The DeLaO Expansion Packs

Fortunately, I don't have to preface this blog entry with a disclaimer that it is going to be very graphic like I did for labor day #1. If you want to know more about that experience you can read about it here.What was neat about this labor day was that for one, it was scheduled, so we didn't have to play the guessing game on whether I was going into labor or not. Secondly, because it was a C-section, I was guaranteed that I was not going to have the terrible incontinence that was brought about by a vaginal delivery. So there's that.

Thankfully, at my 36 week and 38 week appointments there was no cervical dilation so there was no worry that I would go into labor before the c-section appointment on week 39 so everything went as planned. Madeline gladly took care of Lily on Saturday 3/21 while we went to the hospital and got ready for delivery.

I was nervous being in the operating room and the anesthesia made me feel all kinds of funny but the anesthesiologist was awesome and was very receptive to my needs. Ed was called in after I was lying on the operating table and before you know it it was all done. I felt lots of tugging and I smelled a lot of burning skin throughout the entire process.

So our new member of the DeLaO clan, Hudson Damian DeLaO, arrived at 11:46 am. He weighed 8 lbs 6 oz and was 21 inches long. Before delivery during check-in, we had asked the nurse if she could find out what Lily's APGAR score was (For those who don't know what this is, it is a method to quickly summarize the health of newborn children. You can find more info here). So her scores were 9 and 9. We had mentioned our search for the APGAR score to the anesthesiologist so he was kind enough to get his scores for us. His scores were 7 and 9.

This was definitely a different experience from Lily's delivery. I think the only negative was that every time a nurse came in for a new shift and read in my chart that I had an elected c-section, I felt the eyes of judgement and had to explain myself every time telling them that with the first delivery I had severe incontinence. It kinda sucked.

As far as how I felt recovering, I felt a horrible pain in my chest due to the CO2 they pump in to get the baby out as well as a burning sensation where then opened me up to get him out. I stayed on top of my pain meds so I didn't feel too uncomfortable and was walking by the end of that day. I was not even able to start walking after Lily's delivery so right away I saw a vast improvement.

Two additional procedures that we did not experience with Lily were a circumcision and a frenulectomy (tongue-tie surgery) for Hudson. Poor buddy!

Just one thing that makes me sad about this is that Karla is not here to see her fourth grandkid. Kinda bummed thinking about it.

Well second trimester seemed to be a breeze and I felt great. No nausea, no heartburn, no indigestion, great appetite. It was great, that is, until third trimester rolled around. I was really hoping that I could be as active as I was while pregnant with Lily but that wasn't the case. I felt so tired and had no energy. As I got bigger it got harder to walk, my sciatic nerve was giving me a tough time, my back was in constant pain and I was mega waddling. I didn't get puffy ankles or feet with this pregnancy like I did with Lily. Needless to say, I did not work until the end. The doctor was kind enough to give me the choice of leaving work at week 36 but my dumb ass requested week 37 (3/6) because I wanted to finish up the unit we were on to give the class to the sub on a clean slate, so to speak. Thankfully I was able to relax (as much as a pregnant woman could), and nest, for a couple weeks before the boy came along.

I was blessed with great friends both at work and outside of work by receiving two baby showers. One a few days before I stopped working and the other the weekend after my last day of work. The DeLaOs felt the love of so many wonderful people loving our son even before he was here. I thank all of you for such great gestures and amazing hearts!