Sunday, August 17, 2008

He's Here and We're Home!!!

Kasen Grey Cox was born August 14th, 2008 at 10:53am. He weighed 9 lbs. 2oz. and was 20.5 inches long. Labor and delivery was awesome! We arrived at the hospital at 6:30 am to be induced. I was a "generous 4cm." They broke my water at 8am and started pitocin. Shortly afterward I received my epidural. It was perfect! Enough to not feel any pain, but I could still feel pressure. I'm thinking it was between 9:45-10 am that the nurse put the foley cath in and then checked me. I was at 6cm. Pretty soon after that, I'm thinking between 10-10:15 am, I thought I was feeling pressure. We called the nurse in and I was complete! The Dr. came in and I pushed around or less than 15 min and he was here! It was really good. No tears or rips. It was such a totally different experience than with Jayden. I was so aware and part of what was going on. I could feel him coming out, but not in a painful way. I could see him come out when I leaned forward. There were quite a few people in the room, numbers one and two were Jesse and Jayden! Yes, Jayden decided to watch! He really enjoyed it and wasn't freaked out or anything. Then Jesse's Mom, My Mom, Jesse's Mee-Maw, Jesse's Cousin (Chris,) and Jesse's sister (Abbey) were in the room. It was neat to me to let them all experience watching a baby be born. It was also funny to watch some of their faces! When we first got to the hospital I was very anxious because I wasn't sure how everything was going to go. I was worried that I wouldn't get an epidural in time and that I would feel him come out. Once I got the epidural I was so relieved and could finally relax. After he was born I was so awake and alert and full of energy.

There were so many things that happened that were just God things. As we were waiting to find out who our nurse was going to be I was watching each one come in and receive their assignments. I was just praying that God would give us a good one. God picked out Cyndy for us. Little did we know how awesome this was. Once the cat was out of the bag that I am a nurse she was so relaxed. Lots of nurses kind of freak out and worry. Cyndy said she had lived through teenagers and that nothing bothered her anymore. She was a wonderful advocate for me when it came to making sure I got my epidural sooner rather than later, and that the dosing was just right and not too much. She sat with me while it took three attempts to get my epidural. The first one went in good, but flushed with difficulty. So rather than attempt to use it and have to replace it later we tried again. The second cath wouldn't thread. The third attempt was a little lower and went in wonderfully and flushed wonderfully. She listened to me and my concerns the entire time. After Kasen was born she saw Jesse's Dad and recognized him from somewhere. Turns out that she goes to our church! She has a disabled daughter and so she arrives last and leaves early so we had never met her. It was great to be able to be a support for her and encourage her as far as church goes. Now, she knows someone else (a lot more someone else's) and she can feel more connected. It was just amazing to see God working through all that.

All of our nurses were great. They were very calm even though they knew I was a nurse and did a great job with the teaching. When Jayden was born the teaching we received was horrible! I went home feeling like I hadn't learned much at all. I really had a wonderful experience and can't complain.

The recovery this time around has been amazing too! I had some swelling the first 24 hours, but otherwise nothing major. I was up and walking around within a few hours. I even walked to the nourishment room that night! Pain meds wise, I've been taking Motrin only for the most part. I've only taken Vicodin twice. Both times were at night more to help me sleep than anything. The pain has really been minimal. It's just amazing. The recovery was horrible with Jayden.

Nursing is going ok. It's always hard at the beginning. It's the only thing I've really hated so far. He does ok with his latching on. Sometimes it takes forever though and is really frustrating. My milk came in Sat morning so that's helped too. Friday night he ate at 8:30pm and 3:30am and again at 9:30. (8ish seems to be the time EVERYONE in the hospital comes in to assess and check on you) So, he's pretty content with that. Peeing and pooping well. The only time he really cries is while we are trying to latch on. Otherwise it's just baby noises. The first day he was really squeaky, but that has decreased a lot! His billi this morning was 10.3 so we are keeping an eye on that. Otherwise he's chill.

Jayden of course is LOVING be a big brother! He spent a few hours with us each day at the hospital during the day, but the nights and mornings he spent at Grandparents. Last night was our first night all together. We are doing really good!


JAYDEN'S STORY (since I refered to it in Kasen's)

Jayden's story is really not as bad as I make it out to be. For a first time Mom it was really good actually. It's the recovery that was so hard last time. That and just learning everything as a first time Mom. The unit where the boys were born had just opened so things weren't as smooth. The nurses really slacked off on patient teaching and I went home feeling very unprepared. I wasn't even comfortable bathing him the first time at home. I felt lost when it came to breastfeeding. I kept asking for the lactation consultant, but no one called at first. (With Kasen they kept asking if I wanted one to come in!) Those were just some of the things that made it hard. This time not only am I a second time Mom, but I'm a NICU nurse so I take care of babies for a living! I am more confident for sure. The hardest thing for me now is breastfeeding (which is still SO much better than with Jayden) because I don't deal with it that much at work. So, on to his story:

I was induced with Jayden also at 39 and 4 days. When I went in that morning I was 3 cm dilated and was having contractions 4 min apart already. They broke my water and started pitocin. That was probably around 8am. Around 10ish I was really starting to hurt so I asked for my epidural. They checked me and I was at 7 cm! They went ahead with the epidural anyway though. Once they finished I felt tingly in my chest and arms. I felt like I couldn't swallow and my legs were dead to me. I couldn't move them at all. (I think I was either really sensitive or they laid me back too fast and too flat or they gave me too much - probably a combination of all three.) So, before we knew it, I was complete and it was time to push. My family had gone to the cafeteria for lunch so Jesse had to go get them! When I tried to push I could feel nothing and couldn't tell if I was pushing effectively. I pushed for what seemed like forever. Finally, I could feel one spot on my lower left abdomen to tell when I was having a contraction and push against it. He was finally born at 3:31pm after almost two hours of pushing! The Dr was in the room for at least an hour of the pushing and his head was right there. I just couldn't push hard enough.

I tore and was really swollen after all that pushing. It was really hard for me to walk afterwards because my legs still felt like weights and when Jesse and the nurse walked me into the bathroom they let go of me so I could sit on the toilet and I fell. My legs gave out and I ended up with a huge scratch and bruise down my back. I was in so much pain. The recovery took a long time. I was still sitting on pillows a couple of weeks after! Thankfully, we lived with my parents (my Mom is a NICU nurse too!) so they were such a support for us (along with all the other family too of course!)




Monday, August 11, 2008

We have a Date!

So, at my 39 wk appt last Friday we set up an induction date. If the little man doesn't make an appearance by Thursday (Aug. 14 - the 15th is my due date) we will induce. He is a very stubborn little child. I am now (as of Friday at least) 4cm dilated and 90% effaced. His head is really low in the pelvis. So, once my water breaks or labor finally begins I'm almost half way done! It's actually kinda' insane. I just wish he would make his entrance. The waiting is horrible. All the phone calls, going to church every Sunday just to hear, "You're still here?" Jesse's going crazy. Our life is just on hold. Ahhh. People keep putting these dates on me, "You have to have him by Monday." The little brothers want to get back up to ACU so they keep badgering me. Like I have any control over it!!! If I did, he would have been born a few weeks ago when he weighed 7 lbs. By now I'm sure he weighs 8-9 lbs! I'm going to birth a toddler.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Almost 38 Weeks!

Ok, so as of last Friday (today is Wednesday) I was 3cm dilated and 70% effaced. So you would think he would pop out any time now right? WRONG! Still pregnant! I'm really ready for him to come. I'm getting so stir crazy since I'm not working and have been taking it easy. I went on maternity leave at 36 wks and 5 days because of this horrible nerve and muscle pain I was having. I could hardly walk, let alone stand for 12 hours! So I'm ready for him to come for a few reasons. I'm eating all my time off!!! Oh well. Didn't really have a choice.

I'm getting around so much better now. I still have pains, but not constant like before. Today we went to the mall and had family/maternity pictures taken. It cost a lot, but was well worth it! They turned out so great!

So ... hopefully we'll have a baby around our house soon. We'll see!

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Almost 36 Weeks!!!

To say that I am ready for this baby to come is a little of an understatement! Actually, we still don't have a lot of things ready for the baby, but physically I am ready. We are working on his room. The furniture is all here (except the railing for the changing table adaptor on the chest of drawers it's on back order,) the drawers are full of baby stuff - all clean and ready for him to come, clothes are hung in the closet. Jesse's in the process of painting the room and his other room "stuff" that goes with the comforter set should be arriving in the next two days.

Our room ... is a mess. We had to make a surprise visit to California to see my family because my PaPa got extremely ill and passed away. That was a weird trip: death, funeral and family vacation all in one. We went to Disneyland and the beach, and you have to hit the outlet mall while you are there. So, we have been back for about a week and a half and I still haven't unpacked. My clothes are kind of ... everywhere. If I had some energy I would do something about it, but I have gotten alot towards the baby done in the last few days.

I still need quite a few things for the baby. Our shower is Sunday so I'm hoping we'll get a few things we need then. I had my work shower the night before we left for Cali. I was shocked and amazed at what we got! We got a stroller, diaper champ, boppy lounger and bath stuff among clothes, etc. Like I said I was surprised. I wasn't expecting that much for sure. So, I guess we can't have the baby until we get the pack and play and car seat. Those are kinda' of essentials. We'll see. Other than that we are SO ready for the baby to come.

My newest symptom of pregnancy is this ligament or some kind of pain down the inside of my thighs. It started in the middle of the night on Monday night. Tuesday I couldn't pick up my legs to put my clothes on, go up the stairs, get in the car, shower, etc. I stayed in bed most of the day Tuesday and Wednesday. I was going to go to education day at work Tuesday and I was supposed to work Wednesday night but I guess my FMLA is starting earlier than I expected now! I was already thinking of stopping at the end of this week so I'm only stopping a day early now. Anyway - I have my 36 wk appointment tomorrow and let's hope I'm dilating or something! I'm more than a little ready to feel better at this point!!!

Monday, April 21, 2008

7 Random Things

I don't know if Claudia tagged this Becky or the other one, but since I have the time to do it ...

7 Random Things about me:

1. My house is almost always a mess. (It's actually stayed decent the past three weeks or so!)
2. I have no patience with slow loading stuff on the computer.
3. I sleep .... a lot! (Thankfully so does my kiddo - hopefully the next one will too)
4. I'm not too girly, although I can have my moments. Lately, I just don't care.
5. I have two toes rings I never take off.
6. I am almost always late where ever I go. The only place I am on time to is work and I still don't know how that happens.
7. I don't have a favorite color, song, or almost anything. I don't know why, but i just don't like being tied down to one color or whatever.

Friday, April 18, 2008

23 Weeks and Counting!

Ok, I admit it... I've been a bad blogger blogger. I do blog on my Xanga, but even there not as frequently as I should. I've been wanting to do a blog with my 20 week ultrasound photos, but I'm always at work when I have the motivation to do it and I can't access them here. So, I'll just give you the updates without the pictures. Sorry.

I am currently 23 weeks. I've been feeling much better as of late. I was feeling awful for the first 20 weeks or so. First my stomach just hurt (thankfully no morning sickness - just achy tummy.) then my abdominal muscles hurt, then I had palpitations, then I was anemic, now, finally I'm feeling better. I was also very paranoid up until my 20 wk ultrasound. Funny thing though, I calmed down once I knew what the sex of the baby was and that everything was ok. I thought now (22-25ish weeks) would be the scariest for me since that's the age range of the smallest babies we take care of, but I'm actually more relieved to be at this point. I know that if the baby were to come it would be a long, hard road and he may not make it, but I still feel better that I would hopefully have some time with him I guess. Who knows why I'm so calm. I'm thinking it's the Lord!

So, if you didn't glean from the above paragraph, we are having another little boy. We don't have a name as of now though. I must admit that I was disappointed at first, but I have recovered and am getting excited about what the future holds. Jayden will love having a brother. It will be best for him. God gives us what we need and I'm holding on to that truth!

That's about all for now. Just wanted to post some kind of update here! Sorry guys!

Monday, January 21, 2008

Baby #2 - 10 Weeks

10 Weeks
We had our first prenatal visit today. We all went so we could see the baby! Jayden was really excited (ok, we all were!) We had an ultrasound and got to see the baby and all it's parts (well, not those parts - still too small!) We saw head, heart, abdomen, arms, legs ... it was really cool. The ultrasound tech was really nice and stopped halfway through (she was probably almost done) to put in a video tape for us and started over again to make sure everything was on the tape! It was so sweet of her. Before she got the tape it was moving around a lot, but after the tape was in it only moved it's arms a little. It was really cute! So, everything looks great! And it's only one baby! So that's good news! Jayden was really good during the entire visit. When we went into the other room to see the Dr he said, "Do you have to take your clothes off again?" It was kinda' funny!
Here are some pictures - they are pictures of pictures and the originals are shiny so there's a little glare .... Sorry!




Ok, first one is a full body shot. Head is to the left then arms, abdomen, legs and the tech said between the legs is the tail but, I think it's more feet. I think this because the next picture is it's legs and feet. It's sitting crossleged.