A handful of deliciousness

For the first few days of his life, I would just cry

whenever I looked at him. I can finally control the tears...

but I can't stop the smile.

Thanks for the wonderful pictures, Michelle.

Kayden’s birth story

Friday, April 30, 2010

· 9:00 AM. Appointment with Dr. Grover. She said she had discussed our case with a perinatologist and changed her mind about waiting until Sunday or Monday to induce. She said there is always discussion about the risks of inducing with an unfavorable cervix (she previously had told us that the risk of c-section for inducing with an unfavorable cervix was 50%). She suggested we start with induction this morning. We quickly consented!

· 10:30 AM. We met our first L/D nurse Christy. She was perfect for our first eight hours. She was upbeat and helped us feel comfortable right away. Rachel had ¼ of a Cytotek (prostaglandin pill) that placed directly on her cervix to soften it and start labor. She got three more doses every four hours until Rachel only had cramps for the rest of the day.

· 3:00 PM. Jenny arrived and spent a few hours with us. It has been really relaxing so far. Rachel has had minimal discomfort. We have mainly talked and relaxed. Marlon came a few hours later with some food. They stayed and played cards with Rachel until 9ish. Things have been more relaxing, yet surreal, than I expected. My parents skyped in from Mexico (they are there for a dental convention with Mercer.) It was wonderful to see them and talk. Rach and I think we could be the most technologically involved couple on the floor with the laptop, webcam, cameras, and speakers. It was funny to hear my dad say, “we are headed to dinner. If anything changes just text me and we’ll come up and skype you.” I teased him and said I never imagined that I would hear my dad so those two things in the same sentence.

· 11:00 PM. Rachel still hasn’t dilated beyond a 1. Her cervix has softened a little bit more. Dr. Grover placed a balloon inside the cervix to put pressure on it and make it dilate more. We were planning on settling in and sleeping for the rest of the night. That didn’t happen! As soon as the balloon was placed, Rachel started to shake. Not like a seizure, but more like really bad shivers. It took us both by surprise. I knew that I could help her relax (I had done this same thing lots of times since we got married and she became really anxious). I climbed up into the bed with her, and helped her breath slow and deep. Quickly the shivers went away. We were happy that we could work together and get us both relaxed and ready for an adventurous night.

May 1, 2010

· 12:00 AM. The contractions finally picked up speed and intensity. From 12 – 7:30 we worked together to relax and move along with the labor. The first few hours were very challenging. I stayed up in bed with her and helped her relax. She was brave and diligent, even though she sometimes thought about how long the road still was. I was so proud of her! After a few hours she walked around. This was surprisingly helpful because the contractions weren’t as painful. When she climbed back we decided to try something we learned in a Lamaze class called counter-pressure. What I did was push below her knee cap and just lateral to her ischium, bringing my hands together. It was amazing the difference this made. Sometimes there was little pain and other times it took the edge off. We did this until 7 AM; at least I tried to keep doing it. I became so tired that I would fall asleep with Rachel between contractions. Sometimes I would wake up to compress again, and other times I didn’t. She was so sweet and patient with me the whole time. This was another thing for which I was so proud of her. She was kind and considerate to me and the staff the entire time, even though her pain levels were at times extreme.

· 7:30 AM. Rach decided to get an epidural. She had wanted to experience unmedicated labor and had hoped to do the whole thing without drugs. But because the labor had already gone on for so many hours, she was exhausted and worried about having strength to go through transition labor and push. As we prepared to go unmedicated one of Rachel’s biggest concern was not feeling like a failure if she opted for an epidural. But she didn’t feel like a failure and enjoyed the rest of the morning.

· 12:00 PM. Things moved along quickly after the epidural. She was no longer in pain, but was also totally aware of everything which was awesome. Jenny came again this morning and stayed the rest of the time. Between her epidural and pushing Rachel progressed from a dilation of 4cm to 9cm in only three hours. Then in less than an hour was complete. She waited for an hour and a half to let contractions do work in pushing the baby.

 

Time of birth: 4:14 pm

Weight: 8 lbs. (exactly!)

Length: 20 inches