Introducing Matthew Jason Lopez

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The story of my life. Nothing is ever simple here… always running late and always a great story to share…

The morning started off as usual, me trying to cram in 150 things before I need to get out the door. I woke up at 3:30 am, this should have been ample time to get everyhting in order before we needed to get out the door. We had to be at the hospital at 6:45am (March 24th) for the c-section…. the hospital is about 20 minutes from our house. At 7:15 we are just getting on the road. Hospital calls to check on us and we let them know we experienced a few glitches, but we are on our way.

So, we get to the hospital and my aunt is waiting in the lobby area. She is walking into the registration area with me and Lenny and she asks who will be taking care of kids while we are at the hospital. The L&D staff that is waiting for us hears me tell her that Lenny’s mom and sister will be getting the twins to mothers day out, blah, blah, blah. Here is how the conversation goes…

L&D Ladies: Oh, you have another set of twins at home?
Me: No, we have a set of twins at home.
L&D Ladies: And you are delivering twins today?
Me: No??? Why?
L&D Ladies: we have everything prepared for twins.
She opens her books and there are two baby bracelets ready, two logs, two of this two of that. Around the corner comes this huge staff of people. They had an entire group of nurse staff ready to prep for twins. They even had two nursing students there to see their first twin c-section delivery.

Me: We are not having twins… this is one baby.
Lenny: What?
My Aunt: Oh my, I have to call your mother. I think I am going to pass out. (She is my mother’s twin sister. Twenty three years ago they told her she was having a ten pound baby boy\”¦. The day she went into labor she learned it was twin girls when they told her she needed to push again. She said this was too much of a flashback for her.)
Lenny: I think I am going to pass out too.
Me: laughing as I see this army of nurses come around the corner and the L&D ladies explain to them that I think I am not having twins. I start laughing and told them that is why we were late, we thought we would run away to Mexico.
Lenny and Aunt: about to hyperventilate
Me: I ask the L&D Ladies what their names are- Patricia and Rachel- and tell them that if there are twins in my belly, not matter the gender, I will name the babies after them. I knew it was a safe bet!

Everything gets sorted out. They read my paperwork incorrectly and were going off my last pregnancy paperwork \”˜c-section for twins’. (Which kind of scared me thinking what kind of quality control does this nursing station have? And they have prepared my paperwork? Oh my!)

Needless to say I could not stop laughing and Lenny, my aunt and my mother, who soon arrived, could not get over it all. Phones were blazing as my aunt and my mom were like little ladies at the hair shop telling everyone they could get in touch with what had just happened. Imagine that.

So they prep me and wheel me back to surgery. They gave me an epidural and spinal block combo\”¦ that ended up being nice because the pain management was better for the first 16 hours after surgery, but it took the anesthesiologist forever to perform. It was hard having a big belly and sitting with legs over a bed hunched over for literally 15 minutes while this procedure took place. I think there were issues and they were just really good about not sharing them because I later had multiple marks on my back, according to one of my recovery nurses. Everyone in the room just went about their normal coffee shop talk, which made it easy going in the room. Everyone knew I was not thrilled about the c-section and lack of control I had over the situation and the vulnerabilities I felt with it all. They were very reassuring and kind and made me feel as comfortable as possible while my yahoo and goods were exposed to a room of strangers. I think being catheterized in front of a room of strangers is just humiliating, but they seem to act like it is just another day in the office.

I had asked my doctor to let Daddy announce the gender. My doctor was totally cool about it. Lots of tugging and pulling and I feel that indescribable feeling of being numb but knowing that a baby was just retrieved and lifted from inside your belly (it really is a strange feeling). Instantly I hear the most beautiful screaming. It was the moment that made everything real for me. That sound I had not heard in three years and could not believe I was hearing it again. The sound of a new life- it was so amazing. Daddy says, it’s a boy! It is our little boy Matthew! (the only boy name we had remotely agreed on). Suddenly you hear the nurses and Daddy reacting to a little baby boy peeing across the room as he experiences his first cold breaths of an operating room. It is on video and so funny!

The doctor goes on to finish things up and perform the tubal. The nursing students are close by and he is identifying for them my inside anatomy\”¦. This was interesting to hear from behind a curtain\”¦. It was like a grab bag, what will be describe next? Suddenly, my doctor addresses me by first name from behind the large curtain that I obviously cannot see over. He tells me that the membranes of the bottom layer of my uterus are completely exposed. Not only are we lucky this pregnancy, but if I were to ever become pregnant again, it would be incredibly high risk.

Later when he visits me in my recovery room I ask him to give me details about my uterus. He proceeds in his very doctor-like way and describes the layers of a uterus to me and tells me that had I delivered by VBAC all the baby would have needed to do was decide to push through this area of my uterus (before labor or during labor) instead of exiting through my cervix and he would have ended up in my abdominal area leaving me with a ruptured uterus and posing an emergency situation. There is no way to know this damage was there in advance\”¦ it is not something that would have shown up on an x-ray, sonogram or internal exam. He said we are very very lucky that we went the route we went. It would not have taken much at all for the baby to put force against this area and things could have turned ugly. I am so glad I listened to my instinct and even though I was so tempted and so desperate to do whatever it took to deliver my baby by VBAC, I refrained. There were many days I wanted to try evening primrose oil or Castrol oil to see if it would start labor\”¦. But something just kept telling me to let go and let it be, no matter how much I wanted to fight it. And yes, this shop is now closed.

Anyway, I had Tuesday-Friday to spend with my new little Matthew in the hospital…. learning all about this precious new life. He is absolutely beautiful and just the perfect baby. He eats, sleeps and poops\”¦.. It is so amazing to look into his precious little eyes and see that he is the blessing that was missing in our lives. We have so much to be grateful for.

Matthew Jason Lopez
Tuesday, March 24th
8:59 am
7 lbs 13 oz
18 inches long (We had him re-measured at his Monday pedi appt and he is really 19 and ¾ inches long\”¦ I knew the first measurement was off!)
Nursing like a champ and just darling as can be!

My only belly picture…. my belly seriously did not get round until the last two weeks:

This is the moment they popped the bag of amniotic fluid according to Lenny. You can still see the sissors they used to pop it in the assisting surgons hand to the right. The doc on the left is my OB- he is a rock star to me and Lenny. Such a neat doctor.

Matthew fresh out of the oven. Lenny and I thought he looked a lot like Garrett and Luke at this point:

A tad bit puffy and loving the eye gel. He looks a lot like Anthony as a baby and I see Nicholas as well in this pic:

Mommy, Daddy and Matthew right after delivery in the cold operating room:

Momma and da’ boyz:

Big brother Garrett:

Big brother Anthony:

The day my hospital vacation ended…. home and ready for the madness. To my wonderful surprise I came home to a beautifully cleaned home, all of the laundry done and a few projects completed that I had been begging Lenny to finish. Lenny’s mom and sister got business done while I was gone!

Matthew at one week old:

5 Comments

  1. Jenni Lynn Dickson says:

    Beautiful, absolutely precious. congrats Crystal! Lord you have a lot of little tally wackers. You sure make pretty babies. Sorry to hear about your uteran scare. Glad you listened to your instincts and let things happen the way God needed them for both yalls safety.

    I laughed about the nurses story. I could picture your aunt and your mom perfectly! Gossiping hens 🙂 Did your mom have a coke in her hand:)

  2. Crystal, He is so beautiful. Congrats to you and Lenny.

  3. Lenny is saying :

    Thanks Jenni, you must know Sue. (The Coke) Yes, Yes.. We love our family so much.

    Oh, Thanks Kate. I can not even pay people to come visit us anymore. Although, my twin brother Larry has been staying with us about a week and we never want him to leave.

  4. What a sweet boy! Love his name. I have a Jason Patrick (but wanted to name him Matthew Henry – long story)

    1. Kim- how funny. I like Matthew Henry. 🙂 Thanks for reading my story.

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