The Cesarean Section

Making the decision to have a child - it's momentous.
It is to decide forever to have your heart
walking around outside your body.
- Elizabeth Stone -

Our Handsome Baby Boy
Maksim Andreyevich Arkhipov

Today is January 01, 2012 - Maksim's expected due date but he came two weeks earlier at pregnancy week 38 and 2 days - December 20, 2011 - a day that is permanently embossed in my heart.

His date of birth was on a Tuesday and the birthing plan was via cesarean section  (it turns out that my birthing canal could not handle a vaginal birth).  In an elective cesarean section, preparation is crucial which  involves fasting.  His delivery was scheduled at 4:30 P.M. by which put my last meal before giving birth at 4:45 A.M.  This fasting included no food or drinks until after the delivery.  This wasn't difficult since there was excitement everywhere.

My husband and I arrived at the hospital registry at 2:00 P.M. and by 2:10 we were at the Labor and Delivery Center of the hospital.  We walked to the department proud that I was robust enough to physically make the trek with no wheelchairs involved. 

As soon as we arrived to our private room (214) I was told to strip down to nothing but only the hospital gown given.  The nurses warned me that after the whole procedure, all modesty will be thrown out of the window because many people will see me naked.  I was mentally prepared for it.  Afterwards I was put in bed for lab work, NST testing, and needled for the IV. 

Above is a picture Dre took once they finally put the IV in my hand.  It was the first IV I've ever received. It was painful.  It took two attempts on different areas of my hand/forearm to finally get the needle through the vein.  The preparation before the surgery took an hour and a half which included questioning about medical history.  Once the nurses were through with the procedures, we were left alone in our room for what seemed like an eternity of anticipation.

At 4:30 P.M. an anesthesiologist came to talk to us about pain prevention during labor, a spinal block.  He was a tall lean man, wore glasses, his hair covered in a blue surgical hat that matched his scrubs and shoe cover, and he had a surgical mask hanging over his neck.  He was very informative and eased my anxiety and fear of the needle being inserted in my back.

At 4:45 P.M. the nurses walked me to the operating room (OR) while Dre remained in our room to change into blue scrubs provided for him. Also included in his outfit were matching shoe covers, surgical hat, and mask. He was to wait in the room until I was ready for the actual cesarean section. 

Walking the hallways to the OR was interesting.  I was sandwiched in between two nurses who held my arms even though I was capable of walking by myself.  Through it all my focus was on my bare feet walking the dirty floors and hoping I wouldn't get warts, tetanus or some other sort of infections.  Before my thoughts could linger on into the complexities of getting worms, we arrived at the OR.  It was surreal.  I felt like I was in a sci-fi movie.  

The OR was decent in size although I thought it would be bigger.  The room temperature was cold, modern medical equipments were everywhere, nurses and doctors wearing blue scrubs were dispersed throughout the room.  There were at least 9 people in the cesarean team.  All I could see were their eyes since they were covered from head to toe.  My focus then shifted towards the bed in which I was to be cut open.  It was long, rectangular, and narrow in size with about an inch of cushion covered in some kind of leather.  It was not at all what I expected.  I feared that I was going to fall off during the c-section.

I was instructed to sit at the side of the bed hunched over for the anesthesiologist to perform the spinal block.  A nurse saw how tense I was so she held me as I rested my head under her chin and chest.  She soothed me as the needle went through and punctured my skin, made its way through my spine and then to the spinal fluid to inject the anesthesia.  This procedure was one of the most painful experiences I've ever gone through.  The feeling literally felt as if somebody constantly stabbed me with a long needle from the inside - from different angles - and all I could do was squirm and take it.  I was extremely grateful for the nurturing nurse that held me tight throughout the whole process. 

As soon as the spinal block was performed, my OBGYN, Dr. Mona, arrived.  She is a wonderful, accomplished woman who makes her patients feel like she is their favorite relative.  She too was covered like the rest of the team.  She instructed me to lay on the bed while the others assisted.  By this time the anesthesia started to work and the c-section team gathered around me.  Others were also present in the OR that stood in the background: the hospital pediatrician (Dr. Prasad), residents, and nurses. The next thing I knew, Dr. Mona lifted up my gown and exposed me to professional medical strangers.  She gathered my legs flat in a diamond shape so that the soles of my feet were touching each other and then she inserted the catheter that would collect my urine during surgery.  They also hooked me back up to the IV fluid to keep hydrated during the surgery.  At that point I didn't care about modesty.  I just wanted to meet my little boy.

A blue wall made out of what seemed like cotton material was placed over my chest to block my view of the surgery.  Two planks were placed to support my arms.  From above I looked like the capital letter T.  They placed oxygen to my nose (it smelled like plastic), placed a hot air compress across my chest, and then topped it with a warm blanket to keep me warm.  When I was ready for surgery, Andrey came in and was instructed to sit beside me.  He looked really cute wearing his scrub outfit with a digital SLR  camera on hand.  The anesthesiologist stood by my head side to administer anesthetic control.  He started talking to Dre and I about things I don't remember except for:

"They already started to cut you open.
Your two minute delivery has already started."  

I couldn't believe that I didn't feel a thing except for a little pressure though I was nervous and shaking.  Dre sat by my side for two good minutes when he was allowed to get up to watch the procedure.  There was a rule with taking photos: no wide angle photos that show the operating team - just focus on the baby.  At that point I felt abandoned.  I really wanted him to be by my side for moral support yet I also wanted him to take photos to document such the miraculous event.

The doctors and nurses cut my lower belly bump open.
Baby Maksim's head popped out.

The next thing I felt was extreme pushing, tugging, pressing, and pulling.  Although I couldn't feel a thing, the pushing, tugging, pressure, and pulling literally felt as if my digestive system and major organs were being ripped out of my body.  The feeling was so tremendous and awkward that it was difficult to ignore.

Baby Maksim out of the womb.

 At 5:16 P.M. someone said:

"The baby is out. Congratulations it's a boy!"

After Dre cut the cord, he took this picture.

For what seemed like an eternity but only lasted seconds, I heard the first cry of our baby boy.  It was music to my ears and I couldn't help but cry tears of joy.

Maksim crying immediately after being born.

It was torture not to be able to see our son immediately but Dre came around to show me a picture of our baby's face.  I couldn't wait to hold him but I wouldn't do so for another 30-40 minutes.  Every mother says this about their child, but my baby boy is absolutely handsome. 

Dr. Mona started to suture me up and at this time our baby was being examined by the hospital pediatrician to determine an APGAR score, a test to evaluate the baby's appearance, response, grimace response, activity and muscle tone, and respiration.  As soon as we received Maksim's high score of 8-9, the nurse that consoled me through the spinal block came around to show me Maksim for a brief second.  What a beautiful child that I wanted to hold immediately.  I wanted the moment to last longer but Maksim had to be taken back to the room for weighing and further examinations.  Dre went back to the room with him and once again I was in the company of professional strangers.

Maksim : 10 lb baby : 21 inches

While Maksim was undergoing further examinations, I was in the OR being sutured back together.  Midway through the process Dr. Mona told the anesthesiologist to give me more anesthesia.  Soon after another type of drug was injected in my IV that caused me to vomit and shake throughout the the rest of the procedure.  Apparently this was normal reaction to the medication.  It felt uncomfortable as if I didn't feel like myself.  It was odd that I no longer had control of my body's movement and reaction. 

When it was over, my hospital bed was wheeled next to the OR table and I was lifted on to it.  They wheeled me to my room and on the way there stood Dr. Mona at the entrance hallway of the OR looking exhausted.  I briefly said thank you and she managed to give me a smile.  She said something else but everything was a complete blur. 

Back at our room with our baby and my husband, the nurses allowed me to carry Baby Maksim for the first time.  

This experience was pure joy and bliss.  I said a quick prayer to Thank God for such a wonderful and healthy baby boy and then asked Dre to hold him since I was so drugged up and was shaking.  I didn't want to drop or harm him even though I wanted time to freeze so that he'd be in my arms forever.

An hour later, my parents (the new and proud grandparents) and my brother (the first time Uncle Izzy) made it to the hospital.  It was such a wonderful family event that I will cherish forever.  We asked my mom to stay at the hospital overnight to help us out with the baby.  As much as we both had faith we could have handled taking care of Maksim, we were grateful for additional help.  Mom was happy to stay with us.

The first night at the hospital was a nightmare.  The labor and delivery department was understaffed, a woman came in for an emergency c-section, there were a ton of births, the medical equipment in my room kept on alarming, and due to such circumstance I sat in a pool of blood that soaked through and dried up on the bed.  Since my mother is a retired nurse, she was unhappy with the hospital service.  At around 2 A.M. the hospital's nurse manager and another nurse came to clean me up.  By this time the anesthesia already wore off, I was high on Percocet and was asked to stand up. This was the second most painful memory I can remember throughout my stay at the hospital.  I felt like I was being ripped apart in half as I got out of bed - especially when they asked me to maneuver to clean the blood off of my body.  Dried up blood smell really bad.  The smell can be described as metallic burning in ammonia filled urine.  This added on to my discomfort.  

The following morning, we were transferred to a different department - the recovery section - since there were so many births that night and more women coming in for delivery.  Apparently many wanted to have their baby before Christmas - perhaps to be included in the tax year.  Nonetheless, our transfer was perfect because we got better treatment and service at the recovery department.  

As soon as we got to our new room, a lactation nurse came to educate us about breast feeding.  She helped us get Maksim to breast feed for the first time.  It was extremely difficult since he didn't want to latch on.  After several attempts throughout the day we decided that the best way of feeding him was through pumping milk with a breast pump and then bottle feeding him with the breast milk.  Since I had no colostrum or milk for the first three days, Maksim had a ready to feed formula, Similac.  I was unhappy with this decision but our baby had to eat.  My thoughts rested on the fact that in a few days we will be giving him breast milk - the best for our little son.

Papa and puffy drugged out (percocet) Mama with Baby Maksim.

Me filling out hospital paperwork as Gumma holds
Baby Maksim in the background.

Tired and proud Papa holding and cuddling with Maksim.

Papa feeding Maksim.

Mama feeding Maksim.

Balloons Gumma and Gumpa gave us.

Gamma holding Baby Maksim.
Everyone was tired.

Proud Gumma and Uncle Izzy with Maksim.

After a little over 24 hours, Dr. Mona and one of her staff members, Cheryl, visited us in our new room and presented us with a small little gift - a precious baby spoon that I will frame up once we are more settled in with a routine.

Since I was already walking around the hospital hallways (even though it hurt) to keep the blood flow to my legs (also to prevent blood clots), Dr. Mona asked if we wanted to be discharged from the hospital on day 2.  Dr. Prasad also gave the nod that everything with Maksim was fine and if we wanted to leave on day 2, he would acknowledge it.  Dre and I decided to stay the third day to keep it on the safe side.

On the 23rd of December (a little less than 72 hours/3 days at the hospital), we were discharged and off to Grandma and Grandpa's house we went. 

Maksim all bundled up and ready to head out of
the hospital with his cute little car seat. We had no mittens so
we used his baby socks to cover his hands.

Proud Gumpa and Maksim hanging out at home.

The experience was amazing.  I love being a mother and I would go through the whole thing over again.  Maksim is such a wonderful, adorable, and handsome little bundle of joy.  Every new experience with him makes life so much more worth while especially spending New Years with him, his Papa, and my family. 

From our family to yours, Happy New Year!!! 

May 2012 bring you all abundant Love and blessings.