Friday morning we got up very early, around 5:45. My bag was mostly packed, but I still had a million things to do. I had to shower, I’d learned that from experience. I had to double check that I had the baby book packed. I had to make sure the kitchen table was cleaned. You know, the sort of neurotic last minute details that really don’t matter a whole lot but they sure seem to at the time. I averted my eyes as Kile and Harry had a quick breakfast. I hadn’t eaten anything since 9:45 the night before (cinnamon toast) and I couldn’t even have a drink of water. We loaded the van up, put the dog in her kennel and pulled out around a quarter to 8:00am. We drove over to a friend’s house, a wonderful gal who offered to watch Harry for us until my parents arrived in town around noon. Harry was excited, she had a daugher his age, plus a younger girl and boy so he had plenty of kids to play with. We gave him a big, big hug and told him we’d see him later on. Next stop? The doctor’s office.

We got there right at 8:30am and they hooked me into the monitors for a NST. I was assured that they fully expected me to get my c-section that day. Since I hadn’t eaten or drank since last night, the chances of my fluid levels having gone up were slim to none and without anything to amp up the baby’s blood sugar, chances are the NST would show an “unresponsive” baby and perhaps a golden ticket to a c-section. I was monitored for 20 minutes and when the nurse came in and confirmed what we’d hoped, I felt a thrill of excitement. We were going to have an ultrasound to check the fluid levels, but my OB came in and said, “Good news! We’re on for a c-section at 12:30 today!” Woo hoo! It was about 9:30 by this point and they wanted us up in L&D at 10:30. We had a little time to kill, but not much. We walked over to the hospital. Quite a trek, even though it was all mostly indoors. We got there shortly before 10 and checked in at the desk in admitting. We still had some time to kill so we sat in the chairs in the lobby and watched “Regis and Kelly” which was on the TV. We saw an older lady come over with a preschool-aged boy and sit next to us. They were joined in a few minutes by a bunch of other people and it became apparent that these people were here to visit a new mom upstairs in Maternity. And the little boy was a brand new big brother, there to see his baby sister for the first time. The entire scene was just adorable and Kile and I were smiling to each other over it.

After killing some time in the gift shop, we went ahead upstairs. We checked in at Labor and Delivery and were shown to a room, 204. It was right next to the doors leading back to the operating rooms. We got settled in, I got undressed and robed up, and the nurse came in to administer my IV. I needed to suck down two bags of fluids prior to the surgery so best to get it going now. We watched television, made some phone calls and killed time. I asked Kile about getting my bag and the laptop. I wanted to be able to go on my blog and post about getting the c-section. I’d sent a rather brief and un-descriptive message through my cell phone earlier but I was wanting to expand on that. He wanted to wait until AFTER the c-section and I had a postpartum room. Bleh.

I was going to get my catheter (why were the nurses always calling it a foley?) in the OR after I got the spinal, but then I started to have pee real bad so I told the nurse she could just go ahead and do it then. She also gave me the shave treatment, which is always an enjoyable experience. Around 12pm, we heard a nurse down the hall call out, “209 is crashing!” Sounded pretty desperate and Kile and I exchanged a look. Pretty soon after, a bed came flying past our room and through the doors to the OR. Not long after, the nurse came in to tell us we’d been “bumped”. Understandably so! She said it might be 1 or 1:30. I didn’t mind waiting a little. A) I’d been in that poor woman’s shoes before and b) what was another half hour or hour? I’d been waiting this long… I was suddenly feeling very patient.

We called my parents and told them about the delay.? They were a little delayed getting into town anyhow, so it was all good.? The anesthesiologist, Dr. Kang, came in to introduce himself and go over some pre-op stuff.? He explained how the spinal would go and the timeline of the c-section.? Very nice guy, very cool. We also met our delivery nurse.? And you know what?? It was Joy.? The very same nurse we had before, during and after Jackson’s birth.? What are the chances?

Shortly after 1:30, Joy came into the room to tell us:? It’s time.? Kile got his “scrubs” on and I was helped out of bed to walk into the OR of my own volition.? This was it…? what we’d been waiting for so many years.? It all boiled down to this.? Excited?? Understatement.

To be continued…