My sweet boy, Raymond Charles Kruse V, "Charlie" was born on August 10, 2013 at 9:00pm. He was 8lbs 4 oz, which was actually smaller than we thought he would be! Since he still had not been born on my due date, the 8th, I had a doctor's appointment and my doctor said that he would induce me on the 10th. I was kind of hoping I would go into labor on my own, but at that point I was so ready and glad to have the end in sight! It still seemed very surreal the 2days leading up to it knowing our lives would be forever changed. Kenley stayed over at Ray's mom's house the night before since Ray and I had to be at the hospital early the next morning. I spent the day with Kenley on Friday enjoying our last one on one time time before we added her brother to our family. I was a little sad about this being my last day with my "baby" girl, but so excited for her too. Ray and I made sure that everything was ready for the hospital and tried to get some sleep that night.
We arrived at the hospital at 8:00am, and I was getting nervous on the ride there. The nurse started my IV's, which was kind of painful and took 2 tries. I tried to be calm, but my nerves got the best of me and I started feeling lightheaded and nauseous. I felt like such a wimp knowing that was the easy part. Then we waited for the contractions, which started pretty quickly and once they were regular I got the ok to get the epidural. I was really nervous about it since I felt it quite a bit when I got it with Kenley, but it went much better this time. I was so relieved when it was over, and after about an hour of feeling very chilled and having some shivers, I was feeling nice and relaxed. (But, it still took a while to get my mind off that IV!) My doctor had 2 other hospitals to go to that day so he wanted to put off breaking my water until he got back. We knew we were going to be waiting for quite a while when he didn't even leave my hospital until about 2:30. SO, we waited....
In the meantime, my parents and sister came up to the hospital, and a few hours later Ray's mom came up with Kenley. Kenley wasn't allowed in the room, but I facetimed with her from the birthing room to the waiting room. My doctor came back around 6:00 and broke my water, and we waited. My brother-in-law came up around 7:30. By 8:00 I started feeling some pressure and by 8:15 I was feeling the full force of the contractions and knew it was almost time to push. I said quick goodbyes to our family and the doctors and nurses came in and got ready. After only 2 pushes they said they could see his head, which motivated me to try to get him out as quickly as possible. In a matter of about 15 minutes Charlie was out! I was so happy and relieved to hear his little cry within a few seconds. The nurses took him over to the table to check him, and after a few minutes they decided he was going to go to the nursery for some monitoring of his breathing. They assured me that it was nothing serious, and I was able to hold him for one minute before they took him. Everyone got to see Charlie through the glass in the nursery, including Kenley. Ray and I settled into our hospital room, and the nurses brought Charlie in to stay with us after just a few minutes.
Our hospital stay was great, and we had several family members and friends come visit us on Sunday. My absolute favorite moment was when Kenley got to meet Charlie. She was so excited and climbed up in my hospital bed to hold him. She was giving him hugs and kisses. She asked me if she could see my belly and I told her Charlie wasn't in there anymore because the doctor helped him come out and she smiled so big and said, "thank-you!" She was also quite curious about everything including what was on Charlie's belly (his cord), why I had bandaids on, and why Charlie was eating from my "elbow". It has been so funny to hear her thoughts as she tries to process everything. On Sunday, we were anxious to pick up Kenley and get home with Charlie, and we were surprised when our nurse told us at about 10:00 am that we would be able to leave within a very short period of time. Ray was home with us the first week, which was so nice. We actually did quite a bit for those first few days, and Charlie went to the mall, Walmart, out to eat 2 times, and to an outdoor festival.
This week Kenley started pre-school, so today is her 2nd day. She has had a hard time getting ready and saying that she doesn't want to go, but when I picked her up the first day she was having fun, and the teachers said she only cried for a few minutes after I left. I'm hoping today will be the same. Yesterday I took both kids to the park by myself, and today I'm thinking about trying to tackle Jewel. Overall, things have gone really well so far. Charlie has been a really good baby and only really cries when he is hungry or needs to be changed. I am loving this newborn stage and already don't want him to get any bigger. I love snuggling with him and holding him. Kenley has been a very good big sister and has helped giving Charlie bottles, and loves to hold him. We had newborn pictures taken this week, and I can't wait to see all of them!
Thank-you to everyone who has sent their love for our family over the past few weeks!
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