We arrived at the hospital at 8am after dropping Indie to my dad's house on the way. It was the first time I'd been away from Indie for more than a few hours, let alone overnight so I was a little anxious about how she'd manage but I knew she was in safe hands. Upon arriving at the hospital we found out we were on the theatre list for the morning, so I was gowned up and Kieran was given his scrubs and we were told to wait in a room.
It was a strange feeling really. Even though I'd had a Caesarean before, Indies birth was an emergency so most of the formalities were skipped. I only really remember going from the delivery room to theatre within a matter of minutes and it' seems all blurry and clouded with the panic. With Harrys birth it was all totally different. Before going down to theatre I met the anaesthetist who was to give me my spinal, the ladies who would weigh and check Harry immediately after birth and even the surgeon who would deliver him. The surgeon had the most friendliest of faces, he seemed very confident & totally put me at ease. His chirpiness that morning certainly put Kieran and I in a much better mood and cheered us up whilst waiting. I remember when he left the room Kieran started giggling at how enthusiastic the surgeon was about cutting open his wife. Anything to lighten our mood was welcomed as the 2 hour wait dragged. In comparison, I know that the surgeons name who delivered Indie was Mohammed, but that's only because I read my notes afterwards. I don't even recall anyones face aside from Kierans and the anaesthetist from that day.
Anyway, back to Harry's birth story. We waited in the room for about 2 hours and were called down shortly after 10am. The walk down was the only time I felt nervous about the Cesarean. I'd been excited all morning and felt really impatient to meet our little man but on the way down to theatre I became nervous of the Spinal needle. Again, I didn't remember it last time so didn't know what to expect. We walked into theatre and I instantly recognised one half of the room, the side I'd been facing when Indie was born. How crazy, both of them were born in exactly the same hospital, in the same room.
The anaesthetist then sat me on the bed hunched over and gave me the local anaesthetic to get ready for the spinal. The atmosphere was calm and friendly and even though I was petrified of the needle that was about to be put into my spine, all of the staff were chatting away and talking about Indie which totally took my mind off it. I remember thinking the theatre felt quite chilly, then I suppose I was only in a gown. The anaesthetist talked me through the Spinal and told me to shout if I felt any sharp pains (that weren't the needle). The needle going in felt like a very uncomfortable pressure in my spine and made it quite achey in that area. At one point she pushed a little and it shot a very sharp pain down my leg. She apologised and 'adjusted the needles positioning' because she said she briefly caught a nerve. To this day I get a very achey spine in the exact area that the needle went in and I'm a bit restricted when arching my back backwards, but it's a small price to pay for giving birth to a healthy baby.
Shortly after I went totally numb from the waist down and was laid into position. They began and my blood pressure dropped dangerously low so they waited for a few minutes whilst they stabilised it with drugs. I was told this was a fairly common reaction to one of the drugs that was given to me via the IV. They kept asking me if I was ok and I explained I felt very drunk and 'slow'. I didn't realise they kept asking me because my blood pressure went so low that I turnt grey and all the colour left my skin. Kieran said my lips went white and I looked quite bad. It sounds silly but even though I had this happen with my blood pressure and the needle slip up, it really didn't effect how much of a positive experience Harry's birth was for me. The next part, I will remember forever.
After previously speaking with the theatre staff whilst I had the Spinal about how I felt I had missed Indies birth and the first few days whilst she was in Intensive Care, they gave me the opportunity to have the screen down. I didn't even hesitate.
At 10:37am, the anaesthetist pulled the screen away and I got to see the moment that Harry was born. He was a little stuck so they used forceps at first, but to look down and see my baby boy take his first breathe was one of the most amazing things I've ever witnessed. Once born, he was taken to be weighed and checked over by the lovely ladies that I had met earlier. He had an amazing set of lungs on him and cried so loud! It was lovely to hear because Indie stopped breathing when she was born so it was really reassuring, albeit somewhat ear-piercing.
After a few minutes he was passed to me wrapped up in a blanket and I got to hold him right to my face whilst they finished the procedure. The whole experience was amazing and I was so pleased to be wheeled into recovery with my 8lb 11oz baby boy.
