I have said before that I started this blog as a way to record special events and memories made by our family. The plan is to have a book made at the end of my first blogging year. I started when Kellan was 6 months old, so when he is 18 months we will get our first "blog book" published. I have friends that have done this and the books are awesome. Such great family records!
The purpose of this post is to record the story of Kellan's birth-day. I especially feel the need to do this while that day is still fresh in my mind....and even more so now that Baby #2 is on the way! If I am anything like my mother (and judging by the way things are going up to this point in my life, chances are looking REALLY good), after a few years down the road, remembering the details of each child's milestones is going to get tricky. Sometimes my mom will tell me something about mine or my sister's childhood and I know she has us mixed up! Either that or she will just honestly say she doesn't remember. I'm already bad about not remembering things unless I write them down so I know the same thing is going to happen to me, no matter how much I think it won't, unless I write it down for us to read in the future.
So this is the story of the day Kellan decided he was ready to come into the world...
On October 20, 2011, ON my due date, around 6:45 a.m., I woke up feeling uncomfortable and extremely mild cramping in my back. Not pain and not squeezing or contractions, just enough discomfort for me to notice. Well Michael had already left for work so I told myself it was just part of being at the end of my pregnancy and I tried to go back to sleep. When the feelings didn't seem to be going away, the thought occurred to me that maybe this was the beginning of labor. Another part of me kept thinking that it couldn't be labor because what baby actually decides to come on their due date?! After a few more minutes, I decided that I was definitely in the early stages of labor, so what did I do? Call Michael? Call the hospital? Call my mom? Nope I got up, took a shower, washed my hair, dried my hair (straightened it and everything), and put on my makeup. Now in my defense, the nurse that taught my labor and delivery class told us that when in labor with your first child there is no reason to rush to the hospital at the first signs of labor because typically mothers have to wait hours upon hours before anything exciting happens. At this point I still felt fine other than just mild discomfort. The other strange thing that I did was while I was drying my hair I put a towel on the bathroom floor under where I was standing, just in case my water broke. Well while I was putting on my make up...my water broke! Not a gush, just the slightest trickle, so little that I wasn't even sure that that's what it was! You may also think I'm strange for putting on make up but the same labor and delivery nurse told our class that after a day of laboring and pushing, chances are you're going to look pretty rough. So her exact words were, "You might want to think about starting out looking your best, because things are going to get ugly." Well I have always been one to follow directions, so make up and all...I was ready!
After I convinced myself that my water was in the process of breaking, I finally called Michael around 9-9:30 a.m. He was actually pretty calm on the phone (I can only imagine how he drove) and he came home right away. When he got there I convinced him that he had time to take a shower because I still wasn't in any pain. I called my doctor's office, told them what was going on, and they told me to head to the hospital. I remember the operator asking me how much time was in between my contractions and I had the hardest time telling them. My "contractions" weren't like anything that I had heard anyone describe. I never felt any discomfort in my stomach and they never felt like squeezing. All I felt were slight cramps in my back and they didn't seem to come and go but it was a constant discomfort. While Michael was in the shower I called my mom and told her everything that was going on and she was going to get my dad and head our way. As a side note, my dad works out in the field on some days and on this particular day, my mom had the hardest time getting in contact with him...I do believe that he almost got left!
After Michael got out of the shower we headed to the hospital which was about 30 minutes away. On the way, my discomfort was increasing but nothing extremely painful. When we got there I still felt well enough that I convinced Michael that he didn't need to drop me off at the door. We parked the car like usual and I walked myself in. I even had to fight him off for getting me a wheel chair...I walked myself right into labor and delivery somewhere around 10:30. Michael took my picture in my hospital gown at 10:35 and that's when things started moving pretty fast.
Not long after I got in the hospital bed my discomfort started increasing rapidly. The nurses came in, started my IV, asked the usual questions, and pretty soon I was in so much pain I was having a hard time being still. It such a difficult feeling to describe. Like I said I never felt pain in my stomach...it was all in my back, and I felt like if I could lay a certain way I would feel better. Unfortunately when you are in labor no position makes the pain go away! Michael and I had planned to bank the baby's cord blood so Dr. Roberts had all of the materials laid on the rolly table that was going across my legs. I remember him telling me to try to keep my legs still so that I wouldn't knock the vials off the table. I LOVE Dr. Roberts and prayed many times that he would be the doctor on call when I went into labor...but when he told me to try to keep my legs still when I was in so much pain...I do believe I could have kicked the man....I really think I could have.
Next, Dr. Roberts told me that he had called for the epidural because there was no reason for me to be in pain if I didn't have to be. However, when he did a physical exam to see how far along I was, I was already dilated 7 centimeters (you only have to get to 10 to be able to start pushing!) and there was a slight problem. The baby was not head down in the birth canal like he should have been...he was breech and was butt first in the birth canal. This explained why I never felt the pressure of his head dropping and why I didn't have a gush when my water broke. His little behind was stopping up the birth canal! After he realized that the baby was breech, he told me that there was going to be a change of plans and that he had now called for a spinal instead of an epidural. At that time, I was hurting so much, the hospital staff could have paraded me naked down Main Street and I wouldn't have complained at all if it was going to get me closer to making the pain stop.
Michael had to hurry and fill out the paperwork for the cord blood banking and that meant that we had to decide on a name right then and there. We had narrowed it down to 2 names. Aiden Michael and Kellan Michael. We both loved Aiden but it had been the most popular name for the last couple of years and we just couldn't bring ourselves to use it. I remember Michael asking me if I was sure that he was going to be Kellan Michael and I remember telling him just to put something down...at that point, he could have named him anything and I would have been fine with it.
He also had to call my parents, who were on their way but were 3 hours away, to tell them that plans had changed and I was going to have to have a c-section. I'm sure he called his family too but all I remember is my mom asking to speak to me and I was in such pain I wouldn't take the phone because I couldn't talk. Not long after, Michael changed into scrubs and off we went to the operating room. It just took a minute for them to get my spinal done (immediate relief! one little prick in my back and I could no longer feel any pain or anything else from the waist down) and before I knew it Michael was sitting beside me telling me that he was huge! When I say you can't feel anything...I really couldn't feel anything...I had no idea that the surgery had already started and little Kellan was already out! I remember saying "Who is huge?" one because I didn't know anything had even happened yet, and two because I never was really big enough to imagine that a huge baby was hiding in there.
My sister told me later that Michael had sent her a picture of Kellan right after he was born. She immediately called my mom to ask if she had gotten the picture of the baby? My mom's response? "What baby?!" It had all happened so fast she couldn't believe that Kellan was already here and Michael was sending out pictures.
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| Kimberlee's response to this picture? "Thank goodness you had gotten your roots done!" Hee hee...gotta love friends looking out for your best interests :D |
Turns out Michael was just excited because Kellan was 7 lbs 15 1/2 ounces and 19 inches long...not a small baby but not exactly what I would call huge either! We arrived at the hospital at 10:30 a.m. and around 11:30 a.m. little Kellan Michael was here! This was not at all how we had ever imagined this day was going to go. I never in a million years dreamed that I would have to have a c-section. In fact, every book, article, website, etc. that I came across that had anything at all to do with having a c-section, I skipped right over because I just knew that it didn't pertain to me! What is that saying? If you want God to laugh, tell him your plans. Well God was definitely laughing at me because I could have never ever planned for that crazy day!
I was in and out of it for a little while after surgery but the main thing I remember is being SO COLD in the operating room. I can't remember what the nurse said, I'm not sure if it was the spinal or something that was in my IV, but she told Michael that something makes your blood pressure drop during surgery, making you cold. I remember Michael telling the nurses that I was cold and they put a heated blanket across my arms. I also remember seeing Kellan for the first time while they were cleaning him up and his butt and private parts were blue and his little legs kept springing up! He had been wedged in the birth canal butt first for so long it took a little while before his legs would lay flat and the color came back. The doctor and nurses said everything was fine and it would work itself out.
I had to go to the recovery room for a few hours so it was a while before I was able to see Kellan. I know Michael's mom and dad and his grandparents came to visit but I don't remember a whole lot about their visits. I was out of it and really, really tired but I do remember the first time I was able to hold this little bundle...
I just remember feeling so relieved that it was all over and that he was finally HERE! My parents were here by that afternoon and by then I had been moved onto the postpartum hall and into the room I stayed in for the remainder of our time. Kellan was the best baby even in the hospital and he latched right on the first time I tried to breast feed. The first night he stayed in the nursery, even though we really wanted to keep him in the room with us, one of the nurses bullied us into him going back with her. That is one piece of advice that I have (other than be prepared for ANYTHING) stand up for what you want even if the nurses try to tell you otherwise. The second night he did stay in the room with us and it was a lot more comfortable for me to have him nearby. When he woke up during the night, Michael would hand him to me, I would feed him, and then he put him back in his little bed and he went right back to sleep. It was much more convenient to do that than to have a nurse waking you up every few hours to feed him and then take him back with them. Everybody is different but that is just my opinion.
I also know every one's recovery from a c-section is different but mine was awesome. I never used my Percoset drip at all. I'm not saying I wasn't uncomfortable at times but it was never anything that I didn't feel I could handle. There was one time during the night that I started feeling really, really uncomfortable and I finally called a nurse. They quickly realized that there was a kink in one of the tubes coming from my catheter and as soon as she straightened it I felt immediate relief. My poor bladder and kidneys were probably about to explode!
The second day my catheter was removed and I could actually get out of bed, use the bathroom on my own and shower. It was a weird experience and I was definitely walking on wobbly legs for a while. After all of the newborn tests we were discharged and able to go home the afternoon of October 22.
We had Kellan all dressed and ready to go in this hat made my Michael's grandma Grizzard and this little sleep sack given to us by Kimberlee and Jenni. We were all packed up and waiting on someone to come with a wheel chair for me (hospital procedure) when I realized that if he was wearing a sleep sack, the car seat straps weren't going to be able to go between his legs! And see I'm already forgetting...I don't remember if we just pulled it up, strapped him in, and covered his legs with a blanket or if we changed his clothes! How could I forget that? But I already have!
When we got home my parents, sister, brother in law, nephew, and Michael's mom were all waiting for us! Kellan was a loved little boy right from the start and we can't imagine what our life would be like without him! Right from the beginning Michael has been such an involved daddy. He has changed diapers from Kellan's first day up to the present. He was then and is still the main one that takes over bath duty and he even got up with me the first few nights we were at home until I finally convinced him that it was silly for him to get up when he had to go to work in the mornings. Kellan is a lucky little boy to have such a helpful dad and we are lucky parents to call him ours :)
*Also as a side note, the night before I went into labor I had gone to the Melting Pot for their Ladies Night Cheese and Chocolate special with Julie and Lisa. On our way there they kept telling me it was going to be so good it was going to send me into labor...boy were they right! This is just a warning for anyone that chooses to indulge in cheese and chocolate while you are close to your due date!
