A Birth Story

NOTE: We are going to rewind the clock and replay the past few months via the blog as I catch up on what the kids have been up to.

I'm going to share Charlotte's birth story. For those of you who are squeamish, read on.

November 3rd. My mom arrives to watch Desmond. Peter and I go out to Sweetwater for dinner. I eat more than humanly possible. We come home, I drink a glass of wine (nurse's "orders") and sleep soundly the whole night through.

Novmeber 4th. Wake up. Shower. Drive to hospital. At 9:03am, they cut me open. At 9:13am Charlotte Fern is born.

Story over.

Ah the joys of a scheduled c-section. It's not what I would ideally wish for, but it's my situation, so I make the best of it. (Note: Now that Charlotte is four months old, I look back on her birth and don't feel the ambiguous feelings of regret over the c-section that I felt at the time. Just having a healthy, thriving baby is really what is important.)

I must say, it is *fascinating* to experience a major surgery while awake. To listen to all the doctors and nurses work together so efficiently and smoothly. To hear their small talk as they sew you up. A medical student was observing, so I got to hear their instructive comments to her.

This time around I was actually more nervous than last time. Probably because I wasn't exhausted from 12 hours of (mild) labor. I was nervous the spinal tap would wear off in the middle of the surgery. Nervous that I would get a blood clot. Nervous that Charlotte wouldn't be OK. As soon as I heard her crying, all my fears dissolved and I could "relax." (A funny thing to say when you can't feel 75% of you body anyway.)

The weirdest part of the whole process was to feel them pushing and pulling on your mid-section. It didn't hurt at all, but I suspected someone was behind the curtain whacking me with a baseball bat and doing push-ups on my stomach. I kept thinking, "Surely that will hurt later." It did, but not that badly.

I think I mentioned this when Desmond was born, but it deserves repeating. The staff at INOVA Fairfax Hospital are incredible. They do their jobs thoroughly, professionally, excellently and without a hint of complaining (at least to the patients). It was inspiring to both Peter and me to be served by them.