A week has gone by

When I was at the hospital they recommended I get the whooping cough/tetnis shot. I got it right after I had Spencer and thought it was good for 10 years but the nurse said that they recommend it for every new mother that they get another one after a new baby. So I said yes. Friday night and all day Saturday I was feeling so awful from it. My arm they gave me the shot in was so sore, my body ached all over, I felt chills and felt like I was coming with something nasty. Maybe I had a worse reaction that most, but for them to give that to me with a one day old baby seems not fair.

Friday night (first night home with Caden) was really rough. Every single time I put him down he'd cry. He would not sleep and did not fall asleep until 3am. For reals-I couldn't believe it-aren't newborns supposed to sleep a lot? Why wasn't he sleeping? I think it was a combination of nights/days mixed up, wanting to feel safe and secure while being held and gas. After he finally got to sleep he was waking up every hour or so and I'd feed him because he was only eating for about 3 minutes before he was un-wakeable. Then the older boys woke up at 7 like normal and it was tough to help them out while being so sore and tired.

Saturday was a rough day. I will admit I had a breakdown. It seemed like Parker and Spencer were completely ganging up on Darrin and I and to everything we asked them to do or not do they'd say, "no!". Spencer had some accidents and my milk was coming in. I was feeling so down and doubtful if I could do this Mom of 3 thing.

Sunday was the most painful day with my milk coming in. I was so engorged and it was definately a no-hug zone kind of day. OUCH!!

Ever since Sunday has been wonderful though. I finally feel like I'm getting the hang of things a little better and life is good. I forget how much I LOVE having a newborn! He just smells so good, is so soft, and oh so cuddly! He doesn't talk back and is so forgiving. I love watching his smiles and expressions in his sleep, seeing his eyes open, and watching him streeeeetch :). I feel SO blessed to be a new Mommy all over again.

Another huge blessing is that Darrin has been able to work from home since Caden was born and will continue working remotely from home until next week! I have absolutely loved having him around and feel like we've really been able to take some time and bond with our new situation TOGETHER. He's such an amazing father and husband and I adore watching him interact with Caden and the other two boys. It's been so nice to be able to sleep in every once in while and take naps with Darrin around. Sleep is much appreciated here :).

We have been spoiled rotten with meals coming in, phone calls, and visits. Our ward has just been so generous. Today was our last meal that was brought. Seriously?! Who has gotten that many meals when they have a baby?! All in all we will have received 10 meals (Some of them to freeze)!!! The compassionate service leader called me after we received two meals already and said she just kept getting calls of people requesting to bring us food! It has been SO SO nice to spend the extra time spending quality time with my family rather than worrying about what to make for dinner and spending the time making it. Wow-we just feel so loved!

The boys love their baby brother SO much! They both get SO excited when his eyes open and want to hold him all the time Spencer talks about Caden constantly and says how cute he is, how he's out of my tummy now, tickles him and gives him sweet kisses. Parker is all about telling Caden about everything and anything he's doing. He wants Caden to watch him play basketball, watch him eat his dinner, watch him/listen to him read etc.

As far as how Caden is doing, he's doing really well. Sleeps A LOT. Our biggest challenge is trying to get him to eat a full "meal" since he just falls asleep. It takes a lot of effort and time on my part to tickle, change his diaper, take off clothes, stroke his face etc etc to get him awake enough and a lot of times I fail. But nights are getting better and he's just so much fun to have around!

Here's my attempt at doing my own newborn pictures. One week old!:

Welcome, Welcome!

Our sweet Caden Rian Simon made his way into the world on August 6th. I can hardly believe he's almost a week old!

As I said before, I was desperately hoping to go into labor spontaneously on my own before my induction date which was set for 40 weeks 3 days-August 6th. Well, despite my best efforts, it didn't happen. My body seems to dilate and soften plenty on it's own but as for being in full on labor, I need that extra push at the end. At my last midwife appointment I was almost dilated to a 5, 90% effaced, super soft and stretchy, and he was way way low (all according to my midwife obviously :)).

I was feeling quite anxious on Tuesday as is totally normal when you KNOW you'll be having your baby the next day. So, due to my sisters advice, I called my midwife to come up with a set game plan so I could know more of what to expect the next day. I would be induced at a new hospital with a new midwife (I've had OB's my last two pregnancies) and had some concerns. My concerns were that both of my other babies were induced and they both had rapid heart rates when they were born and I couldn't help but wonder if it was due to the pitocin or something. I also really wanted to do this non-medicated and was concerned about how much more intense it is when you're induced rather than go into labor on your own. I wanted to know what my midwife was thinking for a plan. I wanted to know how much she'd be there.

Well, she made me feel much more calm and collected. Her game plan was this (if it was ok with me): I'd go in and she'd start off by breaking my water. Then I would pump (breast pump) for 15 minutes, walk for 30, repeat. If by 2-3 hours this method wasn't effective, then we could start me on a low dose of pitocin and go from there. I felt comfortable with this. She assured me that I could do it non-medicated despite being induced if I set my mind to it. She said she'd be there to break my water and then back at her office she has a monitor where she can see all my contractions, the babies heartbeat, all my stats etc. She once I was dilated to a 6 or so she'd come check on me and go from there.

I was supposed to call into Riverton Hospital at 6:30am on Wednesday morning. Of course I couldn't sleep past 6am, so I was up and took a nice bath before I called. When I called they told me to call back in an hour. Grrr-but that's ok. I called back at 7:30am and the charge nurse explained to me that I was third on "the list" and they had a couple people come in sick the night before and hadn't got anyone in yet for inductions. So, she said IF they were able to get me in it wouldn't be for at LEAST a few hours..."don't call us-we'll call you" she said. What?!? Are you kidding me? Torture.

Darrin already took the day off work, so we went for a big breakfast at Village Inn, went walking around Ross, Hobby Lobby and Target, and then we headed to a movie. We went to see IMAX 3D "Guardians of the Galaxy". We got through all the previews and just as the movie was about to start I got a PHONE CALL!! I ran out so I could hear what she was saying and she said, "Trisha? We're READY FOR YOU to come on in!" I went running back into the theater and jumped up and down to tell Darrin it WAS FINALLY TIME!!!

We already had the car packed up, so we headed right over to the hospital (after getting our movie tickets refunded :)). We got there at 12:30pm. They checked me in, hooked me up, asked all the typical questions and my midwife got there at 1:30pm. She broke my water right away and left to go get the breast pump with the nurse. By the time they got back I had already had two really strong contractions about 3 minutes apart. I started pumping and had two more intense contractions within about 5 minutes. I called the nurse and told her I wanted to stop pumping to get up and MOVE through these contractions rather than sit down while pumping. My midwife came back in and saw that this was the real deal. No pitocin or pumping needed. She stayed with Darrin and I the whole time. She helped me to try out a few positions that helped, she helped Darrin assist me in these positions and she and Darrin together pushed on my knees and back which helped. I was trying to keep a good attitude during my "breaks" between contractions. But my "breaks" were only about 30 seconds apart and so I asked, "Did you want to check me?" She said she did and so I got on the bed and she checked me quickly in between contractions. "You're about a 6 or 7", she said, "He's so so low, I'm sure you're feeling pressure but I can't have you push just yet". So she had me lay on my side while she and Darrin did counter pressure on my knees and low back. About 10-15 minutes later she said, "LET'S PUSH THIS BABY OUT!" I could hardly believe it! Darrin mentioned to her that I wanted the mirror down so I could see and she said, "Well, there's just no time!". Sure enough, two contractions later he was in my arms.

When they placed him on me I could hardly believe it. He was HERE! My baby boy was here! He was super purple which made me a bit nervous. The baby nurse kept rubbing him and rubbing him but he wasn't pinking up. The baby nurse was black and kept making black jokes because he was so purple :). So Darrin cut the cord and they took him to the lights to rub him some more and he pinked up. His cry was so soft. While he was getting pink, I was doing my best to deliver the placenta and it was difficult and painful. I was bleeding more than normal as well so they gave my cidatec to help with the bleeding. The cramping was really bad this time around. Later that evening I was shaking and shaking with terrible cramping. They said it was due to the cidatec but that it was helping my bleeding. They gave him back to me after he was pink and I just got to hold and cuddle him. Then for the first time, I was able to nurse him right away. My other babies both had to wait at least a few hours due to their rapid heart rates so they wouldn't aspirate. He latched on right away.

Darrin and I got to spend some time with him before the visitors came which was just so mellow and enjoyable. Parker and Spencer got to meet Caden within a couple hours of him being born which was so special. They were both so cute with him and wanted to hold him. Spencer was a bit confused about it all-like where in the world did my watermelon belly go and was this really his baby brother? Parker was just estatic and so excited.

We requested to leave the next day since 2 days seemed a bit extreme since we were both healthy. It was pretty boring in the hospital to be honest. I wanted to get home and so did Darrin. We both had a clean bill of health and were good to go the next day. Yay!

Picture time!

SO excited to be at the hospital and know I'd be meeting my baby soon!


Darrin caught a picture of me breathing through one the the earlier contractions just as I started to pump:


He's here! Welcome Caden! 8oz. 21". Had a bruised face due to his fast arrival:


It's nice to meet you!



Some more:


Post to come soon about how life has been the past week :)