Owen is turning one on Sunday, so of course I am feeling reflective and sappy. I will try to keep his birth story short and leave out all the details no one else would possibly care about.
He was due on Feb. 20th, 2010 and we scheduled the c-section for Friday the 19th. I confidently bragged to all my friends that he would NOT be coming early because my children do not leave the womb willingly.
On Fri. the 12th around 10 pm, I started to have "stomach cramps". It took a few hours to realize that these were not stomach cramps every 8 minutes, but contractions. I guess I should have read "What to Expect..." a few more times.
On the morning on the 13th, I called the doctor and she wanted me to come in because this was a 3rd baby, 3rd c-section and we live about an hour from the hospital. We dropped the kids off and headed to hospital. I didn't have a bag or anything - just me, Josh and a camera.
It was decided that Owen would be born that day since I had indeed "sprung a leak". They started to prep me for surgery and I was a bit dismayed that my anaesthesiologist was actually a new doctor, still in training. He would administer the spinal while an experienced doctor looked on to make sure he didn't screw up. Great.
While in the freezing cold O.R. they started to ATTEMPT my spinal. I promise you that they poked me at least six times and seemed to have me folded in half trying to help the student find the space he was looking for. It was very unpleasant and I was about to get snappy when he finally got it.
I felt so relieved to see Josh come in and the surgery went quickly and smoothly. Owen was born @ 2:25 in the afternoon weighing 8 pounds 11 ounces. The lovely on-call doctor held him up over the screen for me to see and... dripped blood and baby goo all in my eyes. So... I could not see anything and Josh got really grossed out. Thankfully, that anaesthesiologist-in-training cleaned me up so that I could see the baby. I guess he was okay after all.
The took us off to a recovery room and Owen nursed immediately. Looking back, I realize that should have been an omen - haha!
Owen is a great addition to our family. He is sweet and cranky and definitely controls the family a bit. He loves to nurse (his favorite activity), he loves being the baby, but is already very competitive with his older brother. He is one of those kids that demands to do it "his way". I really think his labor and delivery is even an example of this - he was trying to be different.
It has been an interesting year since Owen came along. It has not always been easy but all the work has been worth having our little man. I love you Owen - Happy Birthday!
