We had to be at the hospital at 9 am Tuesday morning and the c-section was scheduled for Noon, but an emergency c-section had to be performed on another patient, so our time got pushed back. Most of the morning was spent waiting around, and everything went smoothly except for one little "we're going to pick on him about this forever" moment that is best described with the following pictures:
SEE MATT READY FOR THE OPERATING ROOM.
SEE JOHN HAYDEN BEING BORN.
SEE MATT ON THE FLOOR.
Yep, Matt blacked out/passed out while John Hayden was being cleaned up. He didn't actually see anything that would have caused him to pass out (someone else took the above birth photo for us). He blacked out because he hadn't eaten that much that morning, the surgical gown he had on was really thick and hot, and then he had the face mask on as well which didn't help. He was sitting there beside me and all of a sudden said, "I don't feel so good." (My thoughts: "Are you kidding me? Great!") And then he said it again, and someone grabbed him to make sure he didn't fall and to move him to a regular chair (he was sitting on a stool) and when they tried to help him stand up, his legs buckled and so they just laid him down on the floor and took off his mask. He says he was out for about 30 seconds, although he looked normal and had his eyes open the whole time. The OR staff said they could tell he was out from the look in his eyes, though. Pretty much as soon as they got him on the floor, though, he was alert and one of the nurses gave him some orange juice and they gave him some oxygen. (As soon as they broke out the oxygen, my thoughts were: "Is that going to cost me extra?") A nurse had the camera at this point and knowing that he was okay, she started taking pictures so we could preserve this moment. He definitely added some extra excitement to an otherwise routine c-section (aside from the obvious excitement of meeting John Hayden). :)
And now, here is the little man! This is a close-up of the first time I held him. Isn't he a cutie?
1) He's like a little teenage boy: he eats A LOT, and burps and passes gas just as loudly as them! :)
2) He hated being naked/diaper changes at first, but now he doesn't scream through those as much. (Sometimes he still gets upset when you undress him, though.)
3) He LOVES being swaddled. Juliette hated it and wanted her arms free. He loves it, but I only swaddle him at night since he had his days and nights mixed up at first and sleeps so soundly when swaddled.
4) Although he loves to eat all the time during the day, he goes 3-4 hours at night between feedings and sleeps soundly. I'm able to get about 6-7 hours of sleep a night, so things are going well and I don't feel too sleep-deprived.
5) He LOVES having his hair washed if you hold him over the sink to do it. He isn't very fond of actual baths yet.
6) Speaking of his hair, he actually has quite a bit of hair and it's reddish blond. You should see it in the sunlight! It looks more brownish red on top and blond on the sides when you are inside, but we had his newborn photo shoot last week and the photographer was set up in the sunniest place in the apartment and when she showed me a couple of the pictures on her camera, you could see the red. We're quite curious to see if it changes color and/or falls out and he becomes a bald baby like Juliette was.
And, to answer two other questions that everyone asks:
What does Juliette think of him? She loves to hold him and tells me everyday how adorable she thinks he is. When we first came home, she pretty much sat by me on the couch the whole time she was home and asked to hold him every 10 minutes, but she's gotten back into her normal routine of playing in her room and doesn't ask to hold him as much since he doesn't really do anything. I know she is going to love it when he can interact with her and actually play!
How am I doing? I feel good now. The first week or so after a c-section is always rough, but I'm happy to be past that time and back to being able to drive, lift John Hayden in his carseat, and stand up or sit up in bed without pain! My incision area is still a little tender, but for the most part, I'm back to normal. (Except for the fact that I have almost 10 lbs. left to lose and can't fit into my pre-pregnancy jeans yet!)
If you were waiting for this blog post, sorry it took so long. This kid does not like to sleep during the day. He only cat naps for about 30 minutes at a time about a handful of times a day, so it's hard to do any extra things beyond taking a shower, washing bottles, doing laundry, etc. Matt is officially at home full-time, though, for the month of December (he's done with school for the semester), so this month should be much easier to get things done, although I'm not looking forward to having to share the remote! :)
Check back next week for 1 Month pictures and an update. I'm going to do updates on him every month.
