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Month: April 2012

Two Months

Now that I finally got the birth story written out, I can go on and whine about how my sweet little baby is already two months old. Time is cruel. It just keeps speeding up faster and faster. I really don’t know how two entire months could have passed by so quickly. But, here we are.

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We had a few very frustrating days with Caleb this week because he suddenly decided he didn’t want to sleep during the day. He was fine until late afternoon/evening, then he turned into Mr. Crankypants for several hours until he finally would give in and sleep.

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The good news is that he finally seems to be breaking through this little phase. The better news, is that he has slept for a six hour stretch the last two nights without waking up. You won’t see me complaining about that!

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Caleb is also figuring out how to move his hands and feet and is starting to grab at things in front of him. He has a special interest in Mommy’s hair and necklace, but will grab at his toys on his car seat or play mat as well.

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We have found that he’s very ticklish, and a tickle on his belly or toes will more often than not earn you a big smile. There is nothing better than a baby smile to turn a bad day around for me.

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At two months old, this little guy has us all wrapped around his little finger.

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Caleb’s Birth Story – Part 3

Caleb’s Birth Story – Part 1
Caleb’s Birth Story – Part 2

If you’ve ever stayed overnight in a hospital, you know that they don’t really let you sleep. It seemed like every time I would fall asleep a nurse would be stopping in to check either my vitals or the baby’s. I dozed off and on, tried to get Caleb to nurse several times, and got poked and prodded every couple hours until I finally decided I might as well just give up on sleeping. Not long after that, Hubby sent a text saying that he and the kids were headed back to the hospital.

Monday was a flurry of visitors, mixed with several tests and procedures for Caleb. Once Hubby and the kids got there, my mom left to take a break for a bit. I was happy to have my little family there all together. With only about six hours of sleep, the big kids were a little restless, but they were happy to be at the hospital with mommy and the new baby as well.

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My dad stopped by for a visit just moments after they had taken Caleb out of the room for a procedure, so he got to sit around and wait for a bit. My brother came to visit not long after that. The photographer came around for photos and actually snapped a great shot of the three kids so I got suckered into buying them. Then my sister and her family, plus my other niece and nephew came to visit. It got a little crazy in my tiny room with all of the kids there, but they were all so excited to meet their new cousin!

Everyone cleared out just before dinner time, including Hubby and my kids. My mom had returned by then and since I had a few moments of quiet I decided I better use it to my advantage and take a shower. And oh, did that shower feel good! We had one more visitor that evening when my sister-in-law got off of work and then it was finally time to try to get some sleep. I was hoping to upload some photos, but I barely got my laptop out before the tiredness took over.

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Caleb had finally started latching on and was showing more interest in nursing. I was getting a little concerned because my other two babies had latched right away, but the nurses assured me that it was fine and perfectly normal.

Again, the nurses woke me several times during the night. I think I would have paid for a few solid hours of sleep at that point. I was so sleepy I didn’t know what they were doing most of the time. I didn’t mind waking up to feed the baby, but I really don’t think it was necessary to take my temp and blood pressure quite so frequently.

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Tuesday morning we were all set to go home after the doctors made their morning rounds. Hubby dropped the kids off at school/day care and came to the hospital. We were hoping to leave early, but the nurse came by and said that they needed to do some more tests on Caleb before he would be released. His bilirubin level was high and they needed to re-test him, then decide if he would need to stay at the hospital another day or do some light therapy at home.

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We waited around for quite a while, then finally got the all clear just before noon. The pediatrician asked that we bring Caleb in to the office the next day for another bilirubin test and a weight check as his weight had dropped down quite a bit. We were instructed to put him in some indirect sunlight as much as possible. We agreed and soon after that we were headed home. I couldn’t wait to get home and finally get to sleep in my own bed without nurses waking me up!

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On Wednesday, we took Caleb to the pediatrician. His bilirubin was still high and his weight had dropped even more. He was down to 8 lbs, 15 ounces, more than a pound below his birth weight. My milk was just really coming in good, so they decided to give it one more day and set up another appointment for Thursday.

Fortunately, at Thursday’s appointment Caleb’s color was looking much better and his weight was going back up so they decided to skip the bilirubin test. He was back up to 9 lbs, 7 oz, which the nurse practitioner said was the biggest gain they had seen in one day. They asked for him to come back in a week for a weight check, but other than that he didn’t need to be seen again until his one month check-up.

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And that is Caleb’s birth story. Life has been a bit crazier since his arrival, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. I am SO in love with this little boy.

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Caleb’s Birth Story – Part 2

Caleb’s Birth Story – Part 1

When we arrived at the hospital, it seemed there was a whirlwind of activity around me. Since the doctor apparently didn’t get the earlier page, the hospital was not prepared for my arrival. The nurses were quick though, and set into action immediately. They got me into a room, dressed in a gown, and strapped into the monitors in just a few short minutes. After running through the prerequisite questions, my nurse had an IV going in my hand and was ordering blood tests.

The contractions were getting quite painful by this time and I asked the nurse when I could get an epidural. She said they had to wait for my blood test results, but she had already notified the anesthesiologist and they would get it as soon as my results were back. I was anxious to get it because I knew that once I had the epidural I would be able to relax and rest for a bit.  I was hoping that my mom and the kids would be able to come in the room and visit for a bit before it was time to push.

Contractions were getting even stronger, and coming closer and closer together – close enough that I was struggling to make it through each one without screaming. My body also started shaking uncontrollably just before and through each contraction. I must have looked pretty bad, because my nurse came back in said that they were going to go ahead and administer the epidural even though they didn’t have my blood test results back yet.

I’ve had an epidural with all three deliveries and this one was by far the most painful. I’m not sure whether it was the fault of the anesthesiologist or if it was because my contractions were coming so close together that she couldn’t get it done in between them, but I had really bad pain down my left side before it finally went completely numb. It took a while for it to work on my right side, but eventually that side went mostly numb too.

I still wanted to see the kids, but Hubby vetoed that. I figured at that point he was in a much better place to make a judgement call, so I went along with it.

Once the epidural had fully kicked in, I was finally able to relax and actually fell asleep for a few minutes.

Thanks to the epidural, my left leg felt like it weighed a ton. I kept wanting to move it to get comfortable, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t move it. I could move the right side a little, but I just could not get comfortable. Hubby and the nurse tried to help me reposition myself, but it just wasn’t working.

I’m not sure if the epidural was wearing off a little or if the contractions were getting that much harder, but it didn’t seem like very long before it started getting painful again. My whole body was shaking almost non-stop at that point. The nurse did another check and decided it was almost time to push. My water had not broken yet, so the nurse decided to help it along.

My head was pretty fuzzy through all of this, but I remember thinking at some point how glad I was that it was the last time I ever had to do this.

I think I spent about an hour pushing, though I was so out of it that I’m not really sure about that either. At some point the on-call doctor showed up and at 11:52 p.m., on Sunday, February 19th, 2012, my beautiful son, Caleb Joshua, was born.

I was still shaking when they placed him on my chest, but I was instantly in love. That little face, nearly identical to his big brother’s, made every minute of pain completely worth it.

While the doctor finished up with me, Hubby took photos of Caleb. I remember hearing Hubby laugh because Caleb was peeing all over the place. The nurses cleaned him up, then placed him on the scale – 10 pounds, 0.4 ounces, 21 inches long.

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It seemed like forever before they brought him back to me, but finally, I had my sweet boy in my arms again. The doctor and nurses finally cleared out and Hubby and I were alone with our baby. I tried nursing him, but he had no interest at all so I wrapped him back up and enjoyed just snuggling with him. My nurse came back in and snapped a few photos of the three of us.

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Since he was born at nearly midnight, Caleb didn’t have quite the welcoming committee that the other kids did when they were born. He did have a very excited big sister, big brother, Grandma, and Aunt waiting to meet him though. We got them back to the room as soon as we could and our first photos as a family of five were taken.

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After everyone had gotten sufficient snuggles and kisses, Hubby took two very tired big kids home to get some sleep. Aunt Tanya headed home as well, and Grandma stayed with me at the hospital for the night.

The nurse came back to help me change and clean up a bit, I tried to nurse Caleb again (though he still wasn’t interested), and finally we got to settle in and sleep.

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Caleb’s Birth Story – Part 1

I woke up Sunday morning ready for a lazy day. I had convinced Evie to stay home with me while the boys went to church because the doctor had put me on bed rest for the weekend. I promised her a movie and some snuggle time, so we settled into Daddy’s big recliner with our blankets. “Annie” was her movie choice for the day, as it often is when it is just the two of us.

Soon after we started the movie, I realized that I was having some pretty regular contractions. They had been off and on through most of the weekend so I wasn’t surprised, but they were getting a little closer together. I decided maybe I should start keeping track and started timing. 10 minutes apart. I debated whether to call Hubby and have him come home from church, but I decided to wait a little longer and see what happened. Instead I texted my mom so she would be prepared in case I needed her to come quickly. Evie and I snuggled through the rest of the movie while I continued timing.

The contractions were fluctuating just a little, but on average continued to be about 10 minutes apart. When our movie was done, I decided I better go take a shower – just in case. I was getting a little nervous and was pretty sure that we would be meeting the newest member of our family by the end of the day.

Evie and I had a light lunch and then headed back the the chair for more cuddle time. Shortly after that, Hubby and Zach returned from church. I was very happy that they were home. Evie ran off to play with her brother. I stretched out on the love seat and was able to get in a much needed nap.

When I woke up I was a little frustrated because it seemed like my contractions had really slowed back down. It wasn’t long before they were back though, and even stronger than before. I talked to my mom and decided that she should go ahead and come over to the house since she was designated to watch the big kids when it was time to go. She was waiting for my brother to pick his kids up from her house and then she would head over.

I started trying to gather my last minute things, double checking my bag, and making sure the kids had something to entertain them while they waited at the hospital. I had Hubby make the kids some dinner while I tried to finish packing. The contractions were coming much closer together and were so much more intense that I had to sit each time one started.

My mom finally arrived and I decided it was time to page the doctor. I talked to the kids and told them what was happening and that Grandma would be bringing them to the hospital to meet their baby brother in a little bit.

We waited for what seemed like forever for the doctor to call back. The contractions were getting closer and closer together. When they were under five minutes apart, I decided we were just going to go to the hospital anyway. I wasn’t going to wait any longer for the doctor to call. I gave the kids hugs and kisses and Hubby and I headed out the door.

When we arrived at the hospital, just before 8:00 pm, my contractions were only about two minutes apart.

 

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Celebrating Four

While I was off in LaLa Land (otherwise known as maternity leave) Miss Evie had her fourth birthday. Turning four was a VERY. BIG. DEAL. It was the first year that she really grasped the concept of what a birthday is and she was crazy jealous that her cousin turned four a few months before her.

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She insisted that her birthday party be held at a place that had bounce houses and inflatables. Most of her cousins have had these parties and she was not going to settle for anything else.

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The place was a bit crowded (and HOT!) but Evie had an absolute blast bouncing and sliding with her friends. Her theme this year was Tangled (I couldn’t tell you how many times she has watched this movie!) and, as usual, her Aunt Tanya made her an awesome cake!

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She received some awesome gifts from her friends and bounced and played until she was completely worn out.

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Caleb made things really easy on me by sleeping through the entire party on his cousin’s lap.

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I’m both excited and sad to see her turn four. This year has started out pretty rough so far behavior-wise, but there have been a lot of changes in our house with a new baby around and it was expected. She is growing up so fast and tries so hard to act older than she is, pushing all the boundaries. I want to enjoy this year with her because I know that year five brings so many more changes and my little girl will soon be a big girl.

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A Captured Moment

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On Easter, while we were relaxing at my Dad’s house, my sister picked up my camera and took a few shots of me and Caleb just after a feeding. I have very few photos of the two of us. There are a few during those first days at the hospital, but other than that just a couple I’ve managed to click on my iphone.

I love these photos my sister took, not because they are particularly good of me, but because of the moment. When I look at this photo, I could tell you exactly what I was feeling. I love those moments of pure contentedness just after Caleb has nursed. He is totally comfortable and snuggley, usually about half asleep. These are the moments when I love to just sit in amazement of this little thing I have created. It is one of the things I miss the most since I’ve been back to work. I miss out on 3-4 feedings a day while he is at day care. When we get home, the evenings are so busy that I don’t get time to just sit and relish in the happiness of those sweet moments. This is what I was thinking about when she snapped those photos – how special that moment was and how grateful I was to have it captured.

Going back to work after maternity leave has been difficult with all three of my babies. It is so hard to leave them after only six short weeks, however, staying home has never been an option for me. In some ways, it was much easier this time, but in some ways it was much harder. After all, this time I know that there will be no more babies. Caleb is the last one and I want to cherish every single second.

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