Grady's First Day

On Friday morning, we headed to the hospital at 10am. Mom and Dad Loftis (from now on will be referred to as Grandma and Grandpa Loftis) beat us to the hospital! They met us at the emergency room entrance, which was great to see them and know they were there with us. I was getting very nervous - going through surgery was almost as daunting to me as the result of the surgery - having our baby boy!

We got checked in, and Justin was able to be with me through the whole process. I got an IV put in, and then they took me to the operating room to put in the spinal block which made me numb from mid-chest down. Then Justin came in with his scrubs on (looked almost like a doctor!), they put up the blue sheet and within minutes we heard tiny baby cries. They dropped the curtain and held him up Simba-style from the Lion King and said "Here's your baby!". What an incredible experience. The nurses then took baby Grady to a warming table to get him cleaned and dried off - Justin was able to watch and take pictures. He then cut the umbilical cord, and they weighed Grady and took his footprints. I was able to watch from a TV screen by the operating table, so I could see what was going on. Once they had him wrapped up, Justin brought him over to me so I could see him close up and touch his face with the tips of my fingers (I was strapped down so couldn't move too much). I am getting teary-eyed just remembering those first moments. It was simply incredible.

Afte the doctor had me put back together, we were wheeled into the recovery room where we'd stay for what seemed like forever - it was really 3 hours. A nurse came in and helped me to nurse Grady for the first time. No small feat, considering I was lying flat on my back! We made it through, got Justin (now referred to as Dad) a snack, and waited for the numbness to wear off. There were a flurry of texts/e-mails giving all our family and friends the first few shots of Grady's new life. Grandma and Grandpa Loftis were getting very antsy in the waiting room!

We were finally sent off to our private room around 5pm, and the Loftis' were waiting for us there. They were able to hold Grady for the first time as Grandma and Grandpa! We were able to spend a few hours with them that evening, just getting aquainted with our new family member. Grandpa would step out when it was time to work on nursing, and nurses/doctors came and went about every hour.

Our room at the hospital was SO nice! It had the standard hospital bed (which I certainly appreciated, since I had some considerable trouble getting in and out of bed), a small table with chairs, and a long bench seat which doubled as Dad's bed. The view out the windows was beautiful - of the lush green mountains!

Grandma and Grandpa were shoo'd out around 8pm, Chris, Sarah and cousin Lucille stopped by, and my boss Mary also. After that, we had the rest of the night to rest and get to know our baby. The night nurse was very friendly and helpful; she really made the night go very smoothly.

Around 3am they took Grady to get his hearing test. The nurse said it would be 5-20 minutes. After 45 minutes we started to get very nervous! I called for the nurse and she did come back in the next few minutes, assuring us that she hadn't stolen our baby (not what we were worried about anyway), and that they did have to wait to take the test and he did pass just fine. Shew!