Monday, May 27, 2013

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Sisters holding him

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***Bradley was starting to fuss so she was shhh-ing him. Too cute!***

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Few extra pictures

 

Kaitlyn has been so sweet to Brad. She loves him and talks to him and does such a great job with adjusting to him being in our home. Yesterday, she told me that she thought I was kidding when I told her I had a baby in my tummy this whole time. She said she didn’t think that there was a real baby in my tummy. I wonder if because he is so real, more real than her baby dolls if it is just so weird to think about him being in my tummy that whole time. She seemed to really understand when I was pregnant though. I love the funny things that they say. She said she just thought I was sticking out my tummy to make it seem like there was a baby in there.

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A few more pictures of this little guy awake.

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Oh boy, are we in trouble with these two.

When Daddy goes back to work I think she is going to miss him like crazy. She is truly a Daddy’s Girl in every way and she just has stuck to his side so much in the last week or so. I love seeing them together and how close they are getting. I am worried what will happen when he heads back to work next week. And I am sure when she turns 16 we are going to have one protective Daddy. They have such a sweet relationship. She is like his shadow. If he is doing it, it must be great. If he is eating it, it must be good.

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Finally home

 

These three pictures were taken right after we brought him home from the hospital.

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Whitney has been so great adjusting. She loves to hold him and just adores him. She calls him by his name but whenever my Mom comes around she strongly tells her that it is her baby. I am not sure if she is worried about my Mom taking him away or something. It is cute how she asks for him when she wakes up from her nap or wakes up for the day and when we have headed out somewhere she yells, “C’mon BRAD!” She has been so sweet to him and hasn’t loved on him too much.

 

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Bradley Lyman Bates

 

I am always so surprised that I forget the little details of each delivery and how I come back to this blog to remember what exactly happened. So I am going to write Brads Birth Story and it is probably more for me than anyone else. But it is great to have it written down somewhere.

So the weeks leading up to my due date, when I would have an internal exam I would not be dilated or effaced. With my two girls I seemed to walk around at a 3 for a month and fully effaced with the babys head down and low.

So when I went in and he said things weren’t progressing that was a little different for me but I wasn’t too worried. As it got closer (the appointment on the day after my due date) he talked about how we were going to try a drug that was called Cervdil that would help soften my cervix and then wait all night and then induce in the morning. On Tuesday we decided to have me come in on Sunday May 12. Mothers Day.

So we were scheduled to go in at 7pm on Sunday evening. We went to my Parents for dinner, dropped off the girls. While at my parents contractions started and were about 15 mins apart. Then by the time we got to the Hospital they were about 7 mins apart and they checked me. I was at a 3 but still not too effaced. But contractions were coming and so they decided to not try the Gel that night and just monitor me and start Pitocin by 4am.

By 4 am they came in to check me and I was at a 4 and more effaced. Things were progressing but the Dr, said that my contractions were not that strong and that is prob. why I never go into labor. They just aren't strong enough to really kick things into gear.
They started the Pitocin by 4am and by 4:30am I asked for the epidural.

I didn’t know how long the line would be to get one and I didn’t want to have to wait too long. It was in and working by 5:30am. By then I was at a 5.

The Dr. got there about 7am and broke my water and said I was 100% effaced and that I was dilated to an 8. With my girls I progressed to a 10 quickly after I was at an 8 and so he said to check me by 8:30am and that I should be ready to push by then. He did mention that Brad was still kind of high and that he was feeling his ear which made him a little worried that he wasn’t facing the right way. But that through the next couple hours he could fix himself and be ready to be born.

They brought it all the birthing tables and started setting up the room for delivery! We were so excited that within the next hour and a half we would meet our son!

At about 8:40am the nurse came in and checked me and I was at a 9 but Brad was still high. So she wanted to wait longer. At 9:15 she came again and it was still the same. At 10am it was still the same. He was high with his ear coming down first and I was still at a 9. 

During that time the contractions were hurting badly so they would up the epidural, which made me not be able to even lift my legs and then the Pitocin would be too much and drop the babys heart rate so they had to put me on oxygen and take me off Pitocin. It was a game of on and again off again… pain again numb again. Things were not progressing. The nurse said that she thought maybe because of the pain in the contractions and the fact that I was experiencing such back labor and pain could be because of his position. Since he wasn’t the right way.

Then she called the Dr around 10:15am and told him that things were still not progressing or changing and then she handed the phone to me, where he told me that he was worried about the position of the babys head and that he and the nurse both felt like it was best if we did a c-section. As much as I was dreading it and not wanting a c-section and as much as it was always in the back of my mind, I always knew that it was an option and that there was a chance it would end that way. After being in the hospital all night from 7pm-10am we were just wanting to have a healthy baby and that was all that mattered. It was almost like a sigh of relief.

I asked him over the phone if it was going to hurt and he said no, but the recovery was going to be different and hard, but that he believed that I was a tough girl and that I was going to be fine with the recovery. (so sweet of him to calm me when I was starting to freak out a bit)

Then they wheeled me out and down the hall to surgery and rolled me into a very bright room. Alma wasn’t allowed in yet. Then they brought him in and from when they said they were starting till the time I heard him crying was about 3 mins. (they were stating the times so all could hear)

Then Alma got to see him and take lots of pictures and carry him back to my room while I got stitched back up and then they brought me back to my room. By the time I got back to the room I was very sluggish and out of it. Alma was all smiles but it took me awhile till I could really get myself back to normal. It was almost an hour before I got to hold Brad and see what he looked like. Which was hard.

The nurses were great and so friendly and it was one of the best experiences we have had when it comes to the recovery and the nurse staff. They were all so kind and friendly and helpful.

He was born at 10:55am on Monday May 13, 2013

7lbs 14oz and 20 inches long.

We were discharged on Wednesday about 4pm.

 

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The picture above was when I was in the most pain… just before finding out we were going to have to do a c-section.

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Finally holding him

(I look like such a mess. It was a pretty rough day to say the least but I still wanted to document pictures of me in them)

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The girls and Dad holding Bradley.

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Alma stayed a night with me after he was born to help out a bit.

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Pictures of our family when we were ready to come home

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Going home