Pictures and the Birth Story!

Baby Caleb

My birth story (I haven't included anything too graphic, so don't worry):

It all started on Saturday night (1/13/07) when my water broke. Luckily Sean's parents were coming over for dinner that night, so it worked out well for them to take the kids (they were going to be the ones to watch them for us when we went to the hosptial anyway). I called the hospital and the doctor on call was Dr. Maddion (the same Dr. that delivered Julia). I wasn't sure if I should wait until my contractions got stronger, but he said to work our way towards the hospital. We got to the hospital around 8:15 p.m. The nurse checked me and I was only about 2 cm. Dr. Maddion came in and said that we had two options. We could wait and see if my body would go into labor on it's own (he said most women start within 6 hours of their water breaking) and if I haven't had much change by the morning we would start Petocin. Or, we could just start the Petocin now and get things going. I opted to see if my body would start on it's own (this is my third child, my body should know what to do!) Well after an uneventful night of resting and having mild contactions, I went for a couple of walks, but no luck. We started the Petocin at 7a.m. and I got the epidural shortly after. I figured with all that I have heard about Petocin, I would want the epidural, and they gave it to me right away because the guy who does them was going to be in surgery and they didn't want me not to be able to get it later when I was in a lot of pain. So, then we waited. They didn't check we that often since my water was broken, which was leaking all over the whole time! They checked me at one point and the nurse said I was a good 2 maybe 3. The Dr. decided to check me and said he could stretch me to a 5. Either way, I wasn't moving along that quickly. I just tried to rest as much as I could. They brought in the untrasound machine to make sure the baby was head down, and not butt down. Luckily he was head down! I didn't like to hear the word C-section, which they started saying in the afternoon! In the afternoon the Dr. was wondering why I hadn't moved along faster. He figured the baby wasn't in a good position, I was at -2 station everytime they checked me. So, we tried different positions. Right side then left, leaning forward, plus the mulitple trips to the bathroom. Finally around 2pm I was starting to feel some real pressure. It was really starting to get painful, so I told the nurse I would either need to push soon, or I needed a top off on my epidural. She checked me and said I was a good 8. Well within minutes I was telling them that I HAD to PUSH!!!! They paged the Dr. and he was running down the hall. He barely had time to get his gloves on! I wanted to use a mirror so I could see the baby coming out, and they had one in the room ready, but in the moment said we didn't have time! After about 3 minutes and 3 pushes baby Caleb flew into the world!!!! So, about 21 hours after my water broke I had my baby. Although long, luckily my labor wasn't all that painfull. And I only had to push for three minutes! If I could go back I probably would have just started the petocin when I got there, but I can't change it now. Everything started out normal. I got to hold him on my chest, we did the foot prints, weight, length etc. After a little bit they noticed his breathing was a little fast. They decided to get a machine that checks oxygenation levels. And his were slightly low. So, with all the factors of my delivery: I was a few weeks early, my water was broken for more than 20 hours, they decided to take him to the NICU to be looked over. They said it could be as little as 4 hours, but they would start antibiotics in case he got an infection, and if it was just water on his lungs he would be there for 2 days, but if it was an infection he would need to be in the NICU for 7 days to recieve antibiotics. Unfortunately the next morning the x-ray revield that it looked like pneumonia and he would need to be there for a minimun of 7 days! This was really hard to hear, espically since I was full term, he was a big baby, and I have had two other normanl deliveries. The first night was the hardest because we couldn't hold him, we could barely touch him. And seeing him all hooked up to those machines was sad. We are thankful though, knowing that he was a healthy size and was only there for so long becuase he needed the antibiotics. By the next day they had him on just a little help with his breathing and he had no help by the third day! He couldn't eat the first night, but the next day they let us feed him breast milk from a bottle (he never had to be tube fed, which they at first thought they would need to do). He was eating like a champ and by that night they let me try and breast feed him! The week was kind of a blurr. We didn't have the usual everyone comes and meets the baby at the hospital because he wasn't in our room, and the running all over the place. And poor Ethan and Julia didn't get to meet Caleb until he was a week old. I would be at the hospital during the day for Caleb's feedings and then would come home around 4pm to be with the kids and Sean. I would have some time with them, do dinner, then put them to bed and head back up to the hospital to do a few more of Caleb's feedings. I would then come home get a few hours of sleep and repeat. Well that was until Saturday when the stomach bug hit us. Julia had thrown up on Thursday and Friday night then Ethan was throwing up all night Friday and Sean and I got it on Saturday. So, I couldn't go visit Caleb on Sat. and he was supposed to be coming home the next day! Luckily, we started feeling better and were still able to bring him home on Sunday. It is so nice having him at home! Ethan and Julia LOVE their baby brother so much. I can't keep them away from Caleb. This week at home with the three kids has been interesting. I will definately be busy! Julia has been a little fussier than usual, but they are all handeling the change well. With three kids I am not sure how often I will update but I will do my best. I will definately have plenty of pictures to share though, I love my digital camera!!

We want to thank everyone for their prayers and support during this time, we definately felt them! God is so good, and we are so thankful Caleb is home and healthy! Thank you everyone.