A couple of friends of ours are about to welcome their first little one into the world today. This gave me the motivation to continue Caden's Birth Story. Enjoy!
We arrived at the hospital at about 2:30am. We checked into triage where I got to change into my lovely hospital gown. Before I could get my own room, they had to make sure that I was actually in labor. In this area of the hospital they have several beds separated by curtains. The nurse put me in a bed that was right next to another lady in labor. This lady was very obviously in a lot of pain. Every time she had a contraction (and maybe sometimes when she wasn't having a contraction) she would moan VERY loudly. I was having pretty painful contractions still, but they were not painful enough to make me vocalize my pain. I started to get a little freaked out. All I could think was maybe I'm not really in labor or that I just wasn't as far into labor as she was and that the pain was going to get a lot worse.
The nurse got me hooked up to the fetal monitor and the uterine contraction monitor. Hearing Caden's heartbeat made my anxiety go way down. It was now time for the nurse to check me. I was already dilated to 6cm and 70% effaced! I could not have been more relieved (especially after hearing that the lady next to me was only at 4cm). I knew that I was going to finally get to meet Caden!
We stayed in triage for a while longer so that a doctor could come talk to us. Meanwhile the lady next door just kept on moaning. I was sad for her, but she gave Blake and I a little bit of comic relief. We moved to our labor and delivery room at about 4am and got settled in. We decided that it was time to call our families and let them know that Caden was coming.
At about 4:30am the nurse came to our room to check me again. I was at 8cm and 90% effaced! The contractions were coming very fast and very hard. I had to keep telling myself that with each contraction, my body was preparing for the arrival of my sweet baby. I would not have been able to get through this part of my labor without Blake and my battery operated fan. Blake was wonderful. He fed me ice chips and helped me remember to breath. But oh that fan! That awesome fan!
I was able to sit it right in front of my face. It kept air blowing on me through each contraction. I'm not sure why but it made each contraction a lot more comfortable to get through.
My mom and sisters got to the hospital at about 4:45. I was worried about not having our camera or video camera in the room so my sweet sisters went to our car to get them for us. They ended up bringing all of our stuff to our room. The nurse came back to check me again a few minutes before 5. I was between a 9 and a 10 and 100% effaced.
I was starting to feel the urge to push (a very strange feeling that I can't really explain). The nurse told me to go ahead and try to push. I pushed for about 20 minutes before I REALLY started to feel the urge to push. It felt so good to push at this point. I can't quite explain this either. It felt like I was pushing the pain of each contraction out of my body. After about 30 minutes of pushing and not making very much progress, we started to try different methods of pushing until we found the most effective method.
The doctor came in at about 5:50. I will save the rest of Caden's Birth Story for Part 3!
(Completely random, yet completely adorable picture of our little man)
(Caden trying a pickle. He made funny faces, but he wanted more)
(Caden with his great uncle Scott)
(Caden with the girls)
(Another random picture of Cado)
Caden dressed up as Rex from Toy Story for Halloween. Is he not the cutest little dinosaur you have ever seen? We went to our church's Halloween carnival last night. There wasn't much Caden could do, but he enjoyed all of the attention.
He put up with the costume a lot better than I expected, but he did get sick of the headpiece after awhile.
On Friday, Blake and I went to a Murder Mystery Party with some of our friends. It was a masquerade theme. I played a seasoned astronaut and Blake was the owner of a dry cleaners. We had so much fun and luckily I wasn't the one to die this year!
Caden started smiling at us about a week ago. I was finally able to get a decent picture of one this morning. :)
My Aunt Lana and her family are in the process of moving from Atlanta to New York. They stayed in Arkansas with my mom for a little over a week on their way. While they were here she, my mom, and Blake's mom threw me a baby shower. The decorations and the food were awesome! It was so much fun and we got a lot of great stuff! Blake and I went shopping yesterday and were able to buy almost everything else that we need with gift cards. We are so grateful to all of our friends and family for supporting us and helping us out with Caden! Thank you Mom, Joni, and Lana for an amazing shower!
These are the amazing curtains that Blake's mom made for us! You can also see part of the super-soft rug that she found at the bottom of the picture. Thank you Joni!
This is the awesome window seat cushion my mom made for us. Thanks mom! This baby has some talented grandmas!
I finished another one of my projects a few weeks ago. It's the crib skirt that you can see through the slats on the crib. My mom found us the cute pillow in the glider and Blake's mom found us the pictures over the crib.
Here is a closer look at those pictures! There are still several things that I want to do before Caden gets here. I will try to remember to post them as I finish each project.
This is the dresser that we are also using as a changing table.
The super comfortable glider that Blake's parents got us. Thanks Jim and Joni!
And this is the beautiful crib that my dad and step-mom got us! Thanks Dad and Jennifer!
I just finished my second project for the baby's room! It is a changing pad that we will put on top of the dresser (if it ever gets here). This project was pretty challenging, but I'm happy with the outcome. I really didn't want one of the store-bought changing pads that everyone else had. I found the directions for this one in a book that Blake got me for my birthday and I loved it! The three side bolsters as well as the orange pad in the middle are removable. This makes washing everything extremely easy. It also has a neat pocket to store diapers, ointment, wipes, etc.
This morning Blake and I took Toby and Mayzie to the Bark for the Cure. Blake was a little unsure about going because of the weather, but I was stubborn and insisted on going. It was really fun even though it sprinkled a little. We were able to show our support for Susan G. Komen and show off our fur children all in one morning! Plus, we got a lot of free goodies for the pups.
I cannot even begin to express how incredibly blessed I feel right now! Sabrina, my best friend, threw a baby shower for me on Saturday. We received so many great gifts and tons of stuff that we will need when the baby gets here. Blake and I have an incredible group of friends that have supported us and been excited for us since we found out we were having a baby. Thank you so much for making this day so special! I can't wait for Caden to meet you all!
