That morning started at about 6:00 A.M. I had woken up at that time to get a big glass of water and a bagel since I had to fast before my surgery at 4:30 P.M. I understand why I had to fast for the procedure but you try being that pregnant and not being able to eat or even have a drink of anything. It wasn't pretty. Though because I was so preoccupied, it really didn't seem that bad. After my crack of dawn bagel, I did go back to sleep. We decided not to pack the night before so I could have tasks to do to take my mind off of food and water. So the day started off with packing bags and gathering last minute items before heading off at 2:00 for the hospital.
At 2:00, with Josh's parents in tow, we headed for Winnie Palmer Hospital. We registered and waited in the lobby for the call up. It came rather quickly and the butterflies in my stomach started to go crazy. I went up to the C-Section room and changed into a hospital gown. With a wonderful nurse, Diane, I got set up with an IV and waited for my epidural. Being a complete wuss when it comes to needles, I was not looking forward to the epidural. Josh was by my side and being the rock that he has been so far, I was not disappointed. He held my hand and kept my mind off of my impending surgery.
The anesthesiologist, Todd, came in and pulled the curtain closed. Diane made sure that I was in the right position for my epidural and Josh held my hand. I received a local shot to numb up the area and felt a sting for all of three seconds. Then Todd put in the epidural and I felt just a weird, cold sensation. That was it! I was just totally shocked that it wasn't worse. Well, I was drugged up and ready to go when Diane came in and said it was going to be another couple of hours. An emergency had come in and I was going to have to wait. But I was warm and laying down so I couldn't complain...But the anticipation was killing me!!! Josh went off to tell his parents that there was a 2 hour delay and I called my parents to relay the same message. Of course my mom was a little emotional because she thought that something was wrong.
Well the two hours went by very quickly and the anesthesiologist came by to up my medication so we can start the surgery. After a few minutes, I was wheeled back to the surgery room and was ready to go. Lights were on, my doctor was getting ready to go. The weirdest thing was that I knew I had to be on the operating table with my nether regions exposed but because I was completely numb, I wasn't really aware of it. Not to mention, I had some great drugs so I wasn't to concerned about it anyways. I thought I would be a little self conscious of the fact that there were 7 strangers in a room and I had no clothes on but I really didn't care. The anesthesiologist told me that he was pinching me and to let him know if I could feel it. When I said no, he asked "Are you sure? I am pinching you very hard." I just simply replied "If you say so!"
Within minutes, Josh was sitting next to me talking to me while I only felt pulling and tugging. But thankfully, that was all I felt. The doctor had told everyone in the room that we did not find out the sex of the baby. So she was going to have Josh stand up when she takes the baby out and he will announce to everyone if the baby was a boy or girl. So after a few more moments, the doctor announced that Josh should stand up and tell everyone if we had a boy or a girl. Josh stood up and peered over the counter but instead of announcing, he was stuttering "It is...it is..it is." I said "Joshua, what is it?!?!" but he kept stuttering. Finally, the doctor announces in an almost annoyed voice (she had been holding the baby waiting for Josh and wanted to complete the procedure) "IT'S A GIRL!".
Josh went over to the table where she was getting cleaned up. I heard her soft crying and started crying myself. We had been leaning towards the name Abigail Rose but wanted to see her first before we were set on it. I hollered over to Josh if she looked like an Abigail and Josh said yes. So it was set. We had our baby girl, Abigail Rose.
Josh then accompanied Abigail Rose to the nursery to get tested out to make sure she was healthy and thankfully, she was perfect. I remained in the operating room (like I had a choice) and finished up. I was wheeled to the recovery room where I made phone calls to the new grandparents, great grandparents, uncle, and friends. I was comfortable and with Abby out of my ribs, I was breathing a lot easier too.
We laugh about Josh's stuttering to this day and will always remember it. Apparently when he stood up, he was not sure of what to expect. Because of all my hormones transferring to the baby, her girl parts were swollen. Josh was convinced that her swollen girl parts was a scrotum...but there was no penis. And rightfully so! She was definitely a girl!
The one thing I will always remember from that day was once she was out and we had our Abigail, I just couldn't stop smiling. We had our baby girl.
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