Megan's First Hours

Todd called his parents so that everyone could hear her name at the same time. We had kept it a secret until then. I don't think any of them minded being awake at 3:45 in the morning to get the news that their first grandchild had arrived in the form of a healthy, 8lbs, 1oz girl named Megan.

Megan continued to scream her lungs out as they took her to clean her up, weigh her, measure her and complete her first physical exam. I think they gave her bonus APGAR points for her lung capacity. She was actually a 9, only losing a point for the yellow hue to her skin. I was told that her foot was almost too big to fit into the footprint box on her records. (Like mother, like daughter. :) ) Todd stayed with her the whole time and caught all the highlights on the camera.

Meanwhile, they started to patch me up. The doctor was sewing away at my "natural episiotomy" when he suddenly walked to the corner of the room with the resident for a conference. When they came back they told the nurse they'd need another suture kit and a catheter. That didn't sound very good to me. Apparently I had torn nearly to my urethra.

Things settled down after that. My mom decided to drive to our house to get some rest. Todd and I had some time alone with Megan in the birthing room. She was still crying. After about an hour, the nurse suggested it was time for me to get up and start moving. Todd held Megan (still screaming) while I took a shower and was able to shave my legs for the first time in weeks.

Then they moved us to our "Family Care Suite." A nurse came to give Megan her first bath and warned us that we'd want to get some rest as soon as we could since rounds would be starting soon and the doctors would be in to check on both of us.

Shortly after she left, the next nurse came in to give us a complicated orientation to the room, my new body, and our baby. I couldn't tell you half of what she told us. But I know she said to make sure to get some rest since the rounds would start soon!

Sure enough, in about a half hour the parade of doctors and nurses began. By the time things settled down again, it was almost time for our visitors to start arriving. While Todd took a quick nap, I used the adrenaline high I was still on to call some friends and family members. Megan had finally stopped crying and was sleeping in the bassinet nest to my bed. I kept wanting to reach out and touch her to make sure she was real. I didn't want to wake her up...or wake Todd up, so I settled for rocking her bassinet.

I never did get to sleep until that night!