Porter Rees Baker---12.01.2011

Thursday, December 1st, the long awaited day had finally arrived. My mom and dad arrived the night of November 30th. It felt like Christmas Eve with all the anticipation of the next morning. I had to be at the hospital at 6am in order to get prepped for the 7:30am c-section. I didn't go to bed until about 2:30am and couldn't even fall asleep right away.

When Orrin and I got to the hospital they took us to a little room where they put the baby monitor on (he was super active) and started my IV, among other preparation. At about 7:30am I kissed Orrin and they wheeled me back to the O.R.

I moved from the bed to the O.R. table and thought it was so weird to actually see the O.R. Last time I had surgery I had General Anesthesia so I was totally out before I even hit the O.R. I mentioned to the nurses and others around me how cold the room was and so they brought me warmed blankets. Dr. Armstrong and Jen were both there and I asked Dr. Armstrong if he ever got nervous before he performed a c-section. He said "No, I do these in my sleep...literally." The man that did my Spinal Block was Dan. He did a great job as I didn't feel much more than a pinch. Then they laid me back the spinal block took action and I numbed up pretty quickly. They then proceeded to put up a "curtain" so that I couldn't see what they were doing. Right before they got ready to start the surgery they let Orrin come in and sit up and to the left of my head to be there with me to hold my hand.

Dan then told me they were ready to get started. It didn't take long. I shook through the surgery with what seemed like cold shivers, but I guess those are common. Before I knew it they told Orrin he could stand up and watch as they pulled Porter from the incision. I was SO excited and immediately started crying as I heard my little guy enter the world with some good screaming and crying. Once he was out the nurses took him and cleaned him up a bit and weighed him and then Orrin got to bring him over to me so I could kiss him. What an amazing time. It was SO surreal that the little one that had been growing inside of me for nine months was finally here. He was born at 7:57am. 8lbs, 11oz and 20 inches long, and absolutely perfect.

From there Orrin and Porter went to the nursery where they did officially clean him off and because his blood sugar was so low Orrin fed Porter his first bottle.

As they were finishing my surgery I asked Jen and Dr. Armstrong a few questions and Dr. Armstrong asked me if we were going to keep him. I answered yes, and Dr. Armstrong said, "alright, I'm sewing your uterus shut, you won't be able to put him back." I loved being awake during the process and being able to hear the goings on all around me. It was great to hear them all in action. Once I was all sewn up I went to recovery where I was for about an hour or hour and a half. Eventually Orrin and Porter were able to come back and visit with me. The whole experience of the c-section was so good for me. I feel blessed that it all went so well. Here are a few photos from the morning.

I was SO happy to have little Porter in my arms! Love him!