The first memories I want to "keep" are those of our most recent addition to the Graff family, Mr. Brendan Lee. It has already been a week 11 weeks (whoops forgot to publish) since we met our little guy and I am still in shock at the shear smallness of him. I have no clue how you go from a 10 pound 8 ounce first child to a 7 pound 11 ounce third child. I will warn you now that there could be some graphic pictures and parts of the story, but with Sean as my companion in the OR Room it was inevitable! Even though he is completely inappropriate at times I could not ask for a better partner.
The story of Brendan starts around Jameson's first birthday when Sean and I had decided that we would like a third child down the road. However, we did not think the road would be quite so short. I think panic was my first reaction. We would have 2 kids less then 2 years apart, and what if they were both boys?!? Jameson was already showing signs of being a typical fearless boy with all his daddy's craziness. Could I really have 2 mini Seans in the house? But what if it is a girl?? Yes, dressing up the girls in matching outfits and more tutus and hair bows would be great, but Killian is already quite the drama queen?!? Could I live with 2 mini versions of myself? Either way our third child was on his or her way. This pregnancy brought all the fun "morning" sickness I had with Jameson. Sean immediately claimed it was a boy and I was in denial. For the next 20 weeks I flipped flopped on whether to find out the sex or not. Going into the ultrasound we had decided not to find out, as soon as the tech started I panicked and decided I needed to know. Of course, Sean was correct and another mini Sean would be joining the family.
The next 20 weeks went smoothly and food eventually became my friend again. The nesting urge had kicked in fairly quickly with the first two kids, however, this time not so much. I believe we starting preparing for this new guy 3 days before my scheduled c-section. Thankfully he agreed to stay in there until his time slot. We were given an original surgery date of March 8th, but that just didn't work as well for me. I didn't want to be in the hospital over the weekend. I wanted Sean to be able to spend as much time with us at home and I knew while I was in the hospital I would have nurses to help. So I convinced my doctor to push the date back. I got a call that the new date was March 12th. This made me very happy, it just so happens to be my dad's birthday! 2 of my kids get to share their birthdays with a grandparent, I think this is awesome.
I continued to work full time up until the day before surgery. Yes, I am crazy and I heard "your still pregnant" and "wow, your getting really big you must be about to pop" about a hundred times a day. I wanted to get the most out of my time off to spend with the kids, not sitting at home fretting over the upcoming surgery and new arrival.
As the days ticked away I was getting very anxious to meet our new baby. The idea of being comfortable again was also eating away at me. I am a very lucky lady and truly enjoy being pregnant. Yes, I was super uncomfortable at the end, missed seeing my feet, missed not going to the bathroom every five minutes, and the list goes on, but I loved knowing that I was only one getting this precious time with our new baby. Finally, it was the night before surgery and we were packing the hospital bag.
We dropped the kids off at my mom's house with lots of hugs and kisses and the promise that the next time they see mommy their new little brother would be there! We arrived at the hospital, got checked in and got started with all the pre-op stuff. My nurse was really nice, which made me feel bad for her because I knew she was about to embark on the epic journey of getting an I.V. hooked u to me. A little background information for you:
With Killian I had 3 veins blown out and some nice bruising from it. With Jameson I had 5 veins blown out, huge bruises, blood dripping down my hand to the floor and 2 very apologetic nurses who felt awful.
I was going to not jinx the nurse and let her live in a happy go lucky world, but Sean let her know she was not going to have fun with my I.V. We all held our breath and waited. 1st try! Right on the money, the I.V. was in, saline was pumping and she was able to get the blood samples for the tech that was there. I signed my name on some paperwork and she went to get some other pre-op stuff. Sean and I were talking about how amazed we were and if we were ready for this new addition, when I noticed my arm looked a bit swollen by the I.V. Sean called the nurse to take a look. Sure enough my entire hand and lower arm were filling with saline, apparently the line slipped out and filling up under my skin. Sean thought it was quite entertaining, and kept poking my hand which would I.V. on the third try, still the record. After all the I.V. fun the nurse went to check on the OR Room. There was an emergency c-section right when we got there and we were told we might be pushed back a bit. It was at this moment that the nervous finally kicked in. Sean said I got really serious and scarred looking. He made sure I was okay and assured me it would all be okay.
Once all the pre-op was finished I was able to shuffle down to the OR Room. I gave Sean a kiss and told him I would see him in there. He had to stay until after they give me my spinal and make the first cuts to make sure I am completely numb. The spinal is quite an interesting feeling. One moment there is freezing cold liquid all over your back, a few pokes from numbing shots and then the spinal. About 10 seconds later your feet go numb and feel like they weigh 100 pounds. This always makes me giggle. Slowly the numbness and heavy feeling spread up your legs and belly. Then they have you lie down, with lots of assistance, and belt you to the table. The tables are like a mini roller coaster, they go up, down and can tilt side to side. I always think that I am going to plop right onto the floor when they are tilting the table to strap me down. This too, makes me giggle.
After a few test pokes Sean was allowed on the OR Room. He came over beside me with his awesome white OR suit, surgery cap and mask. He came over squeezed my hand and said "Hi baby, you doing okay?" I reassured him I was good. The anesthesiologist told Sean he could sit on the stool next to him and Sean told him he would rather stand there and watch. The doctor told him as long as he didn't pass out on him that would be fine.
The surgery went really quickly and I remember a smell filling my oxygen mask and I looked at Sean and commented about it, Now, I am not the smartest person but I was well aware that the smell was coming from them cauterizing as they were making their way to my placenta. However, my very lovely and mature husband looked me straight in my eyes and said "Mmmmmmmm smells like steak"! I did a mental head slap and told him I will never eat steak again. A few more tugs and pulls and the doctor informed me I would feel some heavy pressure and then baby would be here. This time around the pressure was not bad at all, with Killian I had a nurse literally lifting herself off the floor trying to get her down and out. Sean started snapping pictures and telling me he's almost here. Then there was that noise, the heavenly first cries of your baby. Sean kept telling me that he was so small. So I was figuring another 8.5-9 pound baby. Then they brought him over and HOLY COW he was so tiny and adorable! They started cleaning him and checking him and I could not get over how small this child was, Finally, they got the scale and put him on it, 7 pounds 11 ounces. Seriously??? How does this happen?
Brendan made sure everyone knew he was not happy to be out in the open and then he welcomed all the nurses to his world by peeing all over them. They were all laughing. The Dr and nurses were telling Sean that Brendan was the first boy in 36 hours, all 10 other babies were girls. They also commented that he had the best color of all these babies. I had to laugh at two of the palest people have the baby with the best color.
Sean and Brendan were brought over so we could get our first pictures and I could say hi and give him a kiss. Sean asked how I was doing and I asked him if my Six Pack was back and he started laughing and told my doctor , unfortunately I was told they were not back yet. Then Sean went with Brendan while I was put back together. The doctors finished up and had to move on to their next cases. Apparently, the hospital was packed with labor and delivery patients. The anesthesiologist was talking to me as they were getting ready to roll me back to my room. He told me I did a really good job, and I told him I really didn't do anything but lay there. But he told me that I did awesome, stayed calm and relaxed. He said it is much easier when the mom is such a good patient. I felt like super patient and thanked him.
I got back to my room with my guys. Sean was waiting to start posting pictures and sending picture messages. I gave him the okay and the first pictures of Brendan hit the internet. Prior to going to the hospital I asked Sean to wait for me to send the picture out. With Killian and Jameson family and friends were seeing close ups and adorable pictures before I had seen my own kids up close. I wanted to have my moment with him, and I did. Sean's phone started going off like crazy. Everyone was so excited and congratulating us. Sean told me that his phone was vibrating the entire time we were in the OR because people were "patiently" waiting for the big announcement.
After I got settled into my room and had all the post surgery checks I was able to hold Brendan and admire his cuteness. Not 5 minutes after being placed in my arms he was already rooting around trying to eat. I couldn't help but laugh I still could not move or feel my feet and yet here is this new child that within the hour of coming to the world was ready to start eating,
That afternoon my mom brought the kids down to meet their new baby brother. Killian was so excited I could hear her coming down the hallway telling everyone that she was here to meet her new brother. The kids met daddy in the hallway and he brought them in to see Brendan and mom. Both kids were told to be very careful with both of us. Killian came over and gave me a kiss and told me she would take care of me. Jameson was yelling mommy and came over, but he wanted to play with the bed more then see me, little stinker! Sean had the kids sit on the couch and brought Brendan over. Killian was immediately smitten with him. She thought he was the cutest, most handsome baby ever. The first visit was not a very long visit. Jameson was far more interested in playing with everything in the room and trying to escape. I had to say goodbye to my big kids for the next couple days and nights and I was not looking forward to not seeing them as much.
We had other family and friends come by and meet the new addition. I was getting tired, sore and hungry. Sadly, I could not get real food until I passed gas. This is normally not an issue, but with every c-section I have to starve until I toot. I usually end up telling them I passed gas so I can get some small foods. The nurses listen to my tummy for noises and since they heard rumblings I was given crackers with my jello, broth, water and clear soda. Yummy! It was after dinner that I started to get more sore. The nurses always ask what my pain level is on a scale of 1-10, I think the highest I have ever gone was maybe a 2. This time when the nurse asked my pain level I said, maybe a 3-3.5, Sean quickly jumped in to tell her that if I was saying 3 it would be a 9 for normal people. She said that once the IV I had in was empty she could give me some pain meds since the the ones from surgery would be long gone. I asked what the IV was and she said it was the pitocin to help the uterus contract after surgery. Hmmmm, I thought it was fluids and pain meds. Sean informed me that I have not had any pain meds since leaving the OR room, which could explain the 3 on the pain scale. Sean made sure to play the med monitor and not let me forget to get the meds. This is a job he has perfected over the 3 c-sections. What would I do without him?!?
The next 3 days flew by as quickly as they can when you are stuck in a hospital being checked every couple hours. Brendan picked up nursing very quickly and was a good sleeper too. The nurses kept telling me how cute he was, which I had to agree. The labor and delivery ward stayed very busy the entire time we were there, lots of babies and even a handful of twins.
Finally, the day came when we would be set free from the hospital. Sean got the older kids ready and took them to my moms house so he could come pick us up. Sean came to the hospital and I think was expecting to wait awhile for the doctor to release us. However, my doctor is on the ball and was in and out before he arrived. So he had to wait on me to get ready. I took my sweet time to shower, dress and pack. But eventually, it was time to leave the hospital. I was a gorgeous day and it felt so nice knowing soon all 3 of our kids would be home with us.
The transition to 3 kids hasn't been too bad. The older kids love Brendan and helping us take care of him. Sometimes, they are too helpful. I look forward to watching the kids grow and learn together.
We dropped the kids off at my mom's house with lots of hugs and kisses and the promise that the next time they see mommy their new little brother would be there! We arrived at the hospital, got checked in and got started with all the pre-op stuff. My nurse was really nice, which made me feel bad for her because I knew she was about to embark on the epic journey of getting an I.V. hooked u to me. A little background information for you:
With Killian I had 3 veins blown out and some nice bruising from it. With Jameson I had 5 veins blown out, huge bruises, blood dripping down my hand to the floor and 2 very apologetic nurses who felt awful.
I was going to not jinx the nurse and let her live in a happy go lucky world, but Sean let her know she was not going to have fun with my I.V. We all held our breath and waited. 1st try! Right on the money, the I.V. was in, saline was pumping and she was able to get the blood samples for the tech that was there. I signed my name on some paperwork and she went to get some other pre-op stuff. Sean and I were talking about how amazed we were and if we were ready for this new addition, when I noticed my arm looked a bit swollen by the I.V. Sean called the nurse to take a look. Sure enough my entire hand and lower arm were filling with saline, apparently the line slipped out and filling up under my skin. Sean thought it was quite entertaining, and kept poking my hand which would I.V. on the third try, still the record. After all the I.V. fun the nurse went to check on the OR Room. There was an emergency c-section right when we got there and we were told we might be pushed back a bit. It was at this moment that the nervous finally kicked in. Sean said I got really serious and scarred looking. He made sure I was okay and assured me it would all be okay.
Once all the pre-op was finished I was able to shuffle down to the OR Room. I gave Sean a kiss and told him I would see him in there. He had to stay until after they give me my spinal and make the first cuts to make sure I am completely numb. The spinal is quite an interesting feeling. One moment there is freezing cold liquid all over your back, a few pokes from numbing shots and then the spinal. About 10 seconds later your feet go numb and feel like they weigh 100 pounds. This always makes me giggle. Slowly the numbness and heavy feeling spread up your legs and belly. Then they have you lie down, with lots of assistance, and belt you to the table. The tables are like a mini roller coaster, they go up, down and can tilt side to side. I always think that I am going to plop right onto the floor when they are tilting the table to strap me down. This too, makes me giggle.
After a few test pokes Sean was allowed on the OR Room. He came over beside me with his awesome white OR suit, surgery cap and mask. He came over squeezed my hand and said "Hi baby, you doing okay?" I reassured him I was good. The anesthesiologist told Sean he could sit on the stool next to him and Sean told him he would rather stand there and watch. The doctor told him as long as he didn't pass out on him that would be fine.
The surgery went really quickly and I remember a smell filling my oxygen mask and I looked at Sean and commented about it, Now, I am not the smartest person but I was well aware that the smell was coming from them cauterizing as they were making their way to my placenta. However, my very lovely and mature husband looked me straight in my eyes and said "Mmmmmmmm smells like steak"! I did a mental head slap and told him I will never eat steak again. A few more tugs and pulls and the doctor informed me I would feel some heavy pressure and then baby would be here. This time around the pressure was not bad at all, with Killian I had a nurse literally lifting herself off the floor trying to get her down and out. Sean started snapping pictures and telling me he's almost here. Then there was that noise, the heavenly first cries of your baby. Sean kept telling me that he was so small. So I was figuring another 8.5-9 pound baby. Then they brought him over and HOLY COW he was so tiny and adorable! They started cleaning him and checking him and I could not get over how small this child was, Finally, they got the scale and put him on it, 7 pounds 11 ounces. Seriously??? How does this happen?
Brendan made sure everyone knew he was not happy to be out in the open and then he welcomed all the nurses to his world by peeing all over them. They were all laughing. The Dr and nurses were telling Sean that Brendan was the first boy in 36 hours, all 10 other babies were girls. They also commented that he had the best color of all these babies. I had to laugh at two of the palest people have the baby with the best color.
Sean and Brendan were brought over so we could get our first pictures and I could say hi and give him a kiss. Sean asked how I was doing and I asked him if my Six Pack was back and he started laughing and told my doctor , unfortunately I was told they were not back yet. Then Sean went with Brendan while I was put back together. The doctors finished up and had to move on to their next cases. Apparently, the hospital was packed with labor and delivery patients. The anesthesiologist was talking to me as they were getting ready to roll me back to my room. He told me I did a really good job, and I told him I really didn't do anything but lay there. But he told me that I did awesome, stayed calm and relaxed. He said it is much easier when the mom is such a good patient. I felt like super patient and thanked him.
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| Not happy! |
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| Hi Mom! |
I got back to my room with my guys. Sean was waiting to start posting pictures and sending picture messages. I gave him the okay and the first pictures of Brendan hit the internet. Prior to going to the hospital I asked Sean to wait for me to send the picture out. With Killian and Jameson family and friends were seeing close ups and adorable pictures before I had seen my own kids up close. I wanted to have my moment with him, and I did. Sean's phone started going off like crazy. Everyone was so excited and congratulating us. Sean told me that his phone was vibrating the entire time we were in the OR because people were "patiently" waiting for the big announcement.
After I got settled into my room and had all the post surgery checks I was able to hold Brendan and admire his cuteness. Not 5 minutes after being placed in my arms he was already rooting around trying to eat. I couldn't help but laugh I still could not move or feel my feet and yet here is this new child that within the hour of coming to the world was ready to start eating,
That afternoon my mom brought the kids down to meet their new baby brother. Killian was so excited I could hear her coming down the hallway telling everyone that she was here to meet her new brother. The kids met daddy in the hallway and he brought them in to see Brendan and mom. Both kids were told to be very careful with both of us. Killian came over and gave me a kiss and told me she would take care of me. Jameson was yelling mommy and came over, but he wanted to play with the bed more then see me, little stinker! Sean had the kids sit on the couch and brought Brendan over. Killian was immediately smitten with him. She thought he was the cutest, most handsome baby ever. The first visit was not a very long visit. Jameson was far more interested in playing with everything in the room and trying to escape. I had to say goodbye to my big kids for the next couple days and nights and I was not looking forward to not seeing them as much.
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| Killian loves her new brother. |
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| This pretty much sums up Jameson's visit to the hospital. |
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| Brendan telling Great Grandma Alice all about it. |
We had other family and friends come by and meet the new addition. I was getting tired, sore and hungry. Sadly, I could not get real food until I passed gas. This is normally not an issue, but with every c-section I have to starve until I toot. I usually end up telling them I passed gas so I can get some small foods. The nurses listen to my tummy for noises and since they heard rumblings I was given crackers with my jello, broth, water and clear soda. Yummy! It was after dinner that I started to get more sore. The nurses always ask what my pain level is on a scale of 1-10, I think the highest I have ever gone was maybe a 2. This time when the nurse asked my pain level I said, maybe a 3-3.5, Sean quickly jumped in to tell her that if I was saying 3 it would be a 9 for normal people. She said that once the IV I had in was empty she could give me some pain meds since the the ones from surgery would be long gone. I asked what the IV was and she said it was the pitocin to help the uterus contract after surgery. Hmmmm, I thought it was fluids and pain meds. Sean informed me that I have not had any pain meds since leaving the OR room, which could explain the 3 on the pain scale. Sean made sure to play the med monitor and not let me forget to get the meds. This is a job he has perfected over the 3 c-sections. What would I do without him?!?
The next 3 days flew by as quickly as they can when you are stuck in a hospital being checked every couple hours. Brendan picked up nursing very quickly and was a good sleeper too. The nurses kept telling me how cute he was, which I had to agree. The labor and delivery ward stayed very busy the entire time we were there, lots of babies and even a handful of twins.
Finally, the day came when we would be set free from the hospital. Sean got the older kids ready and took them to my moms house so he could come pick us up. Sean came to the hospital and I think was expecting to wait awhile for the doctor to release us. However, my doctor is on the ball and was in and out before he arrived. So he had to wait on me to get ready. I took my sweet time to shower, dress and pack. But eventually, it was time to leave the hospital. I was a gorgeous day and it felt so nice knowing soon all 3 of our kids would be home with us.
The transition to 3 kids hasn't been too bad. The older kids love Brendan and helping us take care of him. Sometimes, they are too helpful. I look forward to watching the kids grow and learn together.
Wow! Great story. I don't think I've read a c-section birth story before...tons of stuff I didn't know! I can't imagine the "no food until you toot" post-delivery rule, though... I'm always STARVING. Talk about incentive! Once again, cute kid! Next time I'm pregnant I need to spend more time with you and you can teach me how to make progressively smaller babies. ;)
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