I love birth stories and labor stories so I am so excited to share Boden’s story!
I can’t believe we are a family of FOUR! So weird to go out to eat and say Cherrington- party of 4! Not that we have been out to eat as a family thanks to the quarantine haha. But anyway we are so happy to have baby Boden in our arms & I can’t believe he is already a month old. I will be honest- in some ways time has flown & other ways it feels like he has been with us forever! Having a baby during a pandemic is crazy & something I will always remember. He was born on March 4th. March 4th is the only day on the calendar that tells you to do something! I have had to keep reminding myself to march forth during this crazy time. I think it will serve him well in the future & show how tough he is & how he always marches on!
Now let’s get to how he joined us- it has been a little bit of a crazy journey so far. He is still on oxygen at home with us but we should be done with that soon! Anyway I am getting ahead of myself! Here is how it all began & his birth story-
I was set to be induced at 37 weeks and to come into the hospital at 2 pm. They had me call the hospital that morning to make sure it was still good & I ended up going in around 2:30 P.M. My labor plan with both babies has been getting induced and I have to say I love it. I am scared to have my water break at a store or something. It is nice to be able to make a plan especially with what we did with Beck and who had him etc. This go around I was so nervous for some reason- I was so worried something would go wrong- kinda weird looking back! But my labor was sooo much better than with Beck- night & day difference! So it goes to show that no two birth stories are the same. Not even birth stories from the same mom! I was induced with Beck and had Pitocin just like this time but with Beck I threw up non-stop while I was in labor- I am talking 20 hours- it was HORRIBLE! But this time I wasn’t sick at all and it was pretty smooth sailing until I got my epidural. The doctor hit a wrong nerve or something and I have never felt so much pain- it was horrendous but once we finally got that settled after far too long haha I was sitting pretty. I was in labor from about 3 P.M. to 9 P.M. and not much had really happened but once my water broke I went from a 5 to a 9 in 45 minutes- I was shocked!! So much quicker the second time around- just like everyone had said! My body knew what was going on haha.
I hurried and called my mom not knowing it would happen so quick! Luckily she only lives 10 minutes from the hospital because she barely made it! My mom brought my sister and sister in law with her. They literally got there when I was already pushing! I pushed for maybe 20 minutes and then he was here! Boden was 21 and a half inches long and weighed 6 pounds 14 ounces. He was born at 37 weeks so pretty good sized just soo long and skinny haha not a preemie by any means! After that it was kinda a whirlwind! The doctor laid Boden on my chest and then he kind of wasn’t crying and I remembering asking why isn’t he crying? From there they took him off me really quick and started sucking him out in the corner. He did have the cord around his neck when he was born but just loosely so not related to this. Then more people were coming in and it was taking longer and longer. I remember just laying there feeling helpless and wondering what was happening! Eric couldn’t really tell either- but luckily Eric was able to cut the cord before things got too crazy.
After what seemed like forever they took him to the NICU. The main problem was breathing issues and they just had to keep suctioning him- I hated listening to it! Eric went with him and since it was now about midnight my mom and sisters left and then I was alone. I couldn’t stop crying, I was exhausted and so hungry. The nurse was so sweet and brought me food and then let me try to rest for a little bit. Finally a few hours later they wheeled me in my bed to the NICU since I still couldn’t walk thanks to the epidural haha. Of course my emotions were high with just having a baby and being so tired. That was a hard night and all I wanted to do was hold him. Finally Eric and I went back to our room to try to sleep for a few hours. The next few days while I was in the hospital I was in the NICU with him the whole time. No cute sibling meeting photos- sadly Beck wasn’t even allowed in the NICU so he didn’t meet him until we were home. I had a way easier recovery but honestly I didn’t even worry or think about it. All I wanted to do was be in the NICU.
Boden had pneumothorax which essentially meant that his lung had burst so he was busy getting x-rays to see how that was healing. So he was on a CPAP for oxygen and then after 5 days went to a normal cannula. He also had jaundice but that wasn’t a big deal at all- I just hated that I couldn’t hold him as much since he needed to be under the lights. I had major nursing struggles with Beck and was determined to have a good experience this time, and even took an online course. Then when this happened I was not going to let it get me down- so I pumped like crazy and tried my best. But Boden was so weak and tired we eventually did mostly bottles and I still just pumped a ton. People kept saying at least you can sleep at night but I was waking up every 3 hours to keep pumping. Hands down the hardest day was when I got discharged and had to leave the hospital empty handed- no mom should ever have to do that.
Every night when we had to drive home without our baby I would just cry and cry. We live a half hour away from the hospital so it was so exhausting to go back and forth. Luckily both our families live by the hospital so we had so much help with them taking Beck and him having so many sleepovers- we couldn’t have done it without them.
So day after day passed in the NICU and eventually I passed the point of being sad and mostly was just frustrated. It seemed like there was no end in sight! He was now just there for feedings but he was tube fed and so he needed to be eating by mouth a certain percentage in order to get the feeding tube out. Long story short- since I am sure everyone is bored by now haha. I won’t go all into the ins and outs of it but we ended up staying in my in-laws RV trailer in the hospital parking lot so I could be there for every 3 hour feeding so I could help get him over the hump and home. It worked- within the first day of living in the parking lot he hit the percentage- doubling what he had ever got and he was able to get the feeding tube out! I then stayed 2 nights with him in the hospital to make sure he was still doing good before we could go home.
The night before we were supposed to leave he had his car seat test where they make sure their oxygen stays high enough while they sit in a carseat for 90 minutes. Well sadly Boden didn’t pass that. They watched him off and on and he kept desatting so they did some tests and came to the conclusion that he needed to come home on oxygen. I wasn’t expecting that since we had so many people tell us they wouldn’t either and how good he was doing etc. But it is what it is and it could always be sooo much worse. As hard as the NICU was- and it was WAY harder than I ever thought it would be. I feel for any NICU mom sooo much now- walking away from your baby is literally the worst. I had it really good- I never really worried about whether he would make it or not. He had an infection when he was born and the lung issues but his issues were so minor compared to so many babies and that breaks my heart for what those families go through. I can’t imagine having a preemie baby and having to stay longer than we did.
So Boden spent 2 weeks in the NICU and came home on March 18th. We originally had thought he would only be on oxygen at home for 2 weeks but here we are at 4 weeks and he is still on oxygen so we will see! He is getting close to coming off I think but we will see! He is getting bigger and is healthy so we couldn’t be happier. Thank you so much for everyone that has reached out to us during this time- we have felt so much love!
I am so glad that my sister, sister in law and mom came because after Boden was whisked away to the NICU my sisters didn’t get to see him again due to visitor lists. Also my amazing sister Hanna brought her camera with her and snapped these photos. Not only are they so perfect but I am so glad she was there to snap them since Boden went to the NICU and I didn’t get all those fresh 48 photos in the hospital that I was hoping for. But it all worked out and I couldn’t love these photos more!! Here is Hanna’s instagram– she has mad skills!
We love you Boden Anders Cherrington!
I have linked some of my favorite newborn items (all available on Amazon!) that we have been loving and using in our home. Some we used with Beck and some are new things we have been using that I totally wish we would have had with Beck!
1- Swing– This swing is a game changer! Boden loves to be held and this swing has been my saving grace to get some moments where I can put him down and he is happy. I have had it since Beck and it still works great and is so worth the money. Also it has a built in sound machine!
2- Nose Sucker– This thing will change you- for the better! It helps you suck your babies snot. You might be a little nervous at first but being a mom opens your eyes to many new things haha.
3-Magic Baby Swaddle– I didn’t hear about these swaddles until I had Beck and I am so bummed haha. But so glad I have them for Boden. He sleeps so much longer and loves having his hands up and free.
4- Best Binkie– I have 3 of these and want more! They stay in Boden’s mouth and I think are really cute too- win win!
5-Manual Breast Pump– This thing is the best money you will spend. It is so inexpensive and catches milk that you leak while you are nursing on the other side. Or you can wear two and pump hands free. So worth it and you will be shocked at how much milk you have been losing out on!
6- I love this body wash– it smells soo good and lasts a long time!
7- White Noise Machine– I love this thing! It has an app which is so nice. Also it changes colors and I don’t mind having it on while Boden is sleeping in our room- it is kind of nice!
8- Bottles– These are bottles are such high quality and I think cute! I always feel like my babies get less air with them also.
9- Diaper Cream Wand– This thing is nice because I hate touching diaper cream. It is so hard to get off and messy. So with this gadget you can spread it on their cute little bum like you would use a spatula.
10- Baby Monitor- This is hands down the best thing for every mom! It gives you such peace of mind. It monitors babies oxygen and heartbeat. I sleep so much better when he is wearing it and know that if things go wrong I will be alerted and woken up. There is also one on Amazon that has a camera with it also- I will link that here.
I also wanted to link to the Amazon Baby Registry. I didn’t register this pregnancy but I should have, the Amazon Baby Registry is amazing! Everyone love Amazon and it makes it so easy to ship a gift directly to someone & returns are really easy too. Check out the Amazon Baby Registry here. You can add from other websites, discounts and an extended return policy. You really can’t go wrong- check it out!