Paetyn Colleen Boden

Paetyn is finally here...weighing in at 6 pounds 6 oz and 18.5 inches long, she finally made it to us on March 17, 2013. Yes, it is St. Patricks Day, but it's also Brodee's birthday...She now shares a birthday with her dad. He's pretty excited, and not to mention that was probably the best birthday gift he got this year ;)

I thought I would tell you how this little munchkin was born...

On Saturday the 16th my mom, Loralee, and Kathy hosted a baby shower for me. It turned out great and I got many wonderful things from people who came and who sent their gifts. We ate delicious food, played a fun game (thanks Lindsay), opened gifts, and talked among ourselves. One of my dear college friends who lives super close, Michelle, came down for the big day...little did she know that wasn't even the big day at all. All day, I was pretty tired because the night before I had been up for a good hour or more in constant pain. It felt like bad cramps. I called into the birthing and delivery center that night and told them what was going on, but as far as they could help they said to sit in a bath of warm water or come in and they would hook me up to a monitor. I tried the bath and it helped. It eased the pain enough to climb back into bed and fall asleep. On Saturday though when I woke up, I didn't have pain and I carried on with my day. Later that night after all the commotion was over (we even celebrated Brodee's birthday with a little party) and I was able to relax, I had a few pains, but not enough to bother anyone with, so I didn't say anything. ha.

That night on the 17th, about 3:15 I woke up and had bad, bad cramps, they were very painful. I started to time them and they were less than 5 minutes apart. I knew this was it. My Dr. had told me that where we live in Malta, that if the contractions were 10 minutes apart to get in to the hospital promptly. So, you can imagine we booked it into town. The closer we got to the hospital the closer my contractions became. 2 minutes apart. Brodee drove at a good speed(100 mph) and got us there regardless of the snow and wind blowing. We left Malta at 3:45 am and got into the hospital at 4:05 am. Record time. When we pulled up to the emergency room doors they had a wheelchair waiting for me (first time riding in one). I had called the birthing and delivery center on the way in so they were aware of what the situation was. They wheeled me pretty fast down the hall and into one of the delivery rooms. I changed out of what I was wearing and into those stylish robes :) They hooked me up to a monitor, go my IV into my arm for my penicillin, and drew my blood. By this time my Dr. had showed up and was ready to go. Now it was the waiting game. At 5:00 they checked me and I was dilated to 6. My contractions were close together and I could watch them on the monitor (not sure yet if that was a good idea or not). It took from 6:00 when they checked me and I was at a 7 until 8:00 to reach a 10. By 8:00 I was ready for this baby to be here. However, they couldn't break my water until it was 8:00 because I had to have 2 dosages of penicillin in my system in 4 hours and it was barely reaching 4 hours. As soon as the clock struck 8, the Dr. broke my water and 22 minutes later at 8:22, I met my precious daughter.I delivered this baby without any pain medication. It was all natural. It was love at first sight. She was so beautiful and peaceful. I could feel a little bit of heaven in my arms as they set her on me. She was having a hard time breathing so as soon as they wiped her off they took her and did an oxygen treatment on her for about 15 minutes. As soon as those 15 minutes were over, she was breathing and her heart rate was normal. Then I was able to hold her :) Those moments of holding her I will never forget. I had often heard before that you don't remember the pain of giving birth, and it's true. As soon as she was here the pain that I had experienced for 22 minutes became a blur. Holly and my mom ended up staying in the room and helping. They kept telling me to tell them when they wanted them to leave because everyone knew it was going to be just Brodee and I, but as soon as it was 8:00 I became to the point where I didn't care. ha. Brodee told them to stay and they were able to watch as Paetyn was born. It was very special and I will  never forget that experience.

After I moved into a room in the birth and delivery center and was cleaned up, we had many visitors, both family and friends. Everyone loved up on Paetyn and held her constantly. We stayed the night Sunday to Monday and was planning on coming home Monday morning sometime, but when the nurses came in to check Paetyn, she ended up having a bit of jaundice. The Dr. came in and decided to keep her another night and have her soak up the "sun" in the lights. We ended up actually leaving on Tuesday morning around 10:00. Brodee did so good at the hospital. If you know him, he doesn't like to be inside cooped up. However, he did extremely well to sit in a room with nothing to do for 2 days. When we were able to go home, it was such a good feeling it had felt like we had been on vacation. It was nice to pull into our driveway and be home.

As of right now, Paetyn is doing great. We went to the Dr. last Thursday and she weighed 6 lbs. 1 oz. she lost a little of her birth weight before we left the hospital so she doing good now and eating. She even grew a 1/2 inch. She is now 19 inches long. We go back to the Dr. tomorrow for her to get her PKU test.

As for Brodee and I we are doing great. I am healing and learning to live life with a baby. It has been a change for both of us but we are adjusting quite well. Brodee is back to work and busier than ever. It has been such a blessing in our lives to have Paetyn in our home. We love her more than anything. I didn't ever think that I could love someone so much especially where she is so tiny. But I do. :)