Livia is Here!

I just re-read Roman's birth story before I started this post since it has been quite a while since I have taken a look at it, and it's funny to me how very different his and Livia's birth days were. I thought I would be more nervous this time around since I was walking into the hospital knowing that I was going to have to have surgery instead of it being an emergency situation, but really I was just anxious to get it all over with and finally see what this little girl looked like. Marc and I had to head down to the hospital around 4:45 am to get there in time for all the pre-op stuff. The one thing I was most nervous about was the IV. Honestly, those things are just the worst, and it was hands-down the absolute worst part of my entire hospital stay. If I never have to get another IV... Anyhoo, we got to the hospital, I got hooked up to a couple of machines for monitoring and fluid and whatnot, and then we played the waiting game. The picture above was me at about 7:15 am on Friday, July 13th. This picture was taken mere minutes before I would be pushed down the hall to the operating room and less than an hour before I would meet Livia for the first time. Marc and I were so ready to go, until the nurse came in and said it was time to go, and then I got a little knot in my stomach. Marc had to wait outside the operating room while I was given a spinal block, shaved, given a catheter, and finally slathered in iodine before the big blue sheet went up, and the doctors were ready to get started. Marc walked in and gave me his hand to hold, and I asked him if he was okay, and he said that he was fine and that his hand was for me in case I needed it. And I kind of did. I remember bits and pieces of Roman's delivery because I was so tired and so relieved to be out of pain, but during this surgery I was fully aware of everything that was happening, and that operating room was less than comforting this time around. But everything went very smoothly. The anesthesiologist and I made jokes and chatted during the surgery; Marc was at the ready with the camera while trying to remain calm; and before I knew it Dr. Nguyen told me that they were just about to pull her out. Apparently, once again, I was carrying a baby who did not want to participate in the delivery, so she had to be vacuumed out. (Seriously, what is going on with these stubborn babies?) And then, one minute before 8 am, our little Livia came out just absolutely screaming, and that's when I started to cry. I just couldn't help myself. The worst part of a c-section is waiting to see your baby while you can hear all of the commotion happening on the other side of the big blue sheet; it seemed to take forever. And then Marc was finally able to bring her over to me, and the first thing I said was, "She looks just like Roman." I was able to hold on to her for a few minutes before Marc and she headed for the nursery to make sure that everything was fine and to have her tags put on. Once I was put back together, they wheeled me back into our little room, and I took a small cat nap before Marc and Liv got back. And then, Livia and I finally got to snuggle.

We stayed at the hospital Friday morning through Monday morning, and all I can say is that we are very, very fortunate to have such an amazing group of friends and family who were here to help. Bill and Peggy stayed with Roman while we were in the hospital (and Peggy is staying here for a month while I get a handle on things), and we had a number of friends stop by to keep us company, and to keep us fed. Jaime brought us dinner every night (and snacks and beer and treats), and thank goodness for that because the food they were serving was about as appetizing as airplane food... no. Strike that. I think I would have preferred airplane food. Ken and Lexy brought us lunch and made dinner when we got home, and April and Trent brought us breakfast. Cora and Mindy visited with us and kept checking in to see if we needed anything, but I think we had our bases covered. It was so nice to have so many people taking care of us.

I recovered really quickly from the surgery, and I probably could have gone home Sunday night, but they figured I was already going home "early" by leaving Monday morning, so we stayed all weekend, but we were packed and ready to go by 10 am on Monday. It was nice to have that weekend to ourselves with just Livia... it's probably the only time for a long while that she will have both Marc's and my undivided attention.