Palmer Bradley Buttars

December 20, 2010
11:27 pm
8 pounds and 12 ounces
22 inches long
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For journaling sake I have typed up the whole birthing adventure in my baby journal so in here I will touch on the highlights of the birth and life so far!

1) Just a few hours after typing my last blog entry my water broke in the Walmart Parking lot- yikes! What a hard decision to know whether to run into the bathroom in Walmart of risk driving home. I'm so glad I drove home. I would have hated being stuck in that bathroom. I had no idea how much water came out!

2) I held out and went for 6 hours without an epidural. Brad was a HUGE help to me during this time. He was by my side the entire time- helped me breathe through the contractions and maintain eye contact with him. I could have never gone through this experience without him by my side. He was incredible. BUT- I realized that it was only going to get worse and was so not worth it so I broke down and got the shot. Oh blessed relief! Luckily I had been in enough pain to not even notice them giving it to me. After it set in I took a nap!

3) My body was progressing pretty quickly and then it just STOPPED! I stayed at a 6 1/2 for 4 hours- blast it! The doctor didn't want to give me Pitocin due to the fact that my contractions were plenty strong (2 minutes long and 1 minute apart) and his heart rate was slightly dropping with the contractions. Also our baby was staying at a -1 station and not dropping anymore. Oh and he decided at the last minute to flip around so that his head was facing up which requires more room to fit out (which the doctor had previously been shocked as to how NARROW my bone structure in that region is).

4) So after about 8 hours of laboring and all of the above issues we decided to go with a c-section. We knew beforehand that this was a huge possibility but it was still hard to make the final decision. After that decision was made things just went very fast!

5) An operating room is everything you have ever imagined- large, bright, sterile, etc. They numbed me up even more (weirdest feeling in the world), put a sheet up to cover my lower region, put an oxygen mask on my face, and secured my arms down. They said that I might feel some tugging and pulling but luckily I don't think I felt a thing! Brad got to peak over the curtain as much as he wanted to view the surgery. He watched some of it but stayed with me to keep my attention away from what was happening.

6) After only about 8 minutes of beginning the surgery I heard the best sound in the entire world- my baby's first cry. Brad and I both immediately started crying. What an amazing and incredible experience. We had waited and hoped for 9 months to hear that first sound and know that he was healthy!

7) The nurses had told me that they would hold him up for me to see- they didn't. Brad said that he was purple and they had to suction fluid out of his mouth so that may have been why. The nurses invited Brad over to help clean him up. I guess Palmer hosed the area down immediately when they set him down. Brad then came over to me and I in tears told him that I wanted to see our baby. He offered to show me a picture of him from our camera. So the first image I got of our son was from our digital camera. Pretty sad but better than nothing! He then brought him over to me. It was so hard for me to not be able to hold and cuddle him because he was BEAUTIFUL. Tons of dark hair, calm as can be, and a miracle.

8) The adrenaline from the days events got to me and I was SHAKING all over the place. It was so hard because when I finally did want to hold him I didn't dare because my arms were shaking so bad. Luckily that finally died down and I was able to hold my son. I still couldn't believe that he was really here.

9) The hospital stay was great. The nurses were so helpful and I'm so glad that with the c-section I got to stay there longer. I definitely needed their help with my recovery and most of all the whole nursing thing (whoever says that nursing is natural for you and the baby is not telling the truth!) It was fun to have people come and visit but I especially cherish those times that it was just our little family at the hospital enjoying our time together. Because it was the week of Christmas Brad didn't have to go to work for most of the week so he was there for a majority of the time. I loved it.

10) We came home on Christmas Eve- what a neat next few days! I had always imagined how much I would love being able to sit in our living room with only the Christmas tree lights on as a family and we were able to do it. This was an incredible time of year to have a newborn.

11) Palmer has been a fantastic sleeper from the beginning. He usually gets in at least 5-7 hours of straight sleep before waking up to be fed. This definitely makes the transition into parenthood a whole lot easier. We just hope it sticks!

12) Palmer takes after his father. He has a bottomless stomach that can't seem to get enough food. I have had to supplement him because my body can't produce what he needs (thanks Mom for those genes). If he doesn't nurse from me he drinks about 6 ounces from a bottle. This is as much as an average 4 month baby eats! His cheeks are starting to gain some weight on him from all this eating! Funny thing is that for awhile we were worried because he was losing weight. Now we definitely don't have that problem!

13) I had no idea how time consuming it is to take care of a newborn! I feel like I just get through a feeding (although it takes twice as long when I am nursing and then giving him a bottle) when it's almost time for him to be hungry again. I now understand why they say that a mom is lucky to get dressed by 3:00 in the afternoon. I feel like I live in my pajamas.

14) He is so strong! From the beginning his neck has been so strong and he can push away from you so easily. He will be supporting his head in no time!

15) He LOVES getting his diaper changed. He will calm right down when we set him on the changing table and sometimes I just want to leave him on there afterwards because he is so content.

16) He is officially smiling. They say that at this time they are gas smiles but no no- I can tell when it is a gas smile versus a real smile. We'll be playing with him and kissing his face and his whole face will light up. It makes my heart melt.

17) Brad has amazed me with how naturally he has slipped into the whole parenthood thing. That is definitely a bonus to marry someone that was the oldest of 6 children. He can sometimes calm Palmer down in ways that no one else can.

18) It is just so much fun to see him change and grow every day. In some ways it makes me sad that he is growing up so fast but it is exciting to see what new things he will learn.

We are learning along the way but LOVING being parents to such a wonderful little boy. The three of us couldn't be happier!