feel prepared until everything was in order. I went to bed and slept about the same as usual. Dave stayed up 'til midnight and then attempted to sleep until wakeup time- failing miserably.

We were scheduled for the C-section at 7:45 so we had to be there at 5:45. The hospital was 45 min from the house, so we were up at 4 am and gone at 5 am. Bright and early. We got up and dressed, Dave gave me a blessing, and we went to the hospital.

When we got there, the nurse who was assigned us met us and took us back to the room. I don't remember her name, but she was really quite nice. We took some pictures (she encouraged us to get a belly shot) and then I got changed. I was trying hard to calmly deal with the prospects at hand. I had never been in the hospital before and the prospect of being sliced open was incredibly scarey. I accepted all that was happening by simply staying as realistic as possible. Realizing that there was no easy way out of the situation and that to be honest- there was going to be a knife involved- either an episiotomy (If I had chosen to go natural) after labor and lots of other trauma or a C-section. Either option wasn't exactly pleasant. I was just going to have to deal with this.

Well, all of that realism worked until she put in the IV. OUCH!!!! Those IVs hurt!!! No one ever told me that IVs hurt. She put it in about 1.5 hours before the surgery. This was BY FAR the worst part of the process. After that, I just sat there- In pain-with anxiety mounting. IF this was just the IV, what was I really in for... I didn't know. AHHHHH! You know with fear- it's always "fight or flight". Well, the problem is... there was no "flight" option. That baby was going to have to come out- one way or the other. I was just going to have to face my fears. I was terrified!

Of course, had I known that that would be the worst part, I would have been fine. The epidural was the next step. It was nothing. They gave me some anti-anxiety meds with it... good choice. After that I was just fine. I went straight to sleep. I woke up for the nurse to ask if I had felt the catheder go in.... Nope. (One more thing I was dreading resolved.) Then Dave came in all dressed in scrubs. He looked so cute. He held my hand. I think I went back to sleep. I remember Dr. Ramos saying, "Well, get the camera ready." And then a baby scream. The perfect baby scream- a loud, clear, healthy scream. (The Speech Pathologist in me, of course, had to evaluate this early sign of healthiness/ lack thereof.) I was a proud mommy. I think Dave went to help the nurse clean him up while they stiched me up- not that I had a clue- I was back in la-la land. I wasn't feeling a thing. Next I knew, they put little Ian in my arms. He was all wrapped up in a blanket with this cute little t-shirt and a hat on his head. He was beautiful! I just stared at him. What a beautiful little baby. What a nice, healthy scream!!! Way to go little boy. I just couldn't believe he came out of me.

They took Ian to the nursery. I went to the recovery room and back to sleep- feelin' no pain. (At least 'till day 2 when the epidural starting running out and I didn't know that I should have been asking for a pain shot.) I slept on and off for the next several hours in the recovery room. Dave walked back and forth between me and the nursery. He said he just stared at Ian for hours between checking on me. Just couldn't help but stare. I was happy to sleep. Ian was healthy and being taken care of. He sure had a nice, clear scream.

Dave found an internet connection in the hospital and put up that first set of pictures by 10 am, beside me in the recovery holding area. Couldn't be happier. What a cute little boy!