We arrived at 6 a.m. at Labor and Delivery at Summerlin hospital. The staff there asked us to wait until 6:30. So we sat in the waiting room and watched TV and joked a little bit. At 6:30 we were directed to triage to find the babies on the monitor and start my IV and asked tons of questions. I was tired because I hadn’t slept much the night before because I was both excited and fearful. Excited the boys would be here, but scared of having a c-section. So right away, I learned that I had “done it wrong” because I had 3 sips of water and did not know that it’s not a good idea to eat or drink anything 8 hours before major surgery. The nurse asked me “haven’t you ever had surgery before?”. Nope, never. So I was shaken up because the anesthesiologist ultimately made the decision and opted for an epidural instead of a spinal block for the c-section. So my first nurse encounter wasn’t very fun and I began to cry. Then nurses Nina and Stephanie came in and took great care of me. Dr. Biscoff is also my hero for putting in a great epidural and talking me through so much. It really made things easier. Also, Dr. Bohman, my favorite doc stopped by and and eased my fears before cutting me open. My parents had come in from Winnemucca the night before, so it was very meaningful to have them there. They came up to the hospital at 8 a.m. and we were rolling into the O/R about 45 minutes later. Mom and Dad stayed in the waiting room, but I’m sure it wasn’t very long.
Very soon I was in the O/R and nice and numb. Chip was at my head and was doing a great job being supportive. I was having a bit of a difficult time keeping my emotional composure, but was so ready for the boys to be brought into the world. Chip said they were starting and I didn’t even know it! The next thing I knew, I heard Dr. Bohman say “10 seconds until first baby” and then I heard a beautiful cry. I started to cry too. Then more crying came from both me and the babies as each baby came out. There were 17 people in the delivery room when the boys were born, including Dr. Litner, the head of Pediatrics for Valley Hospitals as well as several nurse practitioners and nurses. It seemed like forever before I saw a doctor and or nurse come over to show me the babies. They were beautiful! WOW! It was all over in 15 minutes. I’m fairly certain that it took much longer to sew me up. Dr. Bohman did a fantastic job.
Chip, now a proud papa, and mom and dad went off with the boys to the Level III NICU. Soon they were back with me in recovery before heading to my room. Several people were in and out of the room and it was nice to see so many friendly faces. I really wanted to go to the NICU that night, but just didn’t have the strength until much later.
Chip did a fantastic job with the videos and pictures. How he supported me, watched the boys, and took pictures and videos. Mom took a ton of great pics too! Once in my room, I was tired and slept some. Mom and Chip called family. There was a nice hum of activity. It was so good to hear all the kind words and congratulations to our family. We never realized we had so many that cared about us! It was amazing. Both photos and movies with instructions on how to download them can be found via the links below:
Here is the main photo link:
http://www.metaforge.net/personal/publish/1%20McVey%20Babies%20Due%2010-25-07/BIRTHDAY/
And here is a link to a page that gives some info about the movies:
http://www.metaforge.net/personal/publish/1%20McVey%20Babies%20Due%2010-25-07/BIRTHDAY/1%20-%20README.html
The movies are very large. Please use the .avi files to watch smaller and quicker videos.
My nurse for the first 2 days was Andi, who was really laid back and helped manage the pain. I didn’t realize that it would be a longer stay than I wanted, but I tried to just take it all in and sleep. I wanted to sleep, but with all the excitement I just couldn’t. Also, the pain had set in. The doctor had prescribed Percocet and I had a terrible reaction. After changing to Loratab, things were much better.
I spoke to lots of friends and family and hope I was coherent because I genuinely thought I was really with it.
Chip and I finally talked that night and it was a conversation I’ll never forget. His smile was so bright with happiness and pride. Both of us had tears in our eyes, knowing that this is what we’ve been wanting for 3 long years. It had not always been an easy road and we were so close to giving up. His love for his sons very clear and apparent. We agreed that it was one of the most amazing moments we’ve ever shared. That we have this family of seven now that we are so proud of. The overwhelming emotion of love for these new little lives almost didn’t need words. We are so happy and feel so fortunate to have been blessed with these babies.
Daddy Chip bedded down next to me on a rollaway bed provided by the hospital. I’m sure it was uncomfortable. Despite his feet hanging over the end and being pretty uncomfortable, he stayed every night with me which was great because the nights are the hardest and the staff is the worst at night, except for Nurse Mona who was fabulous.
Overall, hospitals are no fun. Bad food and even worse service! If Chip wasn’t there to help me to the bathroom and take care of me DAILY, I think it would have been 100 times worse! I must say the whole healthcare industry really scares me. I ended up staying at the hospital for 5 days and needed a blood transfusion – they gave me 2 units of blood. I was severely anemic and when they tested my hemoglobin, it was 6.2. The average persons hemoglobin is about 14. I felt like crap, but thought it was just the fact that they cut me open. My doctor said I didn’t lose a lot of blood, but somehow became anemic. They said I could go home after the transfusion, which took like 6 hours. I thought I would never get out of there. I was done at around 5 a.m. and Chip and I left as soon as we could after that! We arrived at our house about 6:30 a.m. Mom had put the couch bed out, so we dropped there and got some sleep.