The baby measured smaller, not in a bad way, throughout my pregnancy. JJ was born at 8lbs7oz, this baby was in the 7lb range, which was awesome. Both my husband and I were scared to death of another "natural" childbirth. Please, there is nothing "natural" about it. The smaller the better, as long as the baby is healthy, of course! So, the pregnancy was going great! An ultrasound showed her being breech at one point, but later she flipped and everything was ok. No problem!
She was due on Thanksgiving but we had a scheduled induction for November 25th, the day after. My kids seem to love camping out in my womb, so, of course, this one had to be forced out as well. I enjoyed my Thanksgiving dinner at my mother-in-law's house and the next morning we went into the city to have the baby. My parents got a hotel room and met us at the hospital. I was put in a delivery room and hooked up to all the proper monitors and IVs. John and I were nervous, but with such beautiful view of the Hudson, could we really complain? I lived in the city for 9 years and NEVER had a view like this! We watched bad movies on Comedy Central and waited. Soon, a nurse came in and said she was going to do a routine ultrasound. Great, I'd love to see the baby one more time before she is misshapened from being squeezed through a painfully small vortex. She puts the wand up to my stomach. Silence. What's going on? More silence. Then, "Did you know that the baby is breech?". Um, no. Great. "I'll send you Doctor in to discuss your options." Ok, here we go. Enter Doctor L. "Soooo, the baby seems to be breach! I'll give you two options. We can physically try to turn the baby. This would involve giving you a spinal to numb the pain. I'm not going to lie to you, this is still going to hurt, but then you can go on to have her naturally! OR, we can do a c-section.". The second option was said with much less enthusiasm. "I'll leave you two to discuss". So, lets see, we can either turn the baby which will be extremely painful and then go on to push the baby out naturally which will be hell on earth (believe me, I know), or we can have her surgically removed while I am under enough anesthesia to numb an elephant. I think we'll take option #2. Dr. L came back and we could see the disappointment in her eyes. She loved being a high risk doctor way too much!
The surgery was set for 2:00PM. I was prepped, prodded, stuck with needles and not long after, sliced open like a Thanksgiving turkey. Clara was brought into this world at 2:34PM on November 25th, 6lbs10oz, 19 inches long. All I could feel was a little pressure and tugging. The procedure was easy. The hospital stay was another story, that I will save for another day.
My beautiful baby was a little piece of perfection. The love that John and I felt for her was unmatched, well, except for our love for JJ, of course! My husband will never be the same. Long story short, no matter how much you plan, there will always be a surprise around the corner.
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