Meet Mr. Chase

Our sweet little man was welcomed into our family on December 14th at 12:35am. He was 7 lbs. 4 oz. and 20 3/4 inches long. While he is perfect, his entrance into this world was far from it.

After being on bed rest for 6 weeks, my doctor sent me to the hospital to be induced. Since the hospital was busy that morning, they wanted me to come that afternoon instead. So, we spent the morning packing, running errands, shopping, and I got my nails done.

When we arrived at the hospital, our only concern was that my blood pressure would have gone back down and they would send me home. Instead, they kept me (without taking my blood pressure) because it was high that morning and they wanted to prevent it from going higher. So, we started talking “game plan” …start pitocin, break my water as soon as possible, and get this baby out before my blood pressure sky-rocketed. Unfortunately, that’s not how things went at all…

The nurse came in with the ultrasound machine to make sure the baby was OK. I heard her say “uh oh” and knew it wasn’t good. Baby boy was breach. So, a new “game plan” …Matt and I had to make the decision…c-section or external version (moving the baby from the outside of my stomach). After having 2 great vaginal births, I had to try the version even-though I was scared to death of the pain factor. After discussing options with my doctor and the nurse, we decided I could have an epidural first since that was my plan no matter how the baby came out. That was the best decision I made all day! During the version, all I felt was pressure. My doctor was fantastic…she (weighing all of 90 pounds) hopped up on the bed with me and began pushing on my stomach. The baby turned after 3 pushes and we all cheered!! Immediately after that, they started pitocin and broke my water to keep the baby head-down.

From there, things went smoothly. I was progressing slowly, but progressing none-the-less. Some friends of ours picked up my dad from the airport, so we were all just hanging out in my room thinking baby boy would come at around 3 am. After 4 cm, I progressed quickly. My epidural wore off, so I knew (because of the pain) that I was progressing. In a little over an hour I was 9.5 cm dilated. My parents scrambled to the waiting room and the nurse called my doctor.

After 4 pushes, Chase Matthew Flener was born. He was perfect! We sent him to the nursery so we could get some sleep and because he made this funny grunting noise continuously all night! Fortunately, that stopped by the next morning.

After almost 6 weeks of having him in our family, we can’t imagine life without him. Alyssa smothers him with kisses and is almost constantly touching him, hugging him, kissing him and smothering him. She says, “I want to see him!” which means she wants to kiss him all over his face and hands. 🙂 Grace is the little mother and tells us to “be careful” and makes sure he’s taken care of properly. 🙂 They are both adoring sisters.

Matt is thankful to have another male in the house and has already perched Chase on his chest while watching football games. I’m in love with this sweet little boy and think he’s the perfect little one to complete our family.

Here’s a little about Chase…
– He loves to be swaddled! When he’s fussy, we swaddle him and it helps him sleep.
– He’s been sleeping 3-4 hours at night, which I have been enjoying!!
– If he’s hungry and fussing, he’ll immediately quiet down when he hears my voice as I pick him up.
– He’s a great little eater and very speedy at it.
– He loves lying in the Boppy and spends most of his time there.
– He enjoys being on the move. If we are driving in the car, he’ll fuss when we stop and quiet back down once we start moving again.
– He loves his bath (as long as the water is the perfect temperature!).

Chase is a great baby!! A week or so ago we were afraid he had colic, but soon realized he was just spoiled. 🙂 He was used to being held a lot after having both sets of grandparents and an aunt and uncle in town (not to mention a mommy, daddy, and 2 sisters!). We have him “trained” once again to fall asleep on his own after being swaddled and put down in the Boppy. Whew!