The Birth of John Thomas

 This was me the night before we went into surgery....40 weeks pregnant!  Honestly the time flew by, and I feel like I blinked and I had a baby.  The night before we went in for surgery we dropped Hadley off at my brother's house.  He and Joy were going to keep Hadley for a couple of days while we were in the hospital.  They are complete SAINTS!!  I just kept thinking, "What do people who live out of town do with their children when they have babies??"  I'm so grateful for all of the family that we do have in town, and since I do have a military background, I've learned to never take that for granted.  

We stayed at my brother's house for a little bit and let Hadley get settled, and my brother prayed for us.  After that, we were off to Sinclairs in Cloverdale.  This is the same place we went to eat the night before Hadley was born.  We have had some unusually warm and crazy weather, so we were able to sit outside and enjoy our meal.  It was wonderful.  I had a yummy cheeseburger, one of my favorites, because I figured it would be a while before I would be able to eat again (over 24 hours after my surgery).  

We came home and tried to settle in for the night.  We had our alarm set for 3:15am, but we didn't need them.  I was W-I-D-E awake at 1:00am...and I never went back to sleep.  I was so, so anxious of what the day was going to hold for me.  I have been dreading this surgery since the news of pregnancy set into my brain.  I have prayed fervently that the Lord would allow my body to go into labor so that I could have a VBAC, but the Lord had other plans for me.

I laid in bed until 3:15; my mind racing the entire time.  I got up and showered and got ready.  Jeremy didn't sleep a wink either.  As we were getting ready to leave, Jeremy *thought* he locked the keys in the trunk!!!  We had just been joking about if there had ever been someone to miss a scheduled c-section date!!  Fortunately, he hadn't locked the keys in the truck...the exhaustion was already setting in.

We arrived at Baptist East around 4:45, where we checked into the ER to be admitted into labor and delivery.  I promise you...if you EVER have a baby in Montgomery, you WANT to deliver at Baptist East.  First of all, every single person is SO super sweet, even at crazy hours of the day.  Secondly, Baptist East is like a well oiled baby making machine!  They are on top of their game in every way shape and form!  I'm impressed, and I wish I had delivered Hadley there!!  

They take us upstairs where we meet our surgery tech person.  I get changed into my beautiful hospital gown, and she starts hooking me up to fetal monitors, blood pressure machine, and everything else.  At this point, I'm feeling nervous, but I'm okay.  My OR nurse comes (for the life of me I cannot remember her name, and I am SO disappointed!!  She was fabulous!!) and puts in my IV.  Shortly after this, I start to get nauseated...even after the drugs that she gives me.  Usually, when I am exhausted, I get a nauseated feeling, so I really think it was this with a combination of nerves.  My sweet parents came to see me before I went into surgery! :)  It was SO early!  And, did I mention that John Thomas was born on my dad's birthday??!  They share a name & the same day of birth...so special!! :)

I waited for what seemed like forever before they took me into the OR.  My nerves kept getting worse & worse.  I was freezing too, and they brought me a blanket.  Finally, they brought me in the OR, and I was about to get my Spinal.  I was shaking SO hard that they almost couldn't do it.  They gave  me warm blankets, and I finally settled down a little bit.  A spinal is SO different from an epidural.  An epidural takes time to begin working.  A Spinal is almost instant, so as soon as they gave it to me, they instructed me to lie down quickly.  It is such a weird feeling.  After this point, things moved very quickly.  I remember my anesthesiologist saying, "I can see that you are feeling anxious, so I'm going to give you something to help you with that."  I'm sure that my heart rate was OFF the charts at this point, and I could hardly catch my breath I was breathing so hard.  I realize that I've had this same surgery before, but things were SO different this time around.  I was still feeling so nauseated, so they gave me something for that too.  Surgery began.  Dr. Kouri and Dr. Gentry did the surgery.  I LOVE LOVE both of them!!!  If you are looking for an OB, I highly recommend both of these men!!  Adore them!!  The next thing I remember is Dr. Kouri saying, "You're going to feel some pressure..."  Then...sweet John Thomas was born at 6:47am...with loud, LOUD screams!! :)  He had excellent apgar scores.  I was thinking, "with screams like that...boy...we are in for it!!"  But...now, he hardly cries at all...only when he wants to be fed and occasionally when you change his diaper.

They came and brought him around the curtain and showed him to me before they cleaned him off...this was something I never got to see with Hadley.  I remember after she was born I kept wondering in the recovery room if she was really a girl or not because I had only seen her sweet face.  This experience was SO different and SO much better in every way possible.  Jeremy and John Thomas went to the nursery while they stitched me up.  I was then taken to recovery, and after a short while, they brought John Thomas to me, and I was able to hold him and nurse him.  Pure bliss.  This is something that most people aren't able to do if they have a c-section.  I was robbed of this experience with Hadley, and I'm so grateful to have had it this time around!!  Eventually, they came to get John Thomas and take him back to the nursery for his bath, and they got me ready to move to my room.  The day John Thomas was born 21 other babies were born!!!  The day before 15 babies had been born!!  Insanity!  

Shortly after I was taken to my room, I was so nauseated.  I started throwing up.  It was awful.  Another side effect that I had was a very itchy nose...I've been told that this is from the Spinal.  It was awful.  My nose was bruised the next day from all of my scratching.  Seriously, I've never experienced anything like it.  They did give me some meds for it, but I really didn't want to take everything they offered because I knew it would make me sleep the entire day!  Even with these minor issues, the day was blissful.  We were surrounded by family and friends.  My heart is full.  I already cannot picture life without John Thomas in it.  He is such a precious baby!  I'm so grateful to the Lord for this incredible blessing!!  Enjoy some pictures from our day below...

 Last picture of me & Hadley before she went to spend the night with Aunt Joy & Uncle Tom. 

 Our last picture together....

 John Thomas' first picture.  He has some serious lungs!! 

 First picture of mommy & son

 Love at first sight!  

 Getting his bath...

 Content!  This is how he is all the time.

 First picture with Grandmommy!!

 First picture with Granddaddy...my namesake..and we share a birthday!!  

 Jeremy is on cloud 9!!

 Hadley is taking it all in

 My brother with his nephew

 My sweet Nana with John Thomas

 Hospital door sign

PROUD big sister!!

 In this picture, John Thomas had the hiccups and Hadley thought it was the funniest thing ever!

 Study break with Daddy.  Jeremy had to take a final exam 3 days after John Thomas was born.  And, he made an "A!!"  SO PROUD of my sweet, diligent husband!

 Love them!

 Getting ready to go home...we even got to leave a day early!  Praise the Lord!  We certainly were pampered by Baptist though!  They spoiled us in every way possible...awesome food...yummy afternoon snacks...they even brought smoothies in these really cool cups that we got to take home.  Every single person was fabulous!  I LOVED my nurse, Brenda.  I failed to get a picture with her, but she was certainly a gift sent from the Lord!

Snuggles at home!!