He's here! Isaac Nevin Caskey joined the family on April 25th and we're so happy to have him here. He is so sweet, and he reminds us a lot of Kaelyn. So far, he hasn't really cried, just whimpers when he's hungry. Kaelyn did the same thing, but of course now she's making up for that lost time with high-pitched squealing. Luckily it doesn't even phase Isaac! Also, he rolled over for his first time when he was 3 days old, and has continued to roll over since then. Kaelyn first rolled over at 10 days, so he has her beat.
7 lbs 4 oz - 20 inches
Isaac has been an angel, which definitely makes up for the labor experience! Here's how the story goes... (I tried to shorten it, but it's still really long!)
Because I had Kaelyn so fast, I was worried about how fast Isaac would come, and so was my doctor. With Kaelyn, I didn't head to the hospital until my contractions were unbearable and about 2 minutes apart, so I had her about 40 minutes after getting to the hospital. Just enough time to get an epidural and start pushing. Perfect! Anyway, my doctor had been warning me all along that I would go fast when the time came, and I did not want to have a baby in the car. Also, I did not want to have a baby without an epidural! I'm a wimp like that. So, the doctor advised to me head straight to the hospital as soon as my contractions got painful. At 4:30 on Monday morning, they started getting painful and were regular. I did the warm bath/Tylenol thing to see if the would slow or the pain would lessen, but they didn't. At this point they were about 6 minutes apart and not getting any closer together, so I waited until 6:30 to head to the hospital. An awesome ward member and friend came over to stay with Kaelyn while we were gone. At 6:45 I checked into the Billing Birthing Center. I felt little silly because I wasn't in a lot of pain, but I'd rather be there early than late! I got all checked in and found out I was dilated to a 5, which I had been for several days. While lying in the hospital bed with the contraction trackers, I checked out my nifty hospital wristband. This is what it read:
So they were a little off! Little did I know, though, that this minor error was going to be pretty telling of the rest of my day! The nurse, Jerry, (please request to not have Jerry if you are in Billings) quickly traded my bracelet for the correct one. After I had been there for a couple of hours, she checked me again only to discover I had not dilated any more even though the contraction had become more painful and had remained consistent. The doctor had told me the Friday before that I was dilated to a 5, as did the nurse I had before Jerry. Jerry told me that even though my physician and the previous nurse had said I was a five, I was only a 4 (Her fingers were quite large. I think that explains this.) The hospital kept me a little longer because they were concerned about my blood pressure being high. I was convinced they would keep me with the history of my last labor, but around 10:30 my nurse came back in the triage room and told me I would have to go home because there was no progression. I was devastated and so scared. The nurse was telling me to leave now that my contractions were 3 minutes apart and even more painful than before. If I was feeling this way now, at what point was I supposed to come back? The contractions were already very painful and scaring me! I told the nurse about my concerns, but that didn't change her mind. I told her there was a lot of pain, so she sent me home with some Percocet. Before we left, Brock tried to let her know how worried we were, that it would take 15 minutes to get back to the hospital and we didn't know if that would be enough time. The nurse acted offended and just repeated herself. So, we left as directed.
I puked the whole way home. I don't know if it was nerves, the Percocet, or the labor. By the time we got home I couldn't walk very well because the Percocet was doing it's job! Brock took me upstairs. I was told to lay down on my left side (because the baby was on my right. I'm not sure why I couldn't do that in the hospital though!). After about 30 minutes of laying down, the really painful contractions started. I only had 2 contractions before I asked Brock for a blessing. Right after, I called the nurse back to tell her that although my contractions were 10 minutes apart, they really were unbearable, even with the Percocet. She said to do whatever I felt comfortable with, even though they would probably send me back again. I knew that this pain was too much to be nothing, though.
By the time we got to the car and on the road (about 3 minutes after the phone call), my contractions were 1 minute part and I could feel that baby trying to get out! When we got to the hospital, I was cursing the nurses name, shaking uncontrollably and just trying to hold the baby in until I was on a hospital bed. We reached the hospital at 2:00, and I delivered Isaac after 1 push at 2:09. I asked after the delivery if I could still have an epidural, but they said no! Haha! See, I am a wimp! I endured the birth and still thought it hurt to be stitched up!
Part of me was very grateful for the way things went because I ended up having an excellent doctor, who I trusted more than my actual doc, deliver Isaac who just happened to be available. She came in handy later that day also.
The rest of the evening went well. Brock was there with me, so that was very nice. That night was a different story though! At about 10 p.m. I had finished feeding Isaac and stood up to change his diaper. After standing for few minutes, I felt huge amount of blood rushing down my legs. Immediately there were pools of blood around both of my feet that were growing very fast. I pushed the button to call my nurse and figured I better leave Isaac on the bed in case I got dizzy. I won't go in to all the details, but basically there were such large clots still in my uterus that the nurse pushed as many as she could out by pushing on my lower abdomen. I was so bruised after that! Then they called the doctor back in who delivered Isaac to get the rest of the clots out by hand. I was so grateful that they put me on Fentanyl for that because I still felt like I was going to pass out from pain while in a euphoric state!! I can definitely see how someone would get addicted to that drug! The worst part of the whole experience was that I was at the hospital alone. I was scared and there were so many people in my room rushing around I got a little worried. I wasn't allowed to get back up for the rest of the night. It was a long, lonely night but I'm so glad that is over with! I should also add that the reason I had such large clots was because I didn't get to the hospital in time to have and IV with Pitocin. I did get an injection of Pit later, but apparently it didn't work as well!
Now, things are great and I'm so happy to be done with that hospital. One last thing, though, the next day a nurse came in and asked if I would switch rooms. I was quite surprised they were asking me this after what they'd put me through! Of course I couldn't say no, though, and I hated the room and bed they moved me to! They did make up for it somewhat, though, with a $50 gift card to Walmart for moving rooms. Brock thought it should be a gift card toward the next child, but we didn't end up so lucky!
We're so grateful for the little family that we have. We are SO blessed. I have several friends who are trying to get pregnant, and who are awesome parents. I always pray that they will soon be able to experience the joy of a newborn again. I sometimes hesitate to share the joy for that reason, but I'll just shout it out this once! Thanks to everyone for the support you've given us. We are happy and healthy and grateful. :-)
Kaelyn loves being a big sister. She is so sweet with Isaac and is always kissing him or putting her cheek softly against his or rubbing is soft head. So far they are the best of friends. We'll see how long that lasts ;)
