James, Shawn & Kaleb: June 2009

So we finally welcomed Kaleb to this world on June 3, 2009. Our lives have never been the same since. At 12:30 am on June 3rd, my water broke. I was sleeping and James was just getting ready to go to bed after working on his homework. My water only slightly broke, so I was a little unsure of what to do. I had the baby's bag packed, but not mine. So I hurried and instructed James to pack my bag. I think we were both in shock. I just couldn't believe that it really was time! So around 1:30 am we headed off to the hospital. On the drive to the hospital I started getting really bad contractions. I also had bad back labor pains. That was the worst! By the time we got to the hospital, I was already ready to get the epidural. Haha. They got me all hooked up and flowing with meds shortly after we got there. I actually got the epidural pretty soon after getting there as well. The epidural really didn't hurt at all. Especially compared to the contractions I was having. The one crappy thing was I could still feel the contractions on the left side of my abdomen. So they gave me some more pain medicine and tried to fix the epidural. After no luck and still some pain, they took out the epidural and did it again. Thankfully it worked this time. However, my legs were super numb! I couldn't move them at all.

Continuing throughout the night I wasn't progressing very quickly. So I slept as much as I could and so did James. This actually passed the time which was nice. My nurse Gina was awesome! Kaleb took up much of her attention though. Every time I would have a contraction, his heart rate would drop. It was actually quite scary. Dr Fowers could see the monitor at his house with my contractions and his heart rate, so he was up all night keeping an eye on him. I also had a lot of blood loss so they were getting a little nervous. Dr Fowers let Gina know that he would be at the hospital around 6:45 am. Then at 6:15 am he wrote Gina a message on the monitor that he was coming right then! I started to get really nervous because I knew something was wrong. Gina prepped everything for Dr. Fowers to come and he was there shortly. They waited till I was dilated to a 9 and then had me start pushing. I wasn't complete yet, but Dr Fowers found out that Kaleb was posterior and wanted to try moving him to the correct position. He was able to, but as soon as he let go of his head and I had another contraction, Kaleb flipped back to the way he was. Stubborn little boy! So then they started talking about using the forceps or vacuum or a possible c-section. I really, really did not want to have a c-section. They let me continue to push and see if I could progress any more. After there was no progress, the Dr. said we need to get him out in 15 minutes. I knew I couldn't push any longer. Dr Fowers recommended a c-section. He also mentioned if we tried the forceps, we could give him a skull fracture. I wanted to do what was best for Kaleb, so we decided on doing a c-section.

The room was already prepped for a scheduled c-section at 7:30 am. So they bumped me right in. They threw James some scrubs and we were off to the operating room. The epidural was starting to make me super shaky, plus I was way nervous about the c-section. They gave me some more medication and I couldn't feel anything from my chest down. It was very scary because I almost felt like I couldn't breath. Then they raised a curtain up so both James and I couldn't see anything. I think it was definitely best that way. They had me lay with my arms outstretched to the sides. I don't know why but that was the most uncomfortable thing ever! I was shaking uncontrollably and I am sure James was freaking out inside. They started prepping my belly and I could still feel them. I kept saying please make sure I can't feel you before you start. All I could feel was pressure after the medicine kicked in. It didn't take too long until they said they could see the umbilical cord and Kaleb's little hand. Then I felt this big weight come out of my belly. It was the strangest feeling ever. They then said that the umbilical cord was tightly wrapped twice around Kaleb's neck. No wonder I wasn't progressing when I was pushing. Plus if we would've tried the forceps that could have been really bad. They brought Kaleb over to the crib and I got to see James cut the cord. Kaleb was born at 7:32 am and weighed 5 lbs 12 ounces and was 20 inches long. They told me the umbilical cord was a little small and maybe he didn't get enough nutrients which could have contributed it his small weight. He is a tall skinny little boy!!

After the c-section, I did not feel good at all. My jaw was locked from my teeth chattering and shaking. I felt super sick. James brought Kaleb over to show me and I couldn't even look at him. I had to lean my head to the side and start throwing up. All of the medicine was really starting to catch up to me. They gave me some medicine to help with the nausea and that knocked me out. After they wheeled me out of the operating room they asked if I wanted to see my baby boy or take a quick power nap. I had no strength and felt awful. So, I took a quick nap and tried to get myself together.

James brought Kaleb into see me not too long after. I was able to hold him (with some help) and enjoy my little boy. I was totally out of it that day, but I do remember what a great experience this all was. Probably a little more traumatic that I would've liked, but I am just so glad that everything is ok with Kaleb. My time in the hospital was great. We ended up having to be there for 3 days, but it was much needed time to recover. The nurses were awesome! They took such good care of us. Kaleb's weight dropped to 5 lbs 6 ounces, but it has stabilized since then and is actually going up now. On the last day we were in the hospital, he had to be under the lights for jaundice. That was awful. I felt so bad for him! And I could only sit there and watch him. We were afraid we would have to take the lights home with us. But when they tested his bilirubin levels the next day, he was in the low risk zone and was doing great! Below are a few pictures of the cutest boy ever!! Don't worry, we have already taken so many pictures so I will be posting more later. Plus I have some pretty cute videos of him.

Kaleb under the lights. . . doesn't he look so sad!

Baby Kaleb and Gams! As soon as my Mom found out I was in the hospital, she rushed up here to help. She has been wonderful! I was so spoiled and am so sad that she had to leave. We miss her so much.