Recovery

After Avonlea was delivered, I stayed in surgery for another 25 minutes or so, while they literally put me back together again. I was aching to see Avonlea and to hold her. My arms were almost tingly with anticipation!

Nick had gone with the nurses and Avonlea to the nursery so she could be tested and warmed up in the warmer, and after I was stitched up I was wheeled into recovery.

One of the absolute weirdest things was the experience of being completely numb from the ribcage down, and watching them roll me over after the surgery was completed. I could see in my mind that I was moving, but it felt like I was seeing someone else, because there was no feeling associated with the movement. It was very surreal.

While I was laying there, I wondered if I would have an instant bond with her. I wondered if I would immediately love this little bundle of change. She had been brewing inside of me for 9 months, but I didn't know if I would feel like a mom right away.

Nick brought her into the recovery room with me, and I just fell in love with her instantaneously.

I worked on breastfeeding while we were in recovery. Avonlea actually latched on to one side! I was pretty excited. A long way to go, but definitely a good start!

We used this time in recovery to call and text friends and family about Avonlea's arrival. After my initial attempt at breastfeeding, my exhaustion caught up with me, and I found myself falling asleep, so I had Nick take Avonlea so she wouldn't fall. Until we got into our post-partum room, I didn't hold her again--she was all Nick's responsibility.

He took to it so quickly.

I had quite a bit of post-op bleeding, so I ended up staying in recovery much longer than the originally planned time. Each time they would start to wheel me out, I would blast out a big clot. The nurses ended up pressing on my abdomen quite a bit more than they normally would, just because every time they did it, quite a lot came out.  One time in particular, we thought it was done, and they started to wheel me out, and it was literally like my vagina vomited. Totally gross. And poor Nick, who was sitting down by my feet in this little space the whole time, saw the whole thing. I don't think he'll ever look at my lady bits the same ever again.

Oh--and thanks to whoever gave me the heads-up about the abdominal killer massages they give you post-op. They did a couple of press-downs in the operating room after they had stitched me up, but I couldn't feel them because of the anesthetic. But the ones that they did in the recovery room after removing my epidural?  Whoo boy. Pain. Thankfully, though, I anticipated it because someone let me know about it. Becky, my nurse, however, was still sad she had to deliver them because she "kept having to do it over and over."

After 2.5 or 3 hours, we left recovery and headed to our post-op room.  I was so glad to have my little girl at my side again.

It was a long morning for both of us.

After a brief nap, I had some dinner--broth, jello, and water...yummy!