Extra! Extra! Read All About It!!!!

Wow!  We have been nothing but busy!  We have so much to share with you so here we go.

On the 17th, we went to our doctor's appointment and got to see our baby's doctor.  We enjoy visiting with her and her update was a good one.  Kaiden was down and ready to go.  We had not progressed from our previous appointment but she felt things would move along once we did.  When we got home I told Ricky that we needed to take just one more picture of my belly.  We had reached the end of our 39th week and felt like this would be our last opportunity for a belly update.  Boy were we right! 

On Friday night I started to feel a little twinge now and again but nothing very significant.  By Saturday morning, the twinges were occurring more often.  They were ranging about 3 to 4 an hour.  We decided to spend the day at home just in case we were in for a trip to the hospital.  I was supposed to meet Mom for our girls day out to have pedicures done.  It was not looking good.  At about 7pm, I decided we would give it a try.  We managed to find a nail place in Charlottesville that was still open.   The pedicure was relaxing and my toes were looking good for my trip to the hospital.

Saturday night continued to progress nicely and in the early hours of Sunday morning, Ricky was making a call to the doctor hotline.  My contractions were a regular 4-6 minutes apart and lasting from 1-2 minutes every time.  We arrived at the hospital around 5am and checked into a room.  At that time, I was only measuring at 3cm but the contractions were still consistent.  They admitted us and our first nurse Michelle started monitoring the baby.  A call was placed to Dr. Culver who happened to be on call for the day.  The monitor showed that Kaiden was doing great and so was mommy.  By lunch time, my contractions decided to stall out.  Ricky and I made the decision to call it a day and go back home.  We did not realize at the time that the snow flurries had started.  We still felt that if we were at home in our own environment that we might progress a little faster.  We arrived home and I told Ricky to catch a nap.  I knew we would be headed back to the hospital but wasn't sure when.  While he slept, I walked the floor with a note pad and the kitchen timer.  Around 6pm, I woke him and asked him to check out the window.  Everything was covered in snow and not just a little but a beautiful blanket that was still steadily falling.

 

By 7pm, my contractions had gone from a wide range of 2 -15 mins. apart to a regular 2-3 mins. apart and lasting closer to 2 mins. at a time.  I must say that I have the best husband in the world.  Ricky quickly got my stuff gathered up, helped me find shoes and shuffled me to the car all while calling the doctor's office to let them know that we were on our way back.  He also made sure that I did not get stressed out about the weather and he helped me breathe through my contractions for the entire 1 1/2 hours it took us to get to the hospital due to the snow.

When we arrived, we were admitted and placed in a room.  I was really hoping that we had changed some.  If not I was going to be really upset.  Things were definitely not feeling well and I was working hard to breathe through some contractions.  Little did I know things were about to get much worse.  At 5am, Dr. Arnold came in to check on us and see how we were doing.  When he checked, we were between 4-5cm.  At least I had progressed!  He decided it was time to break my water.  I must say that was totally not the feeling/sensation/experience that I had pictured in my mind.  Honestly, I am not really sure what I was expecting.  After they broke my water, contractions became much more intense and lasting much longer.  (Oh, I also opted to not have an epidural!) 

By 10am on Monday morning, the nurse said it was time to start pushing.  Can I just say, Ricky was absolutely awesome!!!  He continued to encourage me by letting me know that I was doing a really good job, he said I was amazing, he let me squeeze the blood right out of his hand, he counted through every contraction and reminded me how beautiful I was.  (Looking back at some of the pictures from those moments, I was not looking too swift!)  We also had some amazing nurses.  Our first nurse through the hectic labor was Kristi who did an awesome job encouraging me.  Our second nurse, who was actually with us through delivery, was Bonnie.  Bonnie encouraged me through each contraction letting me know that I was doing a wonderful job of breathing through each one and remaining calm, keeping my blood pressure at very relaxed levels.  Between Ricky and the nurses, I felt I could make it to the end without the epidural and I did.  As the baby's head started to crown, Bonnie went to call the doctor.  Ricky coached me through 3 contractions all on his own.  He was amazing!!  As it turned out, Dr. Owens was in the middle of an emergency c-section and it was going to be awhile before she could get to us.  Thankfully, Dr. Culver rushed back to the hospital just in time to deliver our sweet baby boy.

At 12:56pm on 2/20/2012 Ricky and I welcomed Kaiden James Breeden into our arms.  He weighed in at 7lbs. 14oz. and 21"long.  He was and is the most beautiful baby.  His nurses Lara, Bonnie, and Gale, along with Dr. Culver all were present for his birth and agreed that he is perfect.  Kaiden scored 9's on both of his APGAR tests as well.  Way to go little man, you are our perfect little gift from God!!

We had such an amazing experience at Martha Jefferson Hospital and are so thankful for the wonderful staff and doctors.  They are definitely top notch!  We actually had both of our nurses Kristi and Bonnie request us for every shift they worked while we were still there.  It was really nice to have them continue with us for our entire stay.

We have been home a week with our little guy and he is filling our home with so much love!  We stare at him all the time amazed that he is ours and here to stay!  We have been so blessed and are so thankful to God for such an amazing pregnancy, a beautiful (with lots of hard work) birth and now a sweet baby.  We don't know how this journey could possibly get any better but we are so excited to see where it takes us!  

 

2 Baby Docs and a Shower

On Friday, we went back to the doctor for another update on Kaiden.  We got to meet with our regular doctor who we have not seen since October.  We were so excited to see her and she was excited to see us.  After sharing some small talk, we got down to business.  Kaiden's heartbeat is strong and he is down and ready to go.  My cervix is softening quite nicely and we are 1/2cm dilated.  YEAH!  That is better than nothing but we still have a long way to go.  She said we could go early, late or right on time.  Only time will tell.  I am having more Braxton Hick's contractions.  They are stronger than they have been but nothing to get overly excited about.  I am still feeling really good.

 On Saturday, my Mother-n-law and Sister-n-law threw Ricky and I an awesome shower.  It was fishing themed and completely perfect.  They worked really hard paying attention to every detail from decor (water features, books, outfits and more) to food and drink that contained fish, ducks and a fishing pole.  It was awesome and a lot of fun.  We had friends come in from out of town that we spent some extra time with.  We miss having them around and their girls are growing so much.  We also had some friends attend the party that we have not seen in a really long time.  It was really good to have the opportunity to catch up with all of them.  We are so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends.  Once again, they gave us some totally awesome gifts.  Now we need little man to arrive so we can start using all of the wonderful loot that we have gained!!!

On Wednesday, we had another baby update with the doctor.  We met with another doctor in the practice that we really like.  He always seems to make us laugh.  You can tell he really loves his job and enjoys spending time with the soon to be parents.  Kaiden's heartbeat was strong and around 145.  The doctor was pleased with our progress and said so far we have had a picture perfect pregnancy.  We cannot agree more!  God has truly blessed us with the best pregnancy ever.  We are hoping the delivery will follow suit.  We have progressed to 1cm.  Not much change!  They are thinking that Kaiden will be somewhere between 6 1/2 to 7lbs.  We are hoping they are right.  In the back of my mind I know that our family does not produce small babies.  We like the 8+lbers.  The doctor laughed at me when I told him that and stated that depending on how the baby has tucked himself in, he could be hiding his true weight.  He also said it was better to pump us up before the birth and then be surprised after all the hard work has been completed.  He has a good point!  We are going with the 6 1/2 to 7lb thought.

Ricky and I are planning a date weekend this weekend.  We are thinking dinner and a movie.  Something we have not done in several years.  We are looking forward to some alone/down time before Kaiden arrives.  Tonight at dinner, we looked at each other and both said this is our last week without a baby in the house.  We have waited so long for the opportunity to have a little one in our lives. It is hard to believe that his arrival is right around the corner.  We are down to 12 days from our due date and cannot wait for Kaiden to get here. 

Tonight we thought we would give the belly cast a try.  It turned out pretty good.  It was Ricky's first time doing one and it is not easy.  It is actually pretty messy.  I think I ended up with the plaster all over me.  Ricky was a very good sport and worked hard to make sure he covered everything he was supposed to.  I required 2 showers to remove all of the excess plaster and the stinky gel that you put on your skin for protection.  If we happend to progress tonight, I should be very clean heading to the hospital.  We cannot wait for it to completely dry so we can do some shape work to it.  It will be a wonderful memory to keep and look back on in the future.