Introducing...

Kayden Grace

February 4, 2013

2:11pm

6lbs 7oz, 19 3/4"

So?  Who guessed everything correctly on the poll? :D

Kayden's birth was quite a bit different from Levi's.  With Levi, we waited and waited and waited.  He was late and born at 41w2d.  Kayden was a scheduled c-section at 38 weeks.  While I was uncomfortable for the last trimester this time, I never did get that truly FULL feeling that I got when we were waiting for Levi.  (Apparently 2 lbs and 2" of baby makes a big difference on the inside!)  And with Levi, we were guessing the gender right to the end, whereas this time we've known about our little GIRL since September.  Both experiences were good...I'd probably choose to repeat this most recent experience next time, though, if given the choice!


I wasn't sure how going in for a scheduled section would be.  It's kinda weird knowing exactly what day and time to expect your little one to arrive.  There was some excitement last time in wondering day by day if I would have a baby that day (then extremely discouraging when I never did go into labour on my own).  On the morning of Feb 4, we had a regular morning, packed up the last of our things, and headed off to the city.  We only had to be at the hospital at 11:30 so there was no rush.  We met Nathan's parents in the city, had a relaxed coffee with them at Starbucks, said "see ya later!" to Levi and drove to the hospital. 

In the first waiting room, there were half a dozen pregnant women waiting (in a 200 square foot closet of a waiting room).  At one point everyone was sharing how far along they were.  40 weeks...41 weeks...44 weeks...  Most of the women there were waiting for inductions!  I didn't dare open my mouth and say that I was still at a comfy 38 weeks and would likely be holding my baby before any of them!  We were quickly moved to another waiting room where we ended up waiting for an hour with no contact with anyone and no one else in the room with us.  We felt quite forgotten.  After an hour, I was starting to wonder if we'd been forgotten.  Why, afterall, would they have us come in 2 hours before the scheduled c-section time if we were going to spend over an hour just sitting and waiting?  I went and found a nurse and within 15 minutes, we were in the pre-op room in gown/scrubs and being prepped for surgery.

Around 1:30 I was taken to the OR and given a spinal then prepped for surgery.  It all went pretty fast from there.  The anesthesiologist gave my doctor the ok to start and Nathan was brought in.  Within minutes, Kayden was here!  She spent the first 5 minutes SCREAMING!  She has the most high-pitched shrill scream I've ever heard.  Well, not quite, but it really is quite different from Levi's cry!  I was able to have her on my chest in the OR as the doctor finished up and was able to feed her in recovery within about an hour.  What a blessing.  I feel like it went so much more smoothly than it did with Levi.  Scheduled c-sections are much easier on the body than last minute c-sections after 12 hours of labour.  Just saying...

We were able to come home on day 2 after surgery, exactly 48 hours after her birth I was walking in the front door at home.  SO NICE that they let us come home earlier this time!  Nursing has gone smoothly.  Healing has gone smoothly.  I'm almost back to my pre-pregnancy self.  Except, of course, for some tenderness in certain places and having a newborn around the house again.  Everything has come back as far as what to do with a newborn (whew!).  The transition has been nothing but smooth.  Nathan was home for the first week and now my mom will be here for a few days, followed by my sister.  Levi is loving all the extra play-time!  And I'm appreciating being able to take it easy and have afternoon naps.  Every little bit helps with the healing and adjusting process!

Levi has adjusted to being a big brother wonderfully.  He was a bit unsure at first and didn't want to touch her, but within a couple days at home he was wanting to hold her and go get diapers for me and lay on the floor beside her.  He has been so good...

And that's my story!  I figured I should probably let my blogging friends know that she's arrived and all is well before people start wondering.  Oh, and I'll also let you know that she is the most content baby.  She sleeps SO much more than Levi did and is quite quiet, though she's starting to find her voice again after a few nearly silent days in the first week.  Aside from the first night at home, she has been up 2-3 times at night to eat which hardly feels like an adjustment from what I was doing with Levi a mere 3 months ago...not that he was eating, but disrupting my sleep just the same!  But it is all worth it.  I look at my kids and husband every day and thank God for my beautiful family.  I feel blessed beyond what I could ever imagine :)

Forgetfulness

When I had Levi, I felt like I would never forget the details of life.  The details of having a newborn.  And here I am, two years later, and I've forgotten.  Or I'm realizing things that I never knew but am curious about.  So if you want to share your thoughts/experiences, please do!  I'm all ears!  Sorry, this post will be completely irrelevant for some, but I didn't want to put this on fb for whatever reason so here it is.

- Lack of sleep aside, does energy generally come back shortly after birth or will I be just exhausted for the next few months yet?  What was your experience? 

- What did you wear during your stay in the hospital.  Any suggestions, recommendations, or warnings?

- What did your baby wear in the hospital?  Did you use hospital-issued baby gowns and blankets (or towels as the case may be at my hospital)?  Or did you bring your own?  Pros/cons of each?

- What did you do with your hair while in the hospital before they let you shower?  Last time I felt like quite the greasy un-human when I wasn't allowed to shower from Thursday morning until Sunday morning...

- Any suggestions for having the older sibling come to visit in the hospital?

- Did you splurge for the private room, go with semi-private, or stay with 3-4 other women in a shared room?  Thoughts?

- Any other thoughts surrounding birth, the stay in the hospital, or the following few weeks?  I'd love to hear your experiences or what jumps to mind when you think of your birth experience(s)!

4 weeks.

Four weeks ago today we were enjoying our first day as a family of three!  I cannot believe it's only been 4 weeks.  It feels like so long ago that we were just starting to get to know our Levi.  He's changed so much and has gone through so many different phases already.  Some days I wonder if I'm in some sort of time machine set on super-speed...

Crazy water retention from my IV...I was so puffy, especially my first day or two in the hospital.  When I got home from the hospital 4 days after giving birth, I was only down 12lbs from when I went in, and 8 of that was baby!  I must have had a few extra lbs of water on me just from my IV!

The Birth Story

(warning: it's long)

So many people have been wondering about the birth story and now I finally have a few minutes so let's see how much I can type before Levi wakes up.  I never realized just how little time there would be once baby arrived!  Don't they just sleep all the time?  Apparently not...

Let's see.  It all started at my doctors appointment on September 30.  I knew that I was already 3-4cm dilated and 100% effaced but labour just wasn't starting on its own.  The doctor recommended going onto the induction list for the following Monday, October 4th.  I had heard before that labours which begin with induction are much more intense and often more painful than spontaneous labours because the body doesn't produce the pain-killing (pain-lessening, perhaps?) hormone that it normally would when labour starts on its own.  But, when reminded that in only a week's time the baby would be another 1/2 pound bigger (which could be the difference between natural delivery and a c-section) I agreed to be put on the list.  The doctor warned me that occasionally the hospital is too busy and that some people on the list get asked to come the next day instead.  I went home completely not looking forward to the idea of induction.  But then again, my body still had 3/4 days to start things on it's own.

(Levi woke up therefore the rest of this post will have to wait for tomorrow)

Sunday night, the day before induction, I realized that my body was most likely not going to go into labour naturally and it hit me that we would be having a baby the next day.  (Isn't there something far more overwhelming about knowing that something is coming at a certain time as opposed to just knowing that it's coming "sometime"??)  It was a tough night but by the time I went to bed, I was ready to have this baby, induction and all.

Monday morning came and I enjoyed the beautiful sunrise from our bedroom window as I prepared for the day ahead.  I enjoyed my last shower before becoming a mom.  I made sure the house was tidy and the hospital bag was all packed.  And then the hospital called.  Apparently the induction list for that day was too long and we would be put on the list for Tuesday.  I cannot begin to describe the disappointment and overflow of emotions.  All that adrenaline that was carrying me forward crashed me into a brick wall.  Another 24 hours to wait.

I had a pretty lazy day, seeing as I had nothing planned and didn't feel like doing much anyway.  That evening Nathan and I went in to Stoon and enjoyed the last evening we would have before becoming parents.  Then, once we got home, I went through the preparation routine again, getting ready for induction the following morning.  But guess what?  Tuesday morning dawned and we got another phone call from the hospital saying that there still wasn't room and that we were being bumped another day.  Tuesday was much the same as Monday...not doing much and growing more and more bitter toward the Canadian health care system (do they know how cruel it is to call an expectant mother just hours before she thinks she's going to be meeting her baby and tell her to wait another day...twice?!).

Well, Wednesday morning came and, thinking they couldn't possibly bump me another day, we made plans to be spending the day in the hospital.  But yup, you guessed it.  A third call from the hospital saying that we were being put on the list for the next day.  I went in to see my OB/GYN that day and she said that she had maybe seen one other person get bumped three days in a row in the past five years.  I told her that I felt special.  At this point I was already 4-5 cm dilated so she swept my membranes and sent me home.  Nathan and I hung around the city for a few hours, hoping that the membrane sweep would work fast and kick start my labour but eventually we gave up and went home.

Thursday morning.  Phone call from the hospital.  "Please come in today for your induction."  FINALLY the day had come.  We had some breakfast, got ready for the day, and headed for the hospital.  What a strange feeling to be going to the hospital to give birth having never felt a contraction or having your water break.  I imagine it's a much more comfortable drive...

At the hospital we spent close to two hours getting admitted and having doctors and nurses ask questions and fill out paperwork.  Finally, around noon, they started things by breaking my water.  I had been hoping that this would be enough to get contractions going, but apparently it wasn't.  A syntocinon drip was started about 45 minutes later.  The first couple contractions were manageable and decently spaced.  But unfortunately I only had enough time to think, "Ok, I can do this" before the contractions got much stronger and closer together.  Before too long the contractions were 2 minutes apart and lasting almost 2 minutes each.  I'd heard that it could sometimes take a while to get an epidural (if the anesthetist  is delayed) and I knew I could handle another hour, but wasn't sure what I would do if it was going to be longer than that, so I asked for an epidural pretty quick into the contractions starting (maybe 1-2 hours?).

I laboured the rest of the afternoon, feeling the contractions getting stronger and closer together, but also able to nap and relax.  Unfortunately every time they checked me, I had not dilated any more.  How could the first five cm happen at home without me even noticing and the next five not seem to happen, despite what my body was going through??  I guess the next four cm happened quite quickly that evening, though, because by 10pm I felt ready to push.  I was 9cm.  As many women know, though, 9 is not 10 and I ended up breathing through an hour's worth of contractions, trying to just relax and go with the flow. 

At 11pm, it was clear that things were not going to progress any further on their own due to the baby's size, so I was given two options: c-section now or labour a bit longer and have an emergency c-section.  Not being a huge fan of the word "emergency", especially when my baby's life is on the line, I opted for the immediate c-section and they started prepping right away.  They added some different drugs to my epidural so that I would be numbed enough for surgery and *bliss* the contractions "disappeared" again.

There was a bit of delay once I was in the OR because my one side wasn't numb and they were waiting for the doctor to show up.  Poor Nathan was waiting in the waiting room, wondering what was going on and why it was taking so long.  Eventually, though, the drugs were directed to my right side and the doctor showed up, allowing Nathan to join me in surgery.  By this time it was midnight.  They got started right away and Levi was born 13 minutes later.  Then I started reacting a bit to the epidural and things weren't very fun for me for about two hours.  Nathan, knowing that I would be ok, enjoyed being the first one to snuggle with our son.

And that is the story of Levi joining our family.  He was a little pokey, but in the end we didn't mind.  October 8 is a special day for us.  Not only did Nathan propose to me on October 8 six years ago, but now it is our son's birth day.  Two very special events for thanksgiving weekend.

Levi Jonathan

A delayed arrival gets a delayed announcement...but with no further ado, meet our son, Levi Jonathan.

We are absolutely in love with this little guy.  He's such a content baby and so far only screams when it's time to eat NOW.  He feeds well.  He sleeps well, though not always at night (we can't blame him for sleeping well at the wrong times, right?).  He is very alert and has been since the first time I saw him.  We've seen his beautiful eyes alot in the last 4 days.  I'll post the birth story when I have time to sit down and write it but right now lunch/nap are beckoning me so I should run.

Before I go, here are the details (I know you're all DYING to know who won!):
Date: October 8, 2010
          - Alicia's second date guess of October 7 was closest
Weight: 8lbs 2oz
          - Bev's guess was closest at 8lbs 1oz
Length: 20.5"
          - Karis was closest at 20"
And for all you who guessed "boy", congratulations.  I don't know how you all knew, but well done.  This was my first gut feeling too, way back in spring (at which point finding out that we were having a girl would have shocked me) but I became much less sure as the due date approached.  He is boy as boy can be!