Hospital pictures

Bella Baby photography does pictures at our hospital. I absolutely love how they turned out!

Caedmon Isaiah's birth story

Caedmon decided to join the world on Wednesday, May 11th.  I had a doctor appointment that morning at 10:15.  I was having contractions on the way to the appointment, but I had been having them for weeks, so I didn't think too much of it.  The doctor checked me and said I was dilated to a 3, my waters were bulging, and he could feel Caedmon's head very low.  By the time we left the appointment the contractions were getting stronger.  Jon and I went out to lunch and while there I was pretty certain that this was the real deal this time.  The contractions were 8 minutes apart and getting progressively stronger.  We went home and I tried sitting on the birthing ball while waiting to see what the contractions did.  I was getting pretty uncomfortable, so I decided to try a hot shower.  By the time I got out the contractions were 4 minutes apart. I told Jon to get the bags and car seat in the car, and let his mom know we would need her to pick up Graesen and Jace from school.  When I got to the hospital I was only a 3 1/2, but Caedmon's heart rate was getting a little funky with contractions.  She had me wait and be monitored for a while. I hadn't progressed much, so the nurse had me walk the halls for an hour to try and move things along.  I came back to be monitored again and checked (I was at a 4).  Caedmon's heart rate was still off a bit, so the doctor on call decided to have me admitted with the plan of starting antibiotics (for group b strep) for 2 hours then breaking my water to speed things up.  They didn't want me to labor too long with the way Caedmon was handling labor, but they wanted half the dose of antibiotics in me before breaking my water.  It didn't take long for labor to get very intense.  The contractions were on top of each other.  I tried sitting on the birthing ball and kneeling/leaning over the back of the bed.  I felt so much pressure I asked the nurse to check me.  She said I was 4 1/2. At that point I started to lose it.  The pain was so intense and I didn't know how I was going to get through it. I started asking for an epidural even though I had planned to not get one.  The anesthesiologist was busy, so the nurse said she would give me a "little bit" of fentanyl (spelling?) to take the edge off.  I wasn't sure I wanted it, and really only wanted a small amount (I later found out that she gave me much more than she said she was going to, which I'm not too happy about).  The fentanyl made me feel extremely dizzy, but didn't take away the pain.  Within minutes I felt like the pressure was getting very intense.  I asked the nurse to check me again and I was a 9!  That explained why the pain was so severe.  I was in transition and no one knew it.  Within a couple of minutes my water broke on its own and I was at a 10.  The nurse told me to wait and not push, but my body was pushing without me doing anything.  The resident doctor was literally trying to hold the baby in as the doctor ran from his office.  I was screaming "he's coming!," as they continued to try and get me to somehow hold him in.  The doctor got there with about 1 minute to spare.  In a matter of 45 minutes I went from a 4 1/2 to delivering Caedmon.  There was no time for the epidural, which now I'm grateful for since it forced me to stick with my original plan of not having one.
Caedmon came out healthy with an apgar score of 8 and then 9.  He wasn't giving a strong cry at first, so they wanted to take him to check on him, but the minute they lifted him off my chest he screamed so loud they knew he was fine.  He weighed 8 lbs 3 oz (the same as Graesen) and was 21 inches long.  He has the sweetest blond hair, nose and eyes that remind me of Graesen, and a bottom lip he likes to suck on.
Since labor went too fast for me to get the second dose of antibiotics, the doctors all agreed that they wanted us to stay for 2 nights instead of one so they could keep an eye on Caedmon.  We didn't mind one bit, as we were perfectly content to just sit and stare at our precious little guy.

Introducing Caedmon Isaiah

Caedmon Isaiah

Born May 11, 2016

8 lbs 3 oz

21 in

While we wait

A couple days ago Graesen told me that he thought it would be awesome if when women found out they were pregnant the baby would come the next day.  Needless to say, we are all a bit anxious around here as we wait for Caedmon to make his arrival.  I had my last day of work on Friday and now I'm home watching the minutes go by and trying to find ways to occupy myself.  It feels like I've been waiting forever.  This baby has been a dream for nearly 7 years.  The moment Graesen was born I knew without a doubt that I wanted more children.  The love I had for him was so intense and immediate.  Nearly 5 years ago I lost a baby to miscarriage.  Then I waited the recommended 3 months to be able to try again.  Before that time was up my marriage began to crumble.  And I waited.  I waited for over 2 years to even give dating a thought.  I lived the nightmare of long, drawn out divorce proceedings that felt like they would never end.  Then I met someone.  We dated, we got married, and then we started trying for a little miracle.  It took longer than we hoped, and required a surgery for me.  In actuality that time really wasn't all that long, but both of us had been waiting for years for even the chance to try again.  So here we are at the end of a pregnancy that has felt like not 9 months of waiting, but closer to 7 years.  Whether the wait was 9 months or 7 years, we are still blessed beyond measure.  An end to the waiting is in sight and for that we have reason to give praise.

So what have we been doing to pass these last couple weeks?  Track practice and meets, road races, and the usual day to day living.