Introducing Baby........

Introducing

Braeden Glenn Cardon

10-24-2011 @ 1423

Weight: 6 lbs 13 oz

Height: 20 in

Head: 36 cm

How Things Went Down:

I woke up this morning around 7am.  I could have went back to sleep, but I wanted to download a few more pictures so I could catch up on our blog before the baby got here.  Michelle woke up about an hour later.  I was glad that she was able to sleep.  Drew wasn’t very behind us at waking up.  He was happy.  We lounged for a few hours before deciding we should get ready.  Grandpa Woolley and Grandma came over to help me give Michelle a blessing.  It was so nice of them to come out of their way.  We were going to go over there before going to the hospital, but Grandpa’s dental appointment changed.  After I cut my hair and we all showered we got all of our bags packed and made sure we weren’t missing anything.  We drove over to Laurel Nelson’s to drop Drew off.  We took a few pictures of the three of us so we could remember how it was before we had a new addition.  I don’t think Drew understands what is going to happen today, but we hope he adjusts well.

Since I hadn’t eaten this morning we stopped at Wendy’s for some food.  Michelle couldn’t eat because of the pending surgery, but I enjoyed my meal.  She didn’t want me to faint in the OR.  We arrived at the hospital a little before Noon.  Michelle got registered and then we came into Labor and Delivery room 19.  We had two nurses helping out.  One was a normal floor nurse and the other was a new nurse in that area.  Their names were Amy and Marianne.  We took a few pictures of Michelle being pregnant since we really don’t have many.  Isn’t she so cute?

We then took a quick picture of the two of us before she got changed into her gown.  We sat around for a while waiting for our turn in the OR.  Michelle’s parents were able to make it before she went in.  Carol was hoping she would be able to go into the c-section since she is an OR nurse and promised to stay out of the way, but the anesthesiologist would only allow one other person and I got the spot.  Our 1:30pm OR time was moved back a half hour because our doctor was busy with another case in the normal OR.  When it was almost time to go I got into my white disposable jumpsuit and got our picture taken before they got her out of bed to walk to the OR.

We arrived in the OR at 2pm.  After we got Michelle onto the OR bed the anesthesiologist began to place her epidural.  It seemed weird that they did it in the frog position sitting up, but I guess it works.  In no time she wasn’t feeling a thing down below.  Dr. Brown soon entered the room and everyone started getting in their sterile gowns and gloves.  A third year resident would assist in the surgery and a medical student would be watching with minimal participation.  There were also several nurses and scrub techs in the room.  

The doctor got down to business pretty fast.  The actual removal of the baby didn’t take that long.  Before the surgery Michelle told me I couldn’t post any pictures like I did last time.  She thought they were a little too graphic.  I must obey her wishes and won’t, but to tell you the truth I didn’t get as many good pictures because the doctors were in the way most of the time.  Before I knew it the baby was coming out and being thrust in the air so Michelle could take a quick peek at him.  He was born at 1423 (2:23pm).

He was then taken over to a bed were two NICU nurses wiped him off and assessed him.  This was strange for us since Drew was taken away through a window into the NICU and we didn’t get to see him right away after his birth.  While they began to get her ready to be stitched up I went over to watch as they cleaned him up and took his temperature.  

He looked so much different than Drew.  It must be the extra pounds he had on his body.  We then took his measurements.  His height was 20 inches, his weight was 6 pounds 13 ounces, and his head circumference was 36 cm.  He got an 8 and 9 for his APGAR scores, but his chest was retracting a little when he was breathing.  The NICU nurses said to watch him and that it could just be some fluid in the lungs.

Once he was done with his quick cleaning it was time for him to be wrapped up and brought over to his mom so she could attempt to see him up close.  Michelle loved being able to see him.  She was tired, but it didn't take long for them to finish putting her back together and making sure that they didn't leave anything inside her uterus or abdomen.  Michelle's hospital bed was pulled up next to the OR bed and she was transported back to our original room for monitoring.

When we got back to the room Braeden was ready to eat.  He put his thumb in his mouth and was sucking. It was so cute.  Glenn and Carol were in the room to greet us.  They were so happy that everything went OK and that there were no complications.  Michelle's  blood pressure dropped below normal so the anesthesiologist had to come in and give her a shot increase her pressure.  It didn't take her long to raise back up to normal.  Braeden continued to show signs that he was hungry so Michelle did skin to skin with him and attempted to breastfeed him.  He knew exactly what to do and it was a successful feeding.  While we were waiting we found out that Michelle's cousin Amy had delivered her little boy the day before and was going to be staying one floor above Michelle.  We were so excited for her.  Since everything finally looked good for both mother and baby it was time to transfer to our permanent room upstairs.

Once we made it to our room on the second floor we enjoyed having Braeden be able to hang out with us in the room.  It gave us a little more time to look him over and determine who he looks like.  A lot of people say that he looks like me or at least has my nose.  We don't think he looks like Drew, but I am just bad at playing this game.  Babies look like babies.

The nursery needed to evaluate him themselves as well as do some paper work on him so I went with him to the nursery while Michelle stayed with her parents and rested.  The nursery did all the same things as before as well as take a security picture and get foot prints for his record.  We then got to go back to the room and watch him get his first bath.  The CNA was so cute with him and very gentle.  He wasn't too sure about the water at first, but then he began to relax.  Once she was done with the body and had wrapped him up I was able to scrub/wash his head.  I tried to be as gentle as possible.  It is hard to get use to handling such a small child, but it came back fast.

We got him snuggled back up and I couldn't resister getting a picture with my handsome little boy.  He sure did look happy to be all warm and protected in his blankets.

He was now ready for some more visitors.  Nettie had been dying all day to come and see him.  She hurried down from work and made sure she got some pictures with him.

In the middle of her visit the respiratory therapist came in to talk to Michelle about being able to clear her lungs and how to prevent her from getting pneumonia.  Michelle did a great job with her exercises and we all thought it was a little funny.  Nettie wanted to give it a try and had a difficult time herself, but I didn't get a picture.  Chelsea and Darren soon showed up followed by my sister Rachael.

Glenn and Carol had left to go pick Drew up from the babysitter's house and feed him dinner over at Grandma and Grandpa Woolley's house.  We were excited for him to arrive so he could meet his new little brother and see how he would react to it all.  When he first came into the room he was looking all over the place.  I am sure he was wondering why we were in this strange place.  He was very mellow and hesitant when we showed him Braeden.  He didn't know how to respond.  I tried to have him give him a kiss, but he wouldn't do it.

The moment we were waiting for was to get our first family picture all together.  Drew was still hesitant, but he was willing to put his arm around the baby.  He wouldn't smile for us, but we got a small one after several attempts.  We wish we could see Braeden's face a little more so you could tell there was a baby in there, but I think it is cute none the less.

Dy came by after her shift was over at the hospital, but I forgot to take a picture with Braeden.  It was so nice for family to visit.  Drew warmed up a little more to Braeden right before he left, but he still doesn't really have a clue about what has changed.  It is even hard for us to believe that this morning we left Drew as a three person family and are now one little man bigger.  Glenn and Carol took Drew down to Orem so they could watch him for the next few days while we are in the hospital.  They are so nice to help out, but Michelle isn't sure she wants to be away from him that long.  Rachael stayed a little bit longer before she had to go home and get ready to go to Logan for work the next day for the rest of the week.

Aubrey was the last visitor of the night.  She was kind enough to make us a few items for the diaper bag with a few personal touches.  With everyone gone we could spend some more time with our little one.  It didn't last long.  Dy had noticed that it seemed that he was breathing a little fast.  Michelle took a moment to check his respiratory rate and it was above 60 so she let the CNA know and they took him back to the nursery to check his vitals.  They said it would only take about 10 minutes and when he hadn't returned almost 40 minutes after I decided to go check on him.  His breathing rate was increased and he was mildly retracting.  His oxygen saturation had fallen several times, but they were able to increase it with a little oxygen.  They called the on call pediatrician and he ordered some labs and a chest x-ray.  I had been there during his last desaturation, but over the 30 minutes it took for the phlebotomist and radiology tech to arrive he didn't have a single problem.  They took the x-ray and drew some blood and he didn't even cry once.  The CNA gave Michelle an update and I stayed with Braeden a little while longer.  He did give me a little scare when some chest fluid got him choked up and he started to turn blue while they tried to get it out of him and get his oxygen back up.  Although it seemed traumatic it was good for him to get that junk out.  The chest x-ray looked like he just had some fluid that hadn't cleared yet.  He had to wear a monitor, but he was allowed back in our room.  Michelle fed him one more time and then was so tired she decided to have Braeden sleep in the nursery and she would have him brought to our room when it was time for him to eat.  We couldn't believe that all this had happened today.  We love Braeden so much and can't wait to get him home in the next few days.