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The Birth Story of Caleb Samuel Peaden:
David Comments in Italics
I'll be honest- I thought that I knew what to expect with Caleb's birth. (Spoiler: I didn't, not really.) I thought that I had a pretty good idea of what was going to happen and the timeline for that - and although I was feeling a bit nervous about the labor itself I had done a lot of reflecting on Austin's birth and researching the stages/signs that I had missed last time, and I really was feeling good about things. Until Thursday March 2nd.
You should also know my mindset as all of this is taking place. Ever since I knew we were having a baby, my biggest concern was just making it to the hospital on time. Since Austin came so fast, I knew there was a good chance our next baby would be pretty fast as well. As nice as things worked out with him, I really wanted to get to the hospital before 5 minutes before birth. Because of this, I basically figured the baby could really come any time after March 1st and I wanted to make sure we were ready.
The thing is, I'd never really had contractions with Lydia or Austin until it was the day that they were born. Not even Braxton-Hicks contractions. I'd been having a few Braxton-Hicks contractions here and there, which was interesting but not a huge deal - but Thursday night I started having some harder, real contractions. It was 8 o'clock at night, and although they weren't really regular or painful (just kind of uncomfortable) both David and I started to worry that they would turn into real contractions in the middle of the night. This is where we realized just how concerned we were about having someone to take care of our kids if we needed to go to the hospital quickly. We had talked to several people who had volunteered to come over to our home in the middle of the night if we needed them, but before this point I hadn't realized how anxious this made me. When your hospital plan is "Go to the Hospital as soon as you start Active Labor", the "Early Labor" stage is much more stressful because you have no idea when Early Labor will turn into Active Labor.
It is such a balance, because you don't want to call someone in the middle of the night for a false alarm, but you really don't want to be calling neighbors at 2 am when that active labor is going and it is really time to go the hospital.
That Thursday night, we decided to call Amy and just have her come down and stay with us in case we needed to go to the Hospital - and although my contractions kept coming for about 4 hours (not very regular - but uncomfortable enough to think that Active Labor could be around the corner) they stopped at about 12:30. I felt both silly for having asked Amy to come down on a false alarm and incredibly relieved that she had been there and I didn't have to worry about calling someone to watch the kids at 3 a.m.
From then on, I didn't really stop having contractions. They weren't regular and they varied in the level of discomfort (ranging from tightening like a Braxton-Hicks to mild discomfort) but I had them throughout the day and every time I woke up in the night. It started to play mind games with me because I wasn't sure that I'd be able to catch the signs that those irregular contractions were turning real until it was too late. On Monday, my mom volunteered to come down and stay with us (it worked out because my Dad was going up to the ranch to help my Grandpa). I just really, really, really wanted my mom to be with me. It was such a relief to me, especially during the night because I didn't have to stress if I had three contractions 5 minutes apart - I knew that if it turned into anything my mom would just be there to watch the kids and everything would be fine.
I should also note that although I wasn't particularly anxious, or overly wishing that Caleb would come early - I had let the fact that he had measured 6 days ahead get into my head. So instead of just assuming that he'd come about the same time as L&A, we felt like he really could come anytime in the couple of weeks leading up to his due date. We weren't hoping that he'd come early, but we did want to be prepared just in case - which meant for a long (read=emotionally tiring) couple of weeks.
And that leads us to:
Friday March 10th
Friday morning I had my 39 week doctor's appointment at Legacy OB with Dr. Thomas. I felt kind of silly about this because I'd been pretty vocal with... well everyone... about how I probably wouldn't be to this appointment. Most of that is just that I was a little bugged that when I had to switch doctors, my 39 week appointment got bumped from the beginning of the week to Thursday the 9th, and then got bumped again to Friday the 10th - when instead of being exactly 39 weeks I was 39 weeks and 4 days - the longest I'd ever been pregnant. I wasn't really bugged, just felt like I should make it clear that even though I definitely could switch appointment days - it probably just meant that I wouldn't make it to the 39 week appointment. Ha. So I felt a little sheepish when it was clear that I was going to make it to the appointment. (Not that anyone else remembered, I wasn't ever bratty about it or anything - I just had convinced myself that I wouldn't be to the appointment and felt silly.) Happily, David said that he had time to come to the appointment with me that morning, and I was looking forward to having him there with me. My mom said that she'd watch Austin for us, and so we dropped Lydia off at her preschool and headed the the doctors office.
It really was so funny to hear Shantel talk about not really wanting to go to the appointment because she had made it very clear to everyone who would listen that she probably would not make it that long (As it turns out- she was almost right). Also, Shantel's dream labor was having her water break so she could just get admitted to the hospital. Mine was that she would show up to her 39 week appointment with the doctor and he would check her and she would just happen to be at a 5 and get admitted.
At the appointment, everything checked out fine. I was dilated to a 3.5ish, my blood pressure & urine sample looked great. We talked a little bit about what to expect and when to go to the hospital - but nothing really new (David missed out on his wish). Dr. Thomas did say that he would be on call this weekend and that if we wanted to schedule an induction we could either schedule it for later that day, for Saturday morning, or for any day the following week. I didn't really want to get induced but it was good to know that those options were there.
I was secretly hoping that I'd start having contractions and we could just head to the hospital and I really didn't want David to leave for work. We sat in the car for a minute and talked and then decided to go grab a quick breakfast sandwich and sneak a little last-minute date. (This was about 10:15.) It was so nice to take just a few minutes together and even though I know it was not so conducive to David's busy season work schedule - I'm glad we took the time for it.
Reluctantly, Shantel let me go to work (At a client, Revere Health, in Provo). Actually I told her that I would love to stay with her, but that if she was not having a baby, then I probably had to go to work. Shantel was very tempted to call for an induction, not to get the baby here, but to keep me with her. She is so sweet.
I got home, did a few Red Ladder Design things while Austin played next to me. At about 11:45, we packed up into the van to go pick up Lydia from preschool. My mom came too, because Lydia really wanted her to come see her preschool (even though she's seen it before). On the way over, I commented that I'd had a few stronger contractions that might have been closer together but that it's hard to track contractions when you're having them all day long. At her encouragement though, I pulled out my phone to a contraction timing app and started timing them. We headed to Little Caesars to pick up a pizza and then back to the house. It took about an hour and I was consistently having contractions about 5 minutes apart, although they weren't particularly hard or uncomfortable. My dad had decided to come visit and after eating lunch, the kids and I convinced him to come to the Thanksgiving Point Farm with us to walk around and look at the horses and goats. It was nice to get outside in the beautiful sunshine and walk around. The kids loved the Farm (our first visit this year) and I loved spending the time with my dad. I kept timing the contractions (holding steady at 5 minutes apart) but was mostly grateful for the distraction because I didn't have to worry about it very much. I could tell that my dad was starting to get worried about me more and more each time I pulled out my phone to enter another start/stop - and we decided that we should head home.
Sidenote: Before we left for the farm I had called David to just update him on how things were going. It was hard to know exactly what to do, but we decided that he'd finish up some things that he was working on there and that then he'd head to the Lehi Office so that he could be closer. I didn't realize until we got home that he had actually just come home to work from the house.
We had talked on the phone, and she told me to go ahead and finish a few things. So I said a quick prayer to Heavenly Father to help me know what to do and if I needed to head home right now or if I could wait a little bit. I felt right away that I needed to be at home with Shantel to be there to know when to go to the hospital, but also to just support her and make sure she felt safe and comforted. I packed up right away and headed home to work upstairs.
I felt a little guilty about having David come home, because I wasn't even sure that these contractions were headed anywhere. (Even though I was incredibly grateful to have him there.) I was feeling like we should just call Dr. Thomas and see if he could still get us on the schedule for an induction for the day, so we could go to the hospital and they could just make the Early Labor turn into Active Labor because I was feeling pretty emotionally exhausted about the whole thing. (I was just feeling a lot of pressure because so many people were at the house and David had come home from work. Plus, March 10 sounded like such a good day and it would be so nice to have the first two hospital days be on the weekend so that David could take his paternity leave during the week and kind of extend that time. All of these were really superficial reasons, but it was still taking a lot of emotional energy to work through it all.)
I tried to really calm Shantel and just let her know that there was no pressure at all, if she went into labor great, if not, we were doing great and were just fine. I had worked from home for a little bit before Shantel got back from the farm, but once she was home, she needed my attention and I put my work away.
We started to discuss what to do in terms of induction. We had actually discussed it earlier and while we leaned to not inducing until at least after the due date, we did consider it just to remove some of the stress Shantel was feeling around labor and also to make sure we made it to the hospital. After saying a prayer, we decided to call and set up an induction for Saturday morning (the 11th). We were not set on actually doing the induction, but we felt like it might remove some of the stress that Shantel was feeling and we could always call and decide not to be induced. Especially since it was Friday, we wanted to call before the office closed for the weekend. As it turns out we call just after 4 and the office was already closed, but after a few calls, Shantel was able to get it set up.
I had Shantel lay down and we cuddled for a few minutes so she could rest and take a nap. You could see she was finally relaxing a bit. Even though it does not sound so stressful, it really had been a very emotionally taxing day for her.
As we're writing this out, I feel like it's sounding kind of negative. It was actually a really wonderful day: the morning with David at the doctor's and eating breakfast, picking up pizza with my mom and the kids (who loved it - plus loved the fact that my mom gave them quarters to get bouncy balls from a machine), the afternoon walking around the farm with my kids and my dad. *sigh* Everything was pretty much perfect. But I also feel like it's important to understand that it was also hard, mentally, to know what was going to happen and what we should do. It was nice to lay down, and I turned on a podcast about powerful & fearless birth to listen to while I rested. I figure that I laid down about 4:15-4:30 and not long after laying down - the contractions all but went away. It was fine, I felt a little silly about all the hubub, but glad for a chance to just relax for a bit. The kids were fine, I could hear them laughing and running around downstairs. At one point, Lydia (my sweetest Lydia) came up and snuck in through my door and asked "Do you want me to rub your back for you???" (insert tear filled eyes, here). She helped pull up my shirt and rubbed my back for several minutes while we just chatted. It was clear that she knew something was up, and I was grateful for her sweet gesture of love to me. After a while of talking, she ran back downstairs to play - but that is one of my sweetest moments of the day.
My mom had come in and I told her the contractions had stopped but that I was just resting, and the same thing with David. David's parents showed up between 5 and 5:30 because Sue had finished Caleb's baby blanket and they wanted to drop it off.
My parents got there around 5:30 and we just chatted for a few minutes. The last time we had talked it sounded like we thought we were going to the hospital that night. So when they got there, I let them know "we're probably not having a baby tonight." They had fun playing with the kids. I was planning to make an "easy" dinner from our easy meals list that we planned for after the baby, but my parents offered so nicely to get us dinner too. It was about 6 pm and I went to check with Shantel and see what she wanted and also see what she thought the kids would like best.
I told him that I didn't really want anything. Right before he'd come in - I had a more-intense contraction, but it's hard to know if your mind is playing tricks on you at that point. Then while he was there I had another, and by the third he was telling me "Let's just send the kids home with my parents, just in case."
Since they were already there, I told Shantel that if we ended up not having the baby we could just go get them in the morning. We felt really good about that. So I marched back downstairs and asked my parents if they would pack up the kids and just take them home with them instead of doing dinner. They were so great and just went with the change of pace and started helping to get the kids things ready to go. For the next 20 minutes I alternated between, checking on Shantel, getting all of the kids last minutes things together (which consisted mostly of finding all of the things the kids had moved from the couch that we had got ready earlier and finding shoes and socks), and putting in the car the final few things for us (computer, blow dryer etc.).
Within about 5 to 10 minutes after I had checked on Shantel it became very clear that this baby was coming that night. At one point I came in the room to check on her and she was leaning over against the bed working through a contraction and I could tell they had reached a much higher level. I had been telling Shantel for months, that as soon as she said, "I want to get into the bath," that means it is time to go to the hospital. A few minutes later she said that she wanted to get in the bath and we both looked at each other and even through her contraction we smiled and I told her that we were headed to the hospital. That is one of those things that I truly love about Shantel, those moments when I look in her eyes and we laugh about something silly or funny or anything. She really thinks that I am funny and I loved that sweet moment that even as she was having contractions she was being a little funny about getting in the bath, and I was being funny that we were headed to the hospital, and yet we were 100% serious on both counts and so it made us laugh. Hopefully that captures what it is like for us, it is hard to explain, but it makes our marriage a joy.
I feel like things changed in the space of 3 contractions. I was just relaxing in bed, then all the sudden I was pretty sure we were headed to the hospital. I asked David to bring the kids up to me to I could be with them and say goodbye. Lydia was excited to be going to Grandma and Grandpa's house and even more excited when I told her that we were going to go to the hospital to have the baby and she would get to meet him soon. She was kind of bouncing around and I was just so happy to be sitting on the floor of my bedroom with my two kids - telling them that I loved them. Austin decided that he needed to go potty, so I walked him into the bathroom and sat in front of him on the floor while he chatted with me about going potty and going to grandma and grandpa's. This is another special moment for me, because it was a tiny moment of one-on-one time with Austin where I was able to sit with him and show him (and tell him) that I loved him while having his mostly-undivided attention. I needed those moments to be emotionally ready to leave for the hospital and I'm so glad that it worked out that I could spend those few minutes with them while David was finishing getting everything ready.
My contractions were steadily getting more intense (although I wasn't timing them - so I don't know how far apart they were). I was also feeling very emotional/weepy. As Cal and Sue were walking out the front door with Lydia and Austin I turned to my mom with tears pooling in my eyes and told her that I missed them already and wanted to stay with them. Even in the moment I could tell that this was the real deal. My body was getting ready, including flooding itself with oxytocin (love) hormones. (And I just really love my kids.)
I helped Shantel to the car and we headed off. Just as we were getting on the freeway we noticed a pretty big back up on I-15, which is pretty typical for 6:30 on a Friday night. I quickly mapped the time to the hospital and it said it was only about 18 minutes and that the delay cleared soon. I noticed the clock and it was about 6:32. We drove to the hospital as fast as we could. Another tender mercy from Heavenly Father, just earlier I had met Shantel at her doctor which is by the hospital, but missed the usual exit and had to take the next exit. My maps was actually taking us that route because American Fork main was slower- but I was way more confidant going that way since I had just driven it earlier that day.
Shantel was definitely working through contractions, but she was breathing well and I just tried to encourage her. She kept saying, "I got this." As we got closer I told her I was going to pull up to the doors and help her up (because of what happened with Austin) and immediately she gave me a look that said no way. She made it clear she did not want to leave me. However, I could see it would be hard to walk far. Fortunately, there was an open parking spot pretty close to the door and it was close enough that I took it. It took a few minute to walk into the hospital, to the elevators and into labor and deliver. At each contraction we stopped and I held her hand until it was over. The front desk took a couple of basic information things and were admitted to the hospital at 6:56 pm, and then the nurses showed us to the triage room. As soon as Shantel stepped inside, she tensed up. It is the same room that she had such a bad experience at during Lydia's pregnancy. I told her that I would take care of her and that it was totally different and that it would be okay. She relaxed and asked to use the bathroom and so the nurses left while I helped her.
We made sure that she did not have to lay down on the bed, but sat up and worked through each contraction, except while while they checked her to see how along she was.
I had done a lot of research and preparation for this baby's labor, especially as I got closer and closer to the end. I don't have anything against epidurals, but I've found that the only real information about managing your labor come from "natural birthing" books and resources. I felt a hundred times more prepared with Austin's labor than Lydia's labor, and this time I wanted to be even more prepared in case we didn't get to the hospital in time. Some of the things that I found the most helpful this time were focusing on positive affirmation statements within my own mind/my own self. I repeated "I'm opening my body for my baby" and "I can do all things... through Christ (who strengthens me)." I prayed frequently for Heavenly Father to grant me strength and confidence. I also (apparently out loud) would prep myself my saying "I've got this" right before a new wave would come.
Sidenote: David had given me a beautiful blessing on Sunday February 26th as we were preparing for the birth of our precious baby. In addition to blessing us (Caleb and I) with a safe delivery, he blessed me that I would be filled with Strength and Confidence. Those two words echoed through my head over the course of the next two weeks, and filled my soul as I was actually working to bring my sweet boy into the world.
I was nervous about going to the triage room (seriously, some bad feelings about those rooms), but David helped me stay calm and helped me stay assertive about not laying down in the triage bed. They really wanted me in the bed so that they could have the baby on the monitor, but David got them to sit it up all the way with the bottom of the bed down so it was more like I was sitting in a chair and it was much more comfortable and manageable. They checked me at 7:06 and said that I was dilated to a 5 and fully effaced. They wanted 20 minutes of heartbeat monitoring for the baby, but they ended up doing just less than ten minutes before moving us to a Labor and Delivery room to get the rest of the reading and to start getting us set up.
They had asked if I wanted an epidural when we first came in. I took a deep breath, thought about it, and said yes. I'd considered doing an unmedicated birth, especially because so much of the information that I'd been reading was about unmedicated births. However, I feel like I made the decision very intentionally and that it wasn't fear-based. I think that there are some advantages and disadvantages to having an epidural but that I thought about each of those things in succession and made a choice. I don't regret it, although I feel confident that I could have chosen the other way and been just as happy. Unfortunately, the Anesthesiologist had just gone into a C-Section and wasn't able to come in right away. I asked if I could get into the bathtub while we waited, but they wanted to get the last half of the baby's heartbeat readings on the chart. This is the only thing that I wish would have gone slightly differently. I would have loved to have been able to get into the bathtub. As it was though, I just sat on the edge of the bed with David either behind or sitting next to me me rubbing my back and telling me that I was amazing and that I was doing it and that he loved me.
You hear sometimes about how women in labor get angry at their husbands. I feel like I have the exact opposite reaction. During this time I feel a flood of so much love for David, I just can't help but think over and over how grateful I am for him, how he's my best friend, how I love him so much. The feelings are so BIG. So in addition to my positive affirmations for myself, I also would respond to David's kind and supportive words with my own feelings about how much I loved him. I know I wasn't able to get into the bathtub like I wanted to, but this almost-hour of sitting with him on the edge of the bed was so special. Between each contraction-wave, we'd make corny jokes to each other, laugh about whatever we could think of, and tell each other how important and special they were. Then during each contraction, I would retreat into myself - letting my body relax, breathing and talking myself through, and David would rub my back and tell me how amazing I was. At this point I was noticing my legs starting to shake quite a bit.
Shantel really did so great during this time. It took longer than they thought to get the epidural because they planned to have one doctor step out of the C-section and then when he couldn't they finally called another anesthesiologist to come and do the epidural. By this time it must have been about 8:05 or 8:10.
So, in retrospect - it might have been better to decide against the epidural and have just been able to get in the bathtub as soon as they finished getting the baby readings that they needed. They deflected a couple of times saying that the anesthesiologist would be there soon, but did actually end up filling the tub. At that point though, I didn't want to move anywhere, especially if I was going to have to move back anytime soon.
The anesthesiologist came in and made a few jokes, which I ignored. In fact, I pretty much ignored everything that he said and just let David answer his questions. Luckily, I didn't have to move at all because I was already sitting on the edge of the bed. I just had to curl forward to get the epidural. At this point, I was starting to feel a little bit of pushing action and was surprised that they weren't going to check me before giving me the epidural because we had told them that I have pretty fast labors and we'd been there for over an hour. But I wasn't going to say anything about it because I didn't want them to decide that I couldn't get the epidural after all - ha. I think he felt bad that it had taken so long to get to me, because he decided to give me the special fast-acting epidural. (I don't really know the details about what that means, except that I got the same kind of epidural with Lydia.) Before the next contraction hit, I was completely numb from my ribs down. They then checked me and said that I was at an 8 (at 8:15).
One of the benefits of getting an epidural is this small window of peace in the middle of the crazy whirlwind of giving birth. David and I were able to sit and breathe for a minute. We called my mom and I got to tell her that I loved her. We looked out the window at the beautiful view of the Mt. Timpanogos Temple and I cried about the beautiful symbolism of being able to see the temple as I gave birth to my sweet baby. We took a picture together and laughed. It was a beautiful pause where we got to join together to gear up for the next stage of our lives.
It was really nice, even for 35 minutes for Shantel to just rest a little bit, she kept saying, "I'm so tired," and it really helped her get refreshed and ready to go.
Dr. Thomas came in just before 8:50 and we were just chatting it up with him. We joked about seeing him again so soon, and also how I really didn't want to be induced. We talked about breaking my waters and he said, "We can do whatever you want. If we break your water, things will probably go a bit faster. If we wait for it to break on it's own things might take a little longer, but either way I don't think it will take too long." So I'm thinking we have about another half hour, right?
I was thinking about 15 minutes if he broke her water.
I tell him to go ahead. The next six minutes happened faster than I can possibly describe. At exactly 8:50 Dr. Thomas checks me and declares me at a 10 and complete. I waved my arm to David and said "text that to me!" (so I could have a record of the exact time). Seconds later, Dr. Thomas breaks my water and says that there was meconium in the fluid. He did a great job of staying calm and not panicking me at all. I know that if a baby has a bowl movement prior to birth it can mean that they are in distress and that there is concern because if they breathe it in right after delivery it can cause major problems. But he just told me that what it meant is that they'd have a respiratory team present at the birth and that if it looked like there was a problem, they'd take the baby and make sure that he was breathing okay. I was nodding along with him when he said, "Are you ready to start pushing? We're going to start pushing now." I was a little shocked, because I hadn't anticipated pushing quite so soon - but one of the nurses must have gone and grabbed everyone else because all the sudden the room was filled with people and I was preparing to push. Within seconds they had helped me get into position and as soon as the contraction came, they told me to take a deep breath and push. I started laughing halfway through the push because I was so surprised at how quickly things had moved and I was trying to wrap my head about things. But then everyone started saying "We can see his head! Keep pushing!" I looked at David and asked him "You can see him???" David nodded his head with excitement in his eyes and said that yes, he could see the head! I took another breath and started pushing again, watching David and feeding off of his excitement because I could feel nothing that was happening. It felt so surreal! The nurse said, "The contraction is still going - we can get one more push!" So I took one more deep breath and pushed as hard as I could without being about to feel anything other than my arms and all the sudden Caleb was there! He was born at 8:56 p.m.
It was amazing to see just a silver dollar size part of his head, and then more and more until he was born, it was beautiful.
I can not describe how crazy this moment felt. It came so incredibly fast, and I barely had two minutes to realize that I was going to be holding my baby so soon. I was a little shocked, but held out my hands and asked for him to come to me. I was trying to unstrap my gown because I wanted him on my chest right away. The nurse said something about drying him on a towel on my stomach first, but I said that I just wanted him the way that he was, so she helped me get him up to my chest. Immediately, I started talking to him and whispering how much I loved him. I wish there was a way to capture with words how much love there is during the birth of a child. I felt waves of love washing over me, filling me up - filling the whole room. It seemed impossible that everyone in the room wasn't overwhelmed with the incredible amount of emotion and sacredness that I was feeling. Apparently, it's pretty routine for them because at one point one of the nurses who was working on something close to my head kept chatting pretty loudly with one of the other nurses about something completely unrelated. I started "shhhh"-ing, finally touching her arm and "shhhh"-ing. I don't know if she knew I was talking to her, or if she thought I was trying to quiet my crying baby - but eventually she stopped (or maybe I just tuned her out).
Dr. Thomas had said something like "That's a big boy" or "he's pretty big!" but I didn't really think much about it. The nurse wanted to take him to weigh him, but I wasn't ready for them to take him yet. David said that it wasn't any sooner than with the Lydia and Austin, but I guess everything had happened so fast that I just wasn't ready to let go of my baby yet. It felt much sooner. So I deflected and told her that she could later - but not yet. Finally, right before Dr. Thomas left they asked if they could take him so that they could finish out the chart. David walked over with Caleb to the scale and when they said "8 lbs 13 oz" I about died! I'm pretty sure I gasped out loud. I can't believe how big he was, especially because I actually felt smaller toward the end of my pregnancy than I had with either of the other two (they were both 7 lbs 3 oz). I did feel like he was always very cramped though - he didn't kick much, just stretched out like he didn't have enough room.
Other things to note:
--I was more grateful for the epidural for the after-birth work than even for the delivery. It was nice to just be able to hold my baby without the pain of them pushing on my stomach or during the stitches.
--I had two small tears, one was about an inch long and the other much smaller than that. They both were fairly superficial (meaning they didn't go very deep).
--Dr. Thomas asked if we wanted to see the placenta, which was really cool. After it had all been delivered he held it up and explained the parts of the placenta and birth sac. Neither of us had ever really seen it because we'd been focused on other things - so it was cool that he took the time to show us.
--I had started shaking a little bit before the epidural, but after Caleb was born I started shaking pretty badly. It started small, but got to the point that I felt like my entire body was shaking out of control. I don't know if it felt much more extreme than it was, because no one seemed worried at all - while I felt like I was having a seizure. I asked the nurse, but she said it was normal.
--I also was itching SO badly. My neck and chest and arms were so itchy, and as the epidural started wearing off, the rest of my body progressively got itchy as well. By the morning it was gone, but man it was itchy! (I think this is a side effect of the epidural, so probably worth it... but...)
--He did a great job latching and eating the very first time, for a full ten minutes on each side.
--When we moved down to the mother/baby floor, I was so tired. I'm pretty sure I fell asleep in the wheelchair on the way down, and when the nurse was talking to us to get us set up in that room I couldn't keep my eyes open and basically just mm-hmmed anytime I thought she was trying to get an answer from me. David was a champ for just doing all of the talking.
Shantel held Caleb for a long time until it was about time to head down to the Mother and Baby rooms. She handed Caleb over to me and it was amazing to hold my little baby. Shantel got in the wheelchair and we packed up the room and headed downstairs. We got settled and Shantel fed Caleb again and he did great once again and then it was late and we got all settled in for the night. Caleb had been spitting up a lot of amniotic fluid and so we did not want to leave him in his basinet, so Shantel held him with her all night long. The nurses came in periodically, but for the most part, we went to sleep and got some rest. We'll cover the next couple days in the hospital with another post, but Shantel did want to include something special from Sunday.
Sunday morning, we had the opportunity to take the Sacrament at the hospital. There were two senior couples who are assigned to bring the Sacrament to those staying in the hospital and they had asked if we'd like them to come. Of course, we said yes. In preparation, David found a beautiful conference talk: "No Greater Joy Than to Know That They Know" by Elder K. Brett Nattress of the Seventy for us to watch together. The senior couples arrived and blessed the sacrament for us. During the sacrament prayer on the bread I was filled with such gratitude for the answers to prayers that we had received. I didn't specify while writing out Caleb's birth story - but in addition to the blessing that David gave to me the week before Caleb was born, that day he said many prayers for us together, like as we got into the car to head to the hospital and right before the anesthesiologist came to give the epidural. So many answered prayers. The spirit bore such a sweet witness about having Caleb in our family and a reminder that the strength and courage I was blessed with would continue to serve me throughout my life as a mother. As I listened to the words of the prayers I felt so strongly the importance of remembering the Savior and having his spirit with me as I strive to be a good mother to Caleb (and Lydia and Austin.) I had tears streaming down my face as I was able to partake of the sacrament. Afterwards, one of the sisters shared a brief message about family prayer and how important it was, even if it was in a car on the way to school - and both David and felt strongly the truth of the message. We want to be good parents. We want to show our children love through everything life might bring us. We want them to know that God loves them, no matter what happens. We want to have the spirit in our lives and teach our children the blessings of the gospel. I pray that we will be able to show this love throughout all our lives.
The few days that we were in the hospital we had many visitors, Caleb had his first bath, and David and I got to rest and soak in our tiny (8 lbs 13 oz is still tiny when you're talking about a little human!) baby. We bonded together and enjoyed every second (and every slice of chocolate mousse cake). I'm so grateful that Caleb's birth went so smoothly, but more than anything I'm glad that he arrived safely and that we have him home with us now. He's already the perfect addition to our family. We are so blessed to be together!
