Part 1: The Electric Slide and Hungry Monkeys

This is a two-part blog. Don’t miss out on part 2,”Blue Sparkly Poop”!

The Electric Slide
On Monday, December 28, 2009 at 8:36 AM, we welcomed our sweet little girl into the world, Lillian Reese. The morning started at 4:45 when we got up to shower and load up the car with all of our things for a 4 day stay at the hospital. We arrived at 6:30 sharp and sat in the waiting room with the two other preggo couples until 7:10. I was taken into a triage room, began preparation for surgery, and met my anesthesiologist whose lively personality kept me from hyperventilating. Was I nervous about the surgery? Absolutely not. I was ridiculously nervous about the IV, catheter, and spinal block. Thankfully, the Lord kept me calm with “do not be anxious about anything” which I repeated in my head over and over and over again all morning long. At 8:15, the L&D nurse wheeled me into the OR and Brent stayed in the hallway to get scrubbed in. I met what seemed like a thousand nurses who would be operating on me and tried but lost count of all the sterile knives, scissors and whatnot that they would be using. I grabbed the nurse directly in front of me and said, “I’m a baby, will you please hold my hand while I get the spinal?” She gladly did so. The spinal felt like a lot of bees stinging me for 5 seconds…just as the anesthesiologist explained. Then, aaahhh…I was so relaxed. Thankfully, my wise mother told me to request the catheter after the spinal so I wouldn’t feel it. My OB came in and the surgery began, but I didn’t know it! When Brent was allowed in the room, I thought that the surgery would begin then. Little did I know, I was already cut open and they were tugging on Lily by the time he walked in. I had been in the OR roughly 16 minutes and out came our little Lily; 6 lbs, 11 oz, 19 inches long. I said hello to my little girl for the first time, gave her a kiss, and out she went with Daddy to take her first bath. I got some sleep meds and off to Lala Land I went for the next 2 hours while they sowed me up and I hung out in a recovery room next to a girl that kept vomiting and couldn’t be convinced that she had already had surgery (she was upset because she couldn’t find her baby, who was already born and in the nursery with little Lily). Around 10:30 I was greeted in my room by about 20 family members, Lily being the one I was most excited to see. And the day continued with many more coming to see that precious bundle of joy…

Previous to this day, I had been told by numerous people that a c-section is not ideal, recovery is rough, and that I needed to get up and move as soon as the nurses would let me. Only one of those things is true…getting up to move ASAP. I LOVED the surgery because I was so relaxed and never felt any labor pains (the surgery was planned). Recovery was not rough. I was moving around on my own in less than 48 hours. I think my surgery/recovery is not typical, however. Here’s why, at least why I think so, the Electric Slide. The night of the surgery, I was still hooked up to an IV, catheter, and pain pump. The nurse told me that the next morning I would be unhooked from everything and then I could try to stand up and walk. No ma’am, this girl was not waiting that long! So, the nurse suggested I start by dangling my feet over the bed. Nearly 8 minutes later, once I finally got the bed positioned just right and figured out how to best use the help of Brent and the nurse, my feet were dangling. I did feel some extreme pain, but only if I sat a certain way…I learned REAL quick how to sit comfortably! I dangled for about 5 minutes, then laid back down. A few hours later I decided I wanted to take it a step further. I dangled my feet again, then stood up with LOTS of help from Brent and the nurse. Yea! I stood for probably 5 minutes and sat back down. The nurse left the room and a few minutes later I decided I wanted to take a few steps. Brent helped me get back on my feet and we did the Electric Slide alongside my bed. I couldn’t go far since I was still hooked up to the IVs. I think the Electric Slide was the dance move that changed the course of my recovery, at least I like to think it was! By Tuesday night, I was getting myself in and out of the bed and walking up and down the hallways. My advice on a c-section: if you are given the option and insurance will cover it, GO FOR IT! But make sure you do the Electric Slide within 24 hours of surgery, it makes all the difference in the world!

Hungry Monkeys
On Tuesday night, the nurse gave me half a dose of Ambien to ensure that I was well rested through the night. She told me to go right to sleep as soon as I took it to avoid any hallucinations. I followed orders and gladly shut my eyes. A few hours later, I think my internal alarm clock woke me up because it was close to feeding time. Here’s a snapshot of me on half a dose of Ambien (I don’t want to know what a whole dose would do!):

– I told Brent to go to Publix, the blue jackets were on sale for $10 and I was cold.
– I asked Brent if we were going swimming after I fed Lily. I guess I forgot that I was cold.
– I assured Brent that Phil (my best friend’s dad, in real life) was going to fix the fireplace in our hallway, across from my brother’s bedroom. Apparently Phil messed up and put a natural log fireplace in instead of a gas fireplace. But no worries, he was fixing it.
– I looked down and literally saw a little monkey with a red hat in my arms. Yes, I was nursing a monkey.
– I heard Lily’s cry coming down the hall (which was really happening, it really was feeding time) and I told all the little monkeys to go home, it was time to feed Lily.

The next night, I had the same nurse. She asked me if I wanted Ambien again. I happily declined in fear of what hallucinations I might have.