Kellan Rayne Byers – Baby #2

Hi friends!

We are so excited to welcome our son to the world! 

Kellan Rayne Byers

9lbs 7oz and 22 3/4 inches

Born at 1:21pm on 4/3/19. 

Words can’t possibly describe our love for him.  What a beautiful blessing from God. I love his dark hair! 

The name “Kellan” is the perfect combination of our names “Kelsey Lynne” & “Kent Allen.” “Rayne” was my grandpa’s name (my mom’s dad, Rayne George, aka R.G.)

The name Kellan means Warrior & Powerful.

Birth Story

At my 40-week doctor check up, we did an ultrasound and checked my cervix. Results were a “3” in dilation and our baby boy measured BIG. I noticed on the ultrasound screen it said 9 pounds 14 ounces.

We planned on a vaginal delivery (like with Brinkley) so I got a little anxious. My doctor came in to chat and said, “you’ve got a big boy! The measurements could give OR take a pound.”

She decided to have me come in within 2 days to be induced due to his size. She did warn me that there’s a chance I wouldn’t progress very fast since I was barely at a 3, plus him being big…she was hoping he’d cooperate and come naturally.

The following day I kept busy, despite experiencing period-type cramping (which I later discovered to be contractions). 

My mom came to visit to stay with us Tuesday night and Kent & I reported to Labor/Delivery at the hospital at 5:30am on Wednesday. We were both anxious but ready to go.

With Brinkley’s labor (my first baby) I had an epidural and it was wonderful, so I decided to take that route again. My contractions with Brinkley got pretty rough (to the point of cussing) so I was hoping to get it ASAP with little boy for round 2.

I got hooked to an IV for hydration and pitocin to begin the process. Once I was hooked up to the monitor, we could see the contractions, but I couldn’t feel much. Apparently I was having them the day before as well, I just didn’t realize since they were mild.

My doctor came in to break my water, using a long tool with a hook at the end. It didn’t hurt but it was a weird sensation with the fluid ran down my leg. It sounded like a balloon popping! So weird!

After an hour or so, the contractions started coming on pretty strong and the anesthesiologist showed up right on time. I got my epidural with little pain (so worth it) and relaxed to let it kick in. That’s such a weird feeling when your lower body goes numb. My legs were literally like dead weight. I still felt some pressure from the contractions but nothing like before.

Once I dilated to a 10, it was time to start pushing. I would say this was around 1pm, which is the affirmation I made when I said I wanted him out by then (my first labor with my daughter was an all day labor and she was finally born at 5:30pm after 3 hours of pushing. It was exhausting!). 

After just a few minutes of pushing, my doctor was estimating him to be a 10 pound baby and it didn’t look like his shoulders would make it out because he was sunny side up (face up). My doctor explained that this could hurt the baby (possibly causing injury). It could also cause internal damage to me, altering my day to day life, even tear my rectum. Yikes! More importantly, every time I pushed, the baby’s heart rate was getting lower. That was scary!  

We decided in that moment that a C-section was necessary and fast! It was pretty scary because in seconds there was a large team of 10+ medical professionals working around me. I could tell they were stressed about the baby’s wellbeing and that scared me. They rushed me (in my bed) down the hallway to the operating room. I was praying for our little man that everything was ok. 

The team worked fast and my body was feeling jolts of movements from every direction as they performed my C-Section. They found his heartbeat again and let out a sigh of relief. Scary stuff! 

They got him out and within seconds I heard his little cries, which was a huge relief. I couldn’t see him but I could see where they were working on him. They had to help him with oxygen since the transition to world was making it hard for him to breathe. They explained that he’d need to go to the NICU immediately as he adjusted. 

My first sight of my son I noticed how big and beautiful he is! 9 pounds, 7 Oz and 22 3/4 in length. He has a head full of dark brown hair. They brought him over to me for a quick kiss before whisking him away to the NICU. Poor baby! I just wanted to snuggle with him. There was mucus in his lungs so they wanted to make sure he was okay. There was a small air pocket on his lung and they wanted to make sure it continued to shrink so he didn’t get a collapsed lung.

Meanwhile, they were busy stitching me up and I then spent 2 hours in recovery. 

Once I got into my room, I learned our baby boy was doing well but needed a little bit more monitoring overnight. I was really sad because I couldn’t walk to the unit to see him so my husband went a few times to check on him (and FaceTimed me so I could talk to him).

It was so strange spending the night without him but I was in some pain from surgery and knew I needed the rest. I knew Thursday would bring me more time with little munchkin, so I focused on that. 

This was the first time I got to hold him.

During all this, the mom guilt in me kicked in wondering if I’d be able to breastfeed. #1 – since having surgery to remove my implants Oct 2017, I didn’t know for sure that I could. It wasn’t something my plastic surgeon could guarantee. #2 – I tried pumping the first couple of days using a breast pump but nothing came out. I was determined not to give up and at least wanted to give Kellan some milk, so I kept at it. It’s kinda painful at first. Thankfully, about day three, my milk started coming in. Even though I haven’t been able to keep up with his demand yet, it is still nice to know he is getting my breastmilk in addition to formula. I know he’s going to eat no matter what but I’d like to feed him breast milk if possible.

Brinkley came to the hospital with my mom on Kellan’s birthday but due to him being in the NICU, she wasn’t able to visit him that first day. She wanted to meet her brother so bad! We finally got to introduce the two of them after a few days and you can tell she is so proud! I love these photos.

At the end of the day, I’m super grateful for the team of doctors and medical professionals who took care of us at Houston Methodist The Woodlands. Our nurses were amazing and so nice/helpful!

The most important thing to me is that my baby is FED, no matter how it happens. I’m so happy he’s a big, healthy boy after 40 weeks of me feeding him already! Even though my labor and delivery didn’t go exactly as planned, I’m grateful for the quick decision making skills of my doctor and making sure to choose the best course of action for us. 

We actually left the hospital a day before Kellan. That was tough. I wanted to be with him so bad but knew I needed to recover. The NICU hospital room would not have been a good fit overnight with me healing from surgery, otherwise I would have stayed with him. I knew he was in good hands and we went back early the next day to great news that he could come home with us!

I love this sweet photo of the day we brought Kellan home. I love that he’s looking at the camera, too.

I have been in some pain healing from surgery but every day gets a little easier. I am amazed with the number of you ladies who have reached out and offered encouraging messages and prayers. You are all so sweet and I just adore my online community. It really means a lot when you share something that helped you recover.

Thank you for reading my labor and delivery story for baby #2, Kellan Rayne. I’ll do another post soon with photos of his nursery and professional newborn photos. I’ll update more as time goes on for those who are interested. Please follow me on Instagram for all things mom life!