Caden James

Pumpkin Patch!

2008-10-25T22:36:00.000-07:00

Took Caden to the pumpkin patch today. Cute as ever!

I'm also happy to report that the splat mat that I made is doing it's job:

New video

2008-10-23T06:04:00.000-07:00

I posted a new video of Caden and this new sound that he makes - he kinda rolls his tongue? That's that best description of it.

Check it out here.

P.S. sorry for the amateur camera work. =)

Is he cute enough for....

2008-10-18T22:09:00.000-07:00

Some recent pictures:

Caden loves to watch the laundry (gets this from his mama!).

Caden also loves to swing.

Ok, well, I have an ulterior reason for the photos - Gap is having a casting call for kid models. =)

STAND in the place where you are...

2008-10-10T22:14:00.000-07:00

Caden is all about pulling himself up to standing now. He seems both surprised and indifferent to this new skill he has developed.

He's got his first cold/stuffy nose this week, so he's been a little out of sorts, but doing fine overall. He's adjusting to having Sara as his primary caregiver. He hasn't seen Grammy or Papa for nearly two weeks now, I can only imagine what his reaction will be the next time he sees them; excitement, or dismay.

Some recent photos, including the group first birthday party with the babies from Parent/Baby class at Evergreen. He also loves to play with the tub of toys in the living room.

Can you see what is happening in this photo?

2008-10-05T11:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I was working at the computer, Caden was playing in the living room. I looked over and saw this:

oh boy

Baseball

2008-09-29T21:41:00.000-07:00

Several weeks ago we got to go to a baseball game to thank mama (and her group) for the work they'd done on the new phone system. We had a nice afternoon. Kirsten snapped a great picture:

Not too shabby when your first two baseball games are in the dugout seats.

1- Visit to Omma & 2 - Weight Check, not in that order

2008-09-24T08:35:00.000-07:00

2) On Thursday, Caden had his halfway-between-9-&-12-month weight check. Glad to say that he was 18lbs, 10 oz. Thats up 2 lbs, 10 oz from 6 months (he was 16lbs, 9oz at 9 month check just after we'd all been sick). That's also about 2 pounds in 6 weeks! That's what the Dr. called catch-up growth. Not quite back to the 25 percentile where we was, but back on the right track. I wasn't thinking anything was wrong, but it feels good to know for sure.

1.5) OK, yes, I'm sneaking one in. We hired a live-in nanny. She moves in today. Welcome Sara! We realized that for as much as we were going to pay for a child care center, we could pay a live-in, because they also get room & board. We have a big house, and Mark is a great cook - not a bad place to live. And a pretty cute and happy little guy to take care of.
Wait. I want that job. =\

2) About two weeks ago (technical difficulties with Photoshop Elements and Vista - have I mentioned that I !?$*&#*#!?#! hate Vista?) we went up to Canada to visit Omma, Godmother Heddy and almost all the great aunts & uncles. Caden was his normal charming self, and we ate like kings. There were more dishes on the table then there were people at it!

Some pix:

With Omma:

With Godmother Heddy:

Some other recent shameless cuteness:

The food theme continues....

2008-08-27T07:39:00.001-07:00

OK, so you've seen the start of the whole play food thing. I was at Target and guess what I found in the $1 section. A chef hat!!! Couldn't resist!

House Progress

2008-08-24T19:57:00.000-07:00

******** I interrupt this baby blog for a house update *********

At 7:36pm this evening Mark finished. installing. the hardwood floor. in my sewing room.

This is HUGE.

It still needs a finish applied to it, so it's not completely done, but we're past the loud pounding and nailing that he couldn't do while Caden was around or sleeping. The rest can be done anytime.

What a lovely 5th anniversary present. Love you hon!

Play food!

2008-08-24T11:44:00.001-07:00

A while ago, I mentioned being obsessed with play food, like this and this. If you were paying close attention, you may have seen my friend Gaylen say that we could totally make that food. Well, we totally have. We have a start, at least. I bought some felt, and we had a sew date yesterday (following a yummy meal at her house the night before).

I made the egg, Gaylen made the fortune cookies (complete with fortune!). She took home felt to make a pancake, complete with a pat of butter. Veggies are next!

Various updates

2008-08-19T22:32:00.001-07:00

We've had a few ups and downs recently, the big down being the nasty stomach virus/flu that Caden picked up in Parent/Baby class. I think there were ~24 moms with their babies in class, and at last count 12 had gotten it. It got Caden, me, Grammy, Papa, and Daddy, in that order. Not very much fun at all.

Caden turned 9 months old on the 12th, so we had his 9 month appointment last Thurday. I was anxious to see his weigh-in, it had seemed to me he was growing, but not that much. He weighed 16lbs, 9oz. He weighed exactly 16lbs at his 6 month appointment. He was now in the 3rd percentile, down from a consistent presence at the 25th percentile. Somewhat worrisome, but I also knew that he'd probably lost some weight from being sick. I went and checked the chart, and to still be in the 25th percentile, he should weigh 19lbs. I don't think he was up to 19lbs before he got sick. We have a weigh-in scheduled in 6 weeks, so we'll see where he is then.

Dr. also said that I need to up his food intake, and not just to gain some weight. The solid food thing has been going much better, but we'd been feeding him maybe 5x a week. Dr. said 4x a day. Yikes! Well, sorry, that's not realistic. So, Mom feeds him solid food once during the day, and we're feeding him in the evening. it's not four, but four is a little much. He's digging it more than he did, and he's much better at actually eating/swallowing the food. Much less messy than it was.

My stretched-out materinty leave is now over, so I'm at work full time, and I'm also searching for childcare for Caden. Mom offered to watch him for about the first year while I was still breastfeeding him, but now that it's up to four days a week, it's even more of a major committment for her. So sometime in October, he'll be transitioning from Grammy's to a yet-to-be-determined childcare situation. There are alot of options out there, but it's tough to try and find something while I'm working full time. The search continues.....

Caden continues to be his happy, charming self and is a delight everyday. We are a very lucky family.

A few random photos:

The next milestone

2008-08-02T12:26:00.000-07:00

Well, not unexpectedly, Caden started crawling this week. Thursday to be exact. He'd been rolling really well, and was doing the lay on the ground and move all four limbs in rhythmic frustration thing. He'd get his torso up, but not his backside. In parent/baby class on Thursday one of the gals had a toy that you pulled the string and it rolls away. Caden got one look at that and went right after it. Here are two cell phone pictures taken about :10 apart, along with a link to a video. I try and keep the videos to 1 minute or less. Yes, I know that not everyone will want to watch hours of video of my little guy, so I try and respect your time.

Here's the video link.

Two firsts!

2008-07-22T22:49:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, Caden's first tooth came in! Mark noticed it first, just the tiniest little bit showing. Overall, he's doing really well, maybe a tad more fussy. We did have about :15 minutes of crying, drooling and the running nose Monday night, but that was about it.

Caden also had his first swim lesson tonight. He did really well, maybe even had a fun time. We'll be back in the pool on Thursday. Mama will also have a slightly better plan to handle wet baby & wet mama and no real good place to set him down. It's quite the logistical challenge. As fellow cloth diaper mama Kirsten said, the lesson is only :30 minutes, but it takes four hours.

Since I took him swimming, I wasn't able to get any 'during' photos, but I do have some telling 'after' photos.

Cousin visit, part deux

2008-07-20T21:39:00.000-07:00

Cousin Jakob & Erik came for another visit today. Erik was born 8 days after Caden, but just look at the difference!

Cutie patotie!

First Haircut!

2008-07-19T16:47:00.001-07:00

So, we decided that we were done with the comb-over that Caden had going. Mark and I discussed doing it ourselves - if we messed it up, we'd just go to a salon. Then I mentioned it in parent-baby class and got a resounding 'don't try it yourself, just go straight to the salon' - you're going to end up there anyway. So, today, I took him for his first haircut. I was prepared - took the camera, a few toys, and a plastic bag for the first haircut hair, but I didn't need to be. Went to the place in Crossroads mall. They buckled him in, brought him a bin of toys, and proceeded to cut the hair of a moving target. The staff was great, friendly, and gentle.

And when we were all done, they took his picture and put his hair in a little 'keepsake' folder.

Perfect!

Laughter

2008-07-17T16:45:00.001-07:00

I'm obsessed with play food. However, I'm on a toy buying moratorium right now, so alas, I can't buy more cute stuff like this.

Anyway, I bought this cute Fill n' Spill picnic basket. It's got a sandwich, a grape soda, watermelon, and an ice cream cone. Caden likes it, and likes it alot. Here's some video of him, and us, enjoying it ALOT!!!

OK, well, I'm tired of not being able to upload to Blogger, so check it out here:

Caden laughing

Summertime

2008-07-01T22:14:00.000-07:00

Well it's finally summertime. It was so flippin' hot this weekend. It was like the weather was trying to make up for the cold spring, all in two days. Ya might wanna see someone for that bipolar thing you got going on....I'm just sayin'

Caden is rolling all over the place, and can get from point A to point B without any problem. He's sitting up well, but will fall over at times. We've been feeding him more solid food and that's going better than it was. It's still messy, but I've managed to get it a bit more under control.

So we've been spending more time outside, he's gotten to see his three cousins for the past three days. He will sit and watch them run around for hours. We've have a few photo 'sessions' the past week or so that are fodder for more shameless cuteness! Here we go!

More 'fun' with food

2008-06-14T21:48:00.001-07:00

Caden has started to enjoy the solid food a little more. Well, he doesn't spit it out anymore and he actually swallows most of it. He's using his tongue differently to get it to the back of his mouth, rather than out the front. He's had Avocado (yes the 2nd time went much better), sweet potato, carrots and pears.

I have to say that I'm not really thrilled about solid food. I'm digging the breastfeeding; simple, portable, readily available, cheap, and creates such a wonderful closeness. Solid food feeding is in one word, messy. messy, Messy, MESSY!!! Which is fine, I know it's a learning curve for him, skill building. But frankly, it's kind of a pain in the ass. No, it is a pain in the ass. Gotta get the food, gotta get it mixed/out of the jar, gotta get the spoon, gotta get the spoon for him to work with, gotta get two bibs (one that's snug around his neck and one that's vinyl and non-absorbent and doesn't close snug enough around his neck, hence the 2nd bib), gotta get the sippy cup, it seems endless. He constantly grabs the spoon, or shoves his spoon in his mouth so I can't get the food in there (yes, I know 'don't let him have his own spoon', but I want him to get good at getting it in his mouth himself). Once we're done, he's messy, he's wet, his clothes are messy/wet, his seat is messy/wet, and usually I'm messy and/or wet.

But.... he's still so darned cute.

[oh, and you can't see it in the photos, because he had it tucked in, Mark's Father's Day present, I gave it to him early since it was too precious not to.]

And he turned 7 months old Thursday:

Jumping MADNESS

2008-06-10T13:09:00.000-07:00

[I've been trying to get this posted for over a week. Technical difficulties. argh.]
Well, the story goes that Mark was a big fan of the Jolly Jumper. He says he remembers being in it, and that he really liked it. I was a HUGE fan of the Jolly Jumper. So much so, that my parents installed it in the back of their van when we'd go on trips. Dad said he'd be driving down the road and in the rearview mirror would be this baby, bouncing up into view, disappearing, up into view, disappear. For miles!

So, we figured we should get a Jolly Jumper for Caden. I did some research on them but could really only find the original Jolly Jumper in Canada for $80 + $40 shipping. OUCH! So, I did more research, and found the Baby Bungee Bouncer. So, I ordered it, it came, and we drilled the first hole into our wall (OK, the ceiling) and set Caden up with it. Initially, not a whole lot of action, he kinda just spun around and hung there. Until yesterday. He got it. He got it big time. He loves it, I think we could put him in it all day long.

Check it out for yourself:

First solid food - Avocado

2008-05-18T19:35:00.000-07:00

I think we'll try something else next time......

6 months

2008-05-17T07:30:00.001-07:00

Caden turned 6 months old last Monday and had his 6 month appointment. He weighed exactly 16 pounds. No ounces, no nothing, just 16 even. He is 26 2/8 inches long. Yes, that is exactly what the nurse-in-training wrote on his sheet (look at the number again if you didn't catch it). He is exactly on the 25th percentile line for weight, so he's growing right on schedule.

He is a happy baby, if he gets upset, he is hungry or tired. He goes down for naps, and he's sleeping 7-8 hours in a row at night. Bless him. We have a nighttime routine and he only cries occasionally when we put him down at night. He did cry last night because it was hot and he was still swaddled - I'm gonna have to find lighter weight blankets to use, sometime today, cuz today is looking pretty warm again. He doesn't really roll over yet so we can still swaddle him. He has rolled over front-to-back, but he doesn't seem to realize that he can keep doing it. I think he's just extra easy-going, and isn't too worried about it. I'm not worried about it either, a mobile child is highly over-rated. ;-)

We took him to see the Mariners on Mother's Day. [Now, I didn't plan to go to a baseball game on Mother's Day, but when I put in for the dugout seat ticket lottery at work in March, I needed a Sunday game since that's the only day Daddy & I have off together, he wanted to see the White Sox or Red Sox, the only Sunday game was the White Sox on the 11th, so we picked that game. I only realized it was Mother's Day about a week before. Not necessarily what I would've picked to do on Mother's Day, but it was good.] He did great! The first time the crowd cheered, he cried, but I it was mainly because it shocked him and the guy behind us had a loud voice when he yelled. I thought, 'oh well, this may be very short-lived.' After that first big cheer, however, he did great. He even fell asleep on me for the last three innings. I'd carried him in my Moby wrap knock-off that I made so he was all snuggled in and toasty warm. You can see a picture of him asleep below. If he hadn't been asleep, we would've handed him to the Moose for a better 'I'm at my first baseball game' picture. Mama had her face bandanged because she had a non-malignant skin cancer removed. Yes, she's fine, they got it all, and she should have in the words of the doctor 'optimal cosmetic results.'

Wanna see my Mother's Day present? It's like this one, except it has Caden James on one side, and 11-12-07 on the other. I love it.

We're gonna try some solid food this weekend. Avocado, mmmmm. Wish us luck!

On to more shameless cuteness:

3 in 24 hours

2008-04-13T13:42:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned that we're cloth diapering now? For about 3 weeks. Yes, I know what you're thinking; WHAT? cloth, diaper pins, rubber pants, ewww. NO WAY! Cloth diapers have come a long way. We're using BumGenius! one-size cloth pocket diaper. And we are loving' them, even Mark! Yes, they are a committment, but I've got the fancy front-load washer with all kinds of settings; extra rinse, pre-wash, sanitize (!). They don't leak (was having poo-up-the back issues with the disposables), are soft on his bum, and pretty darned cute! Plus, I never have to buy diapers again. As my fellow cloth diapering mom Kirsten said 'I feel a little victory every time I don't throw one away' and I'm now right with her. It took me a while - I wasn't sure, I thought they might leak, I wasn't sure I could deal with washing them, Mark wasn't down with poo in the washer. But we tried some and I was convinced. They are a bit expensive, ~17.00 each, but that's it. We don't have to buy diapers again. The diapers we picked adjust, so you don't have to buy a different set of different sizes. I thought since we're having one child, I didn't want to invest too heavily. But even if we bought two sets, we'd still be ahead of the game. You'll probably spend $1500-$1800 on diapers until potty training is done. It's not for everybody, but I'm fully on-board!

Plus, they look good, and Mark can match them to his outfit. White, blue, green & yellow.

Technological attempt

2008-04-13T07:30:00.001-07:00

Yes, I will probably blog in clusters....
Taken by our digial camera...having trouble getting the video camera uploaded to the PC.
Let's see if this works.....

5 months

2008-04-12T22:29:00.000-07:00

Yes, another original title. Caden turns 5 months old today, and it's late and he's asleep and I've just realized that I didn't take his picture today. =\ Tomorrow will have to do.

Yes, he's asleep. He's been a pretty good sleeper, up to 6 hours, but for the last 2-3 weeks he'd regressed back to only 3 hours. I started to read the sleep book again and thought I'd try to put him to bed earlier. Holy cow, this worked like a charm. And I didn't use the binky! Almost all in one night! We did our normal night time thing - head upstairs, low lights, nurse, swaddle, turn on the heartbeat bear (makes heartbeat noise) and lay him down. But we started it at 8:30, in the crib around 9, rather than the 10 or 11 we'd been doing. He cried for a couple of minutes, then fussed for a minute and then fell asleep, without the binky. Slept till 4:30 the next morning. Yes, that's right, went from only 3 hours at a time to sleeping 7.5 hours in a row, overnight. Can you say WOO HOO??!?!?!?!?!?! or rather, zzzzzzzzzzz. I was stunned. Mark asked 'so if we put him to bed earlier, he sleeps longer? this makes no sense!' I'd wanted to stop using the binky overnight since he would fall asleep, it would fall out, and he'd wake up. The next night, we had a little 'cry it out' session, although I'd chosen to stay in the room with him and comfort him. He cried for a while that night, but eventually went to sleep. Slept till 3:30. The next night, around 7 he was yawning, rubbing his eyes, telling me he was tired, so I thought I'd do the process, just early. Yeah, no dice. The banshee cry came out. So, I gave up, brought him downstairs, held him and played with him, and then did it again at the right time, 9pm. He laid down, didn't even fuss, and went right to sleep. Slept till 3:30. Hallelujah!

Adrienne & Russ & Clara came and stayed over one night, Clara is the cute little blond thing in the pictures. She was feeding Caden her play 'sandwich.' I also have to point out his 'peas and carrots' binky holder. It's too cute. And yes, we are still using it during the day.

And now for some shameless cuteness overload:

4 months!

2008-03-14T19:29:00.000-07:00

Caden turned 4 months old on Wednesday. We had a visit to the pediatrician, and he now weighs 13 lbs 14 oz. He's growing consistently on the 25% percentile curve. Who would've thought that Mark & I would have a baby on the smaller side? Time will tell.....

He's realized that he can affect change upon the world. Just the other morning, as I was getting ready, he started to play with one of the toys above his bouncy seat. He was hitting it and it was spinning and he was just having a grand time. Mark pulled me out of the shower to show me he was playing with it, and when I said I knew, Mark seemed disappointed. However, when he asked how long he'd been doing it, I said, '10 minutes' and he felt better. =]

We also got an exer-saucer from Aunt Carlee and he experienced that for the first time today. Maybe a tad overwhelming. Also enjoying the 'bumbo-type' seat, although the first time I put him in it, he developed a serious lean to the right. He was doing better in the picture below. Enjoy!

Mama's little helper & a blast from the past

2008-03-02T20:29:00.000-08:00

Caden is really starting to talk, interact and respond. He'll have whole conversations with us now. He continues to be a good, happy baby. Love him!

Helping mommy with the laundry....

Sporting the hat knit by mommy, and the blanket knit by Adrienne.

And last, but not least, a photo from when Caden was in the hospital and under the Bili lights (for jaundice). They put two velco tabs on his temples and then would velco the 'sunglasses' over his eyes to protect them. I thought we'd lost this photo, but I found it on my phone. The glasses made us laugh.

Cousin visit

2008-02-22T22:02:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, Mark's sister Sylvia, husband Dave, nephew Jakob and brand-new nephew Erik came down for a visit. Syliva was due 3 weeks after me, but ended up having Erik early as well. He's 8 days younger than Caden, but he is a CHUNK! And so very, very cute!

Mamma went back to work this week. And it's OK, not as bad as I thought. Grammy is looking after Caden during the day, and since she's so close, I can go down and feed him during lunch.

Here's what Mark likes to call 'working from home'

3 Months

2008-02-15T17:58:00.001-08:00

Caden turned 3 months old on Tuesday. Coincidentally we all got together that day for a family photo. The first is my favorite - it was the first picture taken of the group (isn't that always the case?) but Parker just wasn't into it yet.
The second photo is probably the final version.

And this last one was just too cute not to post!

12 weeks & pictures galore

2008-02-07T11:13:00.000-08:00

Caden is 12 weeks old this week. He's growing, and is a very happy baby. He's also a very good baby. We've recently discovered the miracle of the double-swaddle, so now he sleeps 6-7 hours in a row at night - what a difference that makes for mom & dad! He smiles and responds to you, which is so rewarding. He also enjoys the bath and diaper changes now - which makes them much easier on both parent & baby.

Anyway, without further ado - pictures galore. Including a comparison shot from when he was newly home. I think he's about doubled his size since then.

Caden is also happy to report that Daddy has almost finished the floor in Mommy's sewing/craft room, so Mommy is pretty happy. [Did you think there wouldn't be any house stuff here?]

2 month appointment

2008-01-15T10:36:00.001-08:00

Caden continues to grow. He's started to grow out of his very first outfits, which is both good and bad news. He now weighs 10lbs 11.5 oz, which means he gained 50 ounces in 38 days (good growth is an ounce a day). Because he was small when he was born, he was at the low end of the percentiles, but he's catching up. This is also reassuring for me because when you're breastfeeding, you're never quite sure how much he's getting, but obviously, it's enough.

Caden is starting to interact a bit, he'll watch your face, and he'll smile and do that goofy open mouth baby laugh that babies do (see below). He makes tons of noises, mostly squeeks, but he hasn't yet started on the gurgling & cooing. I've been trying to get the assortment of noises on video tape, which is a challenge. He's 9 weeks old as of yesterday, but I also have to balance that with the fact that he came 3 weeks early, so developmentally, they also consider him to only be 6 weeks old. A big deal when you're only 9 weeks old, but it'll balance out soon enough.

At his appointment yesterday, he had to get 5 immunization shots. He was a champ, mainly because the nurse was fantastic - I don't think I've ever seen someone move that fast. She lined up the 5 syringes (a little intimidating), and we got him positioned, and she was done before he even had a chance to finish the breath that'd he drawn in to cry with. She was literally flinging the needles away into the corner when she was done with each one. Because it went so fast, he recovered pretty quickly. There were a few tears (not all his) but it was over quickly.

So he's doing good. I'm managing to keep somewhat busy, but I'm also very happy to have visitors, or come for a visit. He's very portable right now.

And pretty darn cute!

A White Christmas & Happy New Year

2007-12-31T17:07:00.000-08:00

Caden has his first Christmas, and a white one it was. We hosted and it started to snow early in the day. It was perfect, the trees got covered, but the ground wasn't warm enough for it stick. If you've been to our house, you know that snow and our driveway don't mix, so it was the perfect situation.

We hosted my folks, my sister's family, Mark's mum & her husband, Mark's Aunt Heddy, and my Uncle's family. We asked Heddy to be Caden's Godmother and she accepted. We had a full house of 13 adults and 4 kids, it's great to have the kid generation around, they so excited by all of it.

I'm also pleased to report that Caden has decided that he doesn't hate the bathtub so much anymore. Diaper changes, however, continue to be a source of intense dislike. Sometimes to the point of one of his new skills - tears. We hope he enjoys it someday.

Happy 2008!

Growth!

2007-12-08T18:33:00.000-08:00

Caden had his 1 month appointment. He now weighs 7 lbs 9 oz. He'd gained 14 oz in 10 days, so that is really good growth - they look for approx. 1 oz a day. He's also now 21 inches, up from 20. Grow, baby, grow!

Pictures, pictures, pictures!!!

2007-12-06T14:36:00.001-08:00

Yes, you asked for it, and here they are, pictures, pictures, pictures. [I apologize for the late delivery, I was starting to feel good enough to do this last week, but then my incision got infected and my recovery went backwards. I'm feeling a bit better now.]

Thanksgiving

Caden in his 'outing' outfit

First bath.

Hanging out

Home from the hospital

Going home outfit.

Arriving home for the first time.

Asleep in the vintage crib that mom, Aunt Carlee and Grammy (and multiple other family members) have slept in.

With cousins Garrett & Parker on Thanksgiving. The first time they met him, they were literally jumping up & down with excitement.

Yawn!

Jean meeting Caden for the first time.

At home, during Hilde's visit.

Caden's first week

2007-12-06T14:15:00.000-08:00

Caden was admitted to the NICU immediately following his birth on the 12th. He initially was treated for breathing problems (they said he was 'grunty'). He was also being treated with antibiotics and they have to keep him for a full 48 hours until the tests come back clear. Tuesday/Wednesday, he started to throw up everything they were feeding him, and they discovered that he also had the amniotic fluid in his stomach. They put a tube down his throat and got that out, and solved that problem. Next he had jaundice, so they had to do the UV light therapy for 24 hours.

Jean was discharged Wednesday night and moved into Caden's room and stayed there with him until he was discharged on Saturday.

Caden received great care in the NICU, the nurses were fantastic, it was great to watch them with him and learn some things. It was also great to see what was normal for him, while he was hooked up to all the monitors. It helped to address some of our 'new parent' fears.

Initially he weighed 6 lbs 10 oz. When we were discharged on Saturday, he weighed 6 lbs 2 oz. Monday morning at the pediatrician he weighed 6 lbs 4 oz. During the week, we observed him to still be hungry after feedings, so we went to the Breastfeeding center on Friday, got Jean on a suppliment, and by Tuesday morning he was 6lbs 11 oz. He'd only gained 9 grams a day the first week, but once I was on the suppliment, he gained 45 grams a day.

Caden's Birth - the full story

2007-12-05T17:23:00.000-08:00

Jean went into labor around 4pm on Sunday, November 11, she'd started to leak a little bit of fluid and have some minor contractions. We called the hospital and they recommended we come in, but the nurse I spoke with said 'you're probably not in labor." By the time we reached the hospital, I was pretty sure I was in labor, we into their 'triage' center, but the nurse figured out pretty quickly that I really was in active labor. We checked in around 7pm, and I was at 2.5cm dilated. I would swear we got there sooner, but I lost all track of time. I'm going off notes from my sister. While we were in the triage area, I remember that the pain was getting pretty severe and telling Mark that we needed into our room and get me focused or the Hypnobirthing would be doing us no good.

We called my folks and they came to the hospital and stayed the entire time - troopers! My brother-in-law managed to get off work early so my sister could come. She got there about 5:30am. We decided not to call Mark's mum as all she would do is worry. So Mark called her in the morning once Caden was born.

We got into our room and I got set up with the Hypnobirthing CD, the background music, the aromatherapy. Our nurse and staff was great, kept the lights low, kept voices low, I really wasn't aware of people in the room or much else of was what going on. I remained focused and managed the pain by visualizing myself opening up and compartmentalizing the sensation. Since the contractions, or 'surges' as they're called were regular, I knew what to expect and it made it easier to manage it. I was doing really well. Around midnight, I'd made it to 9cm and the labor nurse really didn't believe me when I said my pain was a 6-7. However, at this point my labor stalled and I didn't progress any further. When we asked for the best way to avoid a c-section, the advice was an epidural to help me relax further. I remember thinking, 'how more relaxed would you like me to be?' So, I got the epidural around 3:30am.

Once that had happened, I was able to rest a bit, but I could still clearly feel the contractions. My big resistance to the epidural was I didn't want to be numb, so I was glad I could still feel them. This also reminded me that I tend to need more anesthesia than the average person. I could feel it when they put the catheter in. Uncomfortable.

I started to push about 5:30am, pushed for several hours, once again, with no progress. So the last option was the c-section which started about 8:15am and Caden was born around 8:35am. This is where the anesthesia issue came up again, the epidural block wasn't blocking all the pain for me, so I had to have a spinal. The surgery was once of the most unpleasant experiences of my life. There wasn't any pain, but there was so much pressure. Since I'd pushed so much, Caden was partially down the birth canal so they had a hard time getting him out. If you watch the video of the birth, all you can hear is me moaning and groaning. Once he was out, they knocked me out completely, which isn't something I would've wanted, but it was just fine with me at that point. I remember hearing that it was a boy and seeing arms and legs wiggling and moving from where he was, and that's it, I was gone.

I'd developed a fever during labor so they treated both of us with antibiotics. Caden got some fluid in his lungs during delivery so Mark carried him up to the NICU on the 4th floor. Mark said he knew it wasn't too critical if they let him carry Caden up. Although at this point, Caden didn't have a name yet. We had it narrowed down to three (four girl names), but we needed to decide together, and I wasn't available just yet. Mark stayed with him in the NICU for several hours until I woke up. He took video of the baby so that he could bring it downstairs (2nd floor) to show me, since I hadn't seen him yet. Mark & I slept for several hours that afternoon since we'd been up overnight. That evening, I managed to get out of bed so they could take me up to see the baby.

Caden was born at 37 weeks, 1 day on November 12th at 8:35am. He was 20" long, and weighed 6 lbs, 10 oz. And he's beautiful.