We are finally starting to settle into life at home with two kids. Matt has been very busy with teams that are here to help in the Future Hope classrooms. We have teams here for three weeks. The first one got here Saturday night, only hours after we returned home from the hospital. Thankfully, each week that teams are here, someone is coming to help me at home as I rest and adjust. Right now Matt is out to dinner with this weeks team. Kai is sleeping beside me and Vera is in bed. I feel like this is the first time since I have been home that I have a chance to blog. Sorry to keep you waiting so long!
Kai has been such an amazing baby! He eats really well, sleeps really well, and as long as he has a full belly, he cries very little. Because of the extra help I have had here this week, I've been able to ignore housework, and just focus on feeding Kai, feeding myself, and most fun, cuddling with Kai. I've been amazed at how he already knows that I'm Mommy. Several times this week, Cindy (my helper) has held Kai when he was crying, but he wouldn't stop. The moment I would pick him up, he would relax and stop crying. It has been so sweet to see that he already knows me.
For those who are interested, I wanted to share about Kai's birth. We decided on Sunday afternoon, June 29, that we would call the doctor and ask her about inducing before Wednesday like she had initially said. We asked about doing it a day sooner, but she said to just come in Monday morning and they could do it then. We packed our bags, and left bright and early, expecting to meet Kai sometime that day. I had thought that they would start me on Pitocin as soon as I got there, but instead the gave me a drug that is used to thin my cervix. They planned to use that and then later give me Pitocin to start contractions. A couple of hours after the first drug was administered, I started having contractions so they held off on the Pitocin. As the day went on, the contractions were between 3-5 minutes apart (depending on whether I was sitting or standing), but they weren't getting stronger or painful. At about 9pm the doctor came in and told me that it looked like labor wasn't going to progress. She wanted me to get some sleep and then start Pitocin on Tuesday morning. It was almost as if the moment she closed the door behind her that the contractions started to intensify. Over the next couple of hours they contractions were somewhat painful but very managable. By about 11pm, though, it was obvious that I was not going to be getting any sleep and that Kai was on his way. Sometime after midnight, I walked down the hall to the delivery room. I was only dialated 2cm, but feeling lots of pressure and know that Kai was coming very soon. The nurse woke up the doctors and started getting things ready for delivery. When it was time to push, Kai's heart rate started to drop. Even though he was already crowning, the doc told me that if I didn't push him out immediately, they were taking me for a c-section. That was all of the motivation I needed. Only a couple of pushes later, at 1:20am, he was out. I was amazed at how little pain I had compared to Vera's birth. I didn't have an epidural with either child though I begged for one with Vera (a long story, but it just didn't work out that time). With Kai I was hoping to avoid getting one, but truthfully, by the time I was in enough pain to even consider getting one it was obvious that he was coming quickly. Second babies really are easier than first babies. Not only was Kai's delivery much more quick than Vera's but the recovery has been super speedy. My body already feels completely recovered (except for the lack of sleep), and I need to continually remind myself that I just gave birth a week ago and need to take it easy for a while. Now if only my gut would go away...
Here are a few more pictures.
This picture is one of my absolute favorite pictures from the hospital. The doctor on the left delivered Kai. While there were others in the delivery room, she is the one that I remember coaching me through his delivery. I don't know if the huge smile on her face in this picture is because she thinks Kai is so cute, or if it is a sense of pride knowing she helped bring him into this world. When I see the pic, I seem to think it is because her hands were the first to touch his.
Nurse Amber. She helped a lot the first day following Kai's birth and would frequently stop by to chat. This picture was taken just before we left the hospital. She stopped by just so she could hold Kai one last time before we left.
Emily and I feel like we waited a long time, but we finally have our boys in our arms!
