Caden’s Birth Story w/ Pics

Our beautiful baby Caden arrived as planned on October 30 at 8:00am on the dot. He was 7lbs, 10oz! I was so sure he would be above 8lbs, but he came out smaller than Emily was! That shocked me. What also shocked me is all of his dark, dark brown hair. =) He is absolutely gorgeous. I am so in love. I hate to say it, but that has surprised me a little too. I knew I would love him, but I just didn’t think I could love another person as much as I love Emily. I see exactly what everyone meant when they said your love just grows. It does. It has. He could not be any more perfect.

I’m going to write out his birth while it’s still fresh in my mind!
 
I could not sleep the night before. I tried, I was just too excited. We had to be there at 6:00am, meaning we needed to leave the house at 5:30am. I didn’t end up falling asleep until around 3am. I thought I set my alarm for 5:00am, but of course I accidentally set it for 5:30, the time we were supposed to leave. We were already packed, but I had to take a shower with that antibacterial soap before we left and we ended up getting to the surgery check-in about 15 minutes late. Fortunately I had done all the paper work ahead of time and it didn’t really matter in the end, but I thought it was interesting that we had to rush to the hospital for his birth, lol.
 
We did a lot of sitting around and waiting after that, of course. I like to be as accommodating as possible, but when I expressed to them my extreme fear of needles and they still decide to let the newby practice putting my IV in….not cool. No one has ever missed a vein before, until then of course. I was trying to stay calm, but I don’t think I did very well, lol. A lot of deep breathing. =) I was dreading the spinal after that. I was just sure it was going to be awful. Eventually it was time and I did the long walk back to the OR. I cried for the spinal of course. I’m such a baby, lol. It’s funny, whenever they say “big bee sting” for the numbing shots, I never feel a thing, lol. It wasn’t as good as an experience as the last spinal and it took a lot longer, but the second it was over my excitement kicked in. And the nurses were absolutely amazing. They held my hands the whole time and were so sweet. A good nurse really does make all the difference.
 
They laid me back and started doing all their prep. About 10 minutes later when everyone was calm and still just getting ready, I realized that Emily’s c-section had turned into an emergency one at some point. I thought all c-sections were like hers until then. I remember with her I was open and she was out within 5 to 8 minutes of my spinal being in and everything was very rushed. It was almost anti-climactic since I was preparing to see him so soon and everyone was just standing around waiting for the stuff they put on my stomach to dry and chatting with me, lol. But eventually it all began and Bryan came in the room. He was very excited and was able to set up the video recorder across the room again and take pictures all through the birth. I still can’t believe he can watch that, lol. 
 
But Caden came out kicking and screaming, head first! He was transverse when they started but he was able to reach his head and bring that out first instead of the feet. =) The cord was wrapped around his neck three times, which I don’t like to think about. I know it’s pretty common and obviously nothing went wrong, but what if I had tried for a VBAC or something? What if something had gone wrong when he was in there and it got too tight? I won’t dwell on what didn’t happen, but it’s scary to think about.
 
The place where they clean him up afterwards was really close to me in comparison to where they did it with Emily, so I got to watch everything while they sewed me up. I think the first thing I said was “He’s so tiny!!” He just looked SO small! I was expecting this giant baby to come out since I was so huge, lol. I gained 1lb less than I did with Emily in the end. =P I’ll take it! Hehe. Bryan got to hold him next to me and let me kiss him until I was ready to go to the recovery room. I was apparently the only scheduled c-section for the morning, so it was really laid back there. All the nurses kept checking on me and helping. It was very nice. They stripped him down and I did skin to skin right when we got to recovery. I don’t know what people are talking about when they say c-section babies are drugged and drowsy. Both of mine were wide-eyed and alert right after! So I got to look into his eyes and try to feed him for the first time. It was very apparent once again that I would need to use the shield, but I didn’t mind and neither did he. 
 
That has got to be the most amazing difference so far between my babies. I really, really struggled with breastfeeding Emily. I just didn’t know what I was doing and it took a really long time and a lot of tears and doctor’s appointments and weigh-ins before we got it down. Caden has been a champion breastfeeder from the beginning! My milk came in on the third day (in abundance, let me tell you) but he never got frustrated with not getting much and just getting a little colostrum while in the hospital. He has a great latch and knows exactly what he’s doing. We’re struggling a little right now, but I’ll get to that at the end.
 
<span style="font-size: medium”>The hospital stay was good. As they wheeled me from recovery to my room my mom got to walk with us and see Caden for the first time. I’m so happy she was there. A few hours later Bryan went home to put Emily down for her nap. We wanted her day to be as consistent as possible even though the nanny was there when she woke up which has never happened. But she was coming to the hospital right after her nap so I wanted her to be nice and rested and prepared. =) She did great meeting him. She wasn’t that impressed, lol, and she mainly just stared at him wondering what the heck he was and why was mommy stuck in that bed wearing the weird gown, etc. She stayed for a few hours and sat on the bed coloring and we got to cuddle some. I was really happy with how it went.
 
I really regretting only getting two-ish hours of sleep that night, because Caden had an all-night party the first few days. I literally only slept a half hour each night I was in the hospital. I was happy, but very, very tired. I don’t think I’ve ever been that tired before, where I would literally start to nod off just sitting there. Bryan and my mom went home to do Emily’s nighttime routine at night and so it was just Caden and I. The doctor was coming by early the next morning and Bryan wanted to be there for that, so he was able to watch Caden and I cat napped off and on for two hours which was nice. That was Halloween. My sister and the kids came by the hospital before heading to our house to get ready for trick-or-treating with Emily. It was so good to see them and they were there for Caden’s hearing test and the PIK test. The PIK test (I think that’s what it’s called..) wasn’t nearly as bad as Emily’s. I insisted they put the warm water bottle on his heel beforehand. The person who did Emily’s had the worst bedside manner in the world and didn’t do that and squeezed her heel for I swear to you 20 minutes with barely anything coming out and Emily screaming her head off the entire time. It was extremely traumatic and I cried. So I expected the person who was doing Caden’s to be similar and I was sort of mean to him at first I think, lol. I kept saying no, you’re not doing it until I warm his heel up enough that the blood is running better, and he was like..yeah, I have the warm water thing right here, lol. Caden cried of course, but not horribly and it was over MUCH quicker than Emily’s. And he passed his hearing test and the heart test they did the next day. Healthy little boy. =)
 
Halloween night the lack of sleep caught up to me and having Emily there in her outfit and Jack and Samantha and trying to pay attention to Emily and get pictures and everything overwhelmed me a bit. I didn’t really get the pictures I was hoping to get, but we got some at least. I didn’t even bother putting any of Caden’s outfit on except the wolf hat because I just didn’t freaking feel like it at that point, lol. But oh well. 
 
I got to go home the next morning! Bryan came to the hospital around 11am and I was able to take a shower and pack us up. Oh, I should mention that my pain scale never even reached a 3 even at the hospital, and that was with Emily crawling on me and sitting up and down a ton and even lifting Emily up and down off the bed and a chair when we watched Caden getting his first “bath”. I was up and walking about 5 hours after the surgery. I’m glad it works out for me that way because I was prepared for the hardest part being not able to lift Emily and all that. Last night I took Emily to the store and carried her and all the groceries in and didn’t feel a thing, lol. I’m a lucky girl. =) I haven’t even bothered taking pain meds anymore.
 
So, everything really has been great, but we’ve had one bad thing. Caden has reflux. =( It’s not officially diagnosed, but it will be at his doctor’s appointment today. It’s the reason for the bad sleep. I stopped eating dairy two weeks before he was born, so I know it’s not a sensitivity to that obviously. We’ve tried gas drops and they don’t help much. He gulps air and spits up and wakes up pretty much every 5 to 30 minutes with a little painful face and cries for a minute before settling back down. He does this thing where it seems like he’s choking a lot..so even when he does sleep, I don’t really because I’m too paranoid to fall asleep thinking he’ll choke. Bryan put him in the swing for the first time yesterday and the motion seemed to keep him distracted from it and not wake fully up after his little episodes, so he slept in that last night and he did pretty well. I don’t want that to be a permanent thing though, so I’m hoping they’ll give us medicine today. Emily had it when she was little too. I know the medicine won’t stop him from refluxing, but it will make it less painful. He’s starting fighting the breast because it’s painful after he eats. He always spits up and I’m sure it hurts. I sit there and pretty much wait for him to give up the fight and he eventually nurses, but I’m hoping that gets better after the medicine too. I hope he grows out of it soon.
 
Emily has been doing great. The only hard moments we’ve had have just been emotional ones for me. Like sometimes she’ll watch me feeding him and just look at me and kind of look sad. Makes me want to burst into tears when I see her look like that. She usually goes about her day like nothing is different, but sometimes shows interest in him. I posted a video on FB just a few hours ago where she heard him making a noise and had to go check and make sure he was okay. I didn’t even prompt her, but she wanted to kiss him to make him feel better. =) She is so sweet. She’s asked a few times when I was feeding him to give him to Bryan so I could play with her, lol. Just normal kid stuff. Her sleep hasn’t been disturbed atall and she loves having my mom here. My mom has been a life saver. She took Emily to the children’s museum yesterday and Bryan and Caden and I got to get a good nap in and felt like a million bucks when they got back. My mom has been holding Caden when we do our nighttime routine with Emily, so everything is good in her little world. I think we’ve done really well transitioning him into her life. We bought a doll house (Little Critters) thing for her when I got home from the hospital and told her it was from Caden. She was happy about that and she LOVES the house. I took her to the store with me last night so it was just her and I, and she wanted to play outside this morning so I did that with her while Bryan watched Caden. So she’s doing well incorporating some new things with him, but we’re still trying to give her special one-on-one time. I don’t think it could be going any better with her. For that I am most certainly thankful. =)
 
Bryan is going back to work today. In fact, he just left. He gets home at 7pm Monday and Wednesday, 5pm on Tuesday and Thursdays, and 9pm on Fridays. Friday is the only one I’m sort of dreading. My mom is still here, but I think she’ll probably leave next weekend and then it will be all on me. I’m not too worried, but it’s a little daunting. =) I’m sure it will be fine and I’ll get used to it in no time.
 
I started wearing my belly band in the hospital and the c-section girdle when I got home and I am very happy with the results. I mean, I’m five days out so it’s not pretty, but I’m pleasantly surprised by the progress. He definitely gave me more stretch marks, but they don’t too bad even at this point, so that’s reassuring. And I didn’t get a hangy belly! I was sure I would get that this time too. My belly button will probably never look the same, but oh well. I really just didn’t want the saggy belly skin and I didn’t, so I’ll take that as a win. I’m not going to weigh myself for a while. If they weight me at my doctor’s appointment coming up, so be it, but I would rather not know for a while. It’s better to just not think about it and put that kind of pressure on myself. It’s nice having the big preggo belly gone and be able to move around normally again. =)
 
(A few days later)
Little man is nine days old now! His first doctor’s appointment last Monday went great. He was still at the same weight he left the hospital at (7lbs, 2oz), so I’m glad he doesn’t seem to be losing anymore. The reflux medicine has been wonderful and has pretty much fixed the problem entirely. No more painful faces, no more refusing the boob, no more gulping air, etc. He still spits up a little, but he doesn’t have the painful look afterwards. I’m really glad it’s helping him and I hope he grows out of it soon so he can go off the medicine!
 
He is SUCH a good baby. I know it could all go wonky in a few weeks, but I’m surprised at how easy he’s been. He sleeps a ton, which I’m just not used to. His pattern at the moment is three really wakeful periods during the day and then sleeping most of the night. He had his days and nights a little off for a while, but they seem to be good now! I actually struggled earlier this week trying to get him to eat at night. No matter what I did, change his diaper, take his blanket off, tickle his feet to piss him off and wake him up, the second he laid down to eat he would fall back asleep. I wasn’t getting much sleep because I was spending hours during the middle of the night trying to wake him up! I’m not too comfortable with him going all night without eating at his age, but I feel like there’s not much choice. Last night I let him go until he woke up himself to eat. We went to bed around 10pm and he woke up himself at almost 4am and ate, then went back down and woke up again at 7:50. He did cluster feed when he woke up, so maybe that will balance it all out? =/ It makes me nervous for his appointment next week with his weight gain, but I guess I’ll wait and see because it wasn’t working trying to wake him up.
 
Emily has continued to be amazing. She is so sweet and gentle with Caden. She kisses his head and hugs him. She just got up from her nap a half hour ago and went over to Caden in his Rock n Play (or whatever it’s called) and put her teddy bear next to him and gave him a kiss. =) I think she’ll have her moments, but for the most part the transition of bringing Caden into her life has been much smoother than I ever expected. My mom being here has been a God send. She goes home tomorrow. =( She’s cooked the majority of the meals and has played with Emily so much, held Caden while we do Emily’s nap and nighttime routine, and so, so much more. I am so lucky to have her as my momma. <3
 
We did Caden’s newborn photos yesterday. We haven’t gotten them back yet, obviously, but he gave us a sneak peek and I think I’m going to love them. =) I’ll post it down below with the other photos. 
 
I don’t know what I did in this world to be so fortunate, but I am so, so grateful for everything I have. I wouldn’t change a thing in my life right now. It is perfect. <3
 
<div style="text-align: left; margin: 0in 0in 0pt” align=”left”>I know I’m forgetting to write a million things, but if I don’t stop now I will never finish it.   Here is our handsome little man:
 *He’s 10 days old now because when I went to post this last night, of course OD was working great but Photobucket was down.  Ugh.