Fletcher's Birth Story

First off, my mom made it safe and sound and actually a little bit early the night before Fletcher was born. SO thankful that she was able to make all of her connecting flights and that all of her luggage made it safely.

So we picked up my mom tuesday night from the airport and took her to the place that she will be staying for the time that she is here. She originally was going to stay in one of the apartments by us, but the construction hasn't finished yet so she is staying with the senior missionary couple in our branch. we love them and are so grateful for them. After we dropped her off Brandon and I went home and tried to get some sleep. Well I tried to get some sleep while Brandon tried to distract himself by watching Pawn Stars until very early in the morning. I wasn't feeling too nervous though and was able to get a couple of winks in.

We woke up around 5:30 the next morning grabbed all of the bags that I packed and headed for the hospital. This was it. Today was the day. I was feeling excited, but calm at the same time. Brandon had given me a Priesthood blessing, so I really had no worries. I'm not sure though if I was more excited to finally hold my baby in my arms or to not be pregnant anymore!

Walking into the hospital.
I made a goal I would wear high heels right up to the day I delivered.
 Check.

We checked in and the nurse took me away and left Brandon in the hall. First thing the nurse told me to do was to get completed naked. uh okay... she stayed there with me until I finished undressing told me to get into the hospital bed and hooked me up to a heart monitor and a blood pressure cuff. Then she helped me put a disposable gown on and a cute hair net thing and then left me there for what seemed like forever. A little bit later another nurse came and put an IV in my hand. OUCH. That dumb IV was the worst part of it all. It hurt like crazy getting it in and then it kept bugging me.

Not a fan.

Not really a fan of the automatic blood pressure cuff that went off every 15 minutes either. It wasn't so bad though.

Right before they wheeled me into the OR

Finally they let Brandon in and he stayed with me until the OR was ready. I guess they have really strict rules and he wasn't supposed to be there, but one of the Dutch nurses snuck him in. He wore a pair of scrubs he borrowed from his classmate, so he fit right in and didn't get caught. 

After a while they told us it was time and they took Brandon away and wheeled me the 20 feet to the OR. It was freezing in there!! and because it was so cold and because I was a little nervous I started shaking. Not good when you have to get a needle stuck into your spine! I was able to stop shaking and actually getting the spinal block was super easy. Definitely hurt less than my IV! It took effect immediately and I could feel my feet going numb. They laid me down and got me ready and then let Brandon in. 

Getting my spinal block. 

not sure who took this picture, one of the nurses I think.
Good to go I guess.

Last picture of us pre-parenthood.

I still was pretty cold so they put these heat pads over my arms, but didn't tie them down so that I could hold my baby with my arms instead of just cheek to cheek. I was really grateful for that. 

So Brandon comes and sits by my head and they tell him that he needs to be supporting me, so he informs me that he is supporting me and then starts asking the anesthesiologist some questions about spinal blocks and stuff like that and next thing we know we hear, "its a boy!" and then we look up and see this tiny, little, perfect baby! I had felt some pressure on my stomach, but I had no idea that they had already cut me open and neither did Brandon, so it surprised us both. I still can't believe how fast it all happened. 

Born. 8:31am

Dr. Iding and Fletcher seconds after he was born.

After they showed him to us they went and cleaned him off and took Brandon over to cut (trim) the umbilical cord and then Brandon brought him over to me. 

They told us that he was healthy and perfect and weighed 3260grams or about 7lbs 3oz. Not bad for being 11 days early!

Our first family photo!

Wow. It is really hard to describe what it feels like to meet the tiny human that you made from scratch for the first time. Surreal, I guess you could say. And finally holding in my arms what I had carried around inside of me for 9 months was miraculous and amazing and sort of liberating.

Too soon they took Fletcher and Brandon away to get better cleaned up and checked out while they stitched me up. I felt like I was in sci-fi movie getting probed by aliens while they stitched me up because they were all speaking in Dutch and I was by myself on a table with bright lights shining in my eye with my body wide open! as I was thinking about this one of the surgeons, Dr. Smith, popped his head over the curtain and said, "you have beautiful ovaries. you can definitely reuse these." Ha! gee, thanks doc! good to know. They got finished with me pretty fast, which was really nice. They had a lot of cleaning up to do because I lost a lot of blood, just over a liter I think, and they weren't ready for that so it spilled everywhere over everyone's shoes! it was so weird watching them clean me up because they were moving my legs, but not be able to feel them do it or have any control over them. No me gusta.

After everything was all done they wheeled me back into the recovery room and I waited for a little more than an hour for Brandon and Fletcher to show up. The only thing I was focused on for that whole time was trying to get my legs and toes to move. It was a strange experience getting the feeling back and watching my legs and feet twitch as the numbness wore off.

Less than an hour old.

I was so excited when my two boys finally walked through the doors! they gave Fletch right to me and I immediately started nursing him. He was a hungry little boy! but since there wasn't much coming out on my end, one of the nurses gave me a bottle to give to him and then left. He took the bottle quickly and hurriedly gulped it down. They nurse came back a little while later and looked at the bottle and was shocked. He drank 40mls when he was only supposed to drink 10! whoops. Needless to say he fell into a food comma and we couldn't wake him up for almost 5 hours.

After Fletch ate Brandon got to really hold him for the first time.

Love my handsome boys!

After a little while, they brought us some food! well, they brought us soup which tasted great. They actually were only supposed to feed me, but that super nice Dutch nurse snuck an extra bowl for Brandon. Again, she told us not to tell anyone. After I ate is when I started feeling like I just had major surgery. Ouch. They gave me some oral pain pills, so I wasn't in very much pain, but man did I feel sore, especially if I made any type of movements.

A few hours later they brought me some lunch, which wasn't too bad and while I was eating informed me that because I had lost so much blood that I would have to stay in intensive care over night. I was bummed because earlier they told me that I could be moved to the recovery room where I could be by myself instead of sharing a big room with people that were on their death beds--> there were two other really old people that really were on their death beds next to me in intensive care. Luckily though they had kind of a side room that was still connected to intensive care, but sort of not that they moved me over to so that I could have a little more privacy.

After they moved me the super cool Dutch nurse said that they had an extra lunch and wondered if 

Brandon wanted it--Yes, please-- and let my mom in even though it wasn't visiting hours.

Fletcher meeting his Granna!

They let Brandon and my mom and a few other visitors come in and visit for the rest of the afternoon/evening, which was awesome. They originally told us that visiting hours were 11:30-1pm and 6:30-8pm, but they made some exceptions for us. 

Fletcher finally woke up from his food comma and was wide awake!

is there anything cuter than a newborn grin?

We didn't get a picture of it, but Brandon was the first one of us to change his diaper!! ha!

Bonding after the diaper change.

They eventually made everyone leave and finally let me get up and walk around! I wanted to walk around hours earlier, but they wouldn't let me. They had put me in that bed in sort of an uncomfortable position for my rear end and it was numb and tingly and felt like I had been on it for 15 hours (oh wait...) getting up was a challenge and walking around wasn't that fun and we didn't go that far, but all of it was worth it to get some relief for my butt!

After my walk they put me back in bed, turned down the lights, and basically left me there until morning. I had a call button if I needed anything, but it turns out that it didn't work. I pushed it tons of times, but no one ever came. (I was okay, I just wanted the internet password) So it was just me and Fletch all night. It wasn't that bad. I have been blessed with a super angel baby. He ate, he slept, I slept and we cuddled. 

The next morning after breakfast and a shower (which they made me take by myself with no help. it doesn't sound that hard, but you try washing yourself after major abdominal surgery while holding your catheter in one hand. its tricky, believe me) they moved me to my new room!! Yay!! it was nice to get a change of scenery. Over the next couple of days Fletch and I got to know each other a little better and every night they left Fletch with me and never really came to check up on us. (they might of while we were sleeping, but who really knows. it is Bonaire) We also had TONS of visitors. 

Faith and Yvette

Melling Family

Josepha

Steph

Kenisha

Gertrudis

Monica

Yomely

We also had a lot more visitors, but for some reason didn't take their pictures. Almost everyone in our branch came to visit us including the Branch President and his wife, who just had a baby boy 20 days before Fletcher was born. I can't wait for the Bonairian Brothers to meet!
We had so many people come and show their love and support for us and our new little family.
So blessed.

It was nice to have my own room and the freedom to walk around, go to the bathroom, brush my teeth and stuff like that. They gave me pain pills every 5 or 6 hours, but it seriously felt like every minute I was getting a little bit better and that it was a little bit easier to get up or to lay back down. It is amazing how fast the body can heal.

Fletch is such a great baby. especially a great sleeper. His second night he slept for almost 6 hours straight. I tried to wake him up twice, but he wouldn't have it. He even slept through diaper changes and rectal temperature checks. This little guy loves his sleep. just like me.

Saturday morning they finally let me go. It was great to get out of that hospital room and I was anxious to get home. After his last bath there Brandon and I were able to put Fletcher in his new super awesome car seat and take him HOME!

Leaving the hospital as a family

one last one...

-->you might be wondering why they never measured Fletch's length. The reason is because babies that are breech have a higher chance of hip displacement disorder because of the way that their legs were in the womb and so they didn't want to stretch out his legs. In fact we have to be careful with his legs and take him in for an ultrasound when he is three months to make sure that his hips are forming properly.