The day that I became a Mother:

It could’ve been any other day…. the sun was shining, the temperature was in the upper 80’s, which might I add felt great compared to the previous month with temperatures into the 100’s. It was Wednesday and Tyler and I woke up around 8:30 or 9:00AM to get ready for the day. We showered, dressed and since I wasn’t allowed to eat, I skipped breakfast. My parents had driven the previous night to stay with us. It was just like any other ordinary day except that I was scheduled for a cesarean at 1:00PM and was going to see my baby boy for the first time. We all sat around for a while making small talk trying to kill time. I wasn’t necessarily nervous, more like anxious….it was all so surreal. Finally after what seemed an eternity the clock turned 10:30AM and Tyler and I decided to head for the hospital since we had to be an hour early for pre surgery instructions and preparations.
We checked into the hospital at 11:00AM to Labor and Delivery where I had to fill out some minimal paper work. Afterwards we were taken to the recovery room where I dressed into my hospital gown, was given an IV and they placed a monitor on my belly to observe the baby’s heart beat. They also had to take some blood which proved to be more difficult than ever. After four tries, they were able to get a good vain. It was probably the worst part of my experience, at least until Quincy was born. Tyler was able to be with me in the recovery room. He was all dressed and prepped in his hospital scrubs. Once the doctors were ready and I was properly prepared they wheeled me into the operating room at 12:40PM. Tyler wasn’t allowed to go in with me at first and had to wait until they were able to make sure the anesthetics worked. Later Tyler told me that was the worst part for him, not knowing what was happening and if everything was going according to our plan. When I was in the operating room I was given a spinal block, an injection of drugs into the spine which numbs your body from about your rib cage down. As I sat on the table with my legs hanging over the side my entire body was shaking, not because I was nervous, but because of the anticipation of the unfamiliar. The anesthesiologist was extremely kind and talked through the whole procedure before and during which was helpful to calm my uncertainties. Fortunately for Tyler and me, the spinal block was successful and Tyler was able to join me in the operating room. The whole procedure wasn’t nearly as scary as I had anticipated. Although it was a very strange experience to have the spinal block, my entire body felt exceptionally heavy, warm and somewhat tingly. I imagined it’s what a paraplegic might feel like having the loss of feeling in their lower extremities.

As I laid there on the table with my arms strapped straight out away from the sides of my body I was comforted by Tyler’s encouraging kind words. He stroked my head and held my hand. He had quite a different perspective of the whole thing than I did, as there was a curtain which blocked my view from anything. Tyler would ask me how I was doing and tell me how things were progressing since I couldn’t see. We laughed and joked about what we were going to name the baby. We knew we’d name him Quincy, but hadn’t yet decided on a middle name. We had narrowed it down to Taylor or James. Tyler insisted he didn’t care and that I make the final decision. We both agreed that Quincy James Howard sounded better and then his initials wouldn’t spell QT. After a lot of pushing on my stomach the doctors announced that the baby’s legs were out. At this point Tyler was brave enough to take a peek. Since I couldn’t see anything I watched Tyler, which was quite a different experience than his, I’m sure. His face grew in amazement and he was smiling slightly. He would always look back at me though after he reported how things looked to him. The doctors announced that the baby’s body was out. Tyler stood in disbelief, as what he later described, the weirdest thing he had ever seen. The whole baby’s body was out of my stomach with exception of his head, which emerged last. His head took the most work to get out; the doctors were pushing really hard because it was lodged under part of my rib cage. After what seemed forever I heard the small yet powerful cries from Quincy. What a shock it must have been coming out from the world he knew so well. There were bright lights, nurses and assistants working quickly to clean, measure, and weigh him and I’m sure the cold air was a very unpleasant discovery to this new world. Tyler watched as everyone worked busily and was able to snap a few pictures. He even cut the umbilical cord, which surprised me because he insisted in childbirth preparation classes he wasn’t going to do. After Quincy had all the necessary “tests” done and they had wrapped him in a blanket Tyler held him closer so I could see him. I remember a flood of emotion going through my body and tears welling up in my eyes as I looked over at his tiny body and face knowing that we were able to bring on of Heavenly Father’s spirits to this Earth to be part of our family. It was such a special moment to at last come face to face with the baby which I carried inside me for nine months. What a wonderful and incredibly amazing feeling it was.
Quincy James Howard was born Wednesday August 15, 2007 at 1:17PM and weighed 7 lbs 6 oz, measuring 20 inches long and has A negative blood type like me. After Tyler held him over so I could see him and touch him, they went to the recovery room while the doctors finished stitching me up. While the nurses were rolling my bed back to the recovery room I felt really light headed and got sick. In the recovery room I threw up many times and waited patiently as the nurses monitored me and observed the feeling coming back to my body. The only side effect I experienced from the spinal block was excessive itching and tingling in my face. I looked over with tired eyes towards Tyler who stood close to my bed holding Quincy in his arms. I had never seen him with a baby before, but he looked like a natural father. You could see the pride in his eyes and how protective he was over Quincy. I couldn’t help but smile as I felt the sudden urge to vomit again.
We didn’t get to our hospital room for a couple of hours. Both our families waited in anticipation in the waiting room. Tyler went out a couple of times to report on how things were going, since none of them were allowed in the recovery room. On the way up to the room I was really out of it. Between the vomiting and dizziness I couldn’t tell which direction we were headed. I vaguely remember our families coming into our room to visit. Not that they were really concerned about me, they all wanted to see the new addition to our family. The only thing I regret about my delivery was not being able to spend more time with Quincy those first several hours. Everyone was instantly in love with Quincy and who could blame them?

The next few days were a blur of many emotions. We had some difficulty getting Quincy to eat and that was frustrating to me; there was a definitely lack of sleep on Tyler’s and mine part; there was also a sense of awe and wonder just watching Quincy sleep. Nothing can describe the immediate love that we both felt for him. We finally were able to go home on Sunday afternoon.