I started feeling some discomfort then when she was manipulating everything, so the other anesthesiologist gave me a little Demerol. Soon Jon came walking over holding Katie in several blankets, and I got to see her even better. I held her hands, looked at her hair, and at one point asked him to bring her closer so I could smell her. She was still pretty covered in vernix, but she smelled like heaven. I just couldn't stop looking at her or touching her little hands! She had the longest fingers! I asked Jon at one point to give me the camera so I could take a picture of him holding her while I was still on the operating table. Everyone was surprised over that move!
By 1:30, they were done sewing me up, and I was headed for the recovery room. I was still lucid since I never had to have much of the goofy drugs. Jon was able to bring Katie along with us to the recovery room, where he and she stayed with me for about an hour. During that hour we got our first try at breastfeeding, and Katie gave it her best shot! She wouldn't take the right side but was a champ on the left. After that hour, Jon took Katie to the nursery so they could finish doing their things with her, and he went to make all of the phone calls. I dozed a little in the recovery room during the second hour in there, and then it was time to go to my room. Sandra told me that they were full and would have to put me in a suite for the time being, until someone else came in and wanted it. So, on our way to the room, Jon found us and we all continued to the room together. Once we got there, we found that the room had not even been cleaned, the bed was unmade, you name it. So, I played musical rooms while they tried to figure out what to do with me. They stuck me in a teeny tiny room, and it was so hot in there. There was enough room in there for the bed, a rollaway bed, a rocking chair, and not much else! No one knew whether I was in that room for good or if I would get the suite back after it was cleaned. I had them bring in an extra air conditioner, which was huge in that tiny room, and we waited to hear about the room situation. Finally the nurse came and told me that I could have the suite, but I would have to pay extra for it. That was no tough decision - in that little room at that time was Jeff, Michelle, all the kids, plus us...and my parents were on the way - it was a full house! There was not even room for the bassinet should they bring it in! So, I sent Jon down to secure the room and we waited. Soon Mom and Dad got there, and I got moved back to the suite. It was so nice, a little bigger than you'd imagine a regular room should be. There was a huge couch, recliner, rocking chair, the bathroom even had a Jacuzzi in it. I had them bring the portable air conditioner because I was still hot and sweating from the pain medication.
I was really not overwhelmed by the pain. The Demerol pump kept it pretty well under control. Soon they brought little Katie Bean in from the nursery after what seemed like forever. Everyone got a chance to hold her, and I was still sort of in disbelief that she was really ours to keep. Jon spent the night with me at the hospital that night and was a great help. The following night, Ari spent the night with me since Jon was meeting mom and dad Hart to drop off Alexa and Jacob for camp on Saturday. Ari was a really big help that night as well!
We kept on with the breastfeeding, assuming everything was going well. We had help from Michelle as well as the lactation consultants at the hospital. We found out last Friday that Katie has not been sucking correctly all along. We had gone to the hospital on Monday to take care of a few things, and stopped in to see the lactation consultant while we were there. She noticed that Katie was looking jaundiced. |
