Mommy Brain

It’s another birthday weekend for us. Josiah, our youngest, turns 7 tomorrow. I’ve searched through my archives, and I’ve never written his birth story. If you’re not interested in that sort of thing, scroll down for the links.

After I had Jonathan, Kevin was ready to be done having babies. Jonathan’s birth was traumatic for me, traumatic for Kevin afterward because of the complications, and he just felt done. I, however, felt like I missed a bunch of Jonathan’s newborn experiences because I was so sick with the epidural headache. I wanted one more. So I prayed that God would change my mind, or change Kevin’s. He changed Kevin’s, and one month later, we were expecting number four. Waiting for him to change his mind is why the length of time between the last two is the longest – 26 months. (18 months between Natalie and Noah; 15 months between Noah and Jonathan.)

When I saw my doctor for my first prenatal visit, we talked about plans for delivery. Since Jonathan’s was an emergency c-section, our options were a VBAC or a repeat c-section. Because I had pre-eclampsia with both Natalie and Jonathan, Dr. Bacon thought it wisest to plan on a c-section.

My pregnancy with Josiah was the easiest. I got tired faster, probably because I was older, but the nausea was less, which was nice. We scheduled a c-section at 38 weeks, and on the morning of the big day, we headed to the hospital. Since Kevin didn’t want to see me cut open, my sister Debra was my person in the operating room, and Kevin waited outside. The anesthesiologist took a while getting my spinal block in, which produced some extreme anxiety after the epidural screw-up during the last birth. I was starting to freak, and my doctor took my hand and was talking to me quietly, “You’re doing great, Carrie” and “It’s almost over” – that sort of thing. At the point when I didn’t think I could handle anymore, the hospital chaplain (we were at a Catholic hospital) spoke over the loudspeaker, reading the Psalm for the day. I don’t remember the number of the Psalm, but I do remember that I was instantly at peace, and the anesthesiologist was able to get the needle in.

They laid me down, and tipped my head lower than my body to help the drugs move up my body and numb me high enough. I immediately became nauseated. I spent the rest of the surgery throwing up in an emesis basin held by the anesthesiologist. (In fact, when I went back a year later for a gall bladder removal, he said, “You look familiar.” I just told him I was the one who threw up while her baby was born, and he remembered me.) After Josiah was out, they sewed me up, sat me up, and the nausea went away.

The next day or two are a blur, since I was on morphine, and then hydrocodone. I remember that Josiah was easy, and slept a lot. I went home from the hospital three days after surgery. Not a huge eventful birth story, and after the last one, I was glad.

My folks and Michelle and her boys are coming over tomorrow evening for a birthday party. Then her boys will stay over and play PS2 and computer and gameboy games all evening, and all morning on Saturday.

Saturday afternoon, I’m taking Natalie to see High School Musical 3. We both can’t wait.

What are your plans for the weekend?

At Books and Movies this week:

~ Review of The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls.

~ Review of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows.

~ Review of American Widow by Alissa Torres and Sungyoon Choi.

~ Review of Company of Liars by Karen Maitland.

I’ve also posted at 5 Minutes for Books this week and last:

~ Books on Screen: The Devil’s Arithmetic.

~ Books on Screen: The Bridge to Terabithia.

Other links:

~ Tony (Wally Cleaver) Dow has a new career – as a sculptor. He’s having a scuplture displayed at the Louvre!

~ Ever wondered what to do with those paper flaps you tear off of your Netflix envelopes? Try some Netflix origami.

~ One week until the Twilight movie, and EW has Twilight central.