The Bergendorf 's: Jacob Reed Bergendorf

40 Weeks

Saturday, June 1^st, 2013. I woke up bright and early at 5:45 am. We had to be to the hospital by 7:00 am and I wanted to get a nice shower in (because I knew it would be awhile since I would shower again) before we went. Right before we left I asked Scott for a blessing. In that blessing I was told we had made the right decisions and that gave me a lot of peace. On our way to the hospital I felt pretty anxious. It was weird to just be going in to have a baby. As we walked up casually to the hospital doors I turned to Scott and told him I had imagined this walk being a lot more rushed and panicked and not so calm. I guess things don’t always turn out as planned. :) We got all checked in and before I knew it I was in a hospital gown in bed hooked up to an IV and the machines to monitor the baby and my contractions. Shortly after this the nurse came in to tell me the doctor, Doctor Matt Robinson, was running late because he had an emergency surgery. In a way that made me feel better because it made his birth not so planned. It would happen when it would happen. Just like if I were having him naturally.

After taking an ultrasound we discovered our baby was still heads up. So it was certain we were having a C-section. Next John, the anethstegiologist, came in to talk to us about what the going on’s would be for the C-section. I liked him right off the bat. I felt like he was really there for me, and he was going to do everything he could to make sure my wants and needs were on the very top of his priority list. Because the surgery was delayed all my family arrived before I was brought to the OR. I was grateful for this because it took my mind off of everything. I felt very anxious. Not nervous so much… Just anxious. And tired. I don’t know why I was so tired, but I felt like I didn’t want to keep my eyes open.

Around 10 the nurse came in to tell me Doctor Robinson had called and was on his way and that I would be brought back to the OR in 10 minutes. While we were sitting there waiting someone mentioned it would be cool to get a video of the whole thing. John had already told us that he would be able to take pictures of everything but a video would be really cool as well. So the next time John came in I asked him if it would be possible for one more family member to come in to take the video. He told me it was standard procedure for only one family member to be able to come into the OR. So I asked if one of the nurses would be able to take a video. The next thing I knew John had ordered another pair of scrubs for my mom to come in and take video. This is why I really liked John. I just remember when he told the nurse to go get another set she looked at him like… “This isn’t what we usually do…”. But no questions asked she went and got more scrubs.

Scott got to escort me on my walk to the OR. After arriving I was set up on the table to get my spinal done… It was at this point where I thought to myself. “This is why people don’t like hospitals… All they do is poke and prod you.” I tried not to think of what was actually going on back there. But Scott later told me that watching them put that huge needle in my back was a lot harder then watching them do any of the other stuff. John was very informative during the whole thing. Always making sure I knew exactly what he was doing and exactly what the nurses were doing around me. For that I was very grateful. After everything was ready, put in place and the spinal had fully kicked in we were ready to start. John said, “Surgery started at 10:34 am”. As I lay there all I can remember thinking was how tired I felt. I don’t know if it was the drugs or only getting 4 hours of sleep the night before sharing Scott and I’s last single couple night together. Probably a combination of both. During the surgery Scott continued to stroke my face with his fingers, telling me he loved me. I was so grateful for this because it gave me a lot of comfort. While the doctor was cutting me open they kept commenting on how skinny I was. They told me they weren’t used to doing surgery on such skinny people. Of course it made me feel good. After nine months of pregnancy you definitely aren’t feeling skinny. Scott told them I had run a marathon when I was 5 weeks pregnant and they were very impressed. When it was time to push my midwife, Natalie, began pushing on the upper part of my stomach. It was kind of funny because they would push so hard that I would feel myself moving side from side even though I couldn’t feel the lower half of my body. Right before they pulled the baby out of me they lowered the screen so I could watch. The first part I remember seeing is his body sitting there with his head still inside of me. At this point I felt like it took forever to get the head out but looking back at the video I realized it didn’t take that long. But when they finally did get him out I heard that baby cry.

It instantly brought tears to my eyes. And as I looked up I could see that Scott was crying also. Such an incredible moment I will never forget. “10:39 am” the doctor says after he pulled out our baby boy. They only show him to us for a few seconds before taking him over to the nursery to get cleaned up and to make sure his lungs were cleaned out because he had pooped in the amniotic fluid. Scott bent down and kissed me on the forehead and told me he loved me. Next my mom comes over and kisses me on the forehead with tears in her eyes and tells me she loved me as well. I was so glad she was able to be in the OR with us and to experience the special occasion with us. I know that she loved it as well.

The next comments I hear coming from the doctor and nurses are how big that baby was. After about 15 minutes the nurse from the nursery brings our baby back and tells everyone “9 lbs 3 oz and 20 inches long”. Wow… That IS a big baby! Immediately my baby boy is right next to my face so I can see him. It was really hard and awkward to try to look at him laying flat on my back as they stitched me up. I just remember thinking to myself. “Just let Scott hold and cuddle him. I’d rather he be cuddled and held close by someone then laid next to me where I could hardly touch him.” So I told Scott and my mom to just hold him and not to worry about me. It probably took 20 minutes after that to get me all stitched up. Doctor Robinson kindly told me that he had done 1000 crunches for me and got all my muscles put back exactly where he had found them so that I could start my running ASAP. After getting back to the room it was another 15 minutes before our baby was brought to us. At this time I was able to breastfeed him for the first time. I felt like I had no idea what I was doing. But it’s amazing those baby instincts because he did. No visitors were allowed in the room for an hour after I had returned so that Nicki could monitor myself and the baby to make sure everything was all right. It was nice to be able to spend this time with just me Scott and our new baby.