Thursday Night (5/31): The day before Isaiah’s birth, I taught my last set of piano lessons for the month while Josh picked up my mom from the airport. For the past few days I had been in rush mode. We had thought the c-section was scheduled for Monday, June 4^th, but found out Tuesday afternoon that it had been scheduled for Friday morning! There was a lot to do before the surgery. I spend Thursday night giving my mom “Becca instructions” and doing my last-minute packing for the hospital. It’s a strange feeling knowing that you’re going to get up in the morning and have your baby in a few hours.

Friday Morning (6/1): Friday morning, we had to be at the hospital at 5:30. Surgery prep went well, the anesthesiologist said he had the right hand of God on his side. I was just hoping he did well in school! Josh read us Sense and Sensibility while we waited. I walked into the operating room, sat on the table, and was given a spinal block. While I was trying to think about how nice it would be to have our boy with us soon, I kept thinking, “I hate this. I hate the operating room. I hate giving birth this way.” The surgery went well and Isaiah Emil arrived safe and sound. He was a lot bigger than they were expecting from my size. They also noted that I had no scar tissue from Becca’s c-section. I ended up getting sick during the surgery – a reaction to the meds. I threw up during surgery and then several times throughout the day. It was a pretty miserable day, as I couldn’t sit up too far or take any movement without getting sick. BUT – I was delighted to have a sweet baby boy. The nurses were concerned about my low heart rate – several asked it I was a runner.

Becca: Becca came to meet Isaiah in the afternoon. I was sad I couldn’t be move involved with her first interactions with Isaiah. We tried to take a family picture, but I was “a little green” as my doctor put it. Saturday I was able to actually interact with both my children and enjoyed it very much. Becca wasn’t too excited about all the pictures, but was excited to see Isaiah for the first time and to exchange gifts.  She also sang “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” for Isaiah with hand motions.  Becca even helped me walk the halls. Becca also enjoyed riding up and down in my bed.

Hospital Stay (6/1-4): Josh stayed every night with me at the hospital. It was great to have him there. The hospital staff was great. My doctor visited me every day while I was in the hospital. One of the nursery nurses noted that Jensen was a Danish name and made Isaiah a special hat. I had a wonderful night nurse. She was one of the night nurses I had after Becca was born. She was very patient while I got out of bed for the first time. Isaiah had his hearing test before we left the hospital.

Visitors: We had some visitors in the hospital. René, Yani, and Amaris visited both Saturday and Sunday. We also had 5 of Becca’s former NICU nurses visit – word gets around the hospital. Becca and Grammy came every day to visit us.

Home (6/4): Going home was great. It was good to be back with Becca and be in my own home again.