Cole Alan's Birth Story and A Life Update

I like to call this a 'life and photography blog' where I showcase my photography along with blogging about my life and, as you can see, I tend to do much more of the intentional photography sharing and less of the life sharing. Life seems to happen so fast that I usually only have time to share a quick snap to Instagram or if it's a particularly special occasion, share snaps from my Canon to an album on Facebook. I also make an effort to be incredibly 'present' so sometimes I intentionally don't take photos so that I can enjoy the moment! (Trying to be much more 'present' this year - yay resolutions!) But I don't want to forget a single thing/thought/feeling about the events of the past year and I also love writing and would like to do more of it so I will use this post to do just that and catch you up on things..

On January 3rd, 2016 I stood in our bathroom, heart pounding, awaiting the results of a second pregnancy test - the first was negative, taken a few days earlier, but I was convinced that I was pregnant so I took another - and my jaw hit the floor when it flashed 'pregnant'. Even though I already had a feeling, it's still so crazy to see a positive pregnancy test in your hand. Here goes nothing!

I decided not to do a ton of photography work in 2016 (less than a dozen paid shoots) but I did get in quite a bit of practice with personal photos. 2016 was the year of (trying to) rest and relax and enjoy time spent together before our sweet boy arrived. I spent a lot of time chronicling my pregnancy through Google Docs so that I could update it from my computer, phone, tablet, whichever was handy. I included everything from cravings to dr. appointments to nausea and stretch marks. I wanted to be sure to include everything, good and bad, highs and lows. For the most part, I loved being pregnant and I wanted to make sure I had reminders of my thoughts and feelings during this time. I spent hours compiling my Google Doc 'journal', along with my photos, into a Shutterfly photo book/journal that I will treasure forever. I highly recommend this for my currently pregnant or future mama friends!

A few days ago was the one year anniversary of the day we found out I was pregnant. It's weird to wake up on that day one year later. Literally every facet of your life has changed in the past year. Your body, your mind, your day-to-day thoughts and feelings, the number of showers you take in a week.. Even things you don't think much about, such as going to the store, now takes an additional 30 minutes minimum and needs to be timed around feeding and changing the adorable human that exited your body just a few short months ago.  To say I am tired would be an understatement but being a mother is indescribable and so incredibly worth it.

Our announcement photo :)

It's a boy!

We chose a name..

The sunset from Daw-Daw and Grandad's porch on the night before he was born <3

On Monday, September 12, 2016, Cole Alan Hamrick was born at 9:22pm. He weighed 8 lbs., 10.2 oz. and was 21 inches long. He was due on September 14th but my doctor was perfectly fine inducing me two days early because of his size. They thought if we waited until he came on his own he would be too big and I would need a c-section (which I really did not want) and at that point I was feeling overly large and was tired of being pregnant/itchy/tired/swollen so I was very grateful for the induction. Because I was induced I guess I missed out on that 'uh-oh, it's time, we have to get to the hospital right now!' moment but honestly, that sounds stressful, so I'm okay with it lol. It was definitely a strange feeling driving to the hospital that morning knowing that when you left there would be three of you and you would be totally responsible for another human life.

The induction took all day (as I've heard they normally do). We began around 8am and my contractions were frequent but not increasing in intensity. I was having a mild contraction about every minute and a half for almost 13 hours. They would increase the Pitocin in order to strengthen the contractions but that was messing with Cole's heart rate so they would have to put me on oxygen and drop the Pitocin back down until he calmed down and then do the process over. This happened maybe two or three times, all with an epidural once I hit 4cm (thank goodness!), until I began consistently dilating and after pushing for a little over an hour, he was born! The whole time I remember thinking 'this is it, we are only having one child, I'm not doing this again..' and then once he was in my arms I remember looking at Wes and saying 'okay, we can do this like 6 more times..'. Of course I had not eaten all day (besides a few popsicles from a very nice nurse) and I was getting dizzy which must have been fairly apparent because Wes came in with a turkey sandwich, a coke (which ended up being not such a good idea even though it was exactly what I wanted - large amounts of sugar after you have been pushing and throwing up for over an hour will just continue to make you nauseous), and a variety of juices which I inhaled in about 3 minutes. Seriously, he's the best, he was so supportive through this whole process, didn't leave my side the entire time, how did I get so lucky? I loved how present and engaged he was, very eager and hands on to help me with anything I needed. We were so tired but at the same time so hyped up on adrenaline and being new parents that we were up most of the night.

The next two days were a blur - 18 friends and family members came to visit us during our stay in the hospital and many more at home during the following week. We ended up coming home around noon on the 14th - the original due date - as a happy, healthy, family of three!

Breastfeeding has been a journey of it's own. We had trouble latching in the hospital until finally one of the nurses showed me a nipple shield (I had never heard of them before!) and boom - instant success - like within 2 seconds success! I was so relieved because I had desperately wanted to breastfeed. He was SO successful and calm with the shield that I rarely tried without it. The lactation consultant advised me to keep trying without it because the shield could impact the amount he was getting so I did but it was a struggle for both of us. He would get frustrated and then so would I, and then I was stressed about him not eating enough, and that stress would cause my supply to drop, and it was hard. At our second appointment with the lactation consultant she weighed him and was surprised when he was already above his birth weight after just a few days! She said many babies who breastfeed without a shield don't even do that! So our journey with the shield would hopefully be a success. After the reassurance that he was thriving with the shield, I rarely tried to get him to latch again without it, it just worked really well for us.

Guys, breastfeeding is HARD. So hard. Especially at first because you are literally attached to this screaming newborn for 30 minutes at a time every two hours - it's physically and mentally draining. Everything in your life now revolves around feedings. But it's SO rewarding if it is something that you want to and are able to do. Props to all you moms who do it so successfully. I knew the human body was amazing and capable of great things but the process of reproduction and childbirth has blown me away. Your body being able to grow a tiny person and then birth said tiny person and not only that but create enough food to fully sustain said tiny person's life is crazy.

We breastfed exclusively (except on the rare occasion that someone else had to feed him in which case he had absolutely no trouble taking a bottle) for 3 months. Around the 3 month mark I had been thinking about switching to pumping exclusively because he was becoming increasingly frustrated with the shield. I decided to make the switch to alleviate the stress for both of us and also so that I could more closely monitor his milk intake (which was obviously not a problem for my big boy but I still like to know).

At this point we have been exclusively pumping for about a month and it's working quite well for us. When I started exclusively pumping I had a freezer stash of over 200 ounces of 'extra' that I would have from pumping after feedings. I dip into it every now and then if I know I will be at work for a while but I am currently trying to boost my supply so that I can give Cole everything he needs AND add a bit more to my freezer stash each day. Now I average about 30 ounces per day which is about what he eats per day so I typically don't have any to freeze. Hopefully by the end of this month I will have boosted it enough to be able to have leftovers :)

So, besides creating a tiny human, our 2016 was full of other sweet memories!

Such as birthdays...

Weddings...

And lots more fun!

Also - I have a new job! After much deliberation, I decided not to return to Ashby Ponds after maternity leave, both for personal and financial reasons. Personal being that how could I leave my adorable, sweet, perfect baby for 8 hours every day?! It just wasn't going to happen.. And financially, my salary minus daycare costs minus gas commuting to Ashburn and back every day minus the logistics and coordination of dropping off and picking up a newborn from someone every day did not leave me with much (financially or mentally). So that was that. And I was perfectly fine with this choice but I needed a LITTLE something to help keep my sanity that involved other adults - so I submitted my resume to Painting With A Twist. I am now a part time artist and an independent contractor. I set my own schedule (around when is convenient for someone to watch Cole/when Wes gets home) and I get to do something that I have loved my entire life for a comparable amount of money as if I were to have returned to Ashby. So the career switch was a no brainer. 

And what is that darling husband of mine up to? He starts GRAD SCHOOL this month! He's pursuing his MBA in order to further his career and set an example for our Cole man. I'm so unbelievably proud of him, always seeking ways to be the best he can be.

So now here we are, in 2017, with a super fun year ahead of us! I will try to write more here about our adventures so stay tuned!

Cheers, Casey 

 © Casey Hamrick and Captured By Casey, 2017. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Photos and links may be used provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Hamrick and Captured By Casey with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.