Coming Home

So we came home from the hospital on Sunday but the whole c-section recovery is crappy so I am just getting on now to blog. I thought I would bounce back a whole lot faster being that I didn't have to labor this time but I'm learning quickly that I can't push myself too much. If anything, Chandler is the most work. Marshall has been home from work & school the last two days and has been a saint. He's cooked, cleaned, entertained Chandler & waited on me hand and foot. I must have done something right in my life to get such a great husband. Rowan is such a happy content baby. He rarely cries and when he does it is only because he is hungry or needs a diaper change. We supplemented with formula in the hospital until my milk came in and now he's just exclusively nursing. I'm so glad I supplemented at first because it made me a lot less sore. He wants to eat every 2-3 hours but sometimes will have a 4 hour stretch of just sleeping. He has yet to spit up which is really surprising to me as Chandler didn't have acid reflux but did spit up quite a bit. Chandler is doing well adjusting but we really have to watch him as he mauls Rowan with kisses and affection, sometimes a little too much. We took Rowan to the pediatrician today and he was 8 lbs 13 oz & 21 inches. I'm glad to hear he's almost back to his birth weight as he was only 8 lbs 4 oz when we left the hospital. He looks great in every way according to the pediatrician.

Here are some coming home pictures & Rowan in his swing the night we came home when he was 3 days old. I love how alert he is in this video.

This pic is right after his first bath

Here is his birth story. It's really long and wordy but Chandler's was too and looking back on it, I'm really glad his is so detailed.

Rowan's Birth Story (From the eyes of his mom)

It seemed like a long time coming before Rowan made his appearance. After 4 weeks of being checked and making no progress, we opted for an elective c-section at 40 weeks and 5 days. I had a really hard time sleeping the night before and got about 4 hours total. I kept waking up and thinking we would be late to the hospital as we had to be there by 6 am. It’s kind of a funny feeling knowing you are going to have a baby that will be born 2 hours later. We got to the hospital, got checked in and it seemed like a whirlwind from there. They hooked me up to a monitor as they needed to monitor him for at least 20 minutes. I had a catheter placed and I swear it felt funny but one of the nurses said it could be irritating at first. I still felt like I had to go to the bathroom even though my bladder was being drained and it made me feel jumpy. Weird, I know. They placed the IV and started pumping fluids through me. Then there was “the shave” Gotta love it. There were nursing students there and the last thing I wanted was a whole bunch of students hanging around. No offense to nursing students. My day nurse asked if “some students” could watch the c-section. I saw 7 or 8 students when I walked in the door to be admitted so I was thinking like 3 or 4 of them and I did NOT want that. I was ok with 1 being in there, so we had one student nurse in for the delivery. By the time the surgery team came to get me, it was about 7:15 am. I felt really jumpy and really really apprehensive even though this c-section was much more relaxed than Chandler’s. We got into the OR, and of course it was freezing – what OR isn’t?

Thank goodness for the warm blankets ☺ I had to sit on the side of the table so the nurse anesthetist could do the spinal. Ok – so epidurals are great but spinals are incredible, lol. My anesthetist (Todd) was awesome and did a really great block. Before he did it, I could not stop shaking and had the worst cotton mouth you could ever imagine. I felt like I couldn’t swallow & was cold and scared. I had a nurse holding my shoulder & Todd talked me through the spinal, telling me the more I rounded out my back, the better block I would get. As soon as he had it in, I felt the numb warm going up my legs and the catheter didn’t bother me anymore which was nice. I started to relax too. Marshall came in all suited up and looked so cute in surgery clothes. I know this should be the last thing I’m thinking as I’m about to be sliced open but he did just the same. Todd told me if my pinkies started to go numb that I would have a great spinal block. Right after they started cutting, my pinkies went numb ☺ Dr. Barton did the c-section with Dr. Crouch assisting. Dr. Crouch was our bishop for a couple months right before Chandler was born so he knows Marsh & I personally. (Plus the fact that I work at the hospital) Here’s how the conversation goes as they are cutting into me:

Dr. Crouch: “So Marshall – you still in the bishopric?”
Marshall: “No, actually, I was released a couple weeks ago.”
Dr. Barton: “What, did they catch you smoking out by the back door or something?”
Laughter all around…
Dr. Barton: “Dr. Crouch smokes, he just hasn’t been caught yet.”
More laughter….

I am amused at this casual conversation going on when Dr. Crouch says, “Oh, he’s another big one!”
Just then, Rowan made his appearance, at 8:03 am. He was screaming and I can’t explain the feeling happiness that swept over me. Not to mention I felt like 10 lbs lighter and I could breathe! Rowan was 8 lbs 14 oz, 20 ½ inches, head was 14” and chest was 14”


It took them a little while to stitch me up, all the while Dr. Crouch was pointing out my uterus, fallopian tubes, ovaries and all sorts of other goodies out to Marshall. When I had my c-section with Chandler, my skin healed up with what is called a keloid scar which means it had an overgrowth of tissue while it was healing. Sometimes I would get pain in the side of the scar where it healed like this, especially if I wore pants that were too tight. It basically scars really big and raised, almost reminds me of how an earthworm looks. They cut that whole scar out and hopefully I will scar better this time. I had to spend about 35 minutes in recovery so they could monitor my blood pressure. They brought Rowan into recovery so I could nurse him – his blood sugar was only 36 after birth which is somewhat worrisome. Really low blood sugar for an extended period of time can cause brain damage which is scary. I was still numb from about the neck down so that was a funny experience – trying to nurse when I couldn’t even feel my body. He did great though.
We spent the next three days in the hospital and I had the most amazing care and realized just how great my co-workers are. My door was decorated by all of them, gotta love the lovely blue chucks they used...he he

When my spinal started to wear off, my catheter started feeling funny again, like I needed to go to the bathroom and couldn’t. Monica, my friend & night nurse on Thursday said I shouldn’t be feeling that way. She realized I had no slack and that the tube was kinked. Such a simple fix, yet it made a world of difference and she drained a ton from my bladder. I know this is all TMI, but next time I will know that it’s not in right if I feel that kind of discomfort. I had a lot of horrible itching that day, due to the spinal and was retaining a TON of water right after. I couldn’t stop rubbing my eyes because they were so itchy and by the time I was able to get up to the bathroom, I looked like I’d been through a war with my puffy face and red red eyes! Friday night my other friend Tara was my nurse, and she made me up some pretty good “goody bags” Ok, so to many, pads, tons of mesh underwear & formula may not seem like “goodies” but they were to me, lol. That first day that Rowan was born, I COULD not sleep. I didn’t fall asleep until 1 am on the 18th (the day after he was born) I think I was just super wired. Thank goodness for Ambien! I had to keep compression stockings on the first day or so to help prevent blood clots. I cannot believe that I have 2 kids right now. Looking at Chandler a few days before I had Rowan, I wondered how I could ever love another child as much as him. Now I really know a mother’s love as I love them both so much. Chandler seems like such a big boy next to his newborn brother too. He loves to kiss and hold Rowan and I know they will be good buddies. Rowan has a very mild temperment and is really happy baby. He already loves his swing and bouncer and loves to snuggle. We are really blessed to have Rowan in our family.