Welcome back to my blog! Today’s post is an exciting one, it’s our baby boy’s birth story. I wrote the girls’ birth story, which you can read HERE, and wanted to do the same for our son. I always want to remember the day our children were born and it’s important to me to write down the events of those days.
After a nerve wracking pregnancy, which you can read about HERE, our son, Henry Ronald Morgan, made his arrival unexpectedly on May 9, 2021, which happened to be Mother’s Day.
I had a c-section with the girls and had planned for a repeat c-section with Henry, although baby boy was breech, so he didn’t leave me much of a choice anyways. Even though I’d had a c-section before, I was so nervous the morning of Henry’s delivery. It was so different compared to the day the girls were born. When they were born, I had made it to my scheduled c-section date, I had wrapped up everything at work, their room was done, all hospital bags were packed, everything was taken care of. We had no reason to worry about their health and it was just pure excitement waiting for the moment they arrived. With Henry’s birth, I felt so unprepared. I still had things left to do at work, his room wasn’t finished, I didn’t have much of a hospital bag, and I didn’t get to say a proper goodbye to the girls before I was admitted to the hospital (since I thought I was going to a normal doctor’s appointment and would be home later that night). I was also so worried about Henry’s health and didn’t know what to expect when he was born. My doctor said we should have some time with him after he was born and he didn’t think Henry would be whisked away to the NICU, but we didn’t know exactly how small he’d be or how much help he would need.
The morning of my c-section, I was hooked up to the baby monitor around 6AM to keep an eye on Henry. His heart rate would decrease for a little bit and then go back to the normal range, which didn’t help my anxiety. The nurses were keeping a close eye on him but everyone felt that it was a good idea he was being delivered within the next few hours. It was pretty clear that something just wasn’t right and no one wanted to him to go into distress.
Chris got to the hospital around 6:30AM. I was moved to the pre-op room and prepped for surgery over the next hour. I’m glad I remembered to have Chris take one last bump picture before Henry was born, although I wish I didn’t look so tired and haggard.
Right around 8AM, the doctor came in and talked to us. My OBGYN was out of town and it was also a weekend, so the on-call doctor had been tending to me all weekend. She actually assisted in the girls’ delivery so I had met her before and felt comfortable with her and knew I was in good hands. She walked us through what would happen during the surgery and then I was taken back to the operating room to get my spinal block. The process went pretty much the same as last time and I didn’t feel much pain. After a few minutes, I was completely numb from the chest down and surgery was about to begin. The doctor and another surgeon were there, as well as several nurses and a NICU team. Chris was brought into the OR and everyone was ready to go.
I can’t remember exactly what time surgery started but it was probably around 8:20AM. Within ten minutes or so, they told us Henry was about to be born and I started crying before I even saw him. I was so nervous and anxious and just praying he was going to be ok. At 8:36 AM, Henry Ronald Morgan was born. He came out of the womb crying and peeing and everyone told us his color looked really good. We got to see him for a brief minute and then he was taken to the warming table to get cleaned up and assessed. Chris got to go see him and took pictures for me.
Henry was 3 pounds, 10 ounces and 16 inches long. He was breathing well on his own so he was brought over to us and me and Chris got to sit with him for a little bit. I was so relieved to see him and know that he was ok.
After about 5-10 minutes, the NICU team told us it was time to take him upstairs.
Chris and I had agreed ahead of time that Chris would go with Henry to the NICU because we didn’t want him to be alone. I was surrounded by a team of doctors and nurses so I was in good hands. They finished my surgery and wheeled me to a post-op room where they kept an eye on me for an hour and a half or so. After that they moved me to my postpartum room and we were able to stop in the NICU on the way so I could see and hold Henry for a little bit.
After I got to my postpartum room, I felt really sick. I started throwing up and let me tell you, that is not fun when you’ve just had your abdomen cut open. It was pretty painful and to be honest, I felt pretty crappy for awhile there. My nurse gave me some medicine that stopped the vomiting and I started to feel a little bit better. I spent the next several hours recovering and after awhile Chris wheeled me down to the NICU to see Henry again. When I got tired, we went back to the room and attempted to get some sleep. It had been a big day!
Stay tuned for more posts on Henry and how he’s doing! I have an update planned all about his NICU stay. But first, the girls’ two year update is up next! So be sure to check back for that post.
Thank you for following along on our family’s journey! I have lots more to share!
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