C during a stroll to the park
Seems like yesterday that I was on hospital bed rest. D and I spent Thanksgiving, my birthday, Christmas and New Year's Eve at the hospital. Sometimes I think back to the times when D would push me around in the wheelchair to get fresh air and look at Newport Harbor or sit by the Christmas trees in the lobby. It was our last few moments together as a family of two.
Even though I may have gone a little crazy being stuck in a room for weeks, I definitely felt all the love from my family and friends. So many of you brought me tons of good food and magazines, played card games with me, and just kept me company. D did so much for me, too, and I am so grateful. Even after working a full day, he made sure to visit me every night and stay over on weekends. He even cleaned the house and made sure the nursery was all ready.
My due date was January 20, 2011, but the doctors wanted to deliver C sooner just in case I started bleeding again. First, a c-section was scheduled for December 28, 2011, but the doctors were concerned that C's lungs were not mature enough. So it was pushed to January 3, 2011. My husband and I had it all planned out. He was going to clean the house and cut his hair the weekend of New Year's. My parents were planning to visit on New Year's Day to have our traditional Japanese New Year's meal. Lo and behold, I wake up on New Year's Day at 7:30 AM and my water breaks! I wake up D, but he was still half asleep. I paged the nurses (who I got to know very well), and they were so excited. I wake up D again, and he starts packing up. The nurses have me sign some paperwork and stick an IV in me (she got it on the first try. Yay!). The surgeon and anesthesiologist then come in to tell me what's about to happen. I was wheeled into the OR at 9:00 AM and C was born at 9:46 a.m. D was by my side throughout the whole time. He was the first to see C and was even able to trim his umbilical cord. When he brought C over to me, a tear just flowed down my cheek. He was so beautiful! My heart just overflowed with so much love for him.
C at about a week old
The nurses wheeled me to recovery, and that was where we were given the "Golden Hour." The hospital has a policy to allow the parents and the new baby an hour of privacy to bond with the baby "skin to skin." Unfortunately, my hour was cut short when C's arm and leg kept turning blue. They immediately took him to the nursery for observation, and I was wheeled to my postpartum room.
Two hours later, they bring C into my room. The nurses weren't sure why his arm and leg turned blue, but he was now all pink. The next 4 days at the hospital was all about feeding and changing C, although he mostly slept for those 4 days. It was also about me recovering. All I say is that those pain medications helped immensely.
The delivery process was better than expected, especially since I did not have to experience labor pains. When D was driving us home as a family of three, it felt like I was breaking out of jail since the hospital was my home for 6 weeks.
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