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Friday, August 29, 2008

Baby Kaden's Birth Story

*WARNING* This is Baby Kaden's birth story and talks about child birth. It is not graphic, but if you do not want to read about childbirth, skip ahead to the pictures at the bottom.



Kaden’s birth story starts on Tuesday, August 19. We had a doctor’s appointment that morning and the doctor told us we were 1 cm dilated and 80% effaced. Our due date was Wednesday, August 20, so we discussed plans for how late past the due date we would go. We scheduled another ultrasound for Friday to check fluids and do a non-stress test, and if anything looked off we would go ahead and induce on Friday. If everything looked good, we would induce early the next week. So I went back to work and worked the rest of the day. I had cramps all day and was very uncomfortable, so at 4pm I got ready to go home. I had a contraction in the bathroom at work that was more intense than the Braxton Hicks contractions I had for several months and I had to lean against the wall until it passed- I couldn’t walk through it. I hurried home & laid down to rest for a while. Between 5 and 6 pm I had 2 more contractions similar to the one I had at work while Rob was at the gym.

Starting promptly at 6pm, I started having contractions on a regular basis and decided to start writing down the start time. They were consistently 9 minutes apart. Still, I didn’t think it was real labor & tried to go to sleep to get them to stop. I could not sleep and was rudely awakened with every new contraction. The contractions went to every 7 minutes, and by 9pm they were every 5 minutes and very intense. None of the yoga breathing exercises and meditation I had practiced helped me get through the pain. I couldn’t even stand to be on the soft bed and found myself headed to the solid floor every time one started. Rob took over tracking the timing and just sat on the floor with me. I held on to him and had my head pushed into his chest with each contraction- he did his best to keep me calm. I also discovered that when in pain I can be pretty noisy. By 10 pm he decided it was time to call the doctor.

One of the doctors that I really loved was on call that night and called us back within a minute of us leaving a message for her. She told me that with a first baby it was likely that I wasn’t far enough along to go to the hospital since I was likely only up to 2 cm. They would likely send us right back home & she said to stay home as long as possible. She said I should not be able to hold my breath during the contractions if they were real labor (I tried to hold my breath to keep from hyperventilating while on the phone with her) and told us to call back if I couldn’t stand the pain anymore. By 10:30, I reached that point & told Rob to call the doctor now. Rob got our stuff to the car and finally got me loaded. It was a rough ride with contractions right on top of each other, but still we thought we would get sent home with false labor. What babies are actually born on their due dates?!?

Since it was after regular hospital hours, Rob parked at the emergency room and the emergency room people took us upstairs to maternity. The labor and delivery nurse that got us, Heather, did an initial exam and discovered that I was 5 cm and 100% effaced. She started to move very quickly after that and told us she would get us back to a delivery room so we could get set up with an epidural. (Any doubt I had about getting an epidural was gone at that point!) This was at 11:45 pm- time to call the family and let them know the baby was on his way! Rob first called my mom, who was sleeping & didn’t get the call. Then he tried my sister, who thought he was joking. My sister got on the horn, got my mom up, and started calling people back home to let them know. They were on the road to make the 13 hour drive within the hour!

Once we were settled into the delivery room and had an IV hooked up, the nurse told us that we were at 9.5 cm! She then broke the news that we probably wouldn’t have time for an epidural. It was too close to delivery for any other drugs since those would cause the baby to be drowsy & have a lower heart rate at birth. But she would try to get an epidural if I wanted one. I WANTED ONE! The anesthesiologist came in and was very doubtful about getting any drugs in me to provide relief before birth. He very bluntly told me that I would most likely deliver the baby without any help from the epidural and the epidural would just help afterwards. He was going through all the consents and verifying my name and stats…with each question I tried to hurry things along and just grunted yes to everything. Then he got started. At that point, there was only a few seconds between contractions and I found it very difficult to hold still. Somehow, he got that epidural in my spine without paralyzing me or causing any spinal headache or anything. He gave me a boost of drugs and within a minute I started to feel some relief. If I could have stood up or focused on anything, I would have kissed him! The epidurals they do now are really good- I could still feel contractions starting and could still move my legs, but the sharpest pains were dulled. I stopped hyperventilating but still had the intense urge to push. They kept telling me to wait because I could hurt myself if I pushed to early, but I couldn’t keep myself from pushing. They checked again and discovered that I should indeed be pushing now! This was at 1:30 am.

Our labor and delivery nurse, Heather, talked us through pushing for a while with the help of a mirror so I could see the progress we were making. During the contractions, the baby’s heartbeat would drop very low. A couple of times, it took a very long time to get back up to an acceptable level. The contractions started coupling up- 2 at a time, then a few seconds break, then another pair would hit. Baby really didn’t like that and his heart beat couldn’t take all the pushing. We had to keep taking breaks from pushing to try to get him to recover. It was scary to hear his heartbeat stop, but Heather was AMAZING at keeping us calm and just helping us get through each contraction. She didn’t miss anything and I really credit her with the safe delivery of our baby. (Our doc was amazing, too, but Heather walked us through the whole thing and I was sad to see her go). At one point, she said one more push and it would be time for the doctor to come in. She was 100% right! After the next push the doctor came in and got ready to catch the baby. After the first push, she came at me with a pair of scissors and I figured out what she was doing- that’s when I turned my head, not really wanting to see what she was doing with those scissors!

A couple of more pushes was all it took. His head was out! After his head came out & they suctioned out his little nose, the doctor told me to get my hands down between my legs. She had to tell me a couple of times because I wasn’t processing what she was saying. She had me grab the baby under the arms and helped me carry him the rest of the way into this world and onto my chest. It was the most amazing, overwhelming, emotional moment of my life. I was holding my son for the first time! Mine were the first hands to hold him and mine was the first eyes to stare at his perfect little face! Rob cut through the umbilical cord and came up to share the view with me of our new little man. It was 2:55 am on Wednesday, August 20, 2008, his due date and my mother’s 50th birthday.

The nurses took Kaden over to the warmer to get him cleaned up, measured, & foot printed while the doctor stitched me up. At that point, Rob had to run down to the car to move it out of emergency parking and get the camera! We had expected to either get sent home or get settled in for a longer labor than we had. We were not prepared to have the baby so quickly! When running back through the emergency room the ER people were amazed that he had the baby already. He was back in time to see all the good stuff with the baby. Baby was 7 pounds 11 ounces, 21 ½ inches long. He had very healthy lungs and screamed his head off angrily the whole time he was being cleaned and foot printed. He was so strong he actually grabbed the side of the warmer with his hand and was pulling himself over on his side towards the side. He even kicked the bottom wall of the warmer open (it was on hinges). When they were done with both of us, I held him and Rob and I just stared at him. He calmed down and really seemed to be looking up at my face while I talked to him. It was so amazing! Rob called my mom’s phone and said “Hello Grandma” before the line went silent- I heard him say hello again to see if she was there and I knew she was crying. They had only made it a few hours away from home, so they stopped to catch a couple of hours sleep.

When everything calmed down, the nurse put Kaden in the bassinet by my bed and Rob stretched out on the cot they had in the delivery room (it was the type of room that you can stay in for the whole time- we eventually had to move to a smaller recovery room for our last night because they had so many babies being born & needed the delivery equipment). When she left, it hit me when I looked around the room at the 3 of us- this was our family. I cried yet again.
Later that day, when the nurses tried to get me up I was too dizzy when I stood up so they had me lay back down. When Heather tried again by herself before her shift was over, we almost made it. On the way back from the bathroom I apparently passed out and she had to carry me back to the bed. It was a while after that before the nurses would let me get up out of bed on my own. Thankfully I was at least able to take a shower before my mom & sister arrived that night. It was an amazing day and I will never be the same!




(He liked the shower and the swimming pool while in my belly, so maybe he will be the next Michael Phelps?!?)


Monday, August 25, 2008

Introducing Baby Kaden!!!

I am a few days late in posting, but you really don't have much time when you have a new baby :-) Kaden Shan-Kai Chang was born on August 20th (his due date!), weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces, and was 21 1/2 inches long. We are totally in love!!! Thankfully, I was only in active labor for 6 hours. We had to take the long, hard route to get pregnant so I guess we got to skip some of the difficulties of labor. Believe me- it was still painful since I skipped all the early labor and just hit the brick wall of active labor. But we are so incredibly lucky that everything went well. Here are a few pics of the newest addition to our little family!












Sunday, August 10, 2008

38 Weeks 4 Days

Pictures! I have pictures! Nothing new to report right now. Every week at the doctor's office they tell me he's a little on the big side, and everything looks good. I think my version of nesting has manifested as knitting and crocheting. These are some of my projects I've done in the past few weeks (except for the blanket- I started working on that a LONG time ago while we were still at Kelley!)

Matching hat, booties and mittens




















Washclothes




















Umbilical cord hat with yarn from a great little place in Btown that raises their own sheep




















The blanket I started while still at Kelley!
















An umbilical cord hat and booties to match

















Of course, we have to have the belly shots!

Toby posed so pretty!





















Yes, I look tired because I'm 9 months pregnant!





















This is probably the only bare belly shot I will ever post!

















This last one is just for fun. We were at the grocery the other day and thought we were buying a stem of gladiolas for $3. We just wanted something pretty and colorful, and they were great. Come to find out, they were $3 for a whole bouquet! So we ended up with 2 huge arrangements- flowers just make me smile :-)

Friday, August 8, 2008

These are a few of my favorite things...

I can’t say that phrase without singing the song... Anyway, in talking to some wonderful friends of mine about baby stuff, they gave me the idea to do a post about the things that have helped me get through my pregnancy. I think it’s a great idea, and would have loved something like that. There are SO many books and products out there, and it’s too hard to know which ones are helpful. So this is my blog of favorite things (Disclaimer: I am not making any promises about how these things will work for you and am not paid by any of these companies- these are just the things that I found that I personally loved)

Books

There are about a bazillion pregnancy books out there. You could spend all day at the bookstore reading them and still not have a clue as to which ones to buy. These are my favorites:

1. Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy by Mayo Clinic: This book includes weekly updates on how things are progressing with the baby and the mom, both physically and mentally. At the end of every month is a list of symptoms and whether you should call a doctor immediately or wait till your next appointment if you are experiencing these symptoms. Since this is my first pregnancy, I had no idea what to expect or what to do (FYI- your body does some CRAZY things) and this was nice to know what was usually normal. There is some good information about labor, delivery and postpartum that is informative without being hysterical and scary. This book also includes decision guides on things such as drugs during labor, breastfeeding, and circumcision that have both the pros and cons of each to help you make your decision. It does not make you feel like you will be a bad mother if you decide not to breastfeed, for example- it just lists the pros and cons of both breast and bottle so you can decide what works best for you. This was my favorite “technical” book.

2. Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy by Vicki Iovine- This book tells you all the crazy stuff that the technical books leave out, including what happens to the daddy. This book really was like having your girlfriends around to tell you about their experiences. It even includes a list of what is helpful to take to the hospital and what is a waste of valuable space in the hospital bag AND how to deal with all the exciting new experiences you will have after the baby is born, like exploding diapers and sex after delivery.

3. Belly Laughs and Baby Laughs by Jenny McCarthy- This book will not win any literary awards. That being said, kudos to Jenny McCarthy for telling it like it is. These books are really easy to read and areHILARIOUS! She took all the nitty-gritty details of life while pregnant and the first year of motherhood and was brutally honest and funny about it, making it seem less scary (including the exploding diaper issue). These are must reads for any first time pregnant person, in my opinion.

Clothes

I went into maternity pants by the time I started the 2nd trimester. My waist was totally gone by then and my regular pants wouldn’t button. I tried using a rubber band to hold them together without being fastened, but that was still uncomfortable. You can continue living in denial that you need stretchy pants, but moving into stretchy pants was the biggest relief. There are some cute pants and jeans out there, and it’s not as bad as it may seem. Of course, you could go to the more expensive stores like A Pea in the Pod or Mimi Maternity and get some absolutely adorable clothes like what the stars wear. You also have Motherhood Maternity (where I got most of my pants), and you can also find some interesting (nicest way to put it) clothes. They are the least expensive of the three, and if you look around you can find some really cute stuff in between the crazy prints. Don’t be scared- I haven’t encountered a rude sales person in any of these places. They are really nice and will try to answer any questions you have. The best part is that almost all of them I’ve encountered are moms who have been through the whole maternity thing and can tell you what worked for them. Just go online and find the store nearest you and don’t be afraid to ask for help. In my experience, they have been fabulous.

The most essential item you must get (in my opinion)= the SECRET FIT BELLY style of any of the pants they carry at these three stores!!! I have Secret Fit Belly pants for work and jeans, and it is like wearing stretchy pants all the times. A lot of the pants I’ve tried at other stores have belly panels that look soft, but there is a strange hard layer that is constricting and uncomfortable. I lost my tolerance for tight clothing almost immediately, so I just couldn’t take these. Secret Fit Belly is stretchy and holds the pants up so they don't fall off, the material is light enought to not work like an extra layer of clothes (thereby making you even hotter, and not in a good way), and actually helps smooth out the belly for those cute, belly-accentuating shirts you might want to wear. I got all my Secret Fit Belly pants at Motherhood Maternity. They have some simple jeans for as cheap as $16-$20. I paid about $30 for mine and I think they are really cute. I can’t begin to tell you how excited I was when someone I know who lives in New York City and is a bit of a fashionista didn’t think they were maternity pants. She was commenting that it was great that I didn’t have to wear maternity pants yet and was shocked when I explained that I actually WAS wearing maternity pants!

Another place I shopped a lot was Old Navy. Find an Old Navy that carries maternity clothes and you will find very inexpensive maternity shirts that are styled very similar to what non-pregnant women are wearing that particular season. Most of my shirts, my bathing suit, and my stretchy maternity yoga shorts are all from Old Navy. It was one of my favorites and let me have more variety of clothes without breaking the bank. They have a ton of stuff on their website, too. The only down side- they don’t have the Secret Fit Belly pants.

Nausea

If you are pregnant, you may know by now that morning sickness can strike any time of the day for however long it wants to. I was very fortunate to not have the morning sickness that causes you to lose everything you eat. I was just sick to my stomach constantly for about the first 3.5-4 months. Lemon water and citrus fruit saved my life (my stomach, at least). Not the sugary water that you buy already flavored with lemon- real lemon with water (whether you buy an actual lemon or lemon juice). I also ate oranges and tangerines throughout the day every day. It was my big first trimester craving and helped me feel better.

Sleeping

You will get progressively more uncomfortable and have a harder time sleeping as the pregnancy progresses. I started with my pillow under my head, then added a pillow between my knees, then another pillow under my head to help with heartburn, then added one behind my back (to keep me from rolling onto my back), then another under my belly to support the growing bump… My husband couldn’t even see me when he lay down because of all the pillows I had on the bed! So he bought me a Snoogle. There are other brands and shapes that I haven’t tried and can’t attest to, but I like my Snoogle. It is C shaped, wraps under your head, behind your back, between your knees and under your belly. It has drastically reduced the number of pillows on our bed. You can also fold it into different shapes (I fold it & use it for lower back support when watching tv). The only thing I have added now is a pillow under my feet to try to help with swelling (at this point, everything is swollen, from my face to my hands to my feet).

This is enough for one post, but as I think of other things that I ended up loving during my pregnancy I will share.

Oh, and I promise to get some new pics up this weekend!