We were told to get to the hospital at around 6:30. We actually got there at 6:45 AM. After that, they checked me and walked me upstairs to my room. On the third PAINFUL try, the nurses finally got my IV in. I despise IV's, because it always takes several tries, and it is so very painful. According to everyone, my veins look great, but blow/burst almost immediately. That was one of the worse parts of the whole thing. I was crying and squeezing poor Ryan's hand while they were working on it. Moving on, after that, they got me hooked up to more monitors and machines. They also did one final ultrasound to make sure she was still breech. I met with the anesthesiologist (sp?), my nurse practitioner, other nurses and OB to go over final details before surgery. Ryan got changed into scrubs, complete with a hair net and face mask. I had a hair net to put on as well (hot!!). I had a "shot" of some sort of nasty anti-nausea liquid to take beforehand. It was pretty gross! At about 8:30 on the dot, they wheeled me into the operating room. Ryan kissed me a temporary goodbye and told me not to worry. I cried a little bit on the very short way there. I was beyond nervous and scared. I got off of my bed, walked over to the operating bed and was told to sit on the edge of it to prepare for my spinal. I was really complimented on my posture! You are supposed to have really bad posture and hunch your back in a certain way in order to receive it, and I was having a hard time getting into the proper position. The first shot did sting quite a bit, and the second one was quite uncomfortable. After the 2nd one, the anesthesiologist told them to hurry up and get me laid down. He was right! Almost immediately, I went numb from my chest down. It felt so weird!! I kept trying to wiggle my toes with all of my might, but they just wouldn't move. Obviously, I know that's the whole point, but it was still pretty amazing to me. They did all kinds of tests to make sure I couldn't feel any pain or anything afterwards.
It was all happening pretty fast. They put the sheet up to block my view of everything. I did kind of want to see. I think it's cool/interesting. Pretty soon, though, I started feeling really sick. I told them I was getting really nauseous, so they put some stuff in my IV. It was supposed to work right away, but I ended up throwing up anyway. That was miserable. Have you ever tried puking while your body from the chest down was numb? It's hard! Since I couldn't really use my abdominal muscles or anything, a lot of it was dry heaving, but the lucky guy who was assisting with anesthesia did get to suction up some goodies from me (gross). Ryan came in shortly after that and sat up by my head on the right side. Then, they said they were going to get started.
During the actual surgery, I really couldn't feel much of anything. The pressure I felt wasn't bad at all. Pretty quickly, we heard some cries and Aliyah Caylie Pottorff was born at 8:52AM. Dr. Haller brought her over to my right side to show us. She was quite purple and looked just like Rylie did when she was born. Of course, I started getting teary eyed again after I saw her. Ryan had out the video camera, and I told him that I was okay and that he could go follow her. They took her across the room, where I couldn't see, and got her cleaned up.Then, they took her down to the nursery to get her measurements and everything. One of the first things they said about her was , "Oh, she's tiny!". Ryan came back with Aliyah after a little bit, and I got to see her up close. One of my first thoughts after seeing her was that she looked so beautiful and looked so much like Rylie when she was born. Ryan and Aliyah left again soon after. They finished stitching me up, transferred me over to the bed I was in previously and wheeled me back to my room for recovery. When I got back there, it was 9:25AM. Less than an hour!
Shortly after, I finally got to hold the little girl who I carried for 38 weeks and 6 days, 13 1/2 of which was on bed rest at home. This was a pretty difficult pregnancy, so it was nice to be able to have my reward for everything. I nursed her for awhile, which she did amazing with, and really enjoyed my time with her before we started welcoming visitors. I got wheeled down to a postpartum room at around 10:30 (had to spend an hour in recovery). After I got there, the plan was to just have Rylie come in our room and spend time as a family of 4 for a little while before we had anyone else come in, but that didn't work out as planned. We actually weren't alone as a family of 4 for the first time until Saturday afternoon/evening! That's alright, though :) We were very thankful for our wonderful visitors. Ryan's parents kept Rylie for us during most of the day on Friday and Saturday (thanks!). Ryan did go home at night with her, so she could still sleep at home with one of her parents.They were there with Rylie and were the first ones to greet Aliyah. Next, my brother, Matthew, and his girlfriend, Brooke, got there early Friday afternoon. They are just the sweetest people, and our girls are so lucky to have them in their lives. They are in love with Rylie and spoil her so much with gifts, but mostly with a lot of love and attention. I love them both so much and really wish they lived closer to us! Matthew and I are very, very close, and I'm getting a lot closer with Brooke, so I get pretty emotional when I talk about them (hence, the gushing and mushiness towards them). And, the postpartum hormones/emotions don't exactly help with things, LOL
We also had Ryan's sister, Jeanne, come up and visit with her son, Parker. They are wonderful, too! We also had Ryan's grandma, Mary, and aunt Moe stop by. They gave us the cutest Dora outfit and summer outfit for the girls. My grandma Lola and grandpa Eldon came by, as well. They brought Rylie some super cute "big sister" gifts and of course, cute outfits and gifts for Aliyah! Our girls definitely get spoiled by some loved ones :)
Our hospital stay was really short! We were discharged Sunday morning. We were expecting a 72 hour stay, but I guess they only do a 48 hour one there. My recovery, although quite painful, has been going pretty well. They had me get up 12 hours after surgery and walk to the bathroom and back. It was hard, but it wasn't as bad as I expected. I got up again the next day and walked around a few times (5 or 6) around the hospital floor I was on. I'm still in quite a bit of pain, but it's not as bad as I thought. And, my incision isn't as mean or ugly as I thought it would be, so that's a plus. Aliyah is doing very well. She nurses like a champ and sleeps pretty well at night. I feed her at around 11, again at around 2 or 3, then again at 7:30 or 8. Compared to Rylie, Aliyah is awesome in the sleep dept! She sleeps more than Rylie does NOW. She weighed 5lb 1 oz when we were discharged from the hospital. Today, we had a home visit from a nurse from St. Anthony's. She weighed 5lb 3oz, so she's gaining some back now. She does have jaundice, but her levels were around 15, so it's not too bad as of right now. We take her for her first Dr appt later on this week.
Rylie - 18 months
Aliyah - First Day :)
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