Anthony's Birth

We arrived at Iowa Methodist at 7:30am on Thursday, July 7th. The nurses immediately took us to our room and started the prep work. The baby's heartbeat was monitored, and I got my IV. It turns out I was having contractions, but I didn't even feel them! However, since I was a week over already, and the doctor thought the baby might be bigger, we proceeded with the c-section.

We went into surgery at 9:15am. Eric had to wait outside until I had the spinal block and was laying down and the doctor was ready to operate. I thought we were starting and Eric wasn't in the room yet. So I said, "Can my husband come in now?" It turns out they weren't quite ready yet, and they hadn't forgotten. I was told that Dr. Osborn is very quick and normally gets done in 20 minutes. Well, I threw a wrench into that. I had a lot of scar tissue from my last c-section. I guess I did too much, too early last time. So it took him longer to cut through the 7 layers. Then it turns out, which I didn't know until later, I lost 4 pints of blood. It was all over the floor. Eric happened to looked down and they were throwing towels everywhere. The staff did a good job of not freaking out, since I had no idea. I was told I was bleeding and would need an additonal medicine to help stop the bleeding. Once the doctor was ready to get the baby out, he did confirm it was indeed a large baby and it was going to take some effort to get it out. They had to push down and tug and pull. The doctor then announced it was a boy. I was really excited.

However, I did not hear Anthony crying yet. That is when I heard the doctor say there was merconium on him and in my amniotic fluid. He had a bowel movement prior to being born. The nurses said he had fluid in his lungs and they were working on him. Finally, after what seemed like forever, a very raspy noise came out of Anthony. At that point they called the NICU, and asked for a doctor to come down and they put Anthony on oxygen. Eric kept going back and forth between me and the baby.

By the time the NICU doctor arrived Anthony was crying full boar. I was still getting sewed up, and had not seen him yet. They said they wanted to monitor him, but Eric would stay with him. Right when I was getting wheeled out of surgery the nurse lifted him up so I could at least see him for the first time. He was wailing, which was the best sound I could have asked for at that point. My first thought was, he looks just like Chase did when he was born.

I was taken back to my room and post-op procedures were done. I was feeling so out of it. The medicine they gave me to stop the bleeding really did a number on me. I remember talking to people, yet it all seems foggy. The worst part was not knowing what was happening with Anthony. Finally at 11:15, and hour and a half later they wheeled him in. The doctor came in and said, that his lungs were clear, he had 100% oxygen in his blood and all was well. The good news was answer to prayer! I finally got to meet "watermelon." We had called the baby that for several months, thanks to Chase, and it was weird to put a name and face on him.

Once Chase found out he had a brother, he asked if we could name him Emily. For the next three days Chase would say, "I love her." I guess he rally wanted a sister!