Our little boy is here! He arrived healthy and perfect, albeit 3 weeks early, on Monday the 6th of July 2015. Weighing 3.160kg's and 51cm long, he is just such a beautiful, perfect little boy.
So my due date was July 25th so Cade's arrival took us totally by surprise. Thankfully my mum arrived the Thursday before so we didn't have to stress about what to do with Darian.
I'd been having Braxton Hicks contractions all week and the Saturday night they got so intense. We had planned to go out and get Ashley to babysit Darian but that day I just felt like being home and had no need to leave the house. But I did feel like cooking something good so I made a huge pot of dhalgos and also baked some doughnuts for dessert. Our friends Vibha and Romarlon also popped in that night and even though the contractions were becoming more intense, I just brushed it off as Braxton Hicks and enjoyed our company. By the Sunday the contractions were getting more intense. So much so that I rang Renee, my midwife, to ask her if this could be labour. She said that is was probably false labour and the contractions would probably stop as quickly as they started. But she said it would be best to monitor the contractions and if they got more intense and more regular, like 3-5 mins apart then to let her know. As I still had one more week of work to go, I asked her if I would need to stay home and she said not to worry, it probably wasn't labour. Well, that night I didn't sleep. By 7pm the contractions were coming at about every 10 minutes. I kept saying "no, it can't be labour" & my mum was adamant that this was it. I txt Renee and she told me to have a hot bath to alleviate the pain and take some panadol & sleep, and call her when they got to 5mins apart. By midnight they were 5-7 mins apart and Cameron wanted to ring Renee but I said let's wait til they at more regular. By 2am I was ready to go to the hospital. We called Renee and she told us to go into Waitakere hospital's Te Henga ward and she would meet us there. When we got in, she checked me and told me that I was only 2cm dilated and about 1 & a half cm effaced so it was still too early to be in the hospital. And sent us home, with strict instruction to call her when the contractions were 3-5mins apart and lasting for 90seconds. So off home we went. I tried to sleep but I couldn't, the pain was so intense. Darian woke up about 5.30am and was so distraught at me being in pain. Hated my boy seeing me like that. By 6am I was ready to go in and told Cameron to tell Renee that in no uncertain terms, I was having this baby whether she likes it or not. We got to the hospital at about 8am after me fluffing around in the hope that once I was in the hospital this would be it. I then remembered that I was due in at work that day and had to txt my manager to let him know that I was in labour and having this baby and wouldn't be in as planned. Mum stayed home with Darian and had to ring the daycare to say he wouldn't be in that day either. When we got into the hospital, we got comfortable and ready for this baby to arrive. The contractions were coming every 3 mins and lasted for about 75-90seconds. They were so intense. After Renee did her examination on me she said that I was only 4cm dilated and my cervix was 1/2cm thick and was in labour. I quickly requested for the epidural and she went off to find the obstetrician and anaesthetist. Unfortunately they were in theatre and I had to endure the labour pains for at least the next hour, or so I thought. I got the gas and sucked on that during the contractions. That left me high as a kite and I was quite satisfied waiting for the epidural. 4 hours later we were still waiting and the gas was not working at all anymore! The obstetrician and anaesthetist were held up in theatre for an emergency c-section and would see me as soon as they could. By the time they came round, about 11:30pm I was writhing in pain and couldn't bear the pain any longer. And the Obstetrician still asked Renee to break my waters first, before giving the epidural. I was ok with it, until it dawned on me that when Debbie broke my waters for Darian I was in so much pain so said to Cameron that in no way were they going to break my waters without the epidural. My husband being who he is, put his foot down and Renne was obliging. I got the epidural about 12pm & was finally able to do this. I was so relaxed and in a good space that my waters finally broke on their own, Renee just helped them along and I dilated to 9cm. By the time I felt like pushing an hour had passed. In this time I had had 3 bags of plasmalyte, I was that dehydrated. At about 1:30pm I started feeling the urge to push and baby was born at 14:14. It felt like I had been pushing for ages and I was honestly at the point where I thought there was no way I could do this and they were gonna have to get this baby out of me some other way. But Renee and Cameron were so calm and kept telling me I could do this, and I eventually did.
Cade and I stayed at the hospital that night and Cameron went home about 5pm and returned an hour later with my mum and Darian to come meet our newest addition. We had given Darian books on having a new baby and one of the books which he loved, Zaza's baby brother, and in the story ZaZa and his dad go visit his mum in the hospital when the baby is born so I wanted him to understand fully what was happening and where mummy was, especially since the last time he saw me I was in so much pain and as he had that point of reference from the book I wanted to have him there. Cameron said when they left the hospital he was not very happy and performed to get into the car. He wanted his mummy! It wasn't easy being away from my boy, I'd never spent a night away from him since the day he was born so this was going to be hard for both of us. Cade was such a joy, he latched on well within the first 15 mins of being born and slept from 7pm that night til midnight when I woke him up for a feed. Then slept again from about 2am til about 7am that morning so I had such a great first night with him compared to my first night with Darian.
The next day I was discharged. We were so unprepared for Cade's arrival. Nothing had been done. Not only was I still supposed to be at work that week but I had only arranged to pick up the baby capsule on the 19th. So Cameron had to run around that morning just to get everything organised. Thankfully mum was home so she made sure all his linen and clothes were washed. That night Romarlon popped round so he helped Cameron put up the cot so Cade would have somewhere to sleep.
It's been a good first week. Cade sleeps well and feeds every 2 hours so I'm getting some decent sleep. If anything we've been more busy with Darian as he's still having issues with his nose, even now 4 weeks after his adenoidectomy and grommet reinsertion.
We've been busy with doctors appointments every week to ensure he's ok, and he's back on antibiotics and nasal sprays to get better. He has to go for allergy testing as well to rule out any allergies that may be causing the nose blocks, will keep you posted on that outcome.
It's been a very eventful few days but we are so thrilled to finally have our little family together. Darian is slowly becoming besotted with his little baby brother so I look forward to watching him grow into an awesome big brother.
Welcome to the world and the family Cade Israel, you are perfect and have completed our family.
