Baby Noah!

Mommy, pre-op thinking "it's eviction day baby booger!"
We got to the hospital around 5:20AM and started the check-in process. We were put in one of the labor and delivery rooms to get ready for surgery. They put in the IV, drew some blood, and a few other things. The doctor stopped by to say hello (and also help us decide on a boys name....haha). We've had our girls name for probably 6 months. The boys name proved a little more difficult. We had been thinking Noah for the past month or two, but also had a couple of others in mind. We decided we really liked Noah, but would wait until we saw him (if it was a him!)

Around 7:30, the time came and Peggy actually got to walk into the OR. Certainly a much different experience than with the last baby! They make the dad sit outside of the OR while the mom gets prepped. The first nurse told me that she'd be back for me in 10 minutes. At least 10 minutes (probably more like 15) passed, and I was still all alone. Then another nurse walked by and told me 7 more minutes. Argh. I remember this same feeling when we were having Abby. It felt like FOREVER. I was left out there with thoughts of a healthy birth and if it was a boy or a girl. My mind was whirling. Finally, they called me in.

I sat up by Peggy's head, and couldn't see much. She looked SO much better than with the last baby. I guess 31 hours of labor will do that to a girl. She wasn't shaking and seemed in very good spirits. After 10 minutes of cutting, it was time to get the baby out.

He was apparently a bit large to get out easily. Which is incredible to me, because it was a C-section! How could a baby be too big to get out? Well, the doctor tried for a minute or two, but couldn't get the head out. So, she had to use suction. She attached that, and pulled what appeared to be pretty hard! So the head was out. We were so excited....it was almost time to find out the sex! It had been a long time coming, but at this point it made all the waiting completely worth it.

Then came the time for the rest of the body. I thought the hard part was over. Apparently I was wrong. The doctor grabbed the baby around the head and pulled.....HARD! I was getting worried that she was going to break him or her. She pulled for a good 20 seconds with no luck. Then the nurse took her fists and pushed really hard into the top of Peggy's abdomen while the doctor was pulling. Still no luck. I was starting to get worried at this point (of course I didn't tell Peggy that!) She had no idea how hard they were pulling or about the fists in the belly.

Then the doctor stuck her hand inside and hooked a couple of fingers under the baby's shoulder. This did the trick. With a bit more pulling and pushing, the baby was finally out. I of course wanted to know the sex right away and Peggy was asking, but the doctors arm was in the way (for what seemed like forever....in reality it was probably only 2-3 second). The moment of truth....it was a boy!

We were soooooo excited. We were both so happy, we shed a few tears.

His first picture:
They took him over to the table to get him cleaned up. I got to cut the cord again, which was pretty cool. Then they did the baby footprints on a piece of paper. He (still unnamed at this point) decided it was a good time to pee. So, up shot this stream of pee right on the piece of paper! Haha. He peed for a good 20 seconds. It was like he had held it in for 9 months and just couldn't wait to get it out. I'm sure in his head he was thinking "ahhhhh." The nurse said "well, at least we know that works!"

Then we needed to figure out that name. We talked about it for a few minutes, and decided Noah Thomas it was.

It was then time for the scale. When we had Abby, Peggy predicted 9lbs 4oz. We all figured there was no way she could be right again. So, I asked her what she thought. 9lbs 11oz was her answer. And sure enough, we put the baby on the scale and 9lbs 11oz it was. We were all blown away that she guessed it correctly again.
We were in the OR for another 20 or so minutes while they finished up with Peggy. They also did a blood sugar test (standard protocol for babies this large). It was at the very low end of normal (43). They said that we'd have to keep a close eye on that and retest soon.
Peggy getting to hold Noah for the first time:
Then they wheeled her back into the room. She got to hold the baby on the way back this time (instead of being knocked out like last time), so it was really nice.

Aunt Sallie brought Abby by for a visit. She was pretty cautious at first, but soon warmed up. She held baby booger, and did a might fine job! She was pretty wary of being around Peggy. I think she just didn't understand why mommy was laying down and had all sorts of wires around her.

Abby's first picture with Noah. So cute!
Then they gave Noah a bath and some other stuff. We tried feeding him for the first time, and it was a really good start! Abby had a lot of problems with feeding and never really got the hang of it. So, when Noah started doing really well, we were very excited.

He had enough hair to make a mohawk during the bath!

They tested his blood sugar again and it was down to 36. Not good news. So, they asked us to give him some formula to help get it back up. They tested again a bit later and it was back up to 43. Good news, but not good enough. If he wasn't able to keep it up, he would have to go to the nursery and get an IV. Not the news we wanted, but overall he was doing pretty well, so we couldn't complain.

Also around this time his temperature started to drop a bit. He had just had a bath which made him a bit cold. They were worried that raising his temperature up would lower his blood sugar.

Then we moved over to another room, and were told that we would have to get his blood checked before every feeding. By this point his poor little feet were turning black and blue and had small bandaids everywhere.

Then my parents came by for a visit:
My students from STUCO sent us an edible arrangement. SOOO nice and thoughtful of them! I love my STUCO kids....
Later in the evening, Kai stopped by for a visit:

Then Sallie and Abby came back for another visit.
Abby was very excited to hold baby Noah. She asked to hold him three different times! Hooray!

Our first full family picture:
Nicole and Mike also stopped by to round off our visits for the day.

His blood sugar continued to stay at normal levels throughout the afternoon and evening. So, no more blood sugar tests! (as far as we know at this point). He has also been nursing very very well. We're quite excited about that.

He's mostly been sleeping throughout the day. We're thinking of trying to get some sleep in a bit. But, he just nursed for 30 minutes and is now wide awake! This could be a rough first night!

We are so lucky and happy.