Then came the waiting. We watched as 10AM came and went, then 11AM also came and went. Finally around noon they said they were ready. Helen was wheeled to surgery and I was lead by 2 nurses to surgery as well. I was at the surgery door to meet Helen when she arrived. We kissed each other and they wheeled her in. I was instructed to sit on a stool right outside the door of surgery. They said it will only be a few minutes, just until we get her epidural in.
So there I am, sitting alone in a very quiet hallway on a little metal stool, all decked out in my blue scrubs. 20 minutes goes by without any word. Through the smoked glass doors of the surgery department I can see nurses running up and down the hallway. I'm getting concerned now. After what seems like forever her doctor comes out and explains that the anesthesiologist had trouble getting the epidural in. "We thought we was going to have to put her to sleep, you have no idea what she just went through so that you could be there for the birth." Later I learned that they had to stick her with the epidural needle more than a few times. She refused to be put to sleep though. She wanted to see Taylor as soon as possible and she wanted me to be able to be in there. I have an amazing, strong, loving wife. I would also like to add to that.. THANK GOD I AM A GUY.
Once I was allowed in it didn't take long at all. I was watching them cut her open and she just kept asking me what was going on. She really wanted to see what was going on but they wouldn't have any part of that because everything on the other side of the blue screen is a "sterile environment".
At 12:32 I see my first glimpse of baby, legs first. Within seconds the rest of her was out and I was very excited to see that she was still a girl. I don't even know we would begin to change all of the pink clothes into blue ones :). Here are some pics from right after she came out.
Once she was cleaned and printed she was taken over to meet mom. The anesthesiologist asked me if I wanted him to take some pictures of the three of us.. uh YEAH!
After this baby was taken to the nursery with me in tow. Mom was stitched back up and taken to recovery. The nurses let me push the crib to the nursery, when we got close it looked something like a parade route.
We were supposed to spend the next 3 days in the hospital, but since my wife is amazing we went home in only two, putting us home right on Thanksgiving. Best Thanksgiving ever! All in all things went pretty much as planned, and everyone is doing good at this point. I will leave you with some more pics from the hospital.. and preparing to leave.
