After we got all checked in and Rae was settled into her bed the nurse came in to hook Rae up to her IV's and take all of her information. I forgot how many questions they ask you!!
Rae checked into the hospital at 5:30AM and so Casey couldn't help but joke about falling asleep in the delivery room...he isn't actually asleep of course...I think he was WAY too excited to even sit still for any amount of time!!
Casey had his camera all set up (he even brought a portable mic!! no joke!!), I was settled in with my kindle and ready to make conversation with my sister during a long day of contractions and Rae was glad that the needle pricks were over for the morning...and then something happened that NONE of us saw coming. Just as the night nurse left and the day nurse introduced herself for the shift change the monitors hooked up to Rae and baby Noah started flashing. The nurse immediately began moving very quickly and asked Rae to roll onto her side. At first, we all just sat and watched not really sure what to think...and then the nurses voice quickened even more and she told Rae to move to her other side as she began ripping open medical equipment and put Rae on oxygen. At that moment, we all knew something wasn't right. Rae looked worried and asked the nurse if everything was ok. The nurse simply stated that Noah's heart rate had dropped and they needed to get it back up as quickly as possible. In a matter of minutes more and more nurses were filing into Rae's room. They were typing on the keyboard, pushing buttons, hooking up medicines and even MY heart rate was rising. I can't imagine how Rae felt. By this time, Casey had stood up and was pacing along the wall in front of Rae's bed. I kept looking at him, from my seat, to see if he was alright but he just looked straight faced. He was quiet. I took that as a sign of "I'm the man and need to be strong here"...I know he wasn't calm on the inside. All of this probably happened in a couple of minutes but it seemed like it took forever for someone to actually say anything. Before we knew it Rae's doctor was in the room getting an update from the nurses and going over the last few minutes of vital signs on the monitor hooked up to Rae's belly. The doctor was concerned, to say the least. He was so composed, though, and I truly think that he kept Rae and Casey calm by being calm himself. Rae's doctor looked everything over and then knelt down next to Rae and said with a forced chuckle "I don't know why your baby is causing me so much trouble!!" I think he was trying to lighten the mood a bit. The doctor explained that they were successful in getting Noah's heart rate back to a healthy level but that he was concerned that this could possibly happen again. He gave Rae the option of either trying to continue with the induction or go ahead with a c-section. He explained that he felt comfortable letting her "try" to have Noah naturally if that's something she really wanted but also warned that if Noah's heart rate dropped again her choice would be taken away and they would definitely go with a c-section. Rae told her doctor that she was far too anxious to wait it out and simply wanted to get it over with by having a c-section. I didn't blame her one bit and actually liked the choice she made. I couldn't imagine us sitting in that room, our anxiety levels so high, wondering if Noah would give everyone another scare like he did so early that morning. So...c-section it was. They didn't call Rae's c-section an "emergency" per say but they said it was definitely urgent and within seconds (literally seconds) the surgery team was in Rae's room asking her questions, having Casey change into scrubs and prepping Rae to be taken into surgery. It was a whirlwind and I'm not gonna lie...a very scary morning.
After they wheeled Rae out of the room, Casey got into his scrubs. He admitted he was scared when everything "went down" but said he was quiet so that he wouldn't freak Rae out. What a smart man!! Oh, and in true Johnson fashion, Casey had to make light of his enormous scrubs to cope with everything that was happening that morning...but whatever the reason we were laughing, we did have some pretty hysterical moments in that room once Rae was gone!! Ha!!
As you can see, they make scrubs "one size fits all"!! Ha!!
Why must Casey pose every time there's a camera around!?!?
The nurse came back into the hospital room and led Casey to the surgery room about ten minutes after they wheeled Rae out. I think it was the longest ten minutes of Casey's life. He paced the entire time, kept looking out into the hallway and put on hand sanitizer about four times!! Once Casey left the room it was really quiet and almost eery. Only an hour earlier, we all three walked into this hospital room laughing and joking about the day ahead. We were eating McDonald's as they got Rae checked in and we made fun of all the camera equipment Casey brought...then chaos erupted and the room suddenly looked deserted. It wasn't the day any of us had expected. As I sat in the empty room all by myself I had to call all of the grandmas and grandpas, sisters and brothers and let them know what was going on. It passed the time but it wasn't easy. I just wanted to know that everything was OK...
Only 25-30 minutes later they came in and told me that if I stepped into the hallway I could get a peek of Noah through the nursery window!! At first I thought they must be telling the wrong family they could see their baby because it was SOOOOO fast but the nurse said that it is usually a fast process and that Rae's was even quicker because they wanted to get Noah out as soon as possible. She said he gave them a "good scare". When I walked up to the nursery windows the blinds were down but then a nurse raised them and I could see little Noah laying in an infant bed with a nurse working on him and proud daddy Casey looking on!! At first I didn't even see Casey (I didn't expect him to be in there...) but he was there, with his new son, smiling from ear to ear!!
They only let me look at Noah for a couple of minutes before they told me they had to put the blinds back down so they could finish all of his medical tests, etc. I was sad but understood. I went back into Rae's room to wait for her. It took a little while for Rae to be wheeled back into her room but when she came back in she looked GREAT and was all smiles!! She didn't look like a woman who had just had a baby!!
I did have to give Rae a hard time, though, because I'm constantly getting onto her about being TOO BUSY and never just laying down her to-do list and enjoying the moment and then what did I see her doing literally seconds after having a baby...and not just having a baby but having major surgery???? TEXTING AND CALLING ON HER PHONE!!!! She's crazy I tell you!!!!! I mean, I'm pretty sure everyone will understand if you take a minute to...oh I don't know, BREATHE after giving birth and THEN call...but, ya know, that's my sister...!!!!
I felt sorta weird that I got to see Noah before Rae did. I didn't hold him first but I didn't realize when they let me look at Noah through the nursery window that Rae hadn't even seen him at that point. Rae didn't mind, though, and after an hour or so they finally brought the new little bundle of joy in to meet his mommy!! He was perfectly content the moment they put him in Rae's arms!!
I love this picture...
When the nurses brought little Noah into the room he was, of course, bundled up tight and all warm and cozy wearing his newborn beanie cap...but we wanted to see all his hair and his tiny fingers and toes so badly that we couldn't help but unwrap him. Noah got a little mad at us but it was worth it!! He's SO cute!!
We took SO many pictures of Noah!! I only uploaded a few but I literally have (I'm kind of embarrassed to say...) hundreds of pictures of just Noah in the hospital!! Hehe!! I just couldn't stop!! I wanted a picture of every single yawn, sigh and facial expression. He makes some of the funniest and cutest faces!!
I think he's gonna be a momma's boy...!!!
Later that afternoon, Aunt Kiki brought big sister Elia up to the hospital to meet her new baby brother!! She was super excited but kind of shy at first and wasn't sure if she wanted to hold him...
she brought him a stuffed puppy, though, and before long she worked up the courage to cuddle her little brother!!
I patiently waited for my turn...but it was REALLY hard!! And then once I had him I didn't want to give him up!!
My boys were VERY excited to hold baby Noah!! I was actually surprised at how much Maddox wanted to hold him. Maddox doesn't sit still for AN..Y...THING...but he sat for a really long time and held his new cousin. He didn't even want to share!! I think he's just happy to have another boy in the family...another boy to have on HIS side and get into trouble with!! Ha!!
I hope little Noah is ready for this crew...!!!
After everyone else took their turn, I stole Noah back to hold and rock for awhile longer. I honestly wanted to sneak him out of the hospital and take him home with me!!
At the end of the day, we were all surprised when Uncle Casey announced that HE himself had had another baby boy that day!! Whew...that must have been PAINFUL!! Ha!!
I'm so happy that our family is growing!! It's so much fun and I absolutely LOVE having kids alongside my sisters. There's something special and exciting about making sure our kids are close to their cousins like we were when we were kids. So many wonderful memories are being made. Welcome to the world baby Noah, welcome to the world!!
1 comment:
Thanks for the awesome pictures. I hadn't seen many of those yet!
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