On April 21, at 12:52pm, Maximilan Jude was born, weighing 10 lbs, 6 oz and 21.75 inches long. Here is the birth story.
I had a c-section planned due to previous c-sections. It was scheduled for 37 weeks because my last delivery, I was told at 38 weeks that I had a uterine window (the uterus was very thin) and it was recommended to deliver at 37 weeks, so we did. In most of my other deliveries, there had been something wrong, so my prayer leading up to it was that I would have as perfect of a c-section as possible, with no complications for him or me. I knew it was possible this wouldn't happen, but I was asking.
On the drive in, Jon and I prayed the rosary together. This brought me a huge peace heading in. As soon as we arrived at triage, everything moved so fast. Scrubs for Jon, gown for me, figuring out my insulin pump, and the worst, trying to avoid a low blood sugar while not eating. I kept dropping, and suspended my pump, but I was very concerned that I was going to get low, and no one was giving me an answer of what we'd do. Thankfully, I stayed within perfect sugars and never had to worry about it. We brought holy water, planning to use it, but never had the chance and forgot. I was assigned a personal nurse, Janette, who would stay with me until I got my own room. She was wonderful and I felt we really got to know her throughout the day.
About 12:15 they wheeled me back. I had been at such peace, until we came around the corner and saw the big huge surgery doors, and Jon was sent to wait in a little corner until it was time for him to come in. Then the fear and anxiety set in. I tried to remain calm. The worst part is usually getting the epidural. I had a nurse standing in front of me, whispering calming things, telling me i was doing good and breath in a sweet, kind voice. She was just what I needed, and I know God had a hand in that. The epidural set in, I laid down, and everything moved slower than I expected. I heard regular chit chat in the background, and thought it was weird. It took about 20 long minutes until Jon came in, but I remained fine. One of my big fears is I always throw up on the table. I told the nurse anesthetists this, and they were amazing. At one point, I felt like I might. He put a bag up near me and told me to take some deep breaths, he was working as fast as he could. By the grace of him and God, I never threw up.
They began the surgery and it felt like forever. I kept asking Jon if they were to him yet, and he said no, they were cutting still and taking their time which was a good thing. Finally, I heard a "Here he comes." They pulled him out, and then that beautiful, lovely, first cry. I had asked for delayed cord-clamping if possible, and the doc kept asking for the time so he could cut. They delayed almost 45 seconds, so that was cool. I had asked for him to be pulled out slowly (gentle c-section) but that didn't happen. Not a huge deal. He was suppose to come over and do immediate skin-to-skin. First they took him to wipe him down and do his apgars. Thankfully, I could look to my left and see what they were doing. I don't think it was like that in my other c-sections. I could see a chunky baby with a head full of curly hair. (Which we now think was curly because of the fluids, etc. After washing it seems pretty straight). But, he was starting to turn blue. His apgars were 6, 7, and 8. They made the decision he needed to go to NICU. They brought him over, and I got to give him a few kisses before him and Jon went off, but did not get to hold him. My arms were not tied down (at my request) so I did get to reach up and touch him.
They finished me up, and I just laid there. At one point, I can't remember when exactly, maybe when he was already out, I felt my anxiety rising. I had told Jon that his job was to help me pray if I got to that point, but he was with Max. Therefore, I started repeating "For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us, and on the whole world." over and over. Jon thought something was wrong and came over, and I told him I was just praying, trying to calm down. It really helped and I was thankful I had that game plan. "Memorized prayers" that this Catholic convert has struggled with for the win! ;-)
They took me to recovery with Janette, my nurse. While in there, I did great with ice chips and moved to 7up. THen I threw up. This happened a few times, but not too much or too hard, like I had with Beka, so I was thankful for that. Finally I was well enough in recover that I could go see my baby boy. They were going to take my bed down to NICU. I asked "What happens if i have to throw up in NICU?" they said that's fine, just tell them and they'd get a bag. I was so thankful to hear that, because I avoided seeing Beka for so long because of vomiting, as I thought it was a huge no-no in NICU. He had been on CPAP for about 3 hours, and when we arrived, the nurse said she had good news and bad. They were able to take him off the CPAP (YAY!!!), but his blood sugars had dropped, so they gave him an IV of glucose. They also allowed me to try to nurse. He wasn't really wanting to, so the nurse was wonderful and took a syringe of colostrum I had pumped, squirted it on the nipple, and he was a bit more interested.
Eventually, it was time for me to head to my room. At this point, we still hadn't settled on a name. Jon thought for sure I'd know after seeing him, but i told him no, I needed to see him and be with him without being all drugged up. When I got to my room, i was still throwing up a bit, so they gave me fenegrin, and that helped within 30 minutes. I was finally able to eat and keep food down. It appeared that the c-section had gone as perfectly as possible. No throwing up on the table, I stayed awake and alert, very little throwing up afterwards, no headache or shakes. I was very thankful.
Time to head back to see the baby. Again, I tried to nurse a bit with little success (I only had colostrum still). They were still working on his sugars. By the grace of God, a nurse in the mom-baby had told me on a phone call prior to going in that she'd had a mom bring in pumped milk from her SIL because she'd anticipated low sugars. I have 3 nursing friends, so asked one of them if they'd mind pumping some milk for me. Bless her heart, she did. I came in with 12 oz of donor milk and about 10 mL of colostrum. The nurses were all so happy and proud of me. I kept pumping as I could, and even though he was on a glucose drip for approximately 48 hours, we avoided any formula. (I would have used formula if necessary, but preferred not to) By the time the donor milk was almost gone, my milk had come in and they could hear him guzzling it, and no longer required me to supplement. I am so incredibly grateful for my friend and her generosity to me and our baby. I kept asking if the nurse that gave me the great advice was working, but she didn't seem to be while I was in mom-baby.
He was born Friday afternoon. By Sat evening, we had settled on the name Maximilian "Max" Jude. It was a name we were pretty sure about, but because it was such a "big" name, we wanted to see him first. Everyone told us he's a big boy, he's a tank, etc. and it just solidified that the name was right. By Sunday afternoon, we were both moved to mother baby ward. I was so grateful to finally be sleeping in the same room with our new baby. Sunday night went great. I felt like this was the life with a newborn.
Monday morning, about 6am, they did a bilirubin test, and he was high. He was put in the light box immediately. I went back to my room, to the bathroom, and just sat down and sobbed. I felt like we couldn't catch a break. The c-section had been so perfect, but my poor baby kept having issues. Was it because we delivered him at 37 weeks? Was it because of his size? Did my diabetes play in to it? I decided/suggested to J he go home for Monday night. He was out of clean clothes, our 3yo was really struggling, and if the baby was going to be on lights all night, I wouldn't need his help, so he went home to spend the night.
He was on the lights until midnight Monday night. Afterwards, they decided they needed to do a car seat test. While they don't normally do one on a 37 weeker, he was presenting with signs of a 36 weeker, and the nursery staff felt it was appropriate. So, J lugged our large convertible car seat in (Graco Extend 2 Fit) and everyone was shocked it wasn't a bucket seat. Unfortunately, when the nursery staff did the test, he had low O2 at a few times, and they told me he failed. We would not be going home first thing in the morning. Again, I cried. They couldn't tell me what it meant further until the NICU staff reviewed the strip in the morning, and the docs decided what to do. We waited around anxiously for a long time Tuesday morning, until someone came in and said that the NICU docs reviewed the strip of paper and he did fine and we could go home! We were finally discharged about 3pm on Tuesday afternoon, after being there since Friday morning. This was by far the longest birth experience I've had.
In good news, because I was there so long, I had plenty of time to rest and recover. I feel like this recovery has been very easy, and much, much less painful than my last one. My last pregnancy, the doc recommended that I could get pregnant again, but I had a uterine window (thin uterus) and he would deliver at 37 weeks, which is why we delivered that early. The doc said there was no uterine window this time! Miracle. <3 He said everything looked really great inside, so I was incredibly glad and grateful to hear that. All of the staff we encountered at the hospital (in the city, not on base) were amazing. I have zero negative things to say about the hospital or staff.
We were very, very grateful that my mom was able to fly out, and stay with the kids the entire time we were in the hospital, and be here a few days after. It would have been a much bigger challenge without her. I can't sing her praises enough!
All in all, even though he had lots of struggles the first few days of his life, I feel incredibly at peace with his delivery. More so than any of my other births really. Abby's is a close one as well, but after the struggles I went through with B, it was nice to be at peace with everything regarding him. I knew that the things we were facing were all 'fixable' and I held on to that. We are all now settling in to being a family of 7 and his siblings just adore him. He's a very easy going baby, as long as you feed him when he starts giving hunger ques. He hates his diaper changed, but he has a bad rash, so it's understandable. We are very thankful for our sweet Max and the blessings he's bringing to our family.
