With the military life, it is hard to plan anything. When we 'planned' on having Kaden, we were told that John would be able to be home for some time which would be the ideal time to bring a new person into our family, right?
Wrong.
We found out that we were expecting the same week we found out that John was slated for yet another deployment. Imagine my excitement to finding out that we were going to be parents and then my reaction on I will have to do this solo. I had a pretty good pregnancy up until the day of my baby shower on February 9. I was having some minor pain, nothing that a nap couldn't fix and I was good to go. I didn't think anything of it, especially because we had about 10 weeks left. Kaden was expected to arrive in April of 2014. He had another idea and decided he wanted to make his appearance early.
10 weeks early to be exact.
I woke up on Sunday with excruciating pain, enough to make me cry and enough to scare John. He forced me to go to the hospital where they ran a few tests and told us that there was a 98% chance that Kaden would be born within the next two weeks. Oh and we would have to be transported over an hour to a hospital that had a NICU because ours did not. Now I was already terrified on becoming a mom-and terrified at the thought of not having John with me. The thought of having a baby before his due date immediately sent me into panic mode. I didn't have much time to even process it because I was shuffled into an ambulance without even having the option to go home to pack my hospital bag or even arrange for Sophie to be taken care of and was taken down to Palm Springs with John by my side. I was admitted into labor and delivery due to preterm labor. I was given Magnesium Sulfate which was not a walk in the park, on top of having contractions. This stuff makes you feel like you are on fire, but it was to help with the contractions and to help Kaden cook a little longer. It seemed to be working for a while and we were told I would be in the hospital for about 5 days and then sent home for the remainder of my pregnancy but on strict bed rest orders. Now if you know me, I don't sit still well. Having to be stuck in a bed and told you will be stuck in a bed for 10 weeks sounded absurd. BUT if that meant Kaden would be okay, then sign me up for Netflix because I would be there for a while.
Monday rolls around, everything seems to be okay. I've made friends with all of our nurses and even got our doctor to crack a smile here and there- but I wanted to go home. Still was told I would have to be in the hospital. Later that evening, the contractions were coming back and coming back strong. It was late at night and things seem to be a blur, but before I knew it I was getting an epidural and I felt like I was on stage because lights were EVERYWHERE and so were doctors and nurses. There were NICU doctors, NICU nurses, labor and delivery nurses, the doctor that would deliver Kaden-but all I needed was John and he looked just as shocked terrified as I felt. But at least we both were terrified together.
What felt like 15 minutes later (but I have no idea really how long it was) Kaden James was born. At 11:14 PM on February 11th, 3 lbs 2oz and 14.5 inches long. And he was perfect.
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| Our little fighter |
He was whisked away quickly to be hooked up to monitors, an IV and oxygen. Things that would haunt me in my sleep. I've never seen a NICU in my life and I was about to pretty much spend every single waking moment (and almost sleeping moments) in there. I wasn't able to go see him for a few hours because I needed the medicine to get out of my system and had to prove that I could stand up without falling. Those were some pretty long hours, let me tell you. When I went to see him I tried my hardest to fight off tears. I don't know if it was the hormones flowing through my body, seeing our baby or what-but his nurse seemed to be prepared and already had tissues waiting for me as she explained his stats and what was going on. I had no idea what she was saying. Nothing made sense to me. I wasn't allowed to hold him, I was only allowed to lightly touch him. Seeing your baby and being told that you can not hold him is heart breaking. After my quick visit, I was wheeled back to our room and was told to start to use the hospital grade breast pump in order to hopefully start my supply. Now being an exclusive pumping mom is hard. work. That was not what I wanted, nor what I had planned on. There was a lot going through my head and my heart and I was trying to process it. We were still facing a deployment and my baby was in the NICU and we had no idea how long he would be there or if he would be okay. After a few days, I was discharged and was able to go home but without Kaden. We were fortunate enough to have a place that was paid for through the Armed Services YMCA that was across the street from the hospital that we could stay at for as long as Kaden was in the hospital. Little by little, he was getting stronger, healthier and better but also had setbacks along the way.
Throughout this whole time, my mom was actually in town for my baby shower and she was able to stay a few days while I was in the hospital. One of my best friends, who drove 3 hours and to throw the shower also stayed until we were cleared to go home. And another one of my best friends (who was not even in the state at the time) called her husband and told him to use the spare key to go to our house and bring Sophie back to their house until we were able to come get her, no matter how long that was. They helped without us even having to mention it- and I love them dearly for it. Once we were able to go home, I asked my mom to take Sophie back to Arizona with her until I could bring Kaden home because I would be pretty much living down in Palm Springs which was an hour away from our home. My mom left with Sophie, Jessica left to go home and I was bracing myself for John to leave and then bring Kaden home. Talk about emotional. Days passed one by one and we took it day by day and focused on Kaden getting better all while I was pumping around the clock every day and every night in order to feed him since he was still not strong enough to nurse. After John had to leave, it was just me and Kaden for the remainder of his NICU stay. After 46 long days and nights, we were cleared to go home. Having nurses and doctors telling you that you could take your baby home is music to your ears. I asked my mom to come back to bring Sophie home to meet her brother and for help with bringing him home. On March 28, we were home and adjusting to having a very small newborn. We still took everything day by day and slowly but surely he was still getting better, stronger and his personality was showing more and more each day. After 6 months of being home with just Kaden (and Sophie) John was finally home to join in our wonderful madness and all was right in our world. I was thrown into motherhood rather quickly and have been going non-stop ever since.
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| Going home |
I would also like to note that throughout the whole whirlwind that was Kaden's arrival, John did not leave my side. Not once(well to eat, shower and go to the bathroom). He truly is amazing. I don't know what I would have done without him during that time. I really lucked out and got a fantastic husband and a wonderful dad to our babies.
Kaden is the most amazing baby ever and I am so blessed to be his mom. He has taught me more things in the past 16 months than I could have ever imagined. Having a premature baby is scarier than all get out (at least in my opinion) but he is catching up and is perfect in every way.
I was terrified that I was going to have to deliver Kaden without him with me, but we believe that somehow Kaden knew what was going on and wanted to meet his dad first. He's the type of kid that will do what he wants when he wants including showing the world when he wanted to make his appearance. He makes us smile, laugh and sometimes makes me want to pull my hair out but he is so full of life and we love seeing him discover new things and grow every day.
I love this!! You are so blessed and I'm glad everything turned out great!! :)
ReplyDeleteWow, what an incredible story! I'm glad everything worked out ok in the end but man that must have been scary.
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