Thank Goodness He Wasn't a Halloween Baby

I guess it's finally time for me to post my side. Although Matt did an awesome job!

Sunday, October 30
We had our last (of 4) childbirth classes...

Monday, October 31
All summer we have had two storage units and moving into our rental house allowed us to condense it to one unit. We wanted to get that done before the baby came so we could start saving some money. Our only night we could was Halloween. So Matt moved all the heavy stuff and I made many trips walking back and forth with the lightest items. It took us about an hour. I'm pretty sure that's what got things going.

Tuesday, November 1
Thank goodness, I didn't have a Halloween baby. Halloween is my least favorite holiday (although, I think I'll have to learn to like it for Kasen's sake). Matt was in Rogers City for work that afternoon/night. Rogers City is about 3.5 hours from Traverse City and so he didn't get home until midnight. That morning I called my mom and asked if she could come up for a day to help me get stuff put away. We had stuff all over the house and I just couldn't get it all done before the baby came. I could only work on a few things at a time and would get so tired. She said sure so she came up planning to spend a day here. Matt got home at midnight that night and my mom and I were planning to spend the next day getting stuff done. I had a regular OB check up in the morning, an appointment with WIC and Medicaid stuff in the afternoon and a parenting class at night. Whew!

Wednesday, November 2
I woke up at 3 a.m. having contractions. They started out the usual way as I had been having contractions more and more frequently that last week. I was getting through them breathing and what not. But then they didn't go away and got more and more painful, eventually bringing me to my knees on the side of the bed. I woke Meadow up a few times and she came and licked my face, but Matt never budged. At about 4:30 a.m. I knew I was in labor and the baby would be here by the end of the day (I did say a week earlier that I knew the baby would come this week). I decided not to wake Matt up just yet since he had just gotten home from a long day. Then at 6:30 a.m. I knew it was time to get him up. I said his name a few times, he kind of rolled over and looked at me leaning over the side of the bed. I said, "Matt, I'm pretty sure I'm in labor and have been since 3 a.m." He said, "Seriously... (pause)... how far apart are the contractions."

At about 7:30 a.m. I decided to take a shower and try to eat breakfast. Our childbirth classes taught us that we should try to eat during early labor, but that just wasn't happening for me. We decided to go to the 9:30 OB appointment and see where we were at. They monitored me and the baby and decided that, sure enough, I was in labor, contractions were about 2 minutes apart and I was 4 cm dilated.

My OB office and the hospital are connected by a sky walk, so I was wheel-chaired over to the Maternity Unit while Matt moved the car and got our stuff. They told us we weren't leaving without a baby. I was ok when we first arrived, but things were progressing quickly. Soon I was 6 cm, then 8 cm and in so much pain. I was having trouble breathing and my fingers, lips and knees were tingly and almost numb. I must admit, having asthma, I started to panic. I knew what these sensations meant, but I was in so much pain, I couldn't focus on my breath. I knew the nurse was ordering the epidural and antibiotics, but it wasn't happening fast enough for me. I started feeling like I needed to push, but the nurse told me not to yet. Then I was at 10 cm and my water broke (as it turns out, it didn't quite break all the way, because the Dr. had to fully break it later).

At about Noon, my "best friend" came in, gave me an epidural and changed my whole world. Unfortunately, that basically stopped my labor. At about 2 p.m. I tried to start pushing, but after about an hour, wasn't getting very far. I couldn't feel anything. The nurses changed shifts and my epidural was backed off. The pain was slowly returning. Then from 4 p.m. until 7:07 p.m. all I did was push. My contractions were constant and most were not actually helping me. The nurse and Matt kept trying to get me to relax in between, but I didn't feel like there was an in between. Matt kept me focusing on breathing and nurse kept me focused on pushing. I was going back and forth the whole time on getting the baby out and giving up. By 6 p.m. I was out of energy and didn't feel like I could do it. I kept saying over and over, I can't do it, I'm so tired, I can't do it. Even now, I'm amazed it did it.

Finally, there HE was. When the Dr. put Kasen on me, Matt said it was a boy and I was shocked! We were so convinced it was a girl. They asked if we had a name and I immediately said Kasen James. It took a few minutes for him to cry, but when he did it was the best cry ever.

I have said this to a lot of people, including Matt; I could not have done it without him. He was nervous about passing out or (similar to his proposal and our wedding) crying, but I kept telling him that I think he'll surprise himself. He'll be strong. And he was. He was great, we really were a team. He knew what I needed to hear and how assertive he needed to be with me. Everyone always teases him because he says 'we' when referring to a lot of the pregnancy and delivery. But we really are a 'we' in everything.

Ok, enough of the delivery. Our next posts will begin our adventures in parenting. Ha!

A Proud New Poppa!

Hello Friends and Family,

As I am sitting here reflecting on the past few days a smile comes to my face. Right now Laura is taking a quick rest on the couch after a busy morning and sitting back ready to watch Sunday football (that's my girl), my new son Kasen James (that's my boy) is sleeping in his crib and our dog Meadow (that's our dog) is laying upside down on the chair looking more tired than the new parents.

And now the rest of the story...

On November 1st I went to meeting in Rogers City with the Girl Scouts and received two baby packages and a nice letter written to Laura. I returned home from this meeting at midnight and crawled into bed and fell asleep needing to be back at work at 8:30am. At 3am Laura started having contractions and knew she was going into labor but didn't let me know until about 6:30 am. The contractions were still quite a ways apart so we decided to wait until an OB appointment we had scheduled at 9:30am so we could find out from the doctor what our next step was. Laura at this point was barely able to stand up so after a few tests, the nurse said she was at 4cm and that we would not be leaving the hospital without a baby...excuse me what?

So Laura got a super cool ride, through a back door, in a wheel chair to the hospital where she was given a luxurious room and a beautiful flowing gown. I got a sign that read "elevator out of order" and then drove myself across the road.

After a few minutes in the hospital and a few people checking Laura out they said she was at 6cm...little while later 8cm and soon 10cm by 11:30am. Things were moving fast and there was quite a concern that we were not going to get the epidural and some antibiotics we would need before giving birth. As we have nurses making several calls and there is some concern written on their faces about getting the needed medicine in time. Then looking at Laura, there was A LOT of concern on her face about getting the much needed epidural. Quite a sad moment knowing there is nothing you can do except just be there and be supportive when Laura was in immense pain.

As we have been accelerating through labor the nurses were sure we would have a baby by 2pm. Laura was already at 10cm and all we were waiting for was the urge to push. The epidural man finally came and quickly had Laura was much more comfortable and talking normally, not screaming in pain. At this point Laura told him the he was her best friend. Luckily he had to go to another room or a profession of her love may have been next. It was so weird to know that the same pains that had forced her to her to tears were still happening, but now she was talking and watching ESPN (now that's my girl) and now just waiting for the pushing to start. We had called both sets of Grandparents to the hospital because of the rapid progress and we were expecting a baby by 2pm. Little did we know...

The urge to push did not come for some time and the epidural needed to be backed off to help accomplish this. I was in contact with the Grandparents through texting and I believe there were something like 65 text's in all before the delivery. Grandparents were troopers as they were there until almost 9:30pm with the arrival of Kasen James at 7:07 pm. The final text to Wendy Clark (Laura's Mom) was... ":)". She knew what that meant even thought they had to wait awhile to meet the baby they still did not know was named Kasen James Witkowski and weighed 8 lbs 15 oz. and was officially 22 1/4" long.

During the final stages of delivery it was quite an amazing thing to watch from seeing the head come out to learning the sex of the child. This was such an amazing surprise since we both thought that we were going to have a girl when the doctor asked if I wanted to see what the sex was, I jumped at the chance and was shocked to see a boy. Very exciting moment and I would recommend to anyone to wait to find out. Even the doctors and nurses were excited to share in our joy of trying to find out. Amazing!

In the following two days we had lots of doctors, nurses and friends stop by the room. We started a game with hospital staff that anytime someone entered the room they had to tell us one interesting thing about themselves, it made it very interesting when new visitors would enter the room. Nobody was exempt; from doctors, nurses, food delivery service and even people just coming in to collect hospital trash or food. Great time to learn about people.

Our time in the hospital was filled with visitors, but also presented lots of time for just the three of us and that was very special. Leaving the hospital was also exciting as we dressed Kasen up in Lions apparel and video taped every minute of leaving the hospital and even getting into the car.

Upon arriving home We had a 7' stork in our yard with all of Kasen's birth information painted on the green sack. This is a Clark family tradition and I love it!!! We also had Meadow meet Kasen and she gave him a small little lick on the face, a very cute moment that we were hoping for.

Since coming home the baby has been an angel and has barely even cried at all. We are waiting for all the crying and screaming to come but so far Kasen has been nothing but content and calm. When he needs to be changed or fed he simply gets squirmy and because he is so calm that sticks out as fussy. What a blessing! That's about it for now. We will have more videos and picks coming soon. Have a great day and thanks for all the well wishes!

Introducing Kasen James Witkowski

It's a boy!! Our son, Kasen James Witkowski, was born November 2, 2011, at 7:07 p.m., 8 lbs. 15 oz, 22 1/4" (a BIG boy). He is the most amazing thing in the world and we love him to pieces!

Over the next week or so we will share the birth story, but for now we thought we'd get some pictures up. Matt has a lot of video of our time in the hospital so we'll get that up soon as well. We are definitely  figuring out our new life with our little man and all is well. He is, so far, the most calm and non-fussy baby of all time. We're thinking that will change over the course of the next week, but for now we are taking advantage of our perfect little angel. :) For now enjoy the pictures...