On March 23rd, 2014 at 5:46pm our lives were blessed with our little boy! We instantly fell in love with the 8lb 3oz, 20.5 inch picture of perfection! Our lives were forever changed within that minute of life and we were so excited to finally become parents! Braxten Carter Hodges was born 8 days late and I had to be induced, I guess he was just too comfortable where he was. Labor and delivery went without too many issues although one of the medications they gave me, Pitocin, made Braxten's heart rate drop into the 50's and every time I was told to roll onto my left side it would happen again. Needless to say the entire time I was in to hospital I watched the monitor to be sure he was ok. The nursing staff was amazing at Mercy Anderson, Ralph and I felt like a priority and knew Braxten was coming with good hands to catch him. Dr Fesenmeier was the MD that delivered him, a doctor I have been seeing since I was 18! It was great to be so comfortable with an uncomfortable time.Seeing Ralph holding our son made me fall in love with him more than I could imagine, I thought I was loving with all my heart but my heart must have tripled in size with my feelings for my new son and my amazing husband!
In the hospital Ralph learned to change a diaper and swaddle a baby (I didn't know how to swaddle either). He jumped right in and changed every diaper while we were there and swaddled him constantly, he embraced the father role instantly and is amazing at it. Braxten is so lucky to have someone so wonderful to model himself after. I was determined to breastfeed but had the hardest time the first night. It was Sunday so the lactation specialist was not in until Monday - needless to say that was one seriously long night! I was then told that Braxten and I were not really compatible when it came to breastfeeding but they were going to give me a device called a shield that may help. Luckily it did and after a few days, and the shield, we were in sync. The nurses sent us home with a huge bag of all the supplies I was going to need and more, they really took care of us. (Not sure if it is because they knew I was a nurse that worked there or not but it was nice either way)
The next week was interesting (putting it nicely). Braxten ran the show, he was eating every hour and not sleeping almost at all. It was exhausting! Luckily Missi came over one day and told me to take a nap, I gladly accepted. When I woke up she had given him a bottle and he had been sleeping for almost 2 hours! She taught me to have patience and begin a feeding routine that I had never thought of before. From that point on he began to sleep and actually eat a full meal instead of hourly snacks. I had my first breakdown thinking of how amazing my mom is and how I had so much to learn. Overwhelmed is a good word to describe that first week. Although, time stopped as Braxten would snuggle his head into my neck as close as he could when I held him and as Ralph and I would stare at him as he slept in amazement. We were, and still are, in awe of what we created!
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