Then, a week before my due date I was diagnosed with preeclampsia. My midwives had to break the news that we would have to go to the hospital for the birth and that I was being induced on my due date. I did some crazy heavy grieving that weekend. And then, we regrouped, replanned, and got ready.
I went into the hospital and was induced at 3 in the morning on Wednesday, February 25. I had Oliver via Cesarean on Saturday, February 28 at 10 pm. Yup, a long ride of Pitocin, epidural, etc. Not at all what we planned, but gentle (I know, oxymoron), unrushed, and caaaaalm. Oliver and I were both calm and it was all good. Of course, he was non-responsive at first and they rushed him off to NICU for two days. That was when I lost my cool. It was NOT fun.
Thankfully, the nurses at the hospital were fabulous and after my two hours of recovery, those fantastic ladies wheeled my bed-gurney into the NICU. They moved furniture so that I could see my sweet baby and I got to hold him right away. Two days later I got to nurse him for the first time and on Tuesday, we got him all to ourselves in the room. I finally put a do-not-disturb on the door so that we could all be alone.
And then, on Wednesday, a whole week after we went into the hospital, we took our little, tiny, sweet baby home. It was the beginning of what has been an amazing, challenging, completely unhinging two years.
Now, I'm pregnant again, and it's different this time. Come back next time and we'll talk about some of those differences.
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