Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Hospital Stay & First Day Home

After our hour of bonding time, we had some family come in to visit and meet Kade for the first time. Grammy, Granddaddy, Tammie, Zachery, Morgen, & of course…big brother JASE!! We let Jase come in by himself at first (so we don’t have any pictures). Jonathan picked him up to look at Kade and Jase said “Brother…I like him…wanna hold him.” Melted.my.heart!! I thought my heart might burst having all three of my Butler fellas in one place & seeing Jase and Kade together for the first time. Our first time as a family of 4…and it was definitely as sweet as I had pictured. I am soaking up every minute with them, but can’t help but smile and be excited for all the fun memories these brothers will make together in the future.

After a few minutes we brought the rest of the family in and let Jase open his present that little brother Kade got for him. He loved his Melissa & Doug alphabet puzzle and stuffed animal!

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I started to feel a little yucky and desperately needed to drink a Rehydrate and eat something of substance, but as silly as it sounds I was too “busy” nursing and seeing Kade meet his big brother for the first time to think about it. I brought a ton of snacks and goodies in my bag, so I finally asked for a Drew Brees bar and a Rehydrate and instantly felt better.

We gave all of the nurses their goody bags with thank you cards before heading up to the mother/baby floor. They were seriously all SO fantastic & we cannot say enough about them!! They were very encouraging, positive, helpful, and just plain sweet. They were so on board with what we wanted and we have no doubt God hand picked each of them to help us.

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Gift Bags: Drew Brees bar, gingerbread bar, Spark, Rehyrate, Coffecino, shake, thank you card

After Lacey helped me potty for the first time, we headed to our room upstairs- 2112.

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Jase was really concerned about making sure I had my water and wanted to push the buttons on my bed. Ha!

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Our first picture as Butler, Party of 4!! Sweet Kade was only about 3 hours old.

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Papa & Aunt Jade meeting Kade for the first time!

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Some proud Butlers with the wiggle worm Jase.

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My sweet baby!

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Granddaddy & Baby Kade

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Aunt Stephanie & Baby Kade

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Gracie & Baby Kade

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Morgen & Baby Kade

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Zachery & Baby Kade

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Aunt Tammie & Baby Kade

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Sisters! Wish my eyes were open.

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“Boy Butler” getting weighed. Still 7 lbs, 7 oz. This was the only time they weighed Kade again after birth. I feel like they weighed Jase a million times, but I guess that’s cuz we stayed so much longer with him.

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Visitors: Mom, Dad, Tammie, Zachery, Morgen, Stephanie, Gracie, Chloe, Chandra, Jimmy, Jade, Laura, Brian, Braylon, Chelsea, Keene, Kevin, Megan, Erin, Carysn, Presley

Everyone left around 9:30 or so, and Jonathan and I ate Panera that mom brought us. Kade ate every few hours and had his first poop and pee diapers. I know they want them to have at least 1 of each in the first 24 hours, but Kade had already had 2-3 of each before we even left the hospital in his first 24 hours!

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He ended up having his first bath around 11 pm. He did NOT like it and screamed pretty loud until Judy washed his head- he liked that part. We couldn’t believe how BLONDE his hair was after his bath! She commented that it looked like he got highlights! Haha! And Jon commented that he felt sorry for anyone who kissed Kade on the head earlier without realizing he hadn’t had a bath yet- ewwwwww. Sorry, y’all.

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Check out our little fuzzy headed blondie boy!

 

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I felt surprisingly really good after having a baby! The toughest part was peeing because it burned a little the first time or two. She taught me the self-care and helped me out the first time or two to measure my urine (I brought my Brita water pitcher from home and chugged water so that wasn’t an issue). They always apologize when they press on your uterus because apparently that is painful to some people, but that didn’t hurt at all. (I remember that it didn’t hurt with Jase either.) Honestly, the IV was way worse than that! It was driving me nuts in the crease in my arm and made nursing a little tough. Plus, the alarm would go off every time I got a bend in the line and that happened a good bit when I was nursing. Finally they showed Jon how to turn it off.

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At midnight, the nurse headed out and said they wouldn’t come back in from 12-4 to give us time to sleep. She said “Babies don’t always get the memo, but we won’t be bothering you for a while.” Well, Kade got the memo! He slept from 12-5 straight! I know you’re not “supposed” to let them go longer than 3 hours or so, but that solid stretch of sleep felt REALLY good! They came in at 5 am to check us both out again and change another diaper.

The next morning he got his Hep B and had his hearing test (which he passed, but it took a few times on his right ear because we couldn’t get the little thing in the right position). The pediatrician came in and looked him over, and other than a newborn rash (Erythema toxicum- which is normal and harmless- looks like baby acne), he looked perfect. She gave us the okay to go home after his circumcision and scheduled our first checkup for the next morning with our normal pediatrician to check him out.

The lactation specialist came in too and she was very sweet and helpful! You think you’ll remember everything, and for the most part you do, but she definitely helped out with some things I’d forgotten.

Mom and Jase stopped by before Jase’s nap. Jase was such a sweet pea with him!

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Grammy & Baby Kade

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He had his circumcision around 12:45. With both boys, we pray before they go. You can’t help but feel so sorry for them, but he did well with it. I have a hard time changing diapers after that because I don’t handle blood or cuts well, so I was thankful the nurse changed his first diaper after that. She said the thought he’d already made it through the meconium stage.

Right at 4 pm they came back in for his PKU (& whatever others tests they run at 24 hours) and told us as soon as we got results we could leave.

Everything came back great, so they discharged us around 6 pm. We filled out final paperwork, did a car seat check, got instructions, and headed out the door. A nurse came to help us cart everything downstairs. Jonathan was pretty adamant about going home ASAP! Kade was about 26 hours old!! It felt strange getting to leave that early, but we were both doing well and I knew Jon would sleep better at home.

Loading the car…

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Big brother Jase supervising!

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We pulled in at home and tried to make sure Jase was an active part of everything as possible. He has such a helpful heart and was  big helper right from the get-go.

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I have a feeling family pictures are going to be a little tougher from here on out!

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{With Jase}

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Kade’s first time in his new home!! I didn’t bawl my eeballs out this time like I did with Jase. My hormones seem to be a lot more balanced and stable this time.

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We definitely think he looks a lot like Jase!

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Sweet little peanut…We love you SO very much already!! You are such a good, sweet baby and our hearts are so full of JOY having you home with us and part of our family. You are already such a blessing. We are soaking up every minute but cannot wait to watch you grow and see what the Lord has in store for you.

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{Jase's Hospital Stay and First Week Home}