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 :)