Gavin is 2 weeks!

I think its going to take forever to go through the beach pictures and wanted to post a few of my baby before time goes any faster. Gavin had his 2 week appointment today and weighed  9 lb 14.5 oz. (80%). So he's almost gained a whole pound from his birth weight. His length was 23 inches (90%). He has his nights and days figured out which is nice. He will have good awake time during the day and go right back to bed after nursing at night. He is my fussiest baby so far and spits up more than the others. Talking to the doctor today I might start altering my diet to see if that helps. Chase and Jacob love their little brother. Unfortunately Jacob shows his affection by love pats (which is more like hitting). Chase isn't too affectionate but always wants to know what Gavin is doing and asks when he's going to crawl, etc.  I think I've said this before but its amazing how love grows when a new member of the family is added. Even though my attention is more divided I have more love for each of my little blessing! 

Ring Security

The reason we got the beach house (even when we knew it would be close to the birth) was because my cousin was getting married in Manteo. Chase was asked to be the ring bearer. It was so hard for me to miss the wedding but that was a little to close to Gavin being born. I stayed back that weekend while Brad took the older boys then he came back to get me a few days later. I was so curious how Chase would do! From these pictures it looks like he did well!

The beautiful bride!

 Brad said he stayed up front the whole ceremony.

I guess there was no plan for him leaving the stage so he started getting sad when everyone was leaving him. If you zoom in you can see him trying to hold in tears. 

Grandpop to the rescue.

He couldn't hold it in when he saw daddy. Sweet boy!

Daddy with his two big boys. I guess Jacob didn't nap in the afternoon and was very tired!

Hanging out between wedding and reception.

Burning a hole in the train guide we got him during the reception.

The bride and groom with Kieryn.

Beach!

Just got back from a week at the beach with my family. I went a little late since Gavin was so young and he didn't really leave the beach house except for this picture. I can't remember the last time my whole side of the family was together - its been years. I wanted to get a professional photographer but since I wasn't sure I was coming we figured we would just wing it. Not bad for asking a random lady to take our picture. And yes, we are matching KSU!  Hopefully I can get through the pictures and post more about our trip soon.

Gavin's Birth Story

I guess Gavin did not want to be an "Irish Twin" as he was sure cozy inside me. Since Jacob was early and he was my third and having just been pregnant I assumed/hoped he would be at least a week early. Well the days in May came and went, all his little buddies were born and then it was June and then Jacob's birthday was approaching. There were so many times I thought he was close to coming - contractions for several hours but then I would wake up each morning as pregnant as ever. I did everything in my power to bring on contractions but God was teaching me that it was his timing and not mine. We were really hoping to not induce but going 2 weeks over is all they will let you do. I didn't want to have him on Jacob's birthday so the day after it was. Brad dropped me off at the hospital on Tuesday morning and then had about 45 minutes to kill with the boys before we could drop them off at a Mom's Morning Out Program. Good thing we had just been through the first hour of induction so we knew what to expect :)

Anyways, I got up to the room and got all hooked up to monitors, IV, etc. The nurse noticed I had some minor contractions and asked if I felt them. I said that I had for the past two weeks but they obviously haven't done anything. I got checked by the doctor and they started pitocin around 9:30am.  The first two hours were frustrating and the contractions were getting strong enough to get annoying and I just had to lay there through them. It was hard to even go to the bathroom being hooked up to everything. I made it very clear that I wanted the epidural as soon as the contractions were regular and strong enough. Well time kept slipping away, I was checked about 1:15 and was 6 cm and was starting to ask where the epidural guy was. Contractions were definitely getting stronger. I thought I leaked pee during one contraction and asked to go to the bathroom one last time before the epidural. The pressure down there was really strong. The epidural guy finally came and it was awful. I didn't remember it being that hard with either birth but I survived and told the nurses right away that it was wasn't working that I was still feeling a lot of pressure. The nurse told me that she bet I was ready to push. The doctor checked me (what I thought was leaked pee was actually my water breaking) and was at a 10 but the head wasn't that low. I said I would let the contractions try to push him lower. But the pressure was still there so about 5 minutes later I said I wanted to push. I probably pushed through 4 contractions and he was here at 2:35pm! The nurses were telling me when you are dilating fast that the epidural doesn't work all the way. I actually felt him come out this time which was weird. He cried for about the first hour and had a lot of junk in him which made it difficult to nurse at first but we are getting the hang of it now. Even though I had to be induced I am so grateful that it went quick and that he is here and healthy!


I've had a solo weekend (I'll blog about what the others have been doing in a few days) with just Gavin and here are a few pics I took of him sleeping. I love my little guy!

We had actually decided on the name a while back. It was more the name I liked and Brad finally came around. I had a weird thing where I wanted it to be 5 letters (like the others) and a different initial. So that narrowed down a lot. Kent is Brad's dad middle name. I love it that all my boys have middle names that honor the important men in their lives. Especially on this Father's day I am so grateful for my boy's daddy. Brad is an amazing husband and father. He obviously helps take care of the babies but seeing him interact with Chase as he gets older just melts my heart. Just one example is Saturday mornings, Chase loves to "work" around the house with his daddy. They do yard work, wash the van, clean the garage, etc. Having three boys to name the younger two after their grandfathers is also very special. Both Brad and I are so blessed to have fathers who love the Lord and their family, work hard, pray for us and who glorify the Lord with their lives. Happy Father's Day!!!

Welcome Gavin!

As most of you know from Facebook, we welcomed Gavin Kent Caywood on June 12, 2012 at 2:35pm. He weighed 9 lbs and was 22 1/2 inches long. I did have to get induced but it went well, I started pitocin around 9:30am so 5 hours isn't too bad. I want to record the birth story at some point but now I am off to bed. 

We like big babies! 

Our attempt at a family picture.

 Meeting cousin Keiryn. Huge thanks to our friends the Andersons for watching the boys and then Uncle Steven and Aunt Melissa for taking over.

Big Brothers.

Love the hat - thanks Shayna!

We are home!!

Cupcake Smash!

We were over at a friends house for dinner last night and she had cupcakes for dessert so we went ahead and celebrated Jacob's birthday a little early. To be honest I didn't really feel like making a cake for the 4 of us. He didn't nap well that day and was super tired but I would say he still enjoyed it!

Look at those tired eyes!

I would say he likes it!

Getting cleaned off and going straight to the bath!

Happy Birthday Jacob!

Jacob is 1!! This boy has brought so much joy to our family! He is so happy and smiley. We love that he is a little chunk. His rolls on his legs are adorable. He's not the best sleeper but doesn't complain when we make him stay in his crib till 7am. He eats great and loves being outside and exploring. He's doing well at fulfilling his little brother role and loves grabbing Chase's toys and stuff. Its hard now but I know they will grow up to be buds. He loves daddy. When Brad comes home from work he gets so excited, kicking his legs and smiling so big. He's cruising more along the furniture and can hold steady for a few second standing up. 

 We love you so much Jacob!

Monday

So we are still waiting patiently for this little boy to make his entrance. I've progressed each week and have walked a marathon but he is not ready to come out yet. My mom has come and gone. Which is sad she won't be here for the birth but I couldn't have survived the past weekish without her here. I started thinking induction because I have big babies and am tired of being pregnant and wanted to have him while she was here. I first had an induction schedule for last Friday but as soon as I left the office I knew I would cancel. I pushed it back to Monday, hoping my mom could meet the little guy before she left. In my mind I was thinking that surely he would come over the weekend. The weekend was very emotional for me. Brad would make a comment about how we shouldn't induce and I would get upset. Then I wouldn't have peace about it and Brad would immediately check the schedule to see if he could fly Monday, which made me more upset. My mom would get sad that she wouldn't be here to help out during the birth and I would feel bad, etc. We went back and forth with different ideas trying to come up with a plan for the boys. We finally decided that we would go to the hospital but talk to the doctor before we got anything started. 

So we went in yesterday morning and got admitted and went up to the room. I had to hold them off from doing anything...taking blood, hooking up the IV, etc. Thank goodness the nurse was very understanding. They did start monitoring the baby and taking my blood pressure though. The doctor checked me and I didn't progress much from the week before so we went over pros and cons of inducing.  I had a very uneasy feeling and I wasn't sure if it was because I was getting induced or just having to go through labor. The doctor did a sonogram and checked all the fluid levels and said everything looked good so we decided to hold off.  A couple people made comments about us walking out of the hospital and I was surprised that I could actually do it. We texted everyone to let them know. We have amazing support from our families, our church and military friends. 

Brad's work was also very supportive and allowed him to take a day of personal leave. We already had a babysitter booked till 12 so Brad and I went to breakfast and went shopping. I told him that I wanted to do something fun in the afternoon to get mind off everything so we took the boys up to Raleigh to go to Pullen Park. 

The first thing we had to do was ride the train. Chase was super excited. You can't tell in this picture because when I stepped off to take a picture Chase freaked out. I guess I am glad he wanted me on the train ride!

For a dollar its a pretty good train ride. We got to go over bridges and go through tunnels, etc. Just like Thomas!

Waiting to watch the train go over the bridge.

We had a great day as a family and I definitely feel the Lord's peace about our decision. I can tend to worry about who will watch the boys, etc. but I just need to give it to the Lord. As we were going to bed last night I was a little sad that I wasn't holding my baby boy. We are still just praying he will come on his own and I won't have to end up being induced next week.