Saturday, September 1, 2007

Our Tom's Arrival

Well today was delivery day and Tom Leslie arrived without a hitch. We were first on Dr Sacks list - 7.30am which meant an early start from home. We drove to St George hospital at 6am and watched the sunrise on a beautiful day.

We met the anesthetist for the pre-op 'talk' and then I went down to theatres to get the big needle. The pain was as I remembered it last time, but it was over much quicker - probably because I wasn't as big this time round and could bend more.
I also reacted to the drugs in a similar way to last time - nausea and a total feeling of 'losing it'. It was quite scary but was soon compensated with an adjustment of the drugs and before we knew it baby Tom was taking his first lung full of air and screaming. That brought tears to my eyes as it did when the swaddled him in a blanket and brought him for his first cuddle.
He was so perfect - and small. Weighing in at 3.695kg (8lb2oz)was a very healthy size but compared to his sister (4.7kg/10.5lb) he felt so little.
We didn't expect it - particularly as I was pretty big myself so hadn't really gotten him any small sized clothes. Luckily his aunties and grandparents were on the ball and rushed out to make some purchases.
Big Daddy took Tom up to the maternity ward to weigh him in and do the Apgar Test (9 both times) and sit with him on his chest until I was out of recovery. Ela arrived with Nana and Grandad about 15 minutes later and was so excited to finally meet her little brother.

We bought her a doll that you can feed and nurse, so she wouldn't feel left out, and when I came up from recovery, she was insistent on telling me all about it. It was quite overwhelming seeing this perfect bundle of joy laying in the crib next to me and with Ela climbing all over the bed and asking why I was in a cage (the bed sides were up). She asked me why I had the drip attached and we explained that the doctor had cut my tummy and taken Tom out. She asked to see the cut and after taking a look, then looking at my (still fat) tummy she asked 'So is there another baby in there waiting to come out?'!

1 comment:

Melanie Hughes said...

He is truly gorgeous and we feel so happy that we were able to visit him while he was still so brand spanking new! Well done. Enjoy!