In the Beginning...Part III

So, Kevin and I came home with our new son. He was so well adjusted from the beginning. It was amazing how well he did with us. He was a little clingy with Kevin at first, but he had known him the longest! He eventually came around with me as well, even though I couldn't pick him up. I held him in my lap a lot and took naps with him. At the time, I was off of work because of my pregnancy. I was about 6 months along and feeling crummier by the day. I was diagnosed with pre-term labor and also scored one point below a gestational diabetes diagnosis. My blood pressure was up and the Turbutaline wasn't working. I had to call in my contractions daily by way of a monitor belt system. The further along I got, the more I was contracting. The doctors would then increase my medicine, which just made me feel worse. I had lots of prayers and support at the time, which helped greatly! I never cared how bad I felt, because I was doing it for Caden. He was my inspiration to push through and stay strong. I had waited so long to be pregnant that now I tried to enjoy carrying him even though it took a toll on my body.

On Friday January, 29th I was finally allowed to take my catheter out and stop the Turbutaline. I knew this meant I would contract even worse, but I didn't care. I was 8 months along and felt it was in God's hands. All day Saturday I contracted. Some were mild, some were intense. I took Tylenol to stave off the pain. It didn't do much, but it was something. I did a load of Caden's little baby clothes in the afternoon Saturday, because I had a feeling he'd be there any day. I realized he had no socks, so Kevin an I went to Babies-R-Us while I was still having contractions and basically waiting for them to get bad enough to head to the hospital.

By Sunday morning, the contractions were really intense and then I had the one that through me into a new level of discomfort and knew it was time! I ran upstairs to grab Kevin and tell him to get ready. He asked if I was sure it was really time. (We'd been to the hospital with false labor at least 3 times before.) I said, "Yes, I'm positive" and proceeded to have a contraction that doubled me over. Seeing this he staring moving quicker and called his mom to take Cole.

We arrived at the hospital at 10:30ish and everyone was so calm there. They gave me an injection of pain medicine to keep me comfortable and said my epidural was on the way. Things were going so fast. They checked me and realized I had dilated 5 cm already. The doctor's intern broke my water and things were rolling. The contractions were getting super strong by then and luckily they started my epidural. The doctor told me that if I felt one twinge of pain to let the nurse know and they get the anesthesiologist back to administer more medicine through my epidural. Dr. Zitter said, "You've been through hell with this pregnancy. There's no need for you to feel any of this." I thanked her and laid there for a while awaiting my 2nd son.

At 2:44 on December 31, 2006, Caden Thomas Shearn was born. I was so overcome with emotion it was hard to contain. After he was delivered and they measured him, the nurse handed him to me and I remember kissing his little foot. He was so sweet and perfect. Kevin was crying and exuding joy. Our two kids were finally here!



The long awaited baby number 2!

After holding Caden for a few minutes, he began to wheeze. I paid no attention because I'd never heard a brand-new baby breathe. However, the nurse and doctor picked up on it and the next thing I knew 3 nurses in blue uniforms swarmed in and grabbed Caden saying they were taking him to the NICU. It all happened so fast, I didn't know what to think. Later that day, they diagnosed him with a breathing condition, that was most likely due to fluid still in his lungs. Apparently this happens a lot with preemies and especially boys. He would spend the next 3 days in the NICU and be released the day after I was.

I hope you've enjoyed reading how my two kiddos came to me-straight from God! My new posts will all be about my journey raising the kids and our daily/weekly experiences. I hope that my infertility story can inspire others. You never know what God has in store for you. He holds the "blueprint" in his hands. It's hard at times to understand why things are the way they are, but hopefully at some point we can see a reason and a purpose behind all things. I hope my adoption story also helps another that needs inspiration in that situation as well.