Caiden's birth story

This is going to be pretty cut and dry, not too much fluff as I just don’t have the energy ;) But it is long, sorry about that. More than anything I want to remember this in a few years when we talk about having another one...haha.

Tuesday night, July 24, Marc and I went to our regular yoga class at 7:30. We’ve been going to this class for at least a year now and I was determined to keep going up until I gave birth. I was 40 weeks and 6 days pregnant and still feeling pretty good and was still mobile to do almost the entire class. At about 10pm we had finished up dinner and watching Game of Thrones when I felt a little something in my back, I stood up and sat on the yoga ball we had in the living room. We purchased it a few weeks before in anticipation of me using it during labor. About 20 minutes later I felt the same thing, but I still wasn’t convinced it was anything. Then 15 minutes later, again. I looked at Marc and said, “I think I’m having contractions!” He got all excited but I told him to chill because I still wasn’t convinced it was anything. I was sure I’d be pregnant up until 42 weeks and my doctor would have to induce labor. I jumped in the shower around 11:30 and we went to bed. I didn’t sleep a wink and at about 3am Marc woke up and we started timing my contractions. They were about 30 seconds long and measured anywhere from 7-12 minutes apart. After an hour Marc went back to bed and I tried to take little rests between each contraction. At 6am Marc woke up, made breakfast and decided he'd be staying home from work that day. At this point we were convinced we’d be heading to the hospital early in the afternoon.  

At 8am we went for a walk around the bay, we made it to Fanuel Park and came back. During the walk my contractions were on average 45 seconds long and about 8 minutes apart. At the time it felt like things were happening pretty fast, but as I look back, it really took awhile for me to progress. The rule of thumb we were going by was the 5-1-1 rule; contractions that are 5 minutes apart that last for at least 1 minute in length and continue for 1 hour.

I was pretty exhausted because I hadn’t slept the night before so I laid on the couch and as each contraction came Marc would massage my back and I would try to rest in between them.  Unfortunately they were more intense when I wasn’t walking or bouncing on the yoga ball so getting rest in between them was a challenge. Marc made us lunch then I took a bath. It really wasn’t that comfortable so I only lasted about 10 minutes. Marc took a 30 minute nap. That afternoon we took another walk around the neighborhood and my contractions started following the 5-1-1 rule! We were getting somewhere! But I still wanted to wait as long as possible before going to the hospital for fears that they would turn me away because I was only 1 centimeter. We ate dinner and around 7pm tried to go for another walk but we only made it down the block and turned back. We decided we’d start packing for the hospital as the contractions had been holding up for a couple hours at the 5-1-1 rule.

We got to the hospital and at 10pm the nurse checked me and guess what?!?!?! Fully effaced but only 1-2 centimeters. L I was totally bummed; I thought for sure I was further along. The doctor on call recommended we start pitocin to speed things up since I was already 1 week past my due date but I really wasn’t comfortable with that because my body was obviously going into labor on its own and doing what it was supposed to be doing. We decided to leave and continue to labor at home instead of walking around a hospital in a hospital gown and being under the pressure of the hospital staff. Although we were a bit confused because we followed the 5-1-1 rule before going to the hospital and now we had no rule to go by. The nurse told us, “You will know” when it’s time to come back. Okay, great advice…NOT. We got home and by then it was Wednesday night, I was officially still pregnant at 41 weeks…it was time to take a belly photo. So here it is. Yes, I look a little frazzled, but I had been up for 24 hours at that point, so no judging.

41 weeks

At midnight we went to bed. Well, Marc went to bed. We decided again, that it would be a good idea if he got a few hours of sleep so we both weren't completely delirious. This is when my contractions started getting really intense. I thought they were bad before, well now they were really bad. For the next 4 hours there was no relief, even between contractions. I was slithering around on the floor trying to find comfortable positions. I was bouncing on the yoga ball. I was walking around trying not to make too much noise while Marc was sleeping. When Marc woke up around 4am he could totally tell that something in me had changed. This must be what the nurse was talking about…the whole, “You will know”, comment. Marc made the decision that we should go back to the hospital, I was a little worried because it had only been 5 hours and not enough time for things to progress enough but we went anyway. We left for the hospital at 5:30am on Thursday morning, checked in and at 6am and the same nurse, Brooke, checked me and I was at 6 centimeters! Hallelujah! Time for the epidural please. By 7am the epidural came and I was in no pain…WOW, what a relief.  

My sister showed up around 10am and stayed for the entire thing, she was a great coach and held my left leg and pushed me on during every contraction. Dr. Riley came to the hospital to check me at 10:30am and I was at 9 centimeters…holy crap things were moving fast. I thought for sure I’d be having a baby in the next hour. Well, Dr. Riley had 2 surgeries at a different hospital he had to attend to and said he’d be back around noon. My water hadn’t broken yet so they kept it in tact until Dr. Riley could come back. He came back around 1:30 and I was 9.5 centimeters and then he broke my water. He left again to finish up his appointments for the day at his office which was just down the street and said he’d be back in a few hours. The nurse checked me a bit after he left and said I was a full 10 centimeters! She said I could start pushing but I wanted to wait until I felt the urge to push so that I wasn’t just pushing to push. That happened around 3pm and I started pushing during each contraction, I was a little worried because Dr. Riley wasn't there, but the nurse didn't seem worried about it. I thought after a few pushes he would be out...haha, NOT. Now I understand why they weren't in a hurry for Dr. Riley to get there, it took me 2 hours of pushing before Caiden came out. I had had the epidural now for 8 hours but couldn’t sleep through it because I had this muscle in my back that was hurting and preventing me from getting comfortable. So being up for a few days was already draining and now pushing during each contraction for 2 hours was definitely hardcore physical exhaustion. Dr. Riley showed up at around 4pm, the last hour of pushing. During the last hour I could really feel when each contraction was coming and knew when to push. During the last 15 minutes came so much pain I couldn’t believe it. I could have pushed the epidural button but I think I just totally forgot about it during the moment. Seriously, I thought I was going to give birth to my entire insides, the pressure was so intense I thought I would pass out at some points. Finally at 5:16pm out came Caiden and my doctor had me pull all 8 pounds 15 ounces of him onto my chest.

The amazing Dr. Riley and the nurse who was there "pushing" me on.

8 pounds 15.2 ounces

After a few minutes of skin to skin the nursery nurse took him to the warmer table to check all his vitals, weigh him, etc. I was so delirious at this point it didn’t really all click for a few more hours what was about to happen. He was running a fever when they first checked him, around 100.3 or so, I don't recall exactly. But the nurse did everything else then checked him again and it had increased to 100.5 or so. They told us they had to take him to the NICU to be monitored for 6 hours. They weren't admitting him, but they had to take him and if all was good after 6 hours they would bring him to my room. After a few hours they took me to my recovery room and Marc and I tried to get some sleep. At 1:30am a NICU nurse came to our room and said that they were admitting him to the NICU because he had stopped breathing a couple times. He always came back on his own when they would stimulate him, with no additional oxygen, but it wasn’t normal and he would need to be monitored 24/7 for at least 48 hours before they would release him. I hadn’t seen him since they took him off my chest after he was born so Marc wheeled me down to the NICU. It was so sad to see him in there, hooked up to all the monitors and an IV in his little hand. They suspected he had an infection so they started antibiotics on him. He would continue to get antibiotics every 12 hours until he was released. It just didn’t seem right that such a big boy would be in the NICU.

Over the next 2 days the NICU nurses would call my room every couple of hours or anytime he really wouldn’t stop crying to have me come down and feed him. Trying to breastfeed while he was in the NICU was the hardest thing ever. I’m really glad I stuck with it, but looking back I’m not sure how I did it. If he would have been in our room it would have been a whole different story. But I would have to get dressed, go all the way across the hospital, sit in a big, bright room with everyone and their mom watching and try to nurse while he was hooked up to all these monitors that were beeping every second. It's a good thing they had me on some good pain killers at that point.

Aunt Sara holding Caiden for the first time in the NICU.

On Saturday I was set to be released from the hospital however Caiden wasn’t going to be leaving the NICU for at least another 24 hours. It was such a horrible feeling to think that we would be leaving the hospital without our baby. However the hospital came through in the end, they have a couple of free rooms available for mothers who have been discharged and whose baby’s are in the NICU and they give priority to those who are nursing. Fortunately one of the rooms opened up on Saturday morning so I was able to stay at the hospital until he got released. Marc on the other hand was dying to get home and sleep in our bed. There was only one bed in this room, unlike the postpartum rooms which had two beds, so he went home and slept Saturday night.

On Sunday morning Marc came back up to the hospital early in the morning after getting a good night sleep. I, on the other hand, was going to the NICU every 2 hours and was still so exhausted. I don’t think I had slept for longer than 2 hours since Tuesday night at this point. We weren’t sure yet if Caiden would be coming home that afternoon or if we had to wait until Monday to bring him home. The blood work they did on him the day before showed that his white blood count was high, which meant he was fighting off an infection, so it’s good they had him on antibiotics. But at the same time he hadn't had any other problems and didn't have any other problems breathing after those first few hours of life. The NICU doctor came to do his rounds that morning and cleared him to be discharged that afternoon! It was the best news ever! We came home on Sunday night around 5pm and spent the first night alone with our baby. 

Leaving the NICU on Sunday afternoon

Changing him into his going home outfit.

Getting ready for the car ride home!

The entire experience was crazy, I still can't believe I had almost a nine pound baby inside me and how the heck I pushed him out. We think he's the cutest thing ever and are pretty sure everyone else thinks the same thing...haha, biased much?!?

2 weeks!

Where has the time gone?!? I can't believe he's already 2 weeks old, I know everyone says that, but seriously, I feel like my days fly by. By the time I change him, feed him, change him again, feed myself, try to swoosh him to sleep for an hour I do it all again and then it's time for Marc to get home. It's so funny, Marc made a comment this week, "Now I understand why all our friends go to bed at 8pm." We are also trying to get on that schedule, but it just feels like we have so much to talk about and so much to do when he gets home from work that by the time we look at the clock its midnight all over again.

Caiden is eating like a champ. I took him to his 2 week check-up yesterday and he weighs 9 pounds  5 ounces! He's already 6 ounces past his birth weight at only 2 weeks, I couldn't believe it. They say he should be at his birth weight by 2 weeks so he passed with flying colors. And I was successful in taking him to his appointment all by myself. This was the first time I've left the house with him by myself so I was nervous. And our pediatrician's office is the worst. You have to park in this HUGE, hot, underground garage, walk forever to the elevator, go to the 6th floor then sit in a waiting room with a bunch of toddlers playing with loud toys until they call me 20 minutes past my appointment time. Needless to say I dislike our pediatrician and the office and we are switching before his 1-month well baby check-up. Anyway, all went smooth and the minute you get that kid in the car he falls asleep and stays asleep until you take him out of his car seat and put him on the exam table. I was able to lug him all around the office with the diaper bag all by myself...what an accomplishment, haha.

My days look like this so far: Feed Caiden anytime between 6 and 8 in the morning (whenever he feels like getting up), try to be as quiet and make slow movements as possible so that he'll go back to sleep for a couple hours, and so I can go to sleep for a couple more hours. During the day he's eating about every 3 hours so when he wakes up usually feed him again. He typically doesn't like to sleep again after this feeding unless I put him in the stroller and go for a walk (and I've only done that once) so usually I'm just trying to talk to him or hold some colorful toys in front of him to get his attention. If I'm not holding him or giving him attention he'll usually cry. He doesn't like to just be left alone. Oh, and did I mention I've probably changed his diaper about 8 times by 8 am. He hates being in a wet or poopy diaper and he pees ALL the time. I swear I go through like 20 diapers in a day, I've been wanting to count but just don't have the energy for it.
After playing for a while it's time for him to eat again, and he'll let me know it. After this feeding I try to get him to take a decent nap so I can eat lunch, shower (if I'm lucky) and get some work done around the house, or try to take a nap myself (again...if I'm lucky). Then he's up again after 3 or so hours and it's time to eat again. This breastfeeding thing is exhausting, if he wasn't latching so great or if my milk wasn't so full then I would seriously think about formula. I always kind of thought I'd breastfeed for a year, but every three hours is so crazy right now. Everyone says it gets better but right now my head is spinning.
So I try to feed him right before Marc gets home so that he's nice and happy for him and then maybe he'll go down for a little nap while we eat dinner. That's always the plan, sometimes it works and sometimes we have a screaming baby in the background while one of us shovels down our dinner so we can go relieve the piercing noise. Around 9 or so I feed him again and our plan every night is to put him down in his bassinet right after that feeding and for us to go to bed. The past few nights we've been successful at attempting to go to bed but he doesn't want to cooperate. He will be wide awake and if you even think about putting him in his bassinet he will scream and cry. I try to walk and sway him back and forth as long as I can before my back wants to give in, give him a pacifier (which I HATE doing this early, but sometimes it's the only thing to calm him down) and when he's finally dozed off, as slow as a turtle, lay him in his bassinet and hold my breath that he doesn't move. Unfortunately this is usually 2 hours after he's last ate and he's going to be up again in an hour to eat again. So much for going to sleep right after the 9pm feeding. There have been a few nights where he has gone 4 or 5 hours in the middle of the night without waking up, which have been amazing. The pediatrician said it's okay to let him go that long at night but during the day you should feed him at least every 3 hours. So depending on how long he stays asleep we start that whole routine over in the morning.

Overall I think he's a pretty good newborn, despite the times when he's fussy right before it's time to go to bed he's pretty chill. My Mom and Dad left on Tuesday and we've been trying to adjust without them. It was a godsend they came when they did (2 days after we got home from the hospital and Marc had to go back to work), my Mom would pretty much take him after each feeding and burp him and coo him back to sleep in her arms and it gave me a chance to nap or shower. I was so sleep deprived for so many days after his birth that I didn't know whether I was coming or going half the time. Oh, and I'm almost done with his birth story, just a few missing details I need to get from Marc and it should be posted by this weekend. And we are still waiting for the rocker from Pottery Barn to complete the nursery. You don't know how ready I am for that thing, I'm so sick of sitting in bed and wrecking my back every night during the feedings. The chair should be in by the end of next week or so, then I'll take some pictures of the nursery.

Here are some pics from this week.

This is my hospital picture. He definitely has my chin.

This is the first toy I introduced, the ring o' links. He will watch them as I fiddle with them in front of his face. He's tried grabbing them a few times.

First sponge bath with mommy. Despite the look on his face he really loves it when you bathe him.

Grandpa and Caiden taking a nap

This is how happy he is in his car seat ;)

Grandma and Caiden

First walk around the Bay

Baby boy is 1 week old!

I can't believe it's been a week. Baby boy (I guess I should start calling him by his name now that we have one), Caiden Max, came into this world on Thursday, July 26, 2012, at 5:16pm, weighing 8 pounds 15 ounces and 22 inches long. He was born at 41 weeks and 1 day. I will post his full birth story once I get a chance to sit down and write it up. It was long and eventful, almost a full 48 hours of labor so there is a lot to remember.

Thank you for all the support and love everyone has been sending our way. I'm slowly starting to come out of my sleep deprived hole and complete exhaustion so I'll be in touch with everyone soon! In the meantime here are a few pictures from the past week.

40 Weeks

40 weeks

How far along? 40 Weeks - MY DUE DATE IS HERE!

Total weight gain: 31 pounds

Maternity clothes? yes
Stretch marks? Nope

Sleep:  Pretty much the same, just getting up a lot to use the bathroom, it’s non-stop, every 2 hours.

Best moment of the week: Reaching my due date with zero problems. I’m actually hoping Marc and I have one more weekend to hang out before baby boy arrives. My doctor appointment today was a success…blood pressure, protein, measurements…all that stuff was normal. And I love it because he didn’t mention anything about inducing or measures to speed things up, he just lets me be. He only said if I’m still here next week that I might start to have questions.

Miss anything? Refer to last week’s post ;)

Movement: He’s really slowing down in there. Every once in awhile I’ll get a BIG kick in the side, but I’m not sure he has too much room to move anymore. I have a fear that’s he’s going to be a 10 pound baby…eeekkkk!
Food cravings: I made cookies this week, bought ice cream and cones from the grocery, bought stroopwafel’s from World Market…all these sweets are taking over my life ;)

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope

Gender:  Boy
Labor Signs: Lots of Braxton hicks contractions, hope that means something?!?!

Symptoms: My belly has grown so fast these past few weeks, I keep saying, “I don’t think it could get any bigger”, and then it does.

Belly Button in or out? Halfsies

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!

Look forward to: Well my due date is today, so his arrival of course…and hoping I don’t have to do a “41 Week” blog post…but all hoping aside and I’m pretty sure you’ll see a 41 week belly photo. Till then…throw some good vibes my way in hopes of an “easy” delivery…ha.

39 Weeks

39 weeks, 1 day

How far along? 39 Weeks

Total weight gain: 31 pounds

Maternity clothes? Uhhhh, yes.
Stretch marks? Nope

Sleep:  Good; but my shoulders are getting sore from sleeping on my side. I can’t wait to sleep on my stomach and back again. And I’m so hot at night, I can’t sleep with any covers on and I have 3 fans blowing in the room. I wake up in the middle of the night and see Marc with the down comforter up to his neck because I need it so cold.

Best moment of the week: Hearing from the doc that everything is still a-o.k. and no need for any intervention at this point!

Miss anything? This question annoys me now…haha.

Movement: oh yes, he may be slowing down a bit due to lack of space but there’s no doubt he loves his 10-11pm dance parties in there.
Food cravings: Not really. I guess I never really got those weird food cravings people talk about like pickles and ice cream mixed together.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope

Gender:  Boy
Labor Signs: hmmm, I don’t think so. I think I’m getting more Braxton hicks contractions now than I was before. I would get them when I work out all the time but now I’m getting them just around the house. So maybe that's a yes, I dunno?

Symptoms: Just the normal full term pregnancy stuff…pelvic pressure being one of them. But I’m not really that uncomfortable…catch me in 2 or 3 weeks when I still haven’t given birth and that might be a different story.

Belly Button in or out? Half in, half out

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Pretty happy, but when everyone calls to ask if I’m in labor yet I want to shout, “NO, I’m not, and you’re making me think I need to be and stressing me out” ::In the nicest possible way of course::

Look forward to: My due date. Yes, I’m pretty sure I’ll see it come and go with no baby but then it has to be close. But he is way easier to take care of right now than when he comes out so I’m cool with waiting for a few more weeks. 

OH, and I really need to pack my hospital bag, Marc has been on my case for 2 weeks now. Seriously I’m not having any of those nesting instincts. I feel like it will all just “get done somehow”.

Maternity Pictures

Here are a few of our favorites. A huge thank you to Brandi Mussack with La Brisa Photography for taking these solo pictures of me. She is such a talented photographer and I couldn't have been happier with how they turned out. I just wished she lived closer and could take the newborn shots. I was 32 weeks pregnant when they were taken, right at the 7 month mark.

Marc wasn't able to participate in the shoot above so the following week we took some together with the same photographer that shot our wedding.

38 Weeks

38 weeks

How far along? 38 Weeks…we are officially in his birth month! 

Total weight gain: 31 pounds…wowza!

Maternity clothes? Do you see that belly???
Stretch marks? Nope

Sleep: Surprisingly pretty good. Some days I’ll wake up with some hip pain from sleeping on one side too long but other days, nothing, which is great.

Best moment of the week: We are really just soaking up the last bits of privacy and “twosome’ness” we’ll have for a very, very long time. The last 6 and half years with just me and Marc has been the best chapter of my life, I have to admit I’m bummed to see it go. 

Miss anything? Where do I begin?!?

Movement: He is so active, and I feel like I can literally feel an entire leg protruding out on the right side of my stomach sometimes.
Food cravings: In the past few days I’ve found myself actually being hungry for meals. I haven’t really had that feeling in awhile, I’ve always felt full.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope

Gender:  Boy
Labor Signs: No

Symptoms: notta...still doing body pump, yoga, leg work-outs, walking and nothing is happening.

Belly Button in or out? Half in, half out

Wedding rings on or off? They still fit!

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, scared, nervous.

Look forward to: baby boy’s arrival…can’t believe it is almost time, could be anytime…or could be another 4 weeks!

Happy Independence Day! The weather was like it usually is in San Diego on the 4th of July, cloudy and more cloudy. We rode our bikes to a party my sister was at and ran into a few friends we haven't seen in a long time and headed home around 4, made dinner and then went down to the Bay to watch the fireworks around San Diego. There are 5 shows around the city that sync up at 9pm and we have a perfect view of 3 of them. However it was a major FAIL because a computer glitch happened and about 5 minutes before the show was supposed to start all the fireworks were released at one time with one huge bang throughout the entire city. Someone's going to be getting an earful tomorrow. Luckily we still had the Seaworld fireworks right above us at 9:30 to watch. I made a comment that I can't believe next year at this time we'll have a one year old...OMG.