This was by far the best birth experience I've had thus far. Kyson's birth was long and ended in an emergency c-section, which also meant I had to heal from both ways of delivering. I was sick when I had Brox and every time I coughed I felt like I was going to rip my stomach open and with all the medication they gave me it literally made me delusional. So I was just hoping for a quiet, a little less emotional and mental breakdowns and a healthy delivery...was that asking for too much?
I was definitely blessed with the most amazing birth experience with Ren. I couldn't have asked for more!
First, my friend asked me if I would be willing to let a photographer that she knows take pictures of the birth experience. She has documented many births but has never been able to be apart of a c-section due to the many hurdles you have to jump through to get it approved. I thought it would be fun to have her there so we began the process of approval. My doctor didn't mind if she was there and the hospital said they didn't mind as long as the anesthesiologist agreed. We would have to wait till the morning of to get approval.
Shad & I were scheduled to arrive at the hospital at 5:30 a.m. on August 23 and were suppose to have the baby around 7:30 a.m. My doctor was delivering at another hospital so we waited and waited and then the ever amazing Dr. Harter appeared just to tell us he had another delivering that he just got called to. He said he could have one of his partners deliver me but there was no way I will have any other doctor do my c-section so I told him we would wait as long as we needed to.
He came back around 9 a.m. and the process started again.
The anesthesiologist first gave us a "may be" aka "no" with the photographer to be in the operating room and was not the friendliest. Then she changed her mind and said she could come in right after Ren was delivered. But when the nurse brought Shad in she let Jessica (photographer) in too, so she got to be there for everything. Check out her blog post about Ren's birth here. It seriously was an amazing experience to have her and the pictures she took are amazing. I would highly recommend her to anyone!!
I wish I could share all of her pictures. Here are a few of my favorites...
Waiting for Dr. Harter.
On our way to the O.R.
Shad has to wait outside the O.R. until they give me my spinal block.
Baby #3 is almost here!
Ren Steven Rollo born 9:25 a.m.
Mommy gets to see baby Ren for the first time!
20 1/4 inches long
This was Shad's first time cutting the cord for one of our children.
7 lbs 9 oz
One of the big reasons why this birth experience was so special was because of the nurse that was taking care of Ren in the O.R. She brought Ren to me and literally held him in front of me for a good 10 minutes so I could love and cuddle him. For those of you who have never had a c-section this is unusual...at least this has not been my experience in the past two c-sections. They let me give my baby a quick kiss and they take them out of the room until I am done getting put back together. I finally felt like I was able to bond with my baby immediately. It was amazing! Jessica definitely captured those moments in her pictures, which to me is priceless. THANK YOU baby nurse and THANK YOU Jessica!
This picture gives you a good idea of the O.R. crew minus the anesthesiologist. By the way the anesthesiologist ended up being totally awesome (minus the first impression we had of her). Another neat experience was actually making conversation with her after Ren and Shad left the O.R. while they were finishing stitching me up. She had mentioned one of the only downsides to being an anesthesiologist is not having a personal connection with her patients. On my way out of the O.R. she said some really nice things to me. I can't remember her exact words but she told me that she will always remember Ren's birth and meeting Shad & I. She said she had never met a couple of three children that were so genuine and happy and that she had felt such a special feeling in the room. That moment was probably a great opportunity to share the gospel with her and explain what she and I both felt in the O.R. but with being so occupied the thought never crossed my mind. I hope she has the experience one day to learn about the gospel.
I wasn't in the room yet, but I was told Kyson immediately loved baby Ren but Brox would not touch him for at least a good 30 minutes. I love his facial expressions...so special!!
Brox still not wanting to get close to the baby. LOL!
Finally Grandma Rollo talks Brox into seeing Ren.
Love these pics!!! True brotherly love!
So precious!
All of my HANDSOME boys!!
A few of our pics from the day we left the hospital...
Raise your hand if you are ready to go home!
Thank you to everyone for all of your love and support.
XOXO The Rollo's
