McHugh Invasion: Welcome Kian Charles McHugh!!!

On January 24th at 12:26pm, we welcomed our first Canadian, second son, and third child Kian Charles McHugh. We knew he was going to be a big boy, but Brogan still had him beat out on birth weight. Kian was 9 pounds 4 ounces and 21-1/4 inches long. (For a refresher, Brogan weighed 9 pounds 15 ounces and was 22 inches long. Neala was 8 pounds 1 ounce and 20-1/4 inches long.) I had a very uneventful pregnancy until the very end. I was sick the 2 weeks prior to Kian's arrival and still had a bit of a cough going into delivery (which is not something you want to have when recovering from a c-section!). Kian was definitely running out of room at the end. One night, he was particularly active and put so much pressure on my stomach that he made me throw up. It was not pleasant. But, all the unpleasantness made me very happy and excited about his arrival!

At this point, maybe I should issue a disclaimer. Kian was delivered via planned c-section (my third section) and I like to go into details. If you don't like details, skip ahead! I was very nervous about my third c-section...this was my first real experience with the Canadian health care system (besides normal check ups), the risk goes up with every section, and my spinal with Neala was not very effective. I saw my family doctor for prenatal care throughout my pregnancy and met with an OB twice before my surgery (though not the OB that actually delivered Kian...long story). I had three ultrasounds (had to talk the doctor into the third one...though it wasn't hard). A week before my section, I had a pre-assessment clinic at the hospital where I met with a nurse and an anethesiologist resident who talked me through the section. It was actually very informative and really put me at ease especially with the concerns about pain during the surgery. We reported to the hospital at 9:30am for an 11:30am section. We had to wait a long time which actually worked out to our benefit as we were able to settle on a name for our new little man. I walked myself to the surgery room in my lovely gown and booties. Casey could not be in the room while I got my spinal and catheter, but was called as soon as they were ready for surgery. (In Wichita, Casey was present for my epidural and spinal, so this was new to me.) The spinal was AWESOME...no pain at all during the surgery. During the entire procedure, I kept hearing the doctors and nurses talking about how big the baby was. Kian was so big that they had to use the vacuum for assistance. And his head was so big that the vacuum kept popping off spraying blood everywhere. Of course, I didn't see this as the drape was up, but I got to hear all about it and saw evidence on one of the doctor's scrubs. (I invisioned a scene from a Quentin Tarantino movie.) I did hemorrage a bit as my uterus didn't want to start contracting after delivery...the OB resident referred to this as a "lazy uterus". So I told Casey that my uterus is retiring as it is old and busted. So to give my uterus a kick start, I got to put a lovely pill in my cheek and after 20 minutes, I got to swallow the pill. Have you ever tried swallowing a cotton ball after not having anything to drink for over 12 hours??? That's what it felt like. They were nice enough to give me some ice cubes to help the pill go down. When Kian was delivered, the neo-natal doctors took him into a separate room to check him out and he was brought back to meet mom and dad a few minutes later. Casey and Kian got to go to a recovery room while they moved me to a stretcher. The three of us hung out in recovery for about 2 hours while my spinal wore off. This is where they weighed him. The OB resident was very anxious to hear how much Kian weighed as I think he might have been one of her biggest babies. Then we were moved to our PRIVATE post-partum room where we stayed the rest of our stay. So thankful that I didn't have to share a room with potentially 3 other new moms and babies!!! Unfortunately, the private room accomodations for Casey were not so great...he got a foam mat to sleep on. But when you're tired, you can really sleep about anywhere. He never complained...what a good guy!

Pain management after a c-section in Canada is WAY different than in the States. I'm accustomed to regular doses of Tylenol #3...you know the good stuff with the Codeine? Here, I was given only Tylenol and Naproxen after my spinal wore off. To be honest, the pain was manageable. Would I have felt better on the T#3? Absolutely!

My mom brought Brogan and Neala to the hospital to meet Kian Thursday night. UTTER CHAOS!!! They were totally thrilled with their new brother, but a little out of control in the hospital room. Brogan was not nearly as traumatized by the addition to the family this time around. He likes holding Kian but only for short periods of time. Neala loves her baby brother too...maybe a little too much. She calls him "her baby"...very possessive! And likes playing with all of his gadgets which annoys me to no end.

We got to come home from the hospital on Saturday afternoon...so nice to be home!!! But of course the emotions kicked in. It's so hard to not be able to do the things that you are used to doing. Brogan is pretty self-sufficient, but not being able to tend to Neala the way I was just days ago has been very hard. And I think it's a bit hard on her too as she's reverted back to wanting a binky all day and has been very irrational and emotional. I'm ready to be pain free and good as new! And it didn't take long for me to figure out that three kids is going to take some getting used to! The days fly by and I can't seem to get anything done. (Note that this is being posted a week after Kian was born!) I am so thankful to have my mom here to help as I have no idea how I would be doing this on my own!

We wanted to get Kian circumcised, but they don't do circumcisions in the hospital. Instead, we had to take him to one of the doctors at our family doctor's practice. Since I knew when baby was arriving, I got to make the appointment ahead of time and get it done as soon as possible...Kian was 6 days old. Circumcisions aren't covered by health care here, so this was one of the few things that we had to pay for, but our US health insurance should cover the majority of the cost.

The social health care has been nice on the pocket book. (I know that we pay for it with taxes...not truly "free".) We had good insurance in the States, but it still cost quite a bit to have a baby. We have figured the following as our total expenses after filing with our US insurance:
Private Hospital Room: $60
Parking at the Hospital: $50
Circumcision: ~$20
Total Cost: $130

So, now to what everyone really wants to see...pictures!!!