Leighton James: A Birth Story

Holy hiatus! Having a toddler an a newborn at home has this mommy feeling extra tired! At night, instead of doing things like blog updating, I am trying to sleep as much as possible between feedings. Thus, the blog has fallen towards the wayside lately. Anywhooo, as most (all) of you probably know, Leighton is here! She arrived at 7:59 am on May 24, and we are absolutely head over heels! I can't believe it has taken me this long to get around to posting her birth story, but here's how everything went down...

First things first, if you remember B's birth story, you know that I ended up with an emergency C section because he was sunny side up, and hours of pushing got me nowhere. However, my doctors (long story, I had two this go 'round because one ended up having to take a leave of absence during my pregnancy), were willing to allow me to do a VBAC if that was my choice. Had there been a guarantee that I would have been able to deliver via VBAC, I would have totally gone for it. I'm confident barring any unforseen complications, I could have done it. But, the unknown is what held me back. The last thing I wanted was a delivery experience like I had with B. I felt AWFUL afterwards. It was exhausting, and with him at home to take care of on top of a newborn, I just could not bring myself to fully commit to a VBAC. If I had gone into labor on my own before my scheduled surgery date, I probably would have attempted it, but that wasn't the case. The week before my surgery and L's birthday, I talked to my doctor one last time. Since it was looking like I would make it to my surgery date without going into labor, she let me know she was actually glad I chose a repeat C because she did not want me to have any chance of going through what I did with B, and due to his size, there was a good chance L might be bigger. In that case, I would have ended up with a C, anyway, because my frame is simply not large enough to birth a baby that size. Now, back to the birthday of our sweet, sweet L.

Barry and I awoke at 4 am to get ready for our 5:30 arrival at Presby. I showered, blew out my hair, and put on a little makeup. We had packed the car the night before, and we made the 20ish minute drive with no hiccups. I was immediately admitted to Labor and Delivery and into a pre-op room. My IV was started, they did a little bloodwork, and we just kind of hung out there until about 7 when we were taken back to my pre-surgery/post-op recovery area. I was a little nervous. I've never had surgery other than my other C, and I didn't even have time to think about being nervous for that! I was taken into the OR first to get my spinal block and they brought Barry back soon after once surgery was getting underway. There were no complications other than a tiny bit of nausea from the anesthesia. It was a routine C, and at 7:59 am, Leighton was here! My first reaction to seeing her was that she looked exactly like Branner did when he was a baby with more/darker hair. It was love at first sight for both Barry and I. He was a goner from her first second of life. I can only imagine how tightly she will have him wrapped around her little finger from here on out. Once I was out in recovery, she latched immediately with no complications (yay!!) and I was monitored and pretty quickly moved to the room where we would spend the next few days. My surgery went absolutely as well as could be expected! That afternoon, family and friends filled my room to meet sweet L. It was amazing. I felt great and was up moving around a little by that night. We left Monday morning to go home.

Since then, I have made a full quick and painless recovery. Leighton has settled into our crazy quite nicely. She is the most easy going, sweet baby imaginable. We feel so blessed and would like to thank all of those who called, texted, sent Facebook messages, brought meals, visited, sent gifts, and prayed for our little family!