Birth Story

Ben and I arrived at Ireland Community Hospital in Fort Knox, KY around 5:45am for my scheduled c-section. After unpacking and getting changed into my gown, I was then hooked up to monitors for about an hour while we waited for Surgery to come get me. In the mean time we filled out paperwork and listened to Sean's heart beating on the monitor. He was pretty active the whole time.

At 7:00am the Surgery department came for me and the nerves started to kick in. I was just anxious about what was going to happen. I didn't have time to think about it last time as everything was rushed with Jace and I was so drugged. Ben was whisked off to get changed and I was taken to pre-op for my IV and yummy stuff to drink. After the nurse talked to me with Ben by my side, my emotions just ran rapid. I teared up at everything. After one last kiss, it was off to the OR. They made some adjustments to the table and then it was time for the spinal. I jumped with the pokes, but overall it wasn't too bad. Soon the warm, heavy sensation started down my legs. After a few minutes I became very flushed and requested a cool wash cloth, while they were prompt to give me one, it was hot. My anesthesia person was awesome. Every time I felt sick he was quick to adjust my medicine.

Soon everything was set up and Ben was brought in. I heard them announce the first incision being made at 7:59am. Ben and I could smell my skin burning from being cauterized. I didn't feel any pain, just pressure and some touching on my upper abdomen. The pressure when they pushed Sean out was the worse. Ben wasn't allowed to watch like he was with Jace, but he kept reassuring me that I was doing great and that he loved me. After a long 14 minutes, Sean was born at 8:13am. Ben got to see him being delivered. When I heard those cries I just lost it. I couldn't believe I had just had another baby. Dr. Williams said he was a chomper as he was biting on her fingers with good force. I just said "Oh my poor nipples!" He came out fighting and screamed the whole time he was being checked out. I could partially see him if I strained my neck. Ben brought him over for me to see before they left for the nursery. He didn't look like his brother.

It took them another 45 minutes to sew me back up. Dr. Williams said I had quite a bit of scar tissue on my bladder, but she was able to take care of it. And she made my "crooked smile" from my last c-section a little straighter too! I did have a moment where I got pretty close to throwing up. The Dr did something to adjust my blood pressure when they tilted the table slightly and it threw my body off. But after about 5 minutes I was able to relax again. After they removed the blue curtain I could see the reflection of my incision in the light above. It was weird to see but not really feel it. I was then taken to recovery for about 45 minutes. I was told there that my heart had been skipping a few beats while in surgery. But they were pretty sure it was from the anesthesia as I haven't ever had that problem before that I was aware of.

After a bumpy ride back to my room, I finally got to meet our new son. Daddy was sitting in the corner holding him while they waited patiently for my return. After the nurses were down with me, we decided it was time to decide on a name for him. But I was soon given a nice shot of Demerol and was totally out of it. So we had to hold off. I don't know what time we decided, but it was a couple of hours later. The rest of my stay was pretty uneventful. It seemed like someone was in my room every hour, so it was hard to rest. Jace and my parents came to see us at 6:00pm. Jace was a little curious, but stuck with Ben for the most part. He didn't want to hold him or anything. It wasn't until the next night that he held him briefly. We left the hospital 12/13 in the afternoon.

Sean Olen was born 12/11/07 at 8:13am weighing 7lbs 6ozs and 18.5" long. His agar scores were 8 and 9.

Here is my last belly shot at 38 weeks 2 days: