The Cazier Family: I Could Hold You Forever...But, I Need A Minute

Welcome to the world sweet baby boy! Kai Marin made his long awaited arrival on May 19th at 2:19 am...He was 9 lbs, 3 oz and 21 1/4 inches long! Perfect health and absolutely beautiful!!!
It was a LOOOONNNNGGGGG labor! We went in for the induction at 6 am...started the pitocin drip at 9 and then absolutely nothing happened. Occasionally I would have a series of 3 or 4 painful contractions in a row and my goal was to be up, then down, so that I wouldn't regret staying in one position too long like I had done with the girls, but every time I would change positions my contractions would all but stop. The fact that my doctor was not available at all during business hours and the nurses kept me at a drip of 4 when they could have cranked it up to 20+ had me feeling very neglected and frustrated around 4 pm. The nurses wouldn't even check me to see if I had progressed past the 2 cm that I had come in at. My dad nailed it when he said that they were keeping me on standby until doc was available, and around 7:30 pm, he was and came in to check me...still at 2 cm, and then he broke my water. Around 9, the contractions were becoming the all too familiar boom, boom, boom! I couldn't open my eyes or speak and so I decided to call for the epidural. My nurse checked me again and I was only at 3 so she asked me if I could keep going if she promised that the anesthesiologist would be there the moment I couldn't take it anymore...that time came around 11. After the epidural and relief from the contractions, we all took a little nap and waited for signs that Kai was ready. It was 2 am when I knew it was time and could actually feel Kai making his way down the pike. The nurse checked again and he was only about 1 inch from peaking his head out so we quickly transitioned to push mode. The pain and so-called "burning ring of fire" was ever present, more so than I remember with the girls and things were happening fast! I officially started pushing at 2:05 am and he was here by 2:19! My doc tried to slow it down a bit but there is no way anyone, even a man, in that kind of pain could or would delay and so I pushed like CRAZY! Kai came out without any problems, even with the cord around his neck once and a knot in it too. They quickly untangled him and Josh cut the cord and he let out that precious first cry...
The biggest difference between this delivery and my girls is that after he was out, the pain DID NOT STOP! I was shaking and pretty much in shock and I couldn't hold my sweet baby boy. They took him over to check his health and he was looking over at me with his tongue out wanting to nurse and all I could say was "I need a minute...I need a minute!" Sweet baby, know this, if I could have held you I would have. It actually took me almost an hour to be able to hold him and I will forever feel guilty about that.
We moved out of Labor and Delivery around 5 am and logged a couple hours of sleep before the girls came down to meet their baby brother. They had worn their "big sister" outfits all day on the 18th and of course wanted to wear them again. Grandma had a heck of a time keeping the white shirts clean. It really didn't matter to Harper, she decided that incorporating bathing suits- bottoms from one and a swim shirt from another, would complete her outfit. I couldn't help but laugh when she came trotting in with crocs on the wrong feet. Marlie had asked that she be the 3rd person to get to hold Kai and we made sure she knew she was. They both were so sweet with the baby and much more at ease now that mama didn't have an IV in and Marlie was very impressed with how little my tummy was now. We spent the day gazing at Kai and convinced the nurses that since we were 3rd-timers we would be much more comfortable if we could get out that night and sleep at home...so they worked their magic and we were on our way in time to pick-up a pizza and have dinner at home. After 2 nights without sleep we were thrilled to be back in our comfy bed cuddling with Kai who is a champ sleeper, nurser, and all-around easy baby so far....
Its been 2 weeks of settling in and he is the most amazing boy. The girls are finally taking to their new reality and Josh is actually going to go back to work tomorrow. The nanny is also coming tomorrow:) We have had more than our fair share of activities since his arrival- a wedding, school, play dates, home improvement projects, our 9th anniversary, photo shoot, Harper's birthday and the list goes on...so far we are managing, a little tired, but hanging in there. Being a mama to three now, I am a bit disappointed in my effort to document Kai's arrival. There just aren't that many pics and this blog entry took way too long. But I promise I'll make it up to him...right now I would just rather have him in my arms. It all happens so fast and this is the last time for sure. I am so over-the-moon in love and happy to have a baby again.