Tuesday, October 2, 2007

A New Chapter In Our Life Begins



September 28, 2007, my precious son, Caedmon Emmanuel, came into this world at 11:50a.m. He weighed 8 lbs. 6ozs. and measured 22 inches long. Whew! Had not expected to have that big of a baby! Totally makes sense now why his moving about towards the end was sooo uncomfortable!

Pic #1 was taken on Day 1, pic #2 was taken on Day 2.


I don't even know where to begin; my mind is spinning with details and I'm not sure what to focus on.

I was starting to feel pretty sure that this day would never come, so as I had contractions throughout the day on Thursday, I basically ignored them. I was so sick of false alarms. Even that night, as they were coming closer together, I continued to ignore them. But then I went to bed at 12:30a.m. and when Corey came back just to "tuck me in":), he never ended up leaving again. As soon as I laid down, they started coming harder and at about 4 min. apart. We counted for a couple hours before we finally decided it was time to go to the hospital and call our doula.
It was so weird to finally be in that hospital for something I'd been waiting for for over 9 months!

Labor is not something you can ever fully prepare for! I thought I was doing really good till my water broke! Wow! Then the pain REALLY started!

My doula was awesome - couldn't have done it without her!

Everything went the way I wanted - no surprises to deal with. But I did about everything I had said I wouldn't.:) Guess you never know till you're in the situation. Had wanted to use a birthing stool rather than laying in bed. I'd learned about gravity being a huge help when you're delivering, but when it came to that point, I couldn't move! I'm not sure I was even conscious - they asked me a couple times if I wanted to switch positions - I don't even think I could answer them. Regardless, my baby was born!:)

My midwife had me pull him up onto my stomach (that was as far as his cord would go), and later I had to ask Corey if I'd even done it; I was so out of it.

I watched Corey cry as Caedmon came out - a precious memory I'll never forget! I cried when he was finally laying on me, although I think my crying was partly involuntary. (My body's never gone through so much!)

What an absolute miracle the entire process of conception all the way to delivery is! How amazing our bodies are! What a gift a baby is!

4 comments:

Mikaela said...

Oh Keelie, I'm so proud of you! You look great and quite content! Happy beginnings!

partner said...

Congratulations! I heard Sunday afternoon.I am so glad all went well. Having a baby is a VERY life changing experience(for both mom and dad)Give Caedmon a sweet kiss from Aunt Kathy and Keelie let me know if you need me- I'am here for you. How about dinner? Kathy

Anonymous said...

My name is Lloyd Smith, the grandfather of Caedmon Adante Christian Smith. It was good to hear of another Caedmon. How was yours named?

Keelie said...

I read the name in a book and immediately liked it! There's also a Christian music group named Caedmon's Call. My husband really likes old names, so it fit the bill.:) My husband researched the name and found that the first English poet's name was Caedmon - this man was named a saint. He has a pretty neat story. How was your little grandson named and how do you pronounce his name?