Introducing Kai Isaac Cheney

Welcome baby Kai Isaac (meaning: Rejoice in his Laughter)

Born Saturday, 11/22, 2:15 am

Height: 21 inches

Weight: a whopping 9 lbs. 8 oz.

Right after having him

Kadyn meeting his baby brother for the first time. Kai brought a gift for Kadyn :)

Birth Story:

We got to the hospital at 7:30 am on Friday, 11/21. It was a good sign when they had a room all ready for us. The Dr broke my water at 8:30...only 2 drops came out because Kai plugged the hole with his head (I would continue to lose water until about an hour before he was born). The next 4 hours were spent walking the halls of the birth center. True to the past 3 weeks I kept having great contractions for an hour or so, then they would go away. Finally, at 12:30 pm it was decided it would be best to start me on pitocin (I was not thrilled about this). I started the lowest dose and again had great contractions for an hour...then they went away. Pitocin was slowly increased, and increased again, and increased many times after until my body FINALLY began to kick in. At this point I was having contractions ever 1-2 mintues. After my experience with the epidural last time I was really against getting one this time unless I absolutely couldn't handle the pain. Everyone thought for sure I would have this baby before midnight so I was really thinking I could do it. Somewhere around 6:00 pm I was checked and was finally 6 cm. Several hours of hard contractions later I was only 6.5 cm. Still thinking the baby was coming before midnight I pressed on. Ryan was an excellent coach the entire time helping remind me to breath, rubbing my back, and basically being my cheering squad. My energy level was quickly fading (nothing but jello to eat since 6:30am and hard pitocin contractions for 11 hours will do that to you). Just before midnight I asked for them to check me again. Secretly I was hoping for them to say I was at least 9cm and I would continue on. I was only 7.5! The Dr. asked what I wanted to do knowing I was trying to avoid the epidural. She said she'd never seen someone work so hard for EVERY SINGLE CM. I finally decided that it was best to get the epidural and try to get some rest. Agreeing to the epidural is when I broke down. I felt terrified of having the same experience again and began to lose the mental game. What had begun and lasted for 11+ hours of me controlling/blocking out the pain quickly turned in to shutting down as my defeat allowed the pain to take over...this hurt like HELL and it felt like an eternity for the anethesiologist to get there and get everything ready. I couldn't believe how much it hurt once I gave in. Ryan kept trying to bring me back to a focus but I had allowed the pain to take over and I was having a really hard time returning. The epidural was completely different this time around. First try, not 3, and they didn't put the extra drugs in the epidural needle so I didn't have the same itching I did last time. It was now about 1am. I had one contraction of relief before the pressure began. Yup, it was just after 1 am and it was time to push. No one believed me at first that I was ready to push since I was just a 7.5 but I wasn't lying. They quickly unhooked the epidural so I would still have some feeling (my legs never even got completely numb) and push I did. I remember looking at the clock thinking "this should NOT be taking this long." Kai's heart rate started dropping so they hooked me up to oxygen. Kai also thought he was quite funny by playing hide and seek. I would push with all my might to get him to crown, then he would tuck himself back in there. The nurses called in some breathing specialist for Kai just in case. And after an hour and 2 minutes of pushing I finally got the strength to completely push him out. The doctor realized once his head came out that he was going to be a big boy since my stomach was still huge (where the rest of his body was). After hearing how big he was I was really glad that he held out past midnight because I did give in to the epidural. The Dr. said if I hadn't have gotten it I probably would have had hours of pushing only to end in a c-section with the way his heart rate was dropping.

I'm still in shock that he was as big as he is. He had a hard time initially keeping his blood glucose levels under control, but eventually figured it out. He looks a lot like Kadyn did when he was born but personality is very different so far. Kai is quite content to sleep...something Kadyn still thinks he doesn't need.

We are very blessed.