Caylee Joy is here!

Well, I just wrote this entire post over the last few days and then it got erased.  Last thing I need right now!  So here we go again...

Monday started out just like any other morning.  I felt sick, as usual, as I got ready for work.  For some reason, I had an urge to take naked belly pics because I didn't have any.  I felt HUGE, but of course, I don't really think I look that big when I look at these now.

At a little after 8 am, I was at work when I got a call from the OB about my test results.  She suggested I stop by the hospital to get monitored for a short time and it wasn't a big hurry.  I finished up some things at work assuming I'd probably be back later or the next day.  My mom picked me up and we arrived at the hospital at 11:00.  I didn't feel very good, but it was pretty normal at that point, so I didn't really think much of it. 
My appetite pretty much went to nothing over the weekend, but I made myself have some snacks while I waited in the hospital.  They monitored my blood pressure and repeated the urine and blood tests while I rested in bed.  The more I laid there, the more tired I got, but it was also kind of nice just to rest.  The tests took an unusually long time to come back, but the nurses and doctors all seemed to hint that we would be able to leave when they got the results back.

At about 3:30, the midwife and nurse came in and sat down.  "So, you're having a baby today!"  Um, what? They felt that the pre-eclampsia was bad enough that they needed to induce right away at 38 weeks.  I was officially admitted at that point and started to get pretty nervous.  They hooked me up to an IV and started magnesium sulfate to help with the pre-e.  Unfortunately, the side effects made me very sick and weak.

I called Daddy right away so he could pick up Connor, pack our bags, and get to the hospital.  With cell phones not working in our room, it was quite an ordeal, but he finally arrived around 7. I think we took this photo right after he came in as I felt better having him by my side.  They started the pitocin at about 6:30, but there wasn't much progress at all.

As the hours went by, nothing was happening.  They checked dilation a couple times and there was no progress at all.  I was feeling pretty horrible from the meds and I started to get really nervous that they might have to do a c-section.  Throughout the night, I think I threw up about 4 times and I could hardly move at that point.  My headaches were getting worse which was another sign of the pre-e getting worse.

At some point during the night, I pulled out my new Mama bracelet for some inspiration.  Any chance of having the baby that night was gone, so it was definitely going to be Tuesday.  The night went by so slowly and I hardly slept at all.  I dozed off a few times, but the nurses were checking me at least once an hour, so I wasn't able to rest very much.  I remember waking up right around 5:10 am and saying, "Time to wake up for work!" when my alarm would normally go off.  But no, I was in the hospital about ready to have a baby! 

Around that time is when things started to get crazy.  The monitor with the epidural started to ring and I called the nurse a couple times to tell them.  It was making my headache worse and the noise wouldn't stop.  The contractions also started to get really painful and I knew something felt wrong.  I had been through this once before and I knew I was feeling way too much pain.  There was some kind of miscommunication with the nurses and no one came to help me for about 30 minutes.  By that time, the epidural felt like it had worn off and I was crying and screaming in pain.  Once they fixed everything, I started to feel a little better, but I also started to feel pressure of the baby. 

Things finally started to progress quickly and it wasn't long before all the doctors and nurses came in to set up for the birth.  I pushed for about 30 minutes and there really wasn't too much pain at all.  I felt pressure, but luckily, I couldn't feel the pushing or anything.  At 11:15 am, Caylee arrived!  She was 7 lbs, 1 oz. and 20 inches long.


She didn't cry right away and I started to get really scared.  I kept asking if she was okay and everyone assured me that she was healthy, but might have been a little drowsy from all the meds I was on.  I urged Daddy to take lots of photos as they cleaned her off and got her ready to hold.


She's here!

The newest member of our family :)

I took some close-ups once I got to hold her for a few minutes.

Perfect in every way!

Proud Daddy with his new sweetheart

I nursed her a little after she was born and she did pretty well. 

We rested in labor & delivery for a couple hours while they monitored my blood pressure and then moved us upstairs to the high risk post-partum area.  Fortunately, Caylee was perfect and healthy, but they were still monitoring me and kept me on all the meds for my high BP.  I look gross and tired here, but oh well, it's better than no photo at all.

At one point, she opened her eyes for a couple minutes so we could finally see her eyes.  They're a very dark blue/gray, so they're a little darker than big brother Connor's eyes.

And here you can see how swelled up I got from the IV and drugs.  Proud mama, but I felt pretty gross and sick at this point.

Daddy in his special chair hanging out with Caylee and watching some tv.

She surprised us by being an awesome sleeper like her big brother!

I was still getting monitored every hour by the nurses on Wednesday and into Thursday, so we hardly got any sleep.  I had a very hard time moving around from hip pain and nausea from the magnesium, so I was in a lot of pain.  Our hospital "vacation" wasn't nearly as restful as we expected, but at least we had a healthy baby.

We didn't think they were going to let me go home on Thursday because my blood pressure was so high, but I think we were both ready to go home.  I wanted to sleep in my own bed and get settled to our new life with 2 little ones.  On Thursday morning, Caylee and I both got permission to go home and we packed up all our stuff.  Little sweetie dirtied her diaper a few too many times, so we got delayed, but we eventually got dressed and headed out. 

Her headband and clothes were huge on her, but we tried! :)

As a surprise, we picked up Connor on our way home from the hospital.  I missed him so much and wanted him to see me without any machines or doctors around.  When we walked in with Caylee, he was so proud!  "Look at my baby!"  It was the best feeling to see how he wanted to show her off to all his teachers and friends.  As we all got back into the car to go home, I looked into the backseat and realized it was full now.  Our family is complete and my heart is full.

Connor's Day 2

Amazement

His first night, I was exhausted, but the adrenaline and excitement was keeping me going. I tried to rest while he slept, but I was also in so much pain. My swelling got to be extremely painful and I had a hard time even laying in bed. Just getting out of bed to waddle to the bathroom was horrible and I needed 2 people to help me. I couldn't even look down as I sat on the toilet because it scared me too much. The first two times I got up, I was shaking and very nauseous so the nurses had to help me from falling over. Between the pain, the thought of what things looked like, and the exhaustion, it was too much for me to handle. But the nurses were great about pumping up the pain meds and giving me ice diapers every few hours.

Connor woke up 2 or 3 times during his first night and I was able to nurse until he went back to sleep. Amazingly, I was also able to get some sleep between feedings and woke up feeling energized.

In the morning, Hubby helped me take a shower and I was shocked that I was able to do it! While I got dressed, I started to be able to move around a little better, but I was still in a lot of pain. It felt awesome to be clean, dry my hair, put on some makeup, and get back to feeling more normal.

Daddy & Connor while Mommy got dressed

During the day, I nursed when he was hungry and loved just staring at his little face and watching his emotions change every few seconds. The more I stared, the more amazed I was. His extremely long & skinny fingers are JUST like mine! Even the nurses were shocked by how cold his toes were when the rest of his body was warm...just like his Mommy! And I started to notice that his nose and eyes looked very similar to mine as well. I never imagined having another person (besides my sister) that looked like me. It's just the most wonderful feeling!

Connor with his first gift after birth from Aunt Julie & his grandparents

Our nurses were absolutely amazing and came in to check on me all day and night. The ice diapers became my BFF along with Motrin & Norco meds. I was in so much pain at first and even the nurses commented on how awful it looked. I was too scared to look, but I could tell it was pretty bad just from having to move around and get help just to get out of bed and into the bathroom. Every dose of medicine helped a little more and I started to feel better.

Our celebration dinner

By the second night, reality was starting to set in and I realized I'm finally a mommy!

Introducing Connor Bradley!

It's been a few days since his birth and I finally got a few minutes to write everything down! Monday during the day I felt pretty normal and not much was going on. I had a hard time being at work because I was so tired, but I hardly had any contractions. I worked late to get some things finished up and then got a few contractions while driving home. Just for giggles, I started timing them, but I figured it was pointless. It was a waste of time, but I felt like doing it just to keep myself distracted. They were maybe 7-10 minutes apart, but not painful at all. I thought it was really strange that I started to get a migraine when I haven't had one in 6 months. I usually get hormonal migraines so I wondered if it meant labor was coming because of a hormone change...or maybe it was just stress from work b/c it was a crazy day.

Once I got home, the painless contractions (Braxton-Hicks) got slower and about 10-15 minutes apart. I kept recording, but didn't really think much of it. After dinner, Hubby spontaneously decided to make peanut butter cookies to munch on while we watched tv in bed.
The B-H stopped, but my migraine was raging so I went to bed. At around 10:30, I woke up to pee and noticed more mucus plug in the toilet. I went back to sleep and then saw even more around 11:30. I was having a hard time sleeping because I kept feeling something wet and had to keep getting up to check if it was mucus plug or my water breaking.

At 12:07, I had a really strong contraction and Hubby started to record their times while we laid in bed. They got painful really fast with tightening in my belly and feeling pain in my right thigh, butt, and hips. We recorded them at about 5 minutes apart while we hung out in bed for about an hour. We started questioning calling the doctor, but we decided to wait a little longer in case things slowed down like they did last Friday. I had a few minor contractions that made me question what was going on, but we figured we'd call the doctor. I talked to the doctor on call and she said to come in, but to try to walk around first to speed things up. I was pacing in the bedroom while Hubby took a shower and finished packing the necessities in our bag. Walking felt great and I started to wonder whether things were progressing enough to go. But since we were already ready to go, we figured we'd go anyway. On our way out the door, Kitty had a little explosion on the laundry room floor (with blood)...good timing, Kitty!

On the drive to the hospital, the contractions started to pick up and I had a hard time with the pain while driving on bumpy roads. As we drove, I started to realize this was really happening! I almost felt numb and didn't really know what emotions I was going through or how I felt about it. I wasn't scared yet, but I wasn't super excited either. I think I was still in shock and getting used to the reality of what was going on. When we got to the hospital at 3:30 am, the contractions got more and more painful. We ended up in a recovery room because all the labor & delivery rooms were full. Of course, on the tour, someone asked if that ever happened and the woman said, "Never!" The recovery room was just a bed with a curtain around it and very small, but luckily, we were the only ones in there. I was hoping someone would have a baby soon so we could get a real room and spread out.

The contractions started getting really strong when I got into bed and I started to cry from the pain. When my teeth started chattering and my legs were shaking uncontrollably, I got really freaked out. The pain was unbearable, but the shaking was so scary and it was using up all my energy. As much as I researched every aspect of pregnancy and labor, I never remembered reading that much about this, so it scared me! I only went pyscho on Hubby once and it was right then. I was getting frustrated that he wasn't comforting me enough, but we were fine a few minutes later. We waited for the doctor to come in and it took awhile because of all the patients that night. She asked some questions and then did an internal check and my water broke! The force of her doing the exam broke my water and I was 4 cm dilated! As soon as she said I was in active labor and my water was broken, I knew it was happening. She said, "You're leaving here with a baby!"
Contractions kept getting worse as time went on. They finally moved us to a real labor & delivery room where I got to rest in a more comfortable bed. I started to beg Hubby for the epidural ASAP when I remembered his friend telling me she had asked for one and then the hospital was too busy to give it to her and she never got it! After hearing that story, I was like, "Hell no, I am NOT going through what she did. I need it now!" While we waited for the epi, contractions got down to about 3 or 4 minutes apart and the shaking got even worse. I was getting nauseous and ended up throwing up my peanut butter cookies and dinner in the basin. (labor peanut butter cookies, perhaps?) Around 6:30-7 am, I got the epidural which was a lot less painful than I thought. People always talked about how it was the most horrible pain during the injection, but it was SO much less pain than the contractions.

Once the epi started to go through my body, it felt amazing! The tingly feeling started in my toes and moved its way up my legs, butt and hips. I was so happy to have some time to relax my body and catch my breath. The only downside was that I had a very itchy reaction to the meds. My whole body itched horribly and I got red scratches ALL over (even hours after it wore off). While we waited for things to progress, my mom came and we all rested in the room in the dark for a couple hours. I was way too crazy and my mind was racing so I couldn't sleep. At a little before 11:00, my doctor came in and said I'd probably start trying to push soon! My mom left so we could have a few minutes alone before our lives changed forever!

I didn't really know what to expect or how it would go so she explained everything ahead of time about what I would need to do. I loved that she went through everything so I would know what to expect and how to do it. By that time, the epidural completely took over and I couldn't feel a thing. At about 11:00, the nurse and the doctor got my bed set up and set up the stirrups for my feet. On my first try, I had no idea if I was even pushing because I felt nothing down there. I kept asking if I was actually doing anything and they said I was!

During the first few contractions, the doctor was watching the baby's heart rate that stayed around 120. But it started to go down to 80-90 and I started seeing her whisper to the nurse a little. There were a few nurses and doctors that would come in and out of the room and I lost track of who everyone was. But then all of a sudden, the doctor said the baby's heart rate was getting too low and they called in the neo-natal group to hurry in. There were people everywhere and I felt like the room was going to explode. Everyone was talking, running around, and medical terms were being thrown around the room. I was given an oxygen mask and was told to wear it to help give the baby more oxygen.

My doctor explained what was going on with the heart rate and gave us the possible scenarios of what would happen next. They would try to use the vacuum or forceps to try to get him out faster and into the neo-natal care unit or even consider a c-section. She asked what we would prefer and I decided to try to keep going and avoid the c-section if possible. As the neo-natal team got their things ready in the corner, I kept having contractions and pushing. She used the vaccuum once, but it ended up slipping off his head with a loud popping sound. Finally, his rate started to go up and the team left. That was the best feeling! I was so happy that he was going to be fine and we could continue to deliver "normally." They had to keep watching his heart rate while I pushed and it would go down and get a little scary, but it always went back up. The one thing that shocked me was that the pushing didn't hurt as much as I thought!

Once he started to get farther out, it DID start hurting more. Hubby sneaked a peek down there and said he could see the head and that really got me excited to finish up. The doctor and nurses were wonderful with encouraging me to keep pushing and doing my best. When they said I was really close (and I could feel the pressure of him coming out) I was begging to push even while we waited for the next contraction. I knew how close we were and I was dying to see him! When he finally came out, he wimpered a little but not a big cry like you always see on tv. I really thought I would be crying, but I think it still felt so surreal that I didn't know how to react!

One of the nurses took him to the side to get him cleaned off and Hubby took some photos. I rested in bed while the doctor delivered the placenta and stitched me up. I had a second degree tear and some swelling, but I couldn't feel a thing! Connor got weighed (6 lbs, 10 oz.) and he had his footprints done. They brought him right over to me to hold on my chest and it was such an amazing thing. I think I was still numb from all the emotions and action but it was just so cool to look at him and realize that we made him ourselves!



Our little smarty was already opening his mouth to nurse and he latched right on! I don't know if he actually got any colostrum, but he had an awesome latch and seemed very content. The nurses kept saying how great that was and I was pretty shocked that it was so easy! When we finished, Connor's little fan club came in to see him (both sets of grandparents & Aunt Julie). They all took turns holding him while I rested and took some photos.

Connor with his eye medication

Grandma

Grandma

Aunt Julie

Grandpa

Grandpa

Finally, it all started to hit me and I realized how tired I was. We'd been awake for almost 48 hours and my eyes were closing. All the people in and out were starting to be too much for me to handle. Our wonderful labor & delivery nurse Sandra moved us upstairs and took Connor to the nursery.

I finally got to get some rest in the recovery room while Hubby went to get food and Connor got his first bath and his medical exam.


It took some begging, but we finally found out his length (19.75 inches) and I took a few minutes to send some emails and update everyone on Facebook. Finally, I couldn't stand it anymore and I kicked everyone out of the room so we could rest. The silence and peaceful feeling was glorious and I took some time to reflect on the day that changed my life forever.