Corbin's Grand Entrance

Forgive me if this blog post is a little on the incoherent side, but as I write this, it's three o'clock in the morning and I'm literally too exhausted to sleep. Plus? I just ate some awesome toast, so my happiness is at near-delirious heights. (I know, you're thinking, "What's so special about toast?" - but all toast is classified under "awesome" when it's your first solid food in nearly 24 hours.)

But let me back up for a minute. Because I've got something even more awesome than toast: a brand new baby boy. Corbin Daniel, eight pounds and nine ounces and twenty-one inches of sweet, infant-y goodness.

When I came in for my induction on Friday morning, I was more than ready, since it had been postponed the day before. I checked my dignity at the door, donned the ultra-flattering hospital couture, fashionably accessorized with an IV and some lovely identification bracelets, and they started the Pitocin drip. For most of the morning, I was engaged in various activities such as walking around and bouncing on a birthing ball (presumably with my ass hanging out for the world to see). Labor was progressing at a decent clip. Contractions were getting painful. Water had broken. I was waiting on the anesthesiologist to deliver the nectar of the gods epidural. Everything was nice and normal.

And then? It suddenly got a little less so.

When my nurse Tammy checked for dilation, she frowned. "I feel ... some sort of hard little nodule," she said. "It may just be that a portion of his head has conformed to the shape of your cervix, but I'd like to get a second opinion." So in came the charge nurse, who fished around up in there briefly before saying, "We need an ultrasound."

I'll never forget the way she said it. Or the knowing look she gave Tammy as the words came out of her mouth. It was one of those moments where there was clearly something amiss, but nobody wanted to say anything. I began to get uneasy. Aw, hell, who am I kidding - "uneasy" isn't even the word for it - you just don't like to hear that there may be something wrong. I'd have probably crapped my pants with fear at that point, except I wasn't wearing any.

The technician came up to my room with her little portable ultrasound machine, and I tried to hold still through some increasingly-heinous contractions while she zoomed the wand around my abdomen. And then we had our answer: Corbin was breech. That "nodule" was a heel. At some point, obviously very recently, he had turned his little self around.

With each contraction, I was feeling more and more pressure. Like he was just about to roundhouse kick his way out of there, Chuck Norris-style. I had started to dilate really quickly, and I was petrified - because having been in labor four times now, I know one thing about myself: once it starts progressing like that, it goes fast. I seriously felt as though I could have reached down and felt a foot hanging out.

Which is why, before I knew it, Curtis was zipping himself up in a paper leisure suit and a shower cap, and I was being wheeled briskly into the cold, sterile operating room for a C-section. Everything was fast-moving and - for lack of a better term - official. Like something from a movie, people in scrubs all over the place, getting prepared, calling out medical terminology left and right. It was kinda surreal.

Anyway, I won't blather on about the details (gross) and the way I felt (freaked the eff out ... oh, and fat), but instead focus on the wonderful end result: our new baby boy.




Smile for the camera, Corbin!

I did say I wanted my last birth experience to be memorable, and oh, was it ever - even if it wasn't at all what I expected. It's kinda cool to say that I've given birth both ways, though. And despite the searing pain in my abdomen (yowza!), I'm definitely digging the fact that I'm not shredded to bits "down South," if y'all know what I'm saying. That's always a plus.

I can't help but wonder if this would have all been different had our induction not been postponed. But, things happen for a reason. And we're fine. And no matter what, at the end of it, I'm still the mommy of FOUR beautiful, healthy boys. So ends my childbearing years.

Now that's surreal.

Comments

  1. Yay! Congratulations! He's beautiful! I have only ever had c-sections, so I have nothing to compare them to. I have loved them though. I hope your recovery is easy and swift, especially now with FOUR little boys to take care of. You are so blessed! I'm glad Corbin is here!

    I can't wait to hear what his big brothers think of him.

    Anjie @ Of Pandas and Pirates
    http://apaprikao.blogspot.com/

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  2. Congrats girl! So glad he made it here healthy and well. Bummer about the breech and c-section. But, like you said, at least he's here and he's healthy. You are mind blowing with your already posted birth story and pictures. SHEESH! I JUST wrote Mayzies birth story yesterday and will post it Monday. Never mind that 2 mos. have passed. UGH! Anyway, hope your recovery is quick and that he's the sweetest, calmest baby ever.

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  3. Ah-Mazing! Great Job to the Rita Family! :)

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  4. Yes, that C-section was quite a surprise yesterday! One minute the grandmas were shuffled out to the waiting room so you could get your epidural, and a few minutes later you're headed to surgery! Talk about making a grand entrance....Corbin really knows how to do it! He's amazing!

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  5. He's so adorable!!!! A huge congrats to you and hubby and I've only ever had c-sections too so wishing you an easy and fast recovery!!

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  6. Congrats and he probaly wanted to come out feet first for all the jumping and kicking you did in zumba while you were prego.

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  7. Congratulations!!! I waited up late last night hoping hoping for an update, and now i know why there wasn't one. My OH My...Csections are hard (I had 5) to get over.
    and your right, it will be a birth to remember....Do what the nurses sat when they tell you that it's time to get up and walk (even tho you probably just wanna punch her in the face at the suggestion) because it really does help you get better. I promise. It hurts like hell, and don't let anyone whose funny around you, because laughing hurts, so does: sneezing, coughing, farting etc....I'm Thankful that everything went ok, and that you get to shower your newest little boy with hugs and kisses.
    You know, I had 4 boys and 1 girl... You can always try again....LOL... I can feel the STANK EYE from here....Again, congratulations

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  8. jessica armstrong lasaJune 2, 2012 at 2:37 PM

    CONGRATULATIONS RITA!!! So proud of you! You sure have built a beautiful family!! Enjoy these last baby days because they are going to go oh so fast and then you will be like me, husband with a vasectomy and me staring at the newborn on the diaper packages at the store in longing....... LOVE YA!!!

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  9. congrats! I love his little face!

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  10. Congrats, he is beautiful! I would have been freaking out right along there with you, why can't nurses and doctors keep their mouths shut until they KNOW what is going on?

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  11. Congratulations! Wow... what a way to enter the world.

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  12. Congratulations! So happy for you guys!

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  13. So happy for you guys! He is beautiful and I'm so happy you are both okay and Corbin is healthy. I ended up with a c section after 24 hours of pitosin and magnesium. Ick. I was scared shitless about it when they wheeled me in. Literally. I couldnt shit for 5 days. You are very welcome for telling you that but no one informed me about that with birth. But in the end, it's pretty much worth it. Congrats!!!

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  14. Congrats to you and all your guys! And ouch is an understatement, all three of my kids were c-sections and it's hard to recover from major surgery whole taking care of a newborn and kids! Take it as easy as you're able to, and enjoy all your sweet boys. It's bittersweet when you've given birth to the last one. Oh, and seriously, take the stool softeners and invest in some baby wipes for yourself. Makes things a lot easier in that area. Hugs and congrats; can't wait to hear about your next adventure!

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  15. Having witnessed two preemie (6.5 wks early, 8.5 weeks early) emergency c-sections, I'm glad yours wasn't as critical. Congrats on everything working out all right, and big congrats on the new little one.

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  16. Congrats to you and your fam! Can't wait to hear all about the adventures with 4!

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  17. Congratulations! Completely memorable, that *is* exactly how the fourth birth should be :)

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  18. yay! I still can't believe they canceled your induction and then my water broke that day - we would have had babies on the same day! So sorry about the c-section, that sounds awful, but I totally know what you mean about having done it both ways - kind of neat.

    Hope you recovery quickly - welcome Corbin!!

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  19. Awe, my fourth was my 1st c-section too! Cream-of-wheat was amazing, then I vomited it back up. Ahhh well. Glad to experience it both ways too :)

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  20. FOUR? Wow. That's GOTTA keep your hands full. I stopped after 2. I got my one boy and my one girl and couldn't be happier :)

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