WELCOME ROCKY...a grand entrance!!

This morning was full of things that were totally unexpected! I woke up around 6:30a.m. because I was feeling some strong contractions, which are usually relieved by emptying my bladder. So I used the restroom and went back to bed. I felt little guy moving and it was pretty strong movements so my first thought was maybe he is turning head down, which would be good for Wednesday when it's time for him to come out. I fell asleep for a bit longer and then around 8:20 a.m. I got out of bed, walked over to the phone and called room service so I could order breakfast. Just as the person answered the strangest thing happened and I felt something fall out of me! I quickly told them I'd have to call them back and I carefully waddled over to my bed and laid down. I quickly started pushing the pain button and the call button so I could get a nurse asap. When she walked in she could tell my face looked freaked out and asked if I was okay. The only thing I could manage to say was, "I think something just fell out of me". She stayed calm and she took off my shorts, then pulled down the rest and says, "oh look we have a little hand and arm waving at us".

Seriously!! I started to freak out, but tried to stay calm. She took my blood pressure and put baby on the heart monitor. His heart rate was looking good, that made one of us because by that point I was super overwhelmed by all of it, especially being able to feel his arm and hand just wave around by my leg! She said she was going to go call the doc and I grabbed my phone to call Dave, by this time it was 8:29 a.m. I made the phone call as short as possible because I was freaking out and trying not to cry. Dave answered and I told him to get to the hospital now because we are having a baby today. I'm pretty sure that was the extent of the conversation.

The nurse came in followed by like 10 other people, including nurses and doctors. Everyone wanted to see the waving arm! They were calling the NICU and anesthesiologist and whoever else needed to be there. At 8:37 a.m. someone handed me my phone because Dave was calling. He asked me something and all I could manage to get out was something like his hand, his hand came out and then I told him I had to go because they were about to take me back. There was a team of about 5 people taking my bed to the surgery room and then when we got there 3 other people were already in there. The anesthesiologist quickly introduced himself and apologized for having to meet this way. They had me scoot from my bed to the surgery table and all I could think was there's an arm coming out and I don't want to smash him. I managed to scoot myself onto the operating table with their help.  They rolled me over to my side, they put in an IV and catheter and then they put in my spinal block. I remember someone saying I need you to come and squeeze her and then two nurses came and put me in a ball and held me there. The whole time I was worried about smashing the baby's arm or hurting him somehow. Dr. Lind the anesthesiologist was very nice, he let me know exactly what he was doing and kept telling me I was doing a good job.

So many things were happening all around me and I felt like I was being rolled from one side to the next. Each time I was rolled or moved I felt like one was going to fall off the table. It was all so overwhelming and quite stressful and of course a bit scary. I was trying to be brave and strong,  but at some point I just started crying. I also remember at some point  someone saying to call the front and let them know Dave was on his way so they could direct them to where we were. I wanted Dave to be there so bad because everything was happening so fast and there were so many things going on around me nd I just wanted my husband to be there with me.

The anesthesiologist came to my head and was asking about numbness and pain and then he pinched me to check and I just remember saying ow! He gave more medication for pain and then he starts saying if at any point I feel pain to let him know and he will give me something that will knock me out in 30 seconds. I just kept thinking what if they start cutting me open and I can still feel! Around that point I must have started to really let the tears fall and he asked if I was in pain, I managed to shake my head and say not and then he says your crocodile tears are making me sad. He stayed by my head and wiped my tears and rubbed my head. He let me know that the doc had already cut me open and that it all should be over soon. It felt like a lot longer than it actually was. I just remember at some point they were pushing on my chest to try to push him out and it felt like I was being punched on my heart! I kept grunting and crying because I just couldn't catch my breath and it was like I was being stomped on. I just kept thinking please hurry I want this to be done.  The doc said that his head was all the way up at the top of my uterus and his legs were really low so he was just stuck and it took lots of pressure to get him out! They got him out at 8:56 a.m.and took him immediately to another room. I'm amazed that the whole thing only took 27 minutes!

Dave got there just after he was taken out of the room and I got to see Dave for about 30 seconds before someone said that they took the baby to another room and directed Dave there. They finished stitching me up and I heard someone come in and say that he weighed 4lbs and 14oz and was 17inches long. They were all surprised at his big size for being so early. They had me roll over onto my belly and then again onto my back to transfer me to my bed again. They then took me back to my room to give me some recovery time and to be closely monitored before being transferred to the mother baby unit.

I was really drowsy and could barely stay awake. Dave was texting me pictures and details of whatwas going on. The nurse came in and packed up my room, which was a lot of stuff after being there for 10 weeks. After a couple of hours I was looking stable enough to move downstairs. They rolled my bed to the NICU so I could see Rocky before I went to my new room. The nurse explained a few things to me about his status and then Dave came with me downstairs. I was glad I got to see him, even if only for 10 minutes. I started pumping and since I wasn't ready to get up yet Dave would run everything up to the NICU, which would give him time to see and check on Rocky.   The nurses would check on me often, but in between I would doze off. My in-laws came by to see how I was doing and to see how everything went. Rocky isn't taking visitors right now, he is not that stable so the nurses say to give him about a week.

As far as his condition, this is what I gathered: he is on a ventilator that is doing all the breathing, he started of well but then started working too hard so they got him on the ventilator. His neck muscle on the right side is shorter than the other side because of how he was positioned. His foot was also turned so they are working on keeping it straight. He had some other lung issues, but I couldn't remember everything. They said to expect him to be on the ventilator 2-3 days and in the hospital for 4-6 weeks. I can deal with that! It was a very exhausting day,  but we are so happy to have our baby and to have him doing well under his circumstances.