The first six weeks

(Yes I know that this is August, I just realized I had this nice post all written up and ready to go, but I never actually published it.  Since I haven't written anything else on the blog since December, everything will still be in chronological order...look at me go!)

So I uploaded these pictures weeks ago (like six) and kept meaning to actually write about life lately.  Things were a bit crazy!  Kaden is the sweetest, most precious baby.  I am such a lucky momma!  The first six weeks were really, really tough on me, but also so sweet just getting to cuddle with this sweet baby! 

     This is a bit of a novel, but it is really the only kind of journal keeping that I do, so feel free to just skip to the cute pictures. I won't judge...one day I'm sure Kaden will really want to read all about his life issues! (Yeah right...) 

Kaden - 6 weeks old

     First I'm going to start off with his name.  It took us a long, long time to pick a name for Kaden.  The day that I had him I had gone in for an ultrasound and was able to see what he looked like for the very first time.  I wrote about it on the blog, but it really was such a highly emotional experience for me.  After the ultrasound I went back to my hospital room to wait until it was time to have the baby.  I decided I wanted to look up a name for the baby that would mean "strong", "brave", "courageous" or something of that sort.  I couldn't really find any names that I liked until I came upon the name "Kaden."  According to the website I was looking at (which we all know in the internet world that it may or may not be correct), Kaden means "fighter."  I really liked that.  I had been fighting for weeks to keep him safe, and he really was fighting as well to come here safely.  However, I still wasn't sure if that was a name that I liked.  After pouring through baby names for months (like 9) I had never really even considered Kaden.  

     That afternoon was one of the biggest ones of my life.  He wouldn't flip, (fighter) and so therefore we had to go for a C-Section.  In the middle of the night I was lying awake and came across the name again.  I woke Joe up and said "Joe, what about the name Kaden?"  To which he replied "that's cute" so I said, "it means 'fighter' I think that is very appropriate."  "Yeah it is, can we talk about this in the morning?"  I'm glad somebody was sleeping so well!  (Side note - Joe crashed that night.  The nurses came in around 2:00 in the morning to get me out of bed for the first time since the surgery.  This entailed two nurses in there, lights on, me struggling to stand up for the first time, walking to the restroom and back and then crying like a little kid trying to get back in bed.  He slept through ALL OF IT!  He didn't even remember it in the morning!)

   Anyways...after days and days of going back and forth between lots of different names we FINALLY settled on Kaden.  And I am so glad we did.  I always thought that naming a child because of it's meaning was a little silly (just pick a name you like already) but; he really is a little "fighter."  I cannot believe how much he has fought for his health in the first six weeks of his life. 

So....here is the novel....

     We went in for Kaden's one week check up and realized that he hadn't gained any weight since leaving the hospital (he left the hospital weighing 6 lbs. 2 oz.)  The Dr. and I talked about how feeding was going, and I felt confident that his latch was really strong and that I was making enough milk.  However, three days later, his weight still hadn't gone anywhere.  We decided to bring him back in for another weight check in a week.  The next day I found what is called 'brick dust' in Kaden's diaper.  Honestly I thought it was blood and freaked out a little.  Or a lot. I brought him straight to the Dr. and since his pediatrition wasn't in the office that day I saw a different pediatrition and I am so thankful I did!  The Dr. looked at the diaper, and after calming me down that it wasn't blood told me what brick dust is.  When a baby isn't getting enough to drink/eat their body starts breaking down protiens and their pee has a bit of an orange color to it, that looks like the color of bricks.  Therefore; brick dust.  Tadaa!  

    The new Dr. was really concerned that in two weeks Kaden hadn't gained any weight at all.  Babies are supposed to gain weight back up to their birth weight by day 10.  He told me that something was not going right and that it was time to supplement.  Big time.  In two days if he still hadn't gained weight we were going to really start to worry.  So he sent us home with big instructions to give the baby a bottle after every time I breastfed him and then to pump once a day just to get an idea of my milk production.  He was very throughough with his instructions and I could tell that he was very concerened and involved with me and my baby.  I pumped close to 3 1/2 ounces each time I substituded a feeding.  More than plenty for a newborn.  I'm still baffled as to why he didn't gain weight.

    After two days we took him back to the Dr. and he had gained 4 ounces!  Woohoo!  I was so happy to hear that.  The Dr. told me he was so proud of me and that I did everything perfectly to help him thrive.  He explained that having a failure to thrive baby is scary and tough and that I did a great job!  I was really happy to hear that, and immediately decided that I was switching pediatritions. 

    However, he was starting to look a little more yellow then he was before, so we decided to take him over to the hospital to have his jaundice levels checked.  Thank goodness that my Mother-In-Law was with me to show me where the hospital was, (the one we usually go to didn't take our insurance for the jaundice check) and she kept Hudson while I did the check with Kaden. 

     The next morning the Dr. called to tell me that the levels were high and that he wanted him tested again, that morning preferable before noon so that his office could get it before it closed for the day.  It was 9:45.   Being as 9:45 in the morning is soooo incredibly early, of course neither I or the boys were dressed at all.  I hadn't even brushed my hair...I know, I know...you can judge me.  I didn't have anyone at home to help me, or drive me, so thank goodness that I had just hit the two week mark since surgury and was allowed to drive again. I quickly got us all dressed and loaded as fast as we could and drove to the hospital.  After a huge headache of towing both boys all over the hospital, and dealing with some pretty awful staff memebers,  I finally got the test done for Kaden and his Dr. got it at 11:50!  Win for team Parks!  His levels were down again, and I was so proud of myself for actually handling our first outing of just me all by myself with both boys.  

    The next week was Christmas so we waited to go back to the Dr. until the day after Christmas.  He had gained another two ounces and so we were so excited to see that he weighed a whopping 6 lbs. 8 oz.  What a chunky monkey right? :)  We decided that our course of action with supplementing was going well and so we wouldn't need to bring him back until his one month check up.  Which was going to be in about a week and a half.  That was going to be the longest stretch in between Dr. appointments we had ever gone yet!   Since Kaden was born he had been in the Dr's office at least every three days.  If not more. The staff and I know eachother really well now. 

    To bad it didn't last.  On Sunday, January 5, Kaden woke up with a terrible, terrible cough.  The kind that scares you a lot when your baby is just barely 4 weeks old.  He also wasn't too interested in eating, and his breathing was pretty laboured.  We called the after hours care line for our Doctor's office, and the nurse told us that we needed to take him to the emergency room right away. The big problem, there was a giant snow storm going on.  Church had been cancelled and the county officials were advising people to stay off of the roads completely unless it was an absolute emeregency.  So, Joe bundled up and shovled the snow out from around our car, we loaded Kaden, and ventured out into the storm!   Our windshield wipers were not working well, and so combined with that and the intensity of the storm, we could hardly see out the window.  We stopped at Walmart, bought new windshield wipers, and then continued on!  

     When we got to the E.R. we did some tests to check for RSV, the flu, and a few other things.  We even did a chest X-Ray to check for pneumonia.  After all the tests came back negative, we were pretty baffled as to what could be bothering him so bad.  The Dr. decided to admit him for the night and see how he did.  So we headed up into the pediatric ward in the hospital.  We got settled in for the night and they decided to take just a few more tests just to make sure again that it wasn't RSV or the flu.  Sometime in the middle of the night Kaden's oxygen levels dropped pretty low, so they had to put in a nasal cannula and start him on oxygen.  Let me just tell you, it was so heartbreaking to watch them put that in his nose and then tape it to his little cheeks.  It just killed me.

   
The next morning the nurse came in and told me that the second RSV test they did the night before did come back positive and that we were being put into isolation.  Basically that means that anybody that came inside the baby's room (other than Joe and I) had to suit up completely in protective gown, mask, and gloves. Thus started our week long journey of trying to get him better!  He did really good in every area but the oxygen levels.  His breathing was good, thank goodness he never turned blue or stopped breathing, and his eating was great.  The nurses were so helpful and supportive in helping me with breastfeeding and supplementing.  Finally after being off of the oxygen for at least 24 hours we got to bring Kaden home from the hospital that Thursday!  It was one of the hardest weeks of my life.  I didn't see Hudson for days, and so I really missed him.  I finally got to see him on Wednesday night because the roads and storms were really too bad to be out before then.  I cried when I saw Hudson and was so happy to have that little man in my arms again!  He and I walked around the hospital for almost an hour just spending time together.  My heart broke a little when I had to tell him goodbye.  Most of the time In the hospital I just watched movies on Netflix and did a little bit of crocheting.  I watched the entire first season of Dr. Who.  (I am now on season 5, I love it.  It's a bit of a kooky show, but great.)

This was on our way home from the hospital.  He just looks so tired!

       It was so nice to get to bring Kaden home after being in the hospital for so long!  In eight weeks I had stayed in the hospital for a total of eleven nights!  If you ever stay at St. Lukes hospital in Chesterfield I can tell you all about which foods on the menu are good, and which ones are not!  I didn't even have to look at the menu the last few days!
     The hard part about coming home was that we still were in isolation.  We set up camp in our bedroom downstairs and Kaden didn't come out for about a week.  The only time he did was when it was absolutely necessary like a bathroom trip for mom.  Other than that there was somebody in the room with him at all times.  Most of the time it was me, though both Joe and my mother-in-law took shifts so that I could get out of the room.  

     That Saturday we took Kaden back to the Dr. and he said that Kaden was doing a lot better and that we shouldn't have to worry too much anymore.  He told us to keep him in the house for another six weeks or so and that we would talk about it again at his next appointment (two months).  He did however give us permission to take Kaden to church the next week for his baby blessing.

  

After they took off the nasal cannula.  Poor little rash!

Just sleeping at home

Horsey rides from dad are his very favorite!

Also, this pose...can this kid get any cuter!

All bundled up to go play in the snow!

Check out those Bigler ears!  

Hudson got a new bike and a helmet for Christmas!  He was so darn excited!  I think Joe and I were even more excited!

This was our thankful tree that we made for Thanksgiving.  Each day of the month we took a leaf down and wrote something that we were thankful for.  Please excuse my horrible crafting skills.  My tree looks a little deformed, but that's ok.  Hudson didn't know.  

Hudson decorating the tree.  He loved to help out!  Thanks Grandma!

I feel like this needs to be the cover of a kids album of bad 90's songs.  Isn't he so adorable though?!