Cadence's Birth

Well I'm about 3 weeks away from my due date with baby Levi....so I guess I should post a birth story about Cadence before it gets confused with the next one! (Middle child problems already kicking in??? Sorry baby girl!)

My due date for Cadence was January 14th, 2015. Now when I was pregnant with Isaac, I knew my "due date" was June 14th, but my real due date for my mind was the 28th: the last day my doctor would let me stay pregnant. I know most first births go past the due date so I was prepared for that. And because of my mental preparations: I wasn't in complete tears when my due date came and went.

I can't say the same about Cadence. I thought "well, I've had one already, I wont be THAT late, if at all.....". Well I was pretty much a baby on my due date. Maybe not outwardly, but inside I was a big fat cry baby.

1:30pm on my due date, I started having some contractions that were fairly regular. Very far apart, but noticeably consistent. I didn't bother timing them because they weren't painful at all and I didn't want to get my hopes up. I don't think I mentioned to Zech that I was having contractions until that night.



Around 9:30pm or 10pm I decided to take a bath hoping to stop the contractions. I did not believe that I'd ever have this baby and needed to go to sleep. The bath didn't stop the contractions, but made them worse and closer together. I tried to sleep, but after an hour in bed I got up and moved to the couch, hoping that at least Zech would be able to sleep. I can't believe he slept at all while I was constantly moving around trying to get comfortable! Impressive right there!

Finally at 1am my contractions were close enough together and painful enough that we needed to get going. Waking Zech up was pretty funny. "Zech, we need to go to the hospital". Yeah it took him maybe 5 minutes to really wake up and fully understand.

We called Cheyanne to come over and stay with Isaac and made our way to the hospital. Checked in around 1:30am. The funniest moment was when I started having another contraction on our way out the door. They were bad enough that I couldn't walk or talk, so I just kind of leaned over a kitchen chair. Zech looks at me and asks "Another contractions?" If I could talk I would have said no, I'm just really going to miss this chair. But he just got a look that said enough to get the point across. He's always been the one to lighten up any moment.

 My biggest worry was that I wasn't going to be dilated enough for them to check me in and they'd send me home. I believe they said I was at 4cm and I remember asking "So...do I get to stay?". The lady kind of chuckled at me but said yes.

This go around I thought I knew what it would be like. I already gave birth once. I knew what to expect and how things would happen (and how Kaiser ran things). I was definitely wrong.

In some ways it was easier than Isaac (I didn't get nauseous so that was awesome), but overall it was a worse experience. My water didn't break, so things moved so slow. I figured I'd get nauseous again so I told them I'd definitely want the epidural eventually, thus having to be pumped full of fluids: aka an IV. With Isaac they let me walk around while waiting for the anesthesiologist, but this time I was stuck in bed waiting. It took them a few hours to get to me (4:30 is when I got the epidural). Laboring in bed is a million times suckier than being able to walk around and move. I knew laying down that whole time was just delaying everything even more.

Being tired really didn't help the situation. The entire time I was there the nurses kept telling me to try to get rest, that I needed to rest as much as I could. Every time they came in "now get some rest!". Before getting the epidural I just wanted to laugh. If I could either sleep between 3-4 minutes of having contractions or sleep through the contractions: I would not be at the hospital right now. Then after I got the epidural the nursing staff came in every 15 minutes. And NOT quietly. So how in the WORLD was I supposed to sleep.

So anyways, from the time I got to the hospital to probably noon the next day I just laid there waiting. Finally around noon I had felt some pressure. With Isaac they telling me as soon as I felt pressure, that's when I'd be ready to push. This go around I mentioned to the nurse that I was feeling something going on but they kind of just brushed me off. The next time they came in I asked if they could send the midwife in to check me. The nurse semi snaps at me "You're not going to miss it". I wanted to snap back and say that I wasn't worried about me missing it, I was worried about them missing it!

Finally, 1:15ish the midwife came in and guess what. Somebody was on her way out. I started officially pushing at 1:25pm and Cadence was born at 1:30pm. It was so quick and simple (epidurals, right? ;) )

I saw her dark head first and thought "Is that mine???" Once again, it deviated from what Isaac was. The thought that she might have dark hair did not even cross my mind for some reason. I thought she'd be just like Isaac but female. Its amazing what you miss when you think you know it all =D

They handed her right to me, let me deliver the placenta and then Zech cut the cord. Cadence cried pretty much the whole time. After a few minutes they cleaned her up (all while she was screaming). I was able to nurse her (and she didn't cry then!) but while Zech held her and I got cleaned up she cried and cried and cried.

TMI warning, so if you want to skip this next paragraph, feel free. Its mainly to remind myself of the experience. Since I was given the epidural, my legs were obviously numb. With Isaac they just waited till I could stand up to let me clean up and go to the bathroom, etc. Well they were obviously in a hurry this time. I still couldn't feel my legs and they brought in this weird looking wheel chair contraption. Let me tell you. Getting on this thing to be wheeled to the bathroom was the most degrading thing I've ever experienced. I know its just a certain amount of pride and it shouldn't have been embarrassing. But it definitely was. This little nurse (smaller than me) tried to help me get on this thing. It was not easily identifiable. It didn't have a chair, so I was guessing at where I was supposed to sit...or should I be standing, kneeling?? So here I am trying to maneuver onto this weird thing, all while not being able to feel my legs or stand up at all. Then she wheels me to the bathroom and I have to AGAIN maneuver off it to get on the toilet. I seriously wanted to cry. But I made it! I didn't fall off (I almost did...but I didn't!!!) and by the time I had to get back on it, I could put a portion of weight on my legs without them bowing under me. I was so thankful when I was back in that hospital bed ready to await my carrage to take me to the recovery room.

Breastfeeding was a cinch with Cadence. She latched well and right away. That night was hard. Cluster feeding was never a thing with Isaac. Cadence needed to eat every 15 minutes. She cried while I bounced her, rocked her, cried with her. Zech tried to sooth her. She just needed to constantly eat. It took me quite a few hours to figure that out. She'd be crying, Zech would ask if she needed to eat, and I'd say I just fed her 10 minutes ago. By then I was going on to no sleep for 48 hours. Even though I was medicated during the birth, your body still exerts a lot of energy during labor. I was so tired it hurt. Everything hurt, my bones, my skin, my spit! I'm pretty sure I asked the nurse every time they came in if I could go home yet. I was so so so ready to go home. I needed my son, I needed my floor (Cuz you know...that is more comfortable than the hospital!).

Luckily they let us leave right at 1:30. We were packed and ready and just waiting for the clock to say 1:30pm for about 20 minutes. I'm so grateful that we pushed to leave ASAP. With Isaac I believe they started the checkout process at the 24 hour mark. Which if you know how quickly they move with paperwork......well.......yeah. It was also apparent that since we had already had a baby, and had him with them, they let a lot of things "go". We didn't have to watch the Don't Shake The Baby video, they trusted me when I said I was "healing" fine. Experience went a long way this time. First time parents don't know ANYTHING apparently ;) at least realized that was how we were being treated with Isaac. (Which, I am semi grateful for. I didn't know anything!)

Once we were home I was so excited. I felt the same way with Isaac. As soon as I am in my own home, that's when the emotion of "this is my baby" hits. When no nurses are coming in, I'm not wearing this uncomfortable gown with thick pads covering my entire bed. I'm not trying to "entertain" visitors. Its just me and my family.

Watching Isaac with Cadence was amazing. He's always been the type of kid to embrace change and love it. Switching up the day schedule, so fun for him, almost like he thrives off of that. He loved her right away. He was very helpful too. She'd spit up and he'd either get me a cloth or wipe it up for me. Its so precious seeing that kind spirit come out in him. He reminds me so much of his daddy.

Distant Shores

As cliche as it is, I'm going to say it:

Its been a long time since I've updated you all!

So much has happened that I'm pretty sure it's impossible to write about it all.

But lets just cut to the chase and the main point on this post.

4 Months. My baby is 4 months old! Within this last week he has grown incredibly. Not physically, but intelligibly and I guess a little physically (strength wise!). He is amazing at grabbing things. Once he locks onto what he wants, he goes after it. His favorites: his lamb toy (which I call Lamb-aze, since its a Lamaze branded toy) and water bottles. I'm pretty sure he likes water bottles more. 

He laughs and smiles all the time. My favorite time of day is in the morning when he first wakes up. He's so happy! Also, little baby stretches are the cutest!

2 days ago he rolled all the way over by himself. He was getting pretty close for two weeks, but just couldn't get out from under his arm. Now, he's got it down!

Last weekend we all had colds. I had it first, on a Tuesday (and successfully passed it on to another family and my oral surgeon). Then on that Thursday I had my wisdom teeth removed. Friday Isaac had the cold and by Saturday so did Zech. As horrible as it was to all have colds at the same time, it was an amazing weekend. We literally did nothing. I held ice to my face most of the time, Zech took care of Isaac and we all watched a total of 11 movies over the course of that weekend. 

Other than that, we are all good on this side of things. Day after day we are reminded of how much God loves us and how He provides for us. I will never tire of that feeling.

Now to leave some pictures. I'm so bad at putting them on my computer, so they just get scrambled on here in no apparent order.

My Babywearing Adventure - So Far

If you have not heard of babywearing before, you should go research it, especially if you have young kids or will have kids eventually. One day (hopefully soon) I'll post some links to my favorite informative sites and the ones that are the best for safety and correct information. For now, just go browse thebabywearer.com or www.becomingmamas.com or http://momawraps.blogspot.com/.

I started looking into BWing (shortened because I'm THAT lazy *wink*) back in February. I knew a little bit about it before then, but at that time I really dived into it.

Now before I start on my BWing adventure, let me tell you a little about how I decided to go this route.

Lots of prayer.

If you have kids you know how it "goes". There is so much judgment everywhere you turn. A million different: ways to raise your kids, ways to discipline your kids, methods to follow, "rules" you have to abide by, and most of all: opinions. And when you have a kid in hand, apparently it gives you a neon flashing sign that says "Tell me what you think I'm doing wrong, and how to do it right" over head.

So I wanted to go into this parenting gig with at least one thing: Confidence. My one goal for my kids and how I raise them is for them to see Christ in all that I am. I blogged a little bit about this back in February here. As long as Zech and I have prayed about how we want to raise our kids and by what methods we do so, I can live with all the advice people will give us. Disclaimer: I will take what people say and pray about it, I don't want it to sound like I will be completely closed minded.

Ok so, onto how it's going for me.

Rough.

All the YouTube videos online make it look so completely easy. It's not really that easy. It has a huge learning curve and takes a lot of practice to understand and be able to do well. I have most certainly not gotten to the "do well" part. I'm understanding more and more each time I wrap and I'm steadily learning more about the art of wrapping.

What I've Tried:

Moby Wrap

Right now, this is my favorite for shopping. Its nice since he's so little right now. Since it's stretchy, its perfect for newborns. Something I need to keep in mind, but forget: I should put it on before leaving the house, then put him in once we get to the destination. The wrap is very long and very hard to not let it touch the gross parking lot ground.

Ring Sling - Maya Wrap Ring Sling - Medium

I bought a Maya Ring Sling brand new. First mistake. Working with a new wrap is hard. Getting it to thread and to have the fabric spread across the rings evenly: hard. Getting the fabric to not fold ontop of itself in the rings when you tighten: nearly impossible. Getting it to tighten: extremely hard for someone who doesn't know what they are doing and for a new wrap (the fabric doesn't move easily at all). Getting newborn to like fabric: definitely impossible.

Here's a picture of my frustrated self, with equally frustrated baby:

Since then, I've washed the wrap once, I've wrapped Isaac from anywhere from 2-30 minutes at a time. The times he stayed in for more than 2 minutes, he was fast asleep ;) It's getting easier to work with the more we wrap, so I'm just staying with it and keep trying! I initially bought this wrap to be my "going to church" wrap. It's quicker to get him in and out of a sling then a wrap, and much easier to navigate then a stroller. Below is my first successful attempt at doing legs out. He is a leg-straightener, so if he's awake it's nearly impossible to keep him happy. Right now he's not strong enough to pop the seat (the bottom rail goes under his butt and his knees need to be higher than his butt (that's the "seat"), popping the seat means to basically get out of the seat) so if he can't straighten his legs, screaming commences.

Chicco Soft Structure Carrier

I feel like I know the least about this carrier, so I am not recommending it to anyone just yet. Isaac likes this one the bet so far. I think its because his legs are the most free, or because its the least restrictive. One thing I do want to say: be careful of the butt on these types of carriers. The have a similar "rule": the knees should be higher than the butt. so I folded a towel for this one and put in in the seat. This carrier will most likely be Zech's, since its probably the only one I'll be able to get him to wear ;) The one thing I don/t like about this carrier: its so much different from the wraps I've tried. Wraps are tight this is so incredibly loose. It scares me, but once I do some more research I'm sure I'll like it a lot more.

Last: I tried to play around with a DIY "Rebozo". Again, not much research has been done, so "don't try this at home" just because I did. I had some jersey fabric and tried this carry out, its tied with a slip knot, which I had such a hard time adjusting to make it tight and safe, probably because it was a stretchy fabric rather than woven.

It's going to take awhile to "get" wrapping and know all the "rules" but I'm very excited about the journey ;)

An Update on Life

Well, our lives changed almost 1 month ago, already.

Its true what they say about time moving fast.

Having a baby is pretty much the coolest thing in the world. We have an amazing baby. Everyone always said to us: Get your sleep while you can, you wont get any when you have the baby! And other such "negative" comments. Truthfully, it hasn't been that bad. I think it's been much better than both Zech and I anticipated for two reasons. One, we expected it to be pretty much Hell with the way people were "encouraging" us. Even in a laughing matter, whatever was said usually had a negative connotation to it. Two, we have an amazing baby. He really doesn't fuss unless something is wrong. So when he's crying nonstop, I'm not at the "I'm going to rip my hair out" stage, I'm at the "this poor baby, what can I do to make him feel better" stage.

He's just now beginning to change a little to where he's crying because he prefers to be held a certain way rather than another or because I set him down. So it can only go downhill from here =D

2 weeks ago my dad was able to fly out to spend 5 days with us. And boy was it amazing. I miss him dearly and it was such a joy to see him and for me to see him see his grandson =D

Photo Dump - 2 Weeks

Here's a photo dump of the last 2 weeks with Isaac.

My dad was able to come out and visit last week. It was so wonderful having him here and him being able to see Isaac. I miss him already and hope we can make a trip sooner than later.

Every time he takes a nap (Zech) this is his preferred buddy. Its so precious.

Handsome indeed!

He was having a wonderful hair day!

First time wrapping him in a Moby. It was successful.

First attemp at wrapping in a sling. It was not successful. The look on my face is all frustration.

Trenton and Melissa came by and visited! It was so great seeing them! 

During the fireworks. This kid can sleep through anything.

Introducing Isaac James

I'm finally finding some time where I am willing to put my baby down to type out the official birth story. One cannot have a baby and then NOT share thee birth story! I'm going to make it as detailed as I can, for myself. I probably wont remember all the details as the years go by and would like to reference back to it every now and then, so if you don't want all the details, just know: I had a baby boy, June 21, 2013 =D

Thursday night I did not get ANY sleep. It wasn't the normal "I'm tired, but can't fall asleep" it was "Wow, I'm not at all tired right now".

Friday was my 41 week appointment. I was scheduled to have a NST and an appointment with the midwife to get a progress report and schedule an induction for the middle of the next week. During this entire pregnancy, I wasn't scared or intimated or anything by labor. The only thing I didn't want was to be induced. I was bummed that it was looking to have to be that way. So after walking a bunch, bouncing on a labor ball for 4 days rather than sitting in an office chair, and another way to induce labor (I wont get TOO personal here haha), I finally said: Ok, Lord. If inducing is the way to go, help me be ok with it and enjoy the rest of my pregnancy. This was why I couldn't sleep Thursday, thinking, not labor.

Well at 4:47am I woke up (after only 2 hours of sleep) to go to the bathroom. I went, then when I was done, I went more. I was surprised because its been months since my bladder was able to hold that much liquid! The thought crossed my mind that it could have been my water, but definitely didn't want to get my hopes up, so to bed I went. In the course of about 35 minutes, I had 2 or 3 contractions. I was then getting excited! I woke Zech up at 5:30 (when our alarm goes off) and told him I was having some contractions. He asked if he should go to work. I really didn't know, and that's what I told him. So we got up and got ready for the day. In the course of an hour, I was still having a few contractions and I went to the bathroom like 5 times. I finally put a pad on so I wouldn't have to rush to the bathroom every time. I finally convinced myself that my water probably broke. So I told Zech and he simply said "I'm staying home" with a glimmer of excitement in his eyes =D

We decided we'd take a walk to Jake's (a 15 minute walk at a normal persons pace). We made it down the street and I decided it was impossible. So we walked back home and drove to Jakes. I got a bagel and a tea (which I think I sipped once). Once we got home I called Labor and Delivery and explained that I thought my water broke, they told me "We'll see you in a few minutes!". So that was it: we were headed to the hospital!

We drove by Angel's to drop off the exercise ball (birthing ball, whatever you prefer to call it) because it needed to be aired up some more. We told her we'd call her once they admitted us and we had a room, since we had no idea how long that would take. I secretly thought that they'd tell me to go home, even though I knew that there was no possible way they could.

So we made our way to the hospital and checked in at 9:45am. They confirmed my water was definitely broken (breaking?.... broked...) and that I was at 4.5cm dialated. They told me to walk around until the nurse came and got me. I guess they had to clean the room that I'd be staying in. That was at about 11:00am. I walked for what seemed like forever. Ever since they checked me, my contractions were WAY worse than what they had been. Now I could barely walk and had to lean over to bear through them. After about 45 minutes of walking I was starting to feel nauseous. I thought it was because I was dehydrated (believe it or not, the hospital did not even have a water fountain in the labor and delivery area. Unbelievable!). We finally made our way up to the front desk to check and see if the room was ready. No way could it take an hour to clean out a room (right?). Well the nurse said, "Yeah, its been ready! We've been waiting on you." Great. I've been walking and dying of thirst for an hour because there was a break down in communication.

So Zech text Angel giving her the clear to come down and (I believe) texted the family telling them we were at the hospital and we'd let them know when baby was here and when we were ready for visitors.

We got our room just in time too. The contractions were making me more nauseous and within a few minutes of getting to our room I had to throw up twice. (my poor bagel). After that, the nurse came in and hooked me up to the wireless monitors. Which sucked, only because they were VERY itchy. I'd forget that they put this gel all over them, itch my stomach and then have gel all over my hand! When you are in labor and vomiting, the last thing you want is to feel sticky and gross haha.

I toughed through the contractions until about 2pm. Prior to this, I had not taken any birthing classes or anything, so I wasn't doing any "Lamaze" or "Bradly" or any method to help. I had done a lot of research and looked up some techniques just in case, but ultimately I was not prepared. I did read somewhere that however you deal with pain now, will most likely be how you will cope with labor (to a degree). I had Angel there as my Labor Coach and Zech there as... well...my husband and support. I kind of felt bad because I didn't "use" them until it came down to pushing. It was as if I just had them there to "run errands" (Hand me water, get me a new "doggie bag", etc). Which I guess is why they were there as well, not just to do what the books say...

I didn't need massages, I didn't need anyone breathing with me or reminding me to breath. I just needed to focus for myself and go through it. And that worked for me and made it all bearable.

The nurse had previously gone over some options for some medications that would ease the nauseousness and vomitting (or rather, dry heaving. A bagel doesn't necessarily fill the stomach much). She gave me some of that at about 2pm, then at about 2:30 they gave me some other medication to ease the pain of the contractions (I was hoping it would help the nauseousness go down as well). Well it did not work lol. I wasn't nauseous for about 30 minutes, but the second medication they gave me made me nauseous. So I decided I would go ahead and get the epidural. I had gone into this with the mindset that I'd like to avoid the epidural if I could, but also that I knew I had no idea what labor was like, so would try to put getting the epidural off as long as I could but wouldn't beat myself up over it if I ended up getting one. I think I would have been able to go a few more hours without it if I wasn't dry heaving during each contraction (which were about 2 minutes apart from the time I got into the room until the pushing stage). Drying heaving during contractions are no joke, they suck, epic-ly, and if you know me well you know how much I loath anything including throwing up.

The midwife came in to check my progress (6cms) and had the anesthesiologist come in to start the process. Luckily I only got contractions while he was taping my back or prepping his stuff, not when he was actually putting a needle in me! The epidural didn't work right away. It took about 25 minutes for it to work on my right side. It didn't work at all on my left side. So they propped me up so that I was leaning on my left side (to let the medicine "fall" that way). That didn't work either so they gave me another medication (I should have written down the names of these meds lol). That worked for my left side. I was able to take a good nap (I think it was about 2 hours of sleeping).

When I woke up I was feeling the pain of each contraction again, but just on my left side. I was wondering if the meds were wearing off. Turns out they weren't wearing off because it was hooked up to the epidural drip, meaning I was getting a constant drip of meds.

The nurse suggested at about 5:30 to have the midwife check my progress and then they'll decide what to do with the meds from there. She asked if I was feeling any pressure at all, and I wasn't, only the pain I was feeling before the meds worked. Angel asked if I would feel pressure because of the epidural, the nurse assured her I would. So I was in no hurry to get checked again (I was very quick to shake my head no when they mentioned it). We had agreed that I'd be checked at 6pm. Well at 5:35 the midwife came in and said she was going to check me. I wanted to cry (getting checked is not very pleasant!). Luckily, she didn't have to completely check me. She could see his head so she said that we'd start pushing shortly. Yay!

I wont go into to much detail  here, but I do want to say a few things about the experience. 1. I couldn't feel anything, so it was great. 2. Angel did such a great job as "labor coach". She would count during the contractions, it was amazing because it gave me a beginning and and end, instead of "push as long as you can". 3. Zech was amazing. He completely amazed me. He wasn't grossed out (well he didn't show it if he was), he was excited. Thrilled. Ecstatic. You could see it all over his face and in his eyes. He was so excited and that pumped me up. He was so encouraging and I am so happy and am very blessed that God gave me him as a husband, to be by my side throughout life. So about 45 minutes worth of pushing and we had a baby boy!

Isaac James
Born at 6:27pm
19.5 inches long
6lbs 13oz.

(you may have already seen these pictures, but I wanted to add captions and all of them in one spot).

He cried for the duration of this picture, and then was just wide eyed and looking around the rest of the time.

My favorite picture. If only it wasn't a tad bit blurry! See Zech's face? Precious

Part of his first bath. So tiny =D

As Sam said: "He's even cute when he's crying!!" This was that night, he was hungry.

This is day 2. Waiting for them to let us go home. This was my view from the bed. My lil baby, and my man, both sleeping.

I told him to look excited, so no this is not his "real" excited face. This is his exaggerated excited face lol

Isaac getting weighed. 

I tried to photo bomb this picture. I could only lift myself so high, so just imagine me making a funny face here.