The Big Day

January 18 ~

'Couldn't sleep last night. Checked my to-do list several times. Packed and unpacked the diaper bag. Added a couple more front-buttoned jammies in mine. (Note: Easier for breastfeeding). I felt like I was packing for a weekend trip out of town instead of preparing for a hospital admission. All I needed to do was toss in a swimsuit, and I was set. Not that any would fit me at this point. Pigging out on all those madelines and creamline chocolate milk had finally taken its toll. The sonogram taken last week showed that the baby was at LEAST 8.6 lbs. My due date's on Saturday but it also appeared that he wasn't in a hurry to go anywhere. He was stuck inside me like some chronic constipation. By the time the alarm went off at 6:30 AM, my eyes were shot and I was ready to crawl back into bed and curl up.

9:30 AM ~ P and I were ushered inside the pre-op room. Two things kinda freaked me out: The fact that everytime I asked a question, the nurse assigned to me would answer: "I'm gonna find out for you. It's my first day to work here" or "I'm sorry, I'm still on orientation". P gave her such a hard time that by the time she inserted my IV, her hands were visibly shaking. Just my luck. To add to the stress, when P noticed a few drops of blood dripping out of my heplock, he went bonkers. He started yelling: "She's bleeding! She's bleeding!". Poor thing - I had to help her hook up the line so she could just get out of that room ASAP.

Also, the med intern who was gathering all my medical information looked suspiciously younger than me! He was cute, though - so that was a plus factor.

P and I were relieved when my attending physician finally showed up.

11:30 AM ~ I was wheeled inside the OR for my CS. I looked around and noticed at least six nurses/doctors in scrubs. It all felt so surreal! I tried to reassure myself. Surely, this couldn't be worse than my first delivery. (Think bungled epidural, fundal push, forceps...)

Soon, all I could think about was how bitterly cold the room was and how I was freezing my bare ass off!

The anesthesiologist introduced himself to me, gave me an explanation of what was happening, what he was going to do, and the different positions that they were gonna put me in ~ all in one breath. Oookkkaaay... Bring it on!

Right after he administered the spinal anesthesia I found myself lying on my back, staring back at the bright lights. So this must how a lab specimen feels like. As one of the doctors behind the makeshift curtain remarked: "You don't have a single stretch mark! I'm jealous...", I heard a faint hissing sound.

I turned to P, stating matter-of-factly: "I could smell my flesh burning." I could swear he turned a shade paler.

12:40 PM ~ I felt a couple of heavy pressures on my chest and sure enough, the room was soon filled with the sound of a loud, angry wail.

A reluctant S.A.M. was plucked out of my womb ~ sucking his thumb.

Weighing a whopping 9.7 lbs (4.4 kilos), we later found out that he was the biggest baby in the nursery that week.