Monday, August 28, 2017

Calvin Walter

Henry came 9 days late. Calvin came 9 days early. I have two children now! This is Calvin's story.
        
Calvin's cesarean section was scheduled for 9:30 am on a Thursday. It actually started at 11:20. It was so easy. The only scary part was the dip in my blood pressure following the spinal block. I was laying on the table as they prepped me for surgery, and I can't describe how it felt except for what I told the anesthetist: "I feel like my body wants to fall asleep but I don't want to!" (James says that's what it feels like to pass out, but I've never passed out and never felt that before. For a few minutes I thought I might not wake up if I fell asleep.) The nurse calmed me down and told me that if I fell asleep it was okay, they'd monitor my vitals and make sure I was alive and breathing. They gave me medicine, my blood pressure sorted itself out, and I felt just fine.

James has done some rotations where he's seen c-sections, so it was fun for him to watch over the curtain and tell me exactly what was happening. Just a few minutes later, with lots of pressure pushing on my belly, they pulled Calvin out! "Woah, he's a big one!" said the doctor. There was no pain, but boy oh boy, I could feel every little jostle! Then came my favorite moment: Calvin's first cry. It's magical. It's spiritual. It is unlike anything else in this whole world.  I couldn't see him, but suddenly his whole presence filled that room. Another soul had joined us. This boy I hadn't met but had yet known so well for all these months was among us. I cannot even describe it, but I hope everybody gets to experience that first cry of a new soul, with the veil so thin, at some point in their life. He cried and coughed and cried and then they brought him around to see us. They let me touch his face and look at him for a while before James carried him down to the nursery. Born at 11:26 am, Calvin was 22 inches long and weighed 9 lbs 5.1 oz. I was expecting a much smaller baby. The estimates had put him at about 8 lbs even. Imagine his weight if he hadn't been 9 days early!

While they started stitching me up, a lifelong dream of mine was fulfilled: I got to see the placenta! I realize that this isn't everyone's lifelong dream, but I hadn't seen one in real life before, and so I asked them to bring mine over so I could see. It was worth it.

I knew they'd sedate me a little while they finished stitching me up, and it had been one of the biggest fears I'd had when anticipating the surgery. I have always had anxiety in my life, and the weeks leading up to the cesarean were very (often almost paralyzingly) scary for me. The night before Calvin came, James gave me a wonderful blessing that brought me so much peace. This helped me for the whole procedure, and so at that moment I was no longer afraid I wouldn't wake up.

And the rest was easy. I woke up and we got to my room before the pediatrician was even done doing the preliminary exam of the baby! Then the baby came in. We'd planned on either Walter or Calvin for his first name, and we settled on Calvin with Walter as his middle name. He was beautiful! Nothing was wrong. All was well.

He had some issues at first - jaundice and low blood sugar. We had experience with low blood sugar, but it got pretty extreme with Calvin. We could not wake him up enough to nurse, and the supplemental sugar water and formula weren't cutting it. Finally, with threats of an IV looming on the horizon, he got enough of something or other to help raise his blood sugar. The jaundice was a different story. We had to put him under bilirubin lights for two days and he eventually required an IV anyway because the lights weren't helping enough. We stayed in the hospital an extra day for his jaundice. They even thought we'd have to stay another additional day, but we were surprised and delighted when they let us go home!

My own recovery was unexpectedly fast. I'm still recovering some (no marathons or mountain climbing for a few more weeks at least!) but overall I feel wonderful. Nursing has been surprisingly difficult, but I think we're starting to sort it out. Calvin has Henry in the palm of his hand. We are a happy little family!


1 week

3 weeks old, playing with the webcam on the computer
2 weeks old. My three boys!
Mom and both sons squashed-in-the-back-seat selfie. I love Henry's face here!

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