We had so many baby showers and were really overwhelmed with the outpouring of love from people. The ACR faculty threw us a shower, and then the final baby shower was given by the girls from the soccer team. The parents and girls really hooked us up with everything we could possibly have wanted and now all we had to do was get ready for the really big day.
There were still a few more doctor appointments for Mandy and I to go to. One of the doctors was asking about the size of the baby and noticed that Mandy might have a hard time delivering a big baby. After he heard the story of Liz's traumatic delivery he ordered an ultrasound to get the EFW (estimated fetal weight). GOOD THING HE DID THIS!!!! When we got the ultrasound the technician, and all of us really, was quite surprised to see little Nolan's head up. The dreaded b word... BREECH! How could that be? The doctor told us during an exam that he could feel Nolan's head... he must have been mistaken. At any rate, the doctors then told us that he would have to be delivered via cesarian section. After the initial shock we came to the realization that this was a relief on many levels. For one thing, we were able to schedule the delivery at that day and time that would work best and we were able to select the surgeon that we wanted to perform the operation. It also made us relieved to know that had we gone through the labor process, Mandy would have labored for hours before the doctors would have realized that Nolan was butt-first and then ordered the emergency c-section.
The big day came on Wednesday, March 24th. We showed up at the hospital at 6am and got ready. They took Mandy into the operating room and left me to wait until they came to get me. About 20 minutes later they rushed me, in full scrubs, into the O.R. I was greeted by the sight of Mandy's stomach wide open for the world to see. Feeling very light headed, I sat down at her head behind the "screen". About 5 minutes later one of the doctors said, "it's definitely a boy" (which we knew) and they pulled him out! It was all so surreal, it seemed like a dream. They called me over to the table and I cut the cord, picked him up and brought him over to Mom. After putting her back together we went over to the recovery room where they monitored her for a while, tested Nolan, checked everything out, and then sent us up to our room where we would stay for the next three nights.
As it turns out we knew a lot of people working in baby care unit and were treated very well. We had a great room with a view of the mountains and the nurses were wonderful. On the 2nd day I went to the airport to pick up my Dad and brought him to see his first grandson. It was a great moment. My dad and I even managed to sneak a weeee bit of Irish whiskey into the hospital room to toast little Nolan...
Making a long story short, he has checked out beautifully so far. My Mom drove down to join Dad and they stayed here for a week. Mandy's Mom came to stay with us the day my parents left and she has been here ever since. Today, we had newborn pictures taken in a marathon session. I'm sure there will be some of those pictures posted here as well. In summary- WE ARE BLESSED with a beautiful, healthy baby boy and our whole world has changed for the better. We are so very grateful to our friends and family for their wishes of support and for their help through all of this. We look forward to sharing Nolan's story with all of you as the days,weeks,months, and years go by!
