We are so in love with our new little guy! Brandon David was born on Wednesday, May 23 at 4:11p. He was a big baby at 8lbs 11oz and 20.5 inches long!
I really loved the birth experience this time around. With this being my 3rd c-section, I was a little nervous about having a lot of scar tissue and other complications, but there was hardly any scar tissue and the only complication I tend to have is with the spinal and being horribly nauseous for 6 hours afterward (even when I get 3-4 anti nauseous drugs too).
This was the first time we weren't able to video the birth and just have some pictures once Brandon was getting checked out by the nurse and pediatrician. This was also the first time that Joe and the baby were able to stay in the OR with me the whole time. With both Jase and Meghan, once the first set of Apgar scores were taken, the baby and Joe were taken to the nursery, leaving me with my team of Dr's, nurses, and anesthesiologists. Then it was off to recovery by myself, no baby. But this time Joe and Brandon stayed with me the whole time and less than an hour from when the c-section started, I was holding and nursing my little boy. With Jase and Meghan it was 2-3 hours before I could hold them and nurse them.
So I loved the experience here so much more than the other two. I still despise the nausea that I get and vomiting for 6 hours afterwards. And I loved that I could start eating real food right away (the next morning for breakfast, since I was tired of vomiting and not keeping anything down the evening of the birth).
The lactation nurse was annoying, especially since she showed up 24 hours after the birth and each shift of nurses had already signed off on us knowing how to nurse and having the correct positioning/latch. Most all my nurses were fabulous, there was only one I didn't really like and thankfully it was after I was already mobile and getting around on my own, so I didn't need her help much. Most all the nurses were pacifier nazi's. They were worried about nipple confusion, but honestly Brandon is a pro at nursing and he just needs to suck on anything, most all the time (his fist, fingers, thumb, blanket when being swaddled, my finger, etc).
The time spent in the hospital (3 nights) went really quick. Usually it seems like it drags, but with not having family in town to help with Jase and Meghan at night, Joe was home with them and it was just me at the hospital most of the time with Brandon and the nurses.
Brandon is by far the calmest and low key baby we've had. Which is great for a 3rd baby! He can sleep through the chaos of Jase and Meghan at home, sleeps from 11p-~7a each night with only nursing once around 3a (even at the hospital he did this), and loves to just lie awake and look around. As long as he is swaddled well, he will fall asleep on his own without fussing too. It is like he is a dream baby. If all babies were this easy, people would have more babies!
Here are a couple pictures - I need to get more with all the kids, and some good ones of the whole family now...
