Kayden's Birth Day

I feel like my first real post should be the birth of our son. He is so important to us and it was an experience I don't want to forget (or do I?), so here it is.

It began on a cold Tuesday morning, January 22 to be exact. It was one of those days that people in our area dread. It was snowing. Now where I grew up, snow is a very common occurrence. But here, it's the end of the world. At the first sign of the first snowflake, school is cancelled and people lock themselves in their houses prepared to huddle in for months. If they absolutely have to go out they will usually drive at about half the posted speed limit, usually causing more of a problem than they would if they were actually driving the speed limit.

Anyway, I knew it was going to happen this day because I was being induced. I decided to be induced for a couple of reasons. First, I was afraid of the unknown. I didn't know what labor felt like. When should I go to the hospital? What if it was false labor and I just had to go home? What if I didn't make it to the hospital? I wanted to avoid all these questions. Second, my mom was flying out for two weeks and I knew exactly when she would be here. I didn't want her to fly all the way out here, wait around for a week and a half, have the baby be born, then have to go home a day or two later.

So, my doctor told me to call at 5:00 that morning to see if they had a room available for me. I called at 4:50. They put me on hold for a minute, came back and said, "Can you be here at 7:30?" I said yes, hung up the phone and started to get really nervous. I wish I could have gotten a few more minutes of sleep, but there was no way that was happening. So I got up, showered, put a few last minute things in my bag and just waited for 7 to roll around so we could leave. My mom was here so Tyler and I drove one car and she followed us in the other car. We got there right on time, got all checked in, and went to my Labor and Delivery room. My nurse came in and asked me to get into the hospital gown. She then tried to start my IV in my right wrist and completely blew my vein. That was my first painful experience of many that day. She finally got it in my left wrist, hooked me up to a bunch of tubes, started the pitocin, put a blood pressure cuff on the other arm, then she left. I was completely tethered. It was 8:00. That started the waiting game. The nurses would come in about every 1/2 hour to check me. My doctor came in at about 9:30 and broke my water. She said I was progressing very well, predicted that I would have Kayden at around 3 or 4 and said she would see me later that day.

I finally asked for the epidural at around noon. It was great. I don't know how women give birth naturally but I have to say they are amazing. It's just not for me.

My contractions were never really regular. Especially after the epidural. I finally started pushing at 3:00. I thought he would be out in a matter of minutes, 1/2 hour tops. I was wrong. Kayden was face up instead of face down so he was getting hung up. I kept pushing. Half an hour later they told me to rest and hopefully he would flip over on his own. After just sitting there for another 30 minutes it was time to push again. I pushed constantly for an hour and a half more. It was awful. It was so frustrating! My mom said I even screamed at one point, I don't remember it. I was busy hysterically bawling. I felt like I was getting nowhere and I was exhausted! My doctor came in at about 5:15. They don't call for the doctor until the baby is crowning so I knew I was finally getting close!! I still had to push really hard, but at 5:28 PM, Kayden Tyler made his debut into this world. He tore me to shreds and broke my tailbone, but he was here!!!

Kayden's apgar scores were 9 and 9! He was a perfect little boy. 8 lbs 5 oz, 19 inches long. He was everything we wanted and more. It's hard to believe he is six weeks old already. He's already grown so much. It's so wonderful being a parent and enjoying every tiny milestone. He started smiling at exactly one month old. He's so cute. We're so lucky!