Kaden Johan Craven

Our little Kaden is finally here and he is absolutely perfect!!  It feels so good being able to finally be a family of 4.  It is amazing how quickly we bond with these sweet little spirits that enter our family. We are just so in love with our little boy.  I feel so bad that it took me so long to write his birth story, but I guess better late than never. 

So we were planning on being induced last Monday the 23rd, but then the day before after church, I noticed that my feet and legs started swelling up super bad.  My thighs even started turning black and blue from lack of circulation we think.  They got so bad that I called my doctor and he decided to induce me Sunday night instead.  The doctor told us to make it to the hospital in an hour if we could.  We called my brother Teddy to come and stay with Porter at our house, packed our bags, and headed to LDS hospital were we would deliver.  That is also the hospital that I was born at so that made it kind of special.  I was a little anxious, but Paul was as calm as could be which really helped me.  We got to the hospital around 4:45 PM.   When we got to the hospital it took us a while to get checked in and to get the paper work done and everything.  Here is Paul and I right after getting checked in to the hospital right before everything was started.

My Mom and my sisters Natasha and Donna were all there to see little Kaden born which was wonderful.  And my brother in law Geoff and my Mother in Law Cheryl also came to visit during the labor.  I love the support that my family shows.

At around 6:00, they started hooking me up the IV’S.  They started the Pitocin and my contractions started right away but weren’t painful at all.  The anesthesiologist was called in to help with a c-section so they asked me if I wanted my epidural before he left in case the contractions got harder quickly.  I said sure.  I thought it was pretty amazing that I had my epidural even before any pain was felt..haha.  Completely different than what I experienced with little Porter.  After I received my epidural, the upped the Pitocin level and everything seemed to be going great.  It was pretty fun watching the intensity of my contractions and even though they were at the highest intensity I was having a great ‘ol time watching Monsters Inc. with my family..haha.  Kaden was such a busy body that they had a hard time keeping tract of his heart rate.  They kept having to readjust the heart rate straps.  Finally at about 9:00 PM they broke my water and then decided to insert an internal heart rate monitor where they inserted the monitor right next to his head.  No matter where he moved, the monitor would stay by him. 

At around midnight, they noticed that Kaden’s heart rate would drop to extremely low levels every time that I would have a contraction.  It was so scary watching his heart rate start in the 150’s and drop to below 50 sometimes in the matter of seconds.  The nurse ended up turning down the Pitocin level’s every half and hour or so until she decided that his heart rate was too low to even let me have any more contractions and she turned the Pitocin completely off.  She also put me on oxygen for a while to see if that would help.

 

Once my contractions stopped, his heart rate returned to normal.  They decided that it was probably the cord wrapped around his neck that was tightening with each contraction.  The nurse then tubed water back inside my uterus to see if that would help the corn to float and move away from his neck. 

After a couple of hours of monitoring his heart rate, we realized that the only way to get this little kid here safe was to have an Emergency C-Section.  Here is cute Paul dressed up and ready for this baby to get here.

I bawled like a baby when I found out.  I was scared to death and having a c-section was definitely not in the plan book.  But I am so incredibly thankful for modern technology and that we had amazing doctors and nurses and that we were able to get our beautiful boy safely here.  Our doctor that delivered him..Dr. Ward, was absolutely amazing.  He was so sensitive to the situation and worked quickly and professionally.  Paul sat by me during the C-Section and held my hand the whole time.  It only took them about 5 minutes to get little Kaden born, and then about 20 minutes to stitch me back up.  We found out that Kaden had the cord wrapped tightly around his neck and that his head was also facing up instead of the floor which prevented me from birthing vaginally.

The minute I heard his little cries, I just started bawling again.  It was so wonderful hearing him and knowing that he was finally here.  He is our miracle baby.

He was 6 lbs 13 oz. and 21 inches long.  He had a little black fuzz on his head, tall and skinny, dark blue beautiful eyes and he was perfect as perfect can be.  And I think that he looks exactly like Paul.  Such a handsome little guy. 

From the moment that I first held him, he had such a feeling of calmness and peacefulness surrounding him.  He is such a special little boy and I know that he will do many wonderful things in his life.  He already is such a blessing to our family.  I am so thankful for our little Kaden and I just know that we are going to have many amazing times and moments together.  I am so thankful for the opportunity that I have to be a Mother and I am so blessed for the two sweet little spirits that Heavenly Father has entrusted to me.  Here are my handsome boys.  I am so incredibly lucky.

Our hospital stay went quickly and we were well taken care of.  Here is where Paul slept. 

Thank you so much for all of our friends and family that came to support us while we were in the hospital. 

And thank you so much for all of you that have visited us since we have been home and brought meals.  We are so thankful for all of you and love you so much.  You are the best!!  The last night before we went home, Kaden tested at High Risk for jaundice, so they wheeled him away and made him sleep in a bili bed. 

The next morning They said that his jaundice levels had gone way down but we need to get tested again in the next couple of days.  We will keep you updated. 

Here is cute little Kaden bundled up all ready to make his journey home from the hospital. 

What a beautiful little boy.  We love you so much Kaden!!