He's Here!

 

Our son, Andrew, was born at 12:07pm on October 30th. The surgery went very quickly and Kevin was even allowed to stand up and watch the part when they pulled the baby out. He loved it. We were elated when the Doctor announced we had a boy and I waited anxiously for them to bring him over to me so I could see him. Immediately, Kevin and I said how much he looked like Lucy when she was born.

 

 

He was 7lbs even and 19.5" long. He was pretty purple initially and cried on and off the whole time he was in the OR with us. We were expecting that he would go to the recovery room with me, but after the nurse brought him over for us to meet, we were told Kevin and the baby would be going to the nursery while I went to recovery alone. I didn't think too much of this since that's how it was with the girls too. Turns out, the baby's APGAR scores weren't great (8,9) and his breathing was a bit worrisome so they needed to observe him more carefully and didn't want to worry me by saying anything at the time. When I was being moved out of recovery and to my room they brought the baby out for me to see and tell me that he was going to the NICU for observation for at least a few hours. He had swallowed some fluid during the surgery and was working hard to breathe. It was heartbreaking but I knew since he was still in the regular nursery this whole time, it wasn't an emergency, but more precautionary. Kevin had been with him in the nursery the whole time and came to my room to reassure me about his health before he went down to the NICU to check in on him. I spent that night sleeping, recovering and settling in while the baby was kept in the NICU.

I was finally able to walk down and hold him for the first time at noon the next day. He was doing much better and they needed him to eat a few times and show his blood sugar was staying up on its own before they could release him to my room. By 6:30pm Halloween night, he was finally in my room with me. It was a long 18 hours, but the NICU and postpartum staff were so nice and understanding about my situation that they really did make it very easy.

We spent Halloween night in the hospital and were discharged the next day, Friday, November 1st. I was thankful to not have to stay the 3rd day cooped up in the hospital and was definitely ready to get home to the girls. Those 2 days felt a lot longer to be away from the girls even though I saw them every day. They were so anxious and excited to meet their brother, but since they were already out trick-or-treating by the time he was released from the NICU, they didn't get to meet him until we came home. It made our homecoming that much sweeter knowing the girls were waiting to see me and their brother.