On Sunday, July 12 DJ and I left Lexsi and Mia at my mom's in Provo and came back up to Brigham so I could have Pyper the following morning. On the morning of the 13th, we slept in and headed to the hospital in the late morning. DJ gave me a blessing before we left, and in it he said that Pyper was going to be a good example and be strong in sharing the Gospel. It made me so excited to meet this valiant little spirit!
The Brigham City hospital is SO SMALL! I had never been in it before, and it was kind of hilarious how small it really is. We got checked in super fast, I changed into my hospital gown and settled in bed to wait for an hour or so before the surgery was actually scheduled. I did my best to focus on the book I was reading as I anxiously waited for the time to pass! DJ got to get suited up in his OR gear once again, and when my doctor got to the hospital we all went to the Operating Room. They rolled my bed in there this time, unlike with Mia, where I walked in on my own. DJ waited outside the OR while they gave me the spinal tap and prepped me for surgery.
I started to get a little nervous right before they did the spinal tap, just cause it's never fun to get poked in the spine. Also, the OR was freezing. So I was shaking a tiny bit when they did the spinal tap. The anesthesiologist was so so awesome! He was my best one yet. The first time he did the tap, though, I felt pain shoot down the right side of my back, like by my kidney. He saw me flinch, asked where it hurt, and readjusted it. My anesthesia was WAY better this time than it was with Mia. When I had Mia, the surgery hurt a LOT. This time, I was completely numb from the chest down. DJ came in once I was all prepped and they got started. It was weird, cause my chest was numb and I couldn't feel myself breathing, but I obviously still was. It's weird how your body just knows what to do! After a few minutes, I was starting to feel really nauseous from the anesthesia. I told the anesthesiologist, and he calmly just told me to turn my head to the right and throw up. I hadn't eaten in over 12 hours so it was only stomach acid, and he had stuck a suction thing in my mouth like they have at the dentist so it was all taken care of. It pretty much freaked me out, cause I knew the surgery was underway, and that my abdomen was definitely cut open and some of my insides were outside... so the thought of throwing up kinda seemed like it would be a big deal. But everyone was so calm that it seemed like it wasn't such a problem in the end. DJ didn't actually see Pyper being born because I was throwing up and he was more worried about me. She was born at 12:50pm and came with a strong set of lungs! She was wailing the whole time she was in the OR. Then DJ brought her over to me and we got a quick picture of the three of us before DJ and Pyper went to the nursery. When she was born she weighed 7 pounds 12 ounces (Lex was 7lb 13oz and Mia was 7lb 11oz, so Pyper was right on par with my kiddos). She was measured at 19.25 inches long, but DJ said the nurse didn't really stretch her out so she was definitely taller than that.
I stayed in the OR for nearly an hour after Pyper was born, just getting put back together and sewn up. I chatted with the doctors and nurses, which is always funny to me, considering what my body is going through. My doctor told me that I had almost no fat in my stomach, which made me pretty happy! Obviously I have some, plus I'm still in recovery mode, but it's pretty awesome to hear your doctor tell you when your abdomen is cut open that you have very little fat. After leaving the OR I had to go wait in a little recovery booth for like 20 minutes or something. When I finally made it back to my room, DJ was waiting there with Pyper. I held her and nursed her and started snuggling her! She's such a sweet, mellow baby.
I had to stay in the hospital for 4 days, and I have to say, this was my best hospital experience yet. I haven't had any bad experiences, but I've delivered all 3 girls in different hospitals and this one has been my favorite. The food was super good, the nurses were all fantastic, and after the first day I was the only person in the maternity ward. It was pretty awesome!
On Wednesday, my mom brought the girls back up to Brigham and they got to meet their sister! I expected Lexsi to be obsessed with her, which she totally was. I kind of expected Mia to have a harder time, cause Lex did when Mia was born. But she surprised me, and wanted to hold and love on Pyper as soon as she came to the hospital! I can already tell these three are going to be best of friends!
My recovery has gone pretty smoothly. I took Percocet while I was at the hospital and for one day after I came home. The nurses all told me that I had a high pain tolerance, and were surprised I didn't take more medicine. After one day at home I switched to only Ibuprofen for several days, slowly weaning myself off. I haven't taken any drugs in several days now. I pretty much hate the feeling of being on drugs, so I wean myself as quickly as possible.
The doctor told me that about a week after surgery, I could take my bandage off my incision. This time they had done stitches, and both other times I had staples and then sucher tape, so this was all new to me. After almost 2 weeks I finally broke down and took the bandage off-- that kind of thing totally freaks me out. It was a pretty gross. I hated seeing my incision before it was completely healed. I've never looked at an incision before until there was nothing left but a scar! But I feel like once the bandage was off I healed quicker. At my 2-week check up the doctor told me my incision looked amazing and that I heal super fast. I've already known that, but it's good to hear again! I'm pretty proud of my body for going through three pregnancies and three c-sections in less than three and a half years and still recovering so well! Also, my doctor told me the day that I had Pyper that I was cleared to have more kids. So that's great news as well!
Since we've been home, Pyper has been getting lots of love from her sisters! She's such a sweet-natured baby. She sleeps the majority of her life-- literally around 20 hours a day. She only cries when she's getting her clothes changed because she HATES being naked, when she bathes (cause again, she hates being naked), or if I don't feed her as fast as she thinks I should. She has pretty much decided that if she's awake she should be eating. She's a total chub! At her 2-week check up she weighed 8 pounds 8 ounces. They only expect newborns to get back to their birth weight at that point, and she obviously has gained way more than that. So that's super funny to me.
The craziest thing to me is how BALD this baby is! Her hair is dark, but it's super short. I'm used to crazy hairy girls, so this was kind of a shocker to me. I've convinced myself that she's going to turn blonde. Also her eyes are blue! They're dark blue, but I've also convinced myself that they're going to stay light. I just have to believe I'll have one child with some of my features!
As far as her nicknames, I usually call her Miss Pyper or Pyper Rose. DJ usually calls her Pypes. The girls almost always call her Baby Pyper.
We love our Pyper girl SO much! It's only been 3 weeks but I have no idea what we'd do without this incredible little girl in our home!
To follow tradition, I'll be taking monthly pictures of Pyper in a white onesie with a stuffed animal to measure her growth. Here is her first picture, at one week old:
