The Story of Merrick

Merrick’s pregnancy was SUCH a breeze compared to Elliott’s, so much so that I kept waiting for something to happen. At the end of the pregnancy I began experiencing the same itchiness I had with Elliott, and instantly knew cholestasis was back, which I wasn’t too concerned about since we’d been down that road before. We got our c-section date, and spent that whole day soaking up our moments with Elliott as our only child, ordered a TON of Panera to munch on after Merrick was born, and we were so prepared and ready!

Upon arriving at the hospital, I got checked in, got to hear Merrick on the monitor for a bit, and we were then informed we had already been bumped to 9pm. And then at 8:15, a nurse appeared and informed me that actually we were skipping ahead, and I was being taken back at that moment. I had zero time to even think before being wheeled back. My nurse was an absolute angel, and helped me during the moment where I was getting a spinal. I started feeling my feet go kinda tingly, I laid back, and everyone got to work. The drape went up, everything was going so quickly, and then I felt a sharp jab to my stomach. I jumped. My doctor immediately realized I wasn’t numb still. She tested a couple of other spots, and I wasn’t numb there either. The bed got tilted back to help the anesthesia flow to my abdomen, we waited a few more minutes, and then they rechecked to see if I was officially numb. I wasn’t. “Well, that’s not good. We need to do general anesthesia.” Um. No. I didn’t even have a chance to say anything before my amazing doctor stepped in and said we would be trying again since we had time, and said that I should be awake for my son being born. They tore everything down, got me unhooked from everything, and sat me back up to have another spinal done. “I gave a hefty dose, but it’ll take some time to start working.” And so we all hung out, chatted, they got everything set up again, and when it was time, they did the check to see if I was numb. And I wasn’t. And I immediately knew this meant I’d have to be put to sleep, which meant missing out on my son’s birth. Tears filled my eyes, it was confirmed that this was the only thing we could do since both spinals didn’t work, and as a last ditch effort, I asked if Chad could still be there. When they said no, everything shattered. I know it’s protocol, but the idea that neither parent would witness such a huge moment tore my heart apart. I begged for anyone to at least take photos during the surgery, and was so grateful when someone stepped in and informed me they would. Within a few seconds, I was OUT. I woke up in tremendous pain since the pain medication also wasn’t working well, but all I cared about was finding out if Merrick was okay, how much did he weigh, what was his height and APGAR score, did I hemorrhage, etc.. Everything went well, Chad had Merrick, and I was heading to recovery. I was updated that the anesthesia most likely failed due to having Ehlers Danlos since it tends to take a lot more to be effective, which I’ve found to be very true with the dentist. It was a sucky situation, I’m still upset with how it happened, but Merrick got here safely, and again, the staff had been absolutely wonderful. 

Before I knew it I was waking up with Chad beside me holding the sweetest little RED HEAD. I was pretty out of it, but wanted to touch my baby so badly. They told me Merrick was stubborn, that he came out totally content and not crying, that there was some bruising to him from his positioning inside, but that he was absolutely perfect. My sweet boy spent the first few hours on my chest, and it was pure bliss (especially while eating a panini that I’d been looking forward to for several hours haha).

Due to covid, we weren’t able to have visitors the same way we were with Elliott, so I took it upon myself to do his photos myself – all within 10 hours of him being born, of course 😉

A couple of short days later, my boys met for the very first time. Elliott was hesitant, but still very interested in this baby brother he now had. One thing we did was have Merrick “give” Elliott a gift. I had heard several parents suggest that, and though he didn’t really care too much about it, it was still a moment of bonding for them, and a way to show Elliott this was a positive moment.

While Moments by Megan did his newborn photos, I also had Meredith June Photography do a brothers photoshoot along with a few Christmas pics to celebrate.