Meet Elijah Taylor Cassidy

Almost three weeks later ... here is our introduction to Elijah Taylor Cassidy. If you have children, especially two, you know exactly why I have not been able to post this. I am spending every moment I can napping or with Ethan if I'm not nursing or changing diapers. Here's how the story went down because everyone loves a birth story:

Monday, April 4th:
Chris and I had breakfast at Cracker Barrel (that seemed to bring on labor for Ethan so we thought we'd give it a shot once again). I started having contractions in the morning that were inconsistent but definitely hurt. They came and went for about two hours then just disappeared. We still went grocery shopping, went for a walk in the Greenway, and called Nana and Pa to come stay for a few days just in case. The day ended with a bust - no contractions = no baby today.

Tuesday, April 5th - DUE DATE:
Again, the day started with me having contractions again that were inconsistent and lasted for two hours then disappeared. We had a 40 week check up with Dr. Garcia. He checked me and I was 3 cms and went ahead and sent us to the hospital since we were having contractions. We were so excited and texted everyone to say we were having this baby today! We went home, packed, ate lunch and kept tabs on the contractions which were still coming 5 minutes apart and getting stronger. We were getting so excited! We got to the hospital at 1 and got hooked up to a machine to check my contractions. An hour later a midwife came in to check me and I was still only 3 cms dialated. So she sent me to walk the halls for one hour. One hour later my contractions had come to a complete stop so we were sent home ... disappointed once again.


Wednesday, April 6th - ONE DAY PAST DUE DATE:
This day was a complete disappointed because I didn't have one contraction. I spent the day bummed out but Nana, Pa and Chris tried to cheer me up by going to Chester to eat lunch with Frankie and Ashley. Then Nana and Pa went on home while my mom and dad were planning on coming in later that afternoon. To cheer myself up, I went ahead and made an appointment for a pedicure. I told the massause to rub my cavles down really good!

Thursday, April 7th - TWO DAYS PAST DUE DATE:
Again, the day started off with contractions for two hours that were closer together, five minutes, then they stopped. At this point I was an emotional mess. I was crying every day thinking this baby was never going to get here. I didn't have this mess with Ethan and I didn't understand what was going on. I thought once contractions started they would keep going. Boy was I so wrong. God was certainly teaching me a BIG OL' lesson in patience which He continues to do every single day! Mom and I went for a walk in Manchester Park and that did get contractions started back a little. The rest of the evening they came and went but were getting stronger. Mom grilled a nice steak dinner topped off with a FABULOUS chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting. TO DIE FOR! Again, the contractions stopped so Chris and I went for a walk around the neighborhood while Mom and Dad watched Ethan for us. I went to bed frustrated but accepting the fact that this baby was going to come when he was good and ready.

Friday, April 8th - THREE DAYS PAST DUE DATE:
Contractions woke me up at 2:30 AM and kept going strong for two hours. Finally at 4:30 AM I decided to take a bath to see if they went away. They didn't - which I was thrilled. That meant they were more than likely here to stay. By 5 AM, they were coming 3 minutes apart and were KILLING me! I woke Chris up because he was sleeping with Ethan who woke up with a bad dream ... probably that this new baby was about to rock his world! LOL We woke my mom up to let her know we were heading to the hospital. We left at 5:45 AM and Chris drove 80 with the hazard lights on the entire way. We got to the hospital by 6 AM, I was checked in triage by a nurse, I was at 6 CMs, put into a room, got epidural by 7:30 AM, was checked by the midwife at 8, took a nap very comfortably until 10, midwife came back in to check me again at 10:30 and I was fully dialated. Ready to push! I pushed for 30 minutes and Elijah Taylor came out crying his head off at 11:08 AM! Let me say - having a midwife was a HUGE difference to having a doctor. It was such an enjoyable experience because she was so calm and really encouraged me to take my time and showed me different ways to push. She even encouraged Chris to "catch the baby", which really mean helping to pull Eli out and place him on my belly once the shoulders were out.

Since we had him so early in the day, we really had the opportunity to spend time and bond with Eli before all the visitors piled in. CMC has a policy of quiet time from 2 to 4 so that helped a lot too. They also have a new "policy" to have skin on skin time as soon as the baby is born. Studies have shown that it helps the baby bond naturally to the mother as well as recover from the stress of birth. They laid his nakee body on mine and it was just marvelous. Literally within 20 minutes that he just made his way up to me to feed. I didn't see that with Ethan and it was so cool that they just know what to do. He latched on perfectly from the get to and has been great at nursing ever since!

Four o'clock rolled around and we were so anxious to see Ethan and for him to meet his long awaited baby brother. He was the first to come in and we wanted that quality time as a family before everyone else came in. The look on his face was priceless and he was so warm and sweet with Eli. Soon after, my family as well as Chris' came in and all got the chance to hold the little man. He is very well loved already.

Enjoy the pictures!

History Repeats Itself

Well this has been an interesting past two days to say the least. Monday morning I started having contractions. They were not close together or very hard but they were contractions none the less and that was progression. We dropped E off at school and Chris and I went to have breakfast at Cracker Barrel. We decided to do other errands that involved walking and walking then headed home. I took a nap and when I got up, contractions had come to a complete stop and didn't start back that day. Tuesday morning contractions started back. They were a bit harder and closer together. I had a doctors appointment that morning so I was excited to see the progress that had been made. The midwife I've been seeing was coming off being on call and wasn't in the office, so I saw another doctor that I really liked. He measured my cervix at 3 cm and told me we should be having this baby within the next 24 hours! So of course I left on could nine! He was going to call into the hospital by 1:30 and let them know I was coming. The other piece of information that made things a little hairy was that there were down power lines all around the hospital from the huge thunderstorm that came Monday night. Nurses were having a really terrible time getting in and out so therefore there were some really tired and irritable nurses still working the shift from the night before. The doctor warned us that we better be in true hard labor or they would send us home. We got to the hospital a little early at 1 PM so we wouldn't get stuck in any crazy traffic. I was NOT having this baby in the car! When we got there, they did all seem irritated that they were unaware of our arrival. Long story short - they hooked me up to a machine for about 45 minutes to monitor my contractions and baby's heartbeat. They also checked my cervix and it was still at 3 cm. They made us walk the halls for an hour and the contractions once again came to a complete stop. Urgh! I was so frustrated and down and about to just break down in tears right then and there. I was so sure we were gonna have our little man. So, they sent us home. Here we are here today and no contractions at all. I had a few last night as I was sleeping but none that would truly count towards hard labor. As it stand now, we will just wait it out. They told me to make an appointment for 41 weeks - YIKES! So I did but not with my midwife. She is not even available until Thursday and that is very frustrating. I left her a call today to to talk to her about induction, which was in the plans if I still hadn't had the baby by the due date, but have not heard back. Pray for us but more importantly me. I am losing focus on the big picture because I'm just ready to have this baby. I know God is constantly teaching me a lesson in patience and this isn't any different. I just get discouraged and disappointed very easily and this was not what I anticipated. Let's hope this baby decides to make a move very soon. I'm off to get a pedicure and have my calves rubbed down so maybe, just maybe, that will help speed things along! :)

Correction

Before my mom totally disowns me, let me say for the record that she did come and paint ALL three rooms and did an amazing job!!! Thank you so much Mom. You don't know how much you have helped us! We love you very much!