Callan Traffas

Our wonderful baby boy arrived on October 6, 2014 at 8:02pm at Pratt Regional Medicial Center in Pratt, Kansas. Callan weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces and was 20 inches long.

 

Our lives have been turned upside down from the introduction of this new addition. Who knew 7 pounds of wonderful could change your world so much.

Starting at the beginning…

I started having contractions on Sunday night (October 5) they started out 5-7 minutes apart, as did my contractions with Nolan.  This time I was able to sleep on an off throughout the night. In the morning I went for a nice little walk around the neighborhood, contractions continued and were about 2-3 minutes apart. After calling the hospital they encouraged us to come in so that they could see what was going on. Around 11:30 a.m. we made the 30 minute drive up to Pratt, and of course the contractions slowed to about 10 minutes apart. So I knew that it was not going to be time to admit me yet. But they check and I was only dilated to a 1. Which was fairly frustrating for me because I was just sure that I was going to stall and not progress very quickly like I did with Nolan. So they sent us home. Telling me to come back when “you can’t walk or talk through the contractions”. When we arrived home it was about 2:30 p.m.

We went home and I walked about 30 miles from my living room to my bedroom to my kitchen, over and over and over and over again. My contractions continued they were not very consistent but they were very intense. they were 2 minutes apart then 4 minutes apart then 1 minute apart; this was quite confusing as everything they tell you is that they need to be consistent contractions to be progressing. Around 5:30 p.m. I told Aaron I did not want to be home anymore I just need to get back to the hospital. So we headed up to Pratt. Both of us in the back of our minds fearing that they were going to tell me I had not progressed at all or very little. When I got to the hospital I was almost in tears from pain and just the overwhelming emotions that go along with the whole process.

At 6 p.m. a nurse lead me in to the monitoring room and said that it would be a few minutes before they could check me as my doctor had just delivered another baby about 10 minutes before I got there.  So we “patiently” waited. My doctor arrived and checked and sounded surprised when I was dilated to a 7!  I was amazed. I was certain they were going to tell me I was at a 3.  So they quickly rolled me into a delivery room and asked if I would like to have some pain medication.  I opted to have a spinal, and in retrospect I am very very glad I did. Everything happened very quickly after that.

Callan Traffas (that’s right no middle name, can you believe it!) was born at 8:02 p.m. He was beautiful and on his first test in life scored wonderfully (APGARS). Callan rested on my chest for over an hour while my doctor continued to try to get me taken care of. Eventually he ended up calling a gynecological surgeon because he was unable to stop all the bleeding. At around 11:30 p.m. I was rolled into the operating room and put under general anesthesia for the surgeon to stop the bleeding.

I remember waiting in the delivery room before surgery with Aaron and Callan and feeling scared and wishing I could see Nolan. It already felt like our family was incomplete since Nolan was not there with us.  I was scared to have surgery yet again, even though this was completely different than my last experience.

Six weeks out I am doing great and I feel almost completely back to normal. Callan is growing so quickly! When we went to the doctor today he weighed_______. His favorite activities are EATING, EATING and EATING, he also like to smile and coo. He like snuggle and being swaddled tightly. It has been wonderful spending this time with Callan and I truly don’t want it to end.

Nolan is a fantastic big brother, he loves Callan so much, probably too much sometimes. He has had a few issues dealing with the adjustment, but come on he is 3 and what 3 year old wouldn’t.  Nolan often wants to help change diapers and hold Callan. He like to lay down with him and “teach” him things. It is precious to watch them.

Aaron said it best “it is a lot more work with two!” no kidding. I just try to keep in mind that these are the days when our boys need a lot of our time and attention. We will treasure these moments in our lifetime.  Eventually the boys won’t need or want us to tuck them into bed, read stories, or snuggle. Soon enough they will be too cool for hugs (I dread the day). So even though it is “a lot more work” I am enjoying this new life we find ourselves in. Our lives are full! Full of love, full of dirty dishes, full of snuggles, full of dirty diapers, full of joy, and full of stress. Full, completely jam packed full and I wouldn’t want it any other way!