Bryce's Birth Story, FAQ's, and Some Pics!

Finally, I'm able to share the story of Bryce's birth and show y'all some pictures. When we got home, our internet wasn't working properly. Shaun was able to fix it last night.

As you know, I was scheduled to have a c-section on July 15. At my next-to-last appointment, the doctor moved it to the 18th so he would be born as close to the due date as possible (July 27). So when we went down to Warren for my last appointment (July10th), I was prepared for Cayson and I to stay with my parents until the c-section. Shaun was going to have to go back to Fort Smith that Saturday the 12th, however. He would then take his vacation and come back down on the following Wednesday night. Bryce had other plans, however!

We had planned to go shopping in Little Rock on the 12th so my brother could buy some clothes for his upcoming trip to Panama City. He'd been trying to go shopping for the past month or so and something had always come up. So we were going to follow Shaun as far as Little Rock and shop. Early that morning, I was having trouble sleeping. In fact, I don't think I slept from about 3:30 on. My mom has a handheld Phase 10 game so I was playing it and listening to my Ipod trying to get to sleep. At about 6 am, I felt a rush of water! I knew that my water had broken. I never experienced that with Cayson, but there was no doubt in my mind that that's what had happened. I woke Shaun up and headed to wake my parents up. I cleaned up the best I could, grabbed my bag (thankfully it's been packed for a while!), and we headed to the hospital. The funny thing is, all I could think about was that my brother wouldn't get to go shopping yet again!
We got to the hospital and they confirmed that my water did break. They called the doc and prepped me for surgery! With Cayson, I never got to experience real labor pains. However, I got to with Bryce! I had been kind of upset that I never got to experience it with Cayson, so I guess God said, "Here ya go!" After about an hour or two I told Shaun that I was completely over the need to experience any more pains! But I am very grateful that I did get to experience it a little bit. I have new respect for moms who go naturally without any pain meds! I couldn't do it!

They finally took me back to surgery and at 11:01 am Bryce was born. I remember with Cayson, I just cried a single tear when I heard him cry for the first time. But with Bryce I was a bit more emotional for some reason. He weighed 8 lbs 8 oz and was 22.5 inches long. Cayson was 9 lbs 10 oz so Bryce is small for us!

Now here are the answers to some frequently asked questions:

How are you doing?
I'm doing great. I went home the next day and the soreness is completely gone, with the exception of around the incision.

How is Cayson reacting to having a little brother?
He is doing so well! Better than I ever expected. He loves to help out and he is very proud of him. He wants to hold him all the time! He only gets just a teensy bit jealous when I'm nursing him.

Speaking of nursing, how's that going?
Great! He latched on immediately. There was a little bump in the road when he became a little jaundiced and the doctor made me quit nursing until it started getting better. But I pumped and he was able to start nursing again in a couple of days. I was really scared that he wouldn't want to after having a bottle, but he's doing great!

Who does he look like?
I've heard everything, but I think the general consensus is he looks mostly like Cayson.

How's he sleeping?
He's doing pretty well. He hasn't been getting up to nurse as much as Cayson did. He likes sleeping with us though. Which isn't bad, except for when Cayson crawls in there at 2 am. Then it gets crowded. Last night I made Cayson go back to bed, but I had to lay down with him for a little while. I actually fell asleep and Shaun woke me up at 4:30 because Bryce needed to nurse.

I think that's all the questions I've gotten so far. If you can think any more, just comment!