Since this was my first home on SheKnows, I wanted to post my story here. I hope that no one will mind.
Our Father’s Day Surprise
Our little guy decided to meet us on Father’s Day, June 17 2007 at 38 weeks 3 days. Caden William arrived by c/s at 7:56 p.m. weighing 6lbs. 3oz. and 18 inches long. He has lots of dark hair and looks just like his Daddy.
At 7:30 a.m. my water broke and we called the doctor. He told us to head to the hospital, so we showered, packed up, charged all batteries for cameras and video. I had packed the diaper bag the night before, but nothing else had been done since at my last appointment showed only some softening and no dilating. My plan was to pack on Sunday in anticipation of our appointment on Tuesday where we would learn of in induction date just before or at 39 weeks.
On the way to the hospital my contractions, more like slight menstrual cramps, were 4 minutes apart and getting closer to 3 as we neared the hospital. I was 1-2 cm when I was checked once we arrived and the rest of my water gushed out.
I was admitted into the labor and delivery room around 11:45. We spoke with the doctor on-call to discuss the plan. I made it very clear that although I needed to attempt a vaginal birth with an epidural, but I was open to a c/s if there were signs of distress and/or failure to progress.
As soon as we were set up I was started on pitocin. By 2:40 I was at 2 cm and then onto 3cm sometime before 5. The contractions were fine and coming about 2 minutes apart, but I was reminded that I shouldn’t wait too long to ask for one just something came up and I couldn’t get one before it was too late.
Around 3:15 I went back and forth about when I needed the epidural since the contractions weren’t bad. I told the nurse to ask me what time I’d like the anesthesiologist to come in during a contraction. That set the plan in place. Although the contractions were fine, I decided I wouldn’t want to experience them any closer than less than 1 minute apart. By 4:30 the epidural was in place and by 5:00 I was 4 cm.
We were excited to see progress as we were expecting this to last through the night, but maybe we’d have a Father’s Day baby after all. However, after the epi the progress slowed and he wasn’t tolerating the contractions so well once they were closer together. By this time, I had to concentrate to even know if I was having one. I was asked to shift to different positions to keep the monitors on him and to see if we could keep his heart rate up. The nurse assured me that he was fine, but the dips were becoming a little more frequent.
The pitocin was turned off at 6:15 at 6cm and she inserted an internal monitor on his head to get a better idea of the contractions. At 6:47 she turned the pitocin back up just a little to see if progress would continue. She came back shortly after that to check me and she felt that I probably had lost most of the fluid and the baby wouldn’t have enough to get into a better position. She left said she’d go get the doctor. We knew the direction that this was headed now and I was relieved. The c/s wasn’t a true emergency, but we didn’t need to wait until that point.
Everything moved very quickly at this point. I’m thankful I had the epi when I did so now I just needed a little more and I was good to go. Chad’s job was to take as many pictures as possible and to not worry about me.
I was flooded with emotions once in place in OR. I couldn’t believe that after all this time, our dream was about to arrive. The anesthesiologist was wonderful and received the cliff notes on our journey so he would understand that they were tears of joy rather than those of pain.
At 7:56 p.m. a little more than 12 hours after my water breaking. I heard the most beautiful sound of our little guy testing out those lungs! Happy Father’s Day, Chad!
I really felt the impact of the circle of life this weekend and I think our little guy really knew the significance of the timing hence his early arrival. As a matter of fact, I believe there was a reason for his timing back in October after all these years. This was my first Father’s Day without my father, which happened to fall 1 day after 6 months of his passing.
The only concern I had about having a c/s was not being able to immediately bond with my little guy and having to wait a couple of hours to snuggle with him. However, I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to see so much afterwards and they didn’t immediately take him off to the nursery, which is typical. Watching him kept me occupied while they finished up with me. Chad gets an A+ for the photography and video.
Afterwards, the doctor explained that his head wasn’t in a good position and wouldn’t have been able to turn for a vaginal birth.
We are completely in love with this little guy! It’s truly amazing to watch Chad with him. I can’t even begin to describe it in words. We were thrilled to celebrate our first day home with him and our 8th anniversary as a family yesterday.
My recovery has gone well and I’ve been up and about with no problems. We stayed the maximum time allowed at the hospital so I wouldn’t have as much moving around to do. We were encouraged to use the nursery often, but we only opted to do it for 1 night since had hadn’t been eating much and they wanted to work on his latch and get as much food in him as they could. Of course the following night was an all-nighter, but we didn’t have the heart to send him away.
We’ve taken so many pictures, but have yet to upload anything. Below is the link to the on-line nursery photo.
http://www.mountcarmelhealth.com/216...=087&bid=56803
On Tuesday, we decided to switch his name around since we intended to use Caden as a first name anyway. It just simplified things.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you for all the support these last four years. I’ve made some incredible friends along the way and the support from everyone means the world to me.
Hey, SheKnows Guest - we need you! The SheKnows TTC boards aren't going anywhere - but perhaps you'd consider helping us grow our 
Re: Our Father's Day Surprise (long x-post)
. I've just been waiting to do this for many years 
. He is BEAUTIFUL NANCY!!!
Misty! I saw you tried to pm, but my box is full! I love your sig! How was your trip? So what did you think of Hawaii? We absolutely love it there.
Nancy and Chad!!
Re: Our Father's Day Surprise (long x-post)
When it got to be several days since your last post, I knew something had to be up!!! Congrats to you and Chad! Caden is absolutely beautiful! Buckle up...you've just started the ride of your life! But it's the best one you'll ever take!!! Congrats again!!!
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