We Got Ourselves Another Boy!

passed out after a bath

always sleeps with this blanket snuggled against his cheek--my mom made this

the bath that exhausted him. He has yet to like a single bath

the one time he slept in his crib. He has been sleeping in his bassinet in his room.

a cute, beloved baby

I think posting that you had a kid about 10 days after the fact rings true. Oh my word, how wonderful it is to have him!

We welcomed Cason Maxwell Bowen into our family at 12:41 am on Friday, February 21, 2014. He weighed in at 8 pounds, 7 ounces, and was 20.5 inches long.

The story:
As you know, I was desperate to have my baby. I kept getting the "You're still here?" stuff at the gym and at church, and people kept asking how much longer I had to go. And I wanted to have my baby before my in-laws came, so my mom and sister could come up without feeling like they were intruding on a vacation.

Enter the temptation of castor oil. I'd tried so many other things to help this baby come into the world, including watching this silly pressure point video on Youtube, which Doug propped up on the Kindle while he dug his fingers into my feet--it made me cry laughing every time! On Thursday, I decided to sacrifice my physical comfort by taking the darned laxative. My neighbor was 5 for 6 with Castor oil. My other neighbor had success with it. . . I texted a picture of the castor oil to my mom and sister, telling them this was how much I loved them:). And the castor oil worked! I took it in the afternoon, and I was in labor by about 7 pm; we called my mom to drive up to our house around 10. We went to the hospital around 11.

I hadn't yet decided whether to have an epidural. I really liked the idea of not having an epidural because it would make me feel like a rockstar. But I had decided I would make that decision in the hospital, based on how far I was dilated. I think I was at about a 5 or 6, and our nurse asked if I wanted an epidural. Doug said to go for it, and I decided to do it.

Unfortunately, we heard that our anesthesiologist was almost at the hospital, so my doctor broke my water, and my contractions became absolutely awful. For the next twenty minutes, life was sheer misery. I knew my baby was coming, and I just hurt. Contractions on top of each other are miserable, and they're even worse when you're stuck in a stupid hospital bed, strapped to baby monitors. The anesthesiologist finally showed up when I was at about an 8, and I had the epidural for about 5 minutes before the baby showed up. I like to think I would have toughed it out if I'd known I'd have the baby immediately. . . but who knows? The epidural did take the edge off when I had Cason, which was nice.

My immediate reaction to seeing Cason was complete enchantment. I couldn't believe I had him! Then I realized how small he was, and knew he would lose the baby weight contest--I'd hoped to have him heavier than 9 pounds, 3 ounces. He was purple, and he looked me in the eye--with dark blue eyes--before they whisked him away to a little station to work on his lungs. When I got to hold him again, I noticed a baby zit on the end of his nose, and let Doug know that he was our least attractive child.

Since then, he has been cleaned up, and he is incredibly good looking, despite baby zits. He is incredible. He actually lets me sleep. I have never had a baby who eats and then falls asleep in his bassinet in his own room. I already get 4 1/2 hour stretches of uninterrupted sleep, for which I will be eternally grateful. What an amazing kid. He's sleeping right now, in fact, because he had a bath and baths exhaust him:).

For memories: My mom stayed with the kids that night and watched them the next day. Mindy Evans and Jodi Hoopes were our first visitors the next morning, and Doug's work sent us the most incredible bouquet of flowers. Peanut came on Friday afternoon with her five kids and spent the night at our house that night. Doug and I brought Cason home Friday night at about midnight. My mom and sister left Saturday afternoon, and Kayla and Dave came on Sunday afternoon. They spent the week fixing everything in our house and providing our meals and entertaining kids. I've had so much incredible support.