More Pictures

Month 1

I thought I would take a minute while Keldon was content and swinging in his swing to update a little on my life as a new mommy. IT IS WORK! I knew it would be hard and that I would be tired but I don't think I really think I understood how draining it would really be. The first week home is a teaser. Keldon nursed so good, burped within a minute and slept so good. I thought I had a perfect baby. I told my sisters that I think I got lucky and that he was so easy and perfect. Then week 2 hit. Ha ha, Reality set in. The adrenaline wears off, my live in nanny (Sister Sherri) left, Keldon had to go to the hospital for a night for biliruben treatment and got nipple confusion when they took him off breast milk, and then everything hit me. I had to get to appointments at a certain time which also seem to be when he was hungry, and grocery shopping is a whole different blog post. I will have to say, that I am not naive though. Before I had him, every time I would go grocery shopping and was irritated and in a hurry I would tell myself to relax and enjoy the time alone. I even estimated how many childless trips I had left when I first got pregnant. I go to winco at least 2x a month x 10 months of pregnancy. Each time I went I would do the count down and force myself to enjoy shopping without all the hassle. Around week three I had a really hard time. I made it through the first two weeks without a breakdown but week 3 was the end of that. Keldon was really fussy and gassy and overall just irritated. I would do okay during the day if I got to sleep a little in the morning with him but during night feedings I would get so frustrated. It was hot in the house, he would take forever to eat and then spit up because he wouldn't burp and then fuss because he was able to eat fast enough which to me was abnormal but to anyone who has had a baby is just a memory, "Oh, I remember those days, it goes by so fast," "If you can just make it to 6 weeks, it gets better..." I'm happy to say I am on my way. The end of week 3 and on to this week has been a lot better. I just have to remind myself that he depends on me and that getting frusterated and worked up only makes me feel more hopeless, plus it drains my energy and heaven knows I only have so much of that. I have really been missing my mom lately too which has sort of been hard for me to deal with. I try not to let it overwhelm me and take over my life but sometimes it feels good just to have a quick little cry. It seems to hit me more when things are really hard or when something great has just happended. The highs and the lows....I just want to share stuff with her. I wish I could see her holding my sweet little baby and hear her voice just once tell me how precious he really is. I went out to my dads the other day and had my step mom spoil me. I called and told her if she cooked me up some good breakfast I would trade her a sweet little man to hold and kiss on for a while. After I ate, and nursed Keldon, we took a nap together in what used to be my parents bedroom. I laid on the bed and just stared at my baby and couldn't help but cry as I remembered not long ago that my mom and I laid in that same bed and she told me how pretty I was... her little baby girl. We use to snuggle in her bed when she was sick and she would tell me stories, we would share stuff and just talk. Most of the time, even though she was sick she would be rubbing my head or playing with my hair. The other night Keldon was throwing a little fit while I was trying to nurse him and I started to rub his little head and around his temples the Grandma Carver/Mom way and he fell asleep.... Oh I miss my mom so much dangit. I went to her grave yesterday to bring flowers for memorial day. When she was picking out her funeral stuff, she made a comment at the family meeting about making sure we had her headstone set before memorial day at least. We all had a laugh about it. I wasn't able to go up to the cemetery on mothers day so I had to get up there yesterday. Chris and Keldon were with me and it seemed so surreal, me having my own little family. I was reading Tammy Ottley's blog the other day and she posted a cute post about how she just realized she was all grown up. When did she grow up, she has a car and a house and a husband and so on. I have felt that way since I had Keldon. I got his insurance card in the mail the other day addressed to Keldon Cain, that is just weird, I have a son! It really hit me when I took him in for his circumcision and felt like crying because I'm sad that he has to feel pain, or getting a pku lab done while I'm holding him and he is bawling. That is when you feel like a mom.

Funny and Cute little Keldon things:

He grunts and squeaks all the time and is an especially noisy sleeper

He loves his swing and likes to be around a lot of noise. If he falls asleep with noise or in his swing and you turn either one off, he squeaks and grunts and wakes up when you stop it or move him.

He screams when you change him but has soon as you snap his onsie on he completely goes limp and calms down.

He is a super loud burper and a loud little tooter too

He loves to have his hands open wide and always holds them straight out and stiff like a karate chop. When he nurses he either has a hand on me or on his face or next to his head by his ear.

He can hold his head up and started trying since he was 2 days old.

He has strong little calf and thigh muscles and even has little defined forearm and back muscles. When he has a bubble in his tummy he turns from side to side and throws his head back when you put him up to burp him he always brings his knees up to his chests and pushes off of you and fusses. As soon as he burps or spits up he will lay flat and stick his legs straight out and point his toes. That is when you know he is content.
He likes to be held close chest to chest on his side and bounced up and down if you are trying to calm him down or put him to sleep.

He doesn't mind taking a bath and likes to have a wash cloth covering his tummy to keep him warm.
When he is waiting for me to get situated to nurse and /or is hungry, he sucks on the back of his hand or on his forearm.

He is always pretty content and alert between 6 and 11 o'clock feedings and snuggles on daddy's chest when he gets home from work.

First week home

My sister Sherri came from Boise to help me through my labor and the first few days at home
We spent a lot of time eating and snuggling Baby K. It was so fun to have her here. The first few days were kind of a blur. Changing diapers and getting the hang of breast feeding. I got my first real glimpse into motherhood when Keldon had to go back into the hospital for jaundice. I got all teary eyed and emotional and had to leave the room when they did his blood work for the 3rd time in one day. So far things have been really good. I am a spoiled mommy . He is soooo good. He eats good, sleeps good and hardly ever fusses. He only cries for a minute when he is hungry and has to wait or when he gets his diaper changed. He loves to be swaddled and held, and his swing is my favorite. He seems to be out to get his dad..... he has peed on Chris a handful of times and even gives him a projectile poop once in a while before he gets the clean diaper on.

The curious little toad man....































































Our first attempt at a bath! Aunt Sherri and Daddy helped.
Keldon pooped in the tub when we were just getting done.




























I sneak snuggles in for dad sometimes in the morning before work















We had our first visit with the pediatrician on Wednesday. He wasn't at the hospital when Keldon was born so we had never seen him before. I really liked him. He was super personable and very down to earth. We had to get his blood work done to check his biliruben levels for jaundice. He turned out to be at a level 17.4 with 18 being where they draw the line for treatment. Because he had a hematoma when he was born and our blood types being different, his risk factor was higher than normal. We had to go into the hospital over night to get him under the biliruben light and help the jaundice to resolve. Breast milk doesn't bind to biliruben so I had to formula feed for 24 hours and pump instead. The orange pictures are the newborn room at Dr. Gavino's office. Keldon looks so tiny on the table. The other ones are from the hospital. That little bed looks like a mini tanning bed. Dad was making jokes about Keldon getting a tan. He did come home a little more red!

Coming home

We got home from the hospital around noon yesterday. We had a little problem figuring out the carseat and getting him situated. He is so little he looks like a bug in there! The hospital has a lady that comes by and takes a picture for the website so we had to do all that. Keldon is a sweetheart. It is probably just the new mom in me talking but I don't care, that is what I think. Even when you are breastfeeding and your tummy is cramping like you are in labor again, you get over it because all it takes is for him to open his eyes or wrap his little hand around your finger and you are fine. Chris is sooooo in love with his little boy. After I feed him he always takes him and is all about changing his diaper. I think it is just because he wants to snuggle with him.

24 HOURS OLD

MUCH CUTER AFTER A BATH AND THE SWELLING GOES DOWN. WE GET TO GO HOME IN THE MORNING!

Welcome to the World Handsome Baby K!

KELDON DAVID CAIN
BORN MAY 1ST 2009 @ 10:34 PM
6 LBS 5 OZ 19 INCHES LONG

This isn't a very clear picture but at least you can see him. I went in yesterday morning at 8:00 am to be induced. I was given cytotec vaginally which is a drug that helps to ripen (open/dilate) your cervix around 8:40am. Your Cervix has to go from 0-10 to deliver which is completely closed to the size of baby's head. I was only 1/2 centimeter dilated and 50% effaced. Almost like starting from scratch. Once in labor, some people dilate faster than others and some just get stuck at a certain point. Usually I think you dilate about one to two centimeters and hour when you are in the actual labor part. Everything is really blurry right now as far as details, so I will do a better post later when I have notes from Kim. I only got one dose of cytotec and right away felt contractions like crazy. They were fairly consisitant and I could see them on the chart which was kind of exciting. I knew I wasn't making the pain up then! The contractions eased up a bit when I got up and walked around for while. Dr. Salisbury checked me later and I was a 1. Then from 2-10 I was a hurting mess. I am too tired to remember everything. I got in the tub for a while which was AWESOME. Chris did the best job helping me breath and get into a rythm. I had to get back in bed to be on the monitors again for a while and then It really stepped up a notch. I was laying on my right side and closing my eyes so I could block out everything in my mind. I didn't want to be rubbed, just a steady hand and no talking. I had my legs together and was on my side but kept feeling like my pelvis was opening and separating and it came really fast. The nurse checked me again and I was at a five. After a while, they got more intense and I decided to have 1/2 a dose of a mild pain killer in my IV. That hit for maybe 2 minutes max. I can't remember if I threw up before or after that but I threw up because I hurt so bad. I kept feeling the urge to push and Chris and Sherri were trying to get me to do fast little breaths and not to push. I would push hard 2 or 3 times because it felt so good, and then I would freak out and do little puff puff puff breaths and get through it. I kept telling the nurse to check me because I swear my hips were opening. I got scared and started to panic but brought myself back to reality, this is the rock in the hard place. I can't give up and I have to go forward so just breath and do the best you can. I said I wanted an epidural around the same time I got the IV med because I thought if I was going to panic and stop my rhythm of good breathing I would be taking 2 steps back for every one forward. I asked for it, but in my mind I didn't give up. I thought, okay I will do it, it will help me relax and get to that point to help me push and I will have them just do a little so I can still feel stuff. They were talking about paging the anesthesiologist and then after that, my contractions got super bad and I had to deal and not think of anything else. The thought of the epidural never crossed my mind again because I was too busy dealing with labor.Shortly after she checked me and I was a 9 1/2. They started to get the room ready and I started feeling less abdominal and back pain and more pressure. I thought, forget the epidural that takes too much time, lets get this kid out! I could see my tummy drop and I was able to sit up a bit more. I pushed for about an hour. It is really hard to push and get in rhythm. I tried some things on my own, then Dr. Salisbury had me push for 10 big counts and then take one big breath in and bare down for another 10 big counts. I had a mirror so I could see which helped me so much mentally. As I progressed I got more determined to push as hard as I could. I had my eyes closed because I was pushing so hard when he came out that I didn't see him actually come out. I didn't tear but did have some issues with some mild extra bleeding. They gave me a shot of something in my leg, and pitocin in my IV and my Placenta came out about 2 minutes afterwards. Instead of the cord being attached in the middle of the placenta, it was attached on the very edge and the vessels going to it were getting fairly small. Dr. Salisbury said that was pretty rare to have it attached there. I had him put on top of me as soon as he was out and his throat was clear. He cried for ever and ever....good lungs. I tried to breast feed a little later when things settled down, but he was trying to fall asleep on me. We got him to eat a little on one side so I guess that is better than nothing. I'll update more later.... time to eat breakfast and go back to bed!