McKay's Birth

Little Mr.'s due date was June 4, but Camden was a week early, and Nate was 4 days early.  June 4 is my sister's birthday, so I thought it would be cool for Mr. to be born that day, but didn't really expect him to wait that long.   Also, I really didn't want to repeat Nate's birth--too fast, too long to get to the hospital, too long to stay in the hospital, etc.  So, I brought up the idea of an induction with my doctor.  She agreed, but didn't think I would actually still be pregnant on the induction day.

Pregnant women should never listen to doctors when they say you're almost done.  Each night, you think you'll wake up in labor.  The next morning you wake up and think, "Today I will have a baby".  Then the night comes and everything repeats.

Anyway, my family was at DisneyWorld during the few weeks before I was due.  I set up all kinds of back up helpers to watch my kids if I should have the baby before she got here.  But, no baby.

Then it was Monday, Memorial Day and I thought, "Perfect day to have a baby, since Brian is home".  No baby.

Then my mom flew in on Tuesday night, and I thought "Perfect day to have a baby.  He was just waiting for my mom to get here".  No baby.

Then it was Wednesday, my 39 week appt, and I thought "Perfect day to have a baby.  The doctor will check me and labor will start. But, no baby."  We did confirm an induction first thing Friday morning, though.

Then it was Thursday, and we went to the park in the morning.  I was so tired, but tried to be cheerful. My mom was planning to leave on Tuesday, and I wanted to be able to use her help while she was here!  In the afternoon, we went to another playground.  The hospital called and said I'd receive a call in the morning, telling me when to come for the induction.

I woke up early on Friday (May 31) morning.  We couldn't go anywhere because we were waiting for the phone call.  So, we waited. I got showered and dressed.  I waited.  I paced around the house.  I did lots of meaningless things, felt impatient, and let my mom play with the boys.  Brian was pretty anxious, too, but he was more patient than I was.

Finally, at 10, I called the hospital.  The nurse said that EVERY room was full and that she would call back when they were ready.  Sheesh! I felt a little less anxious, just by knowing what was going on.

At 11:45, the nurse called and asked us to come.  It is the strangest thing to drive to the hospital, not being in labor, and knowing that you're going to have your baby when you come out.   The drive, registration, etc  were all so relaxing (as compared to both Camden and Nate, when I was trying to do the relaxing breathing thing, and trying to fill out papers through contractions.  Except with Nate, Brian did the paperwork.)  Anyway, we just sat and waited, then moved to our room and sat and waited again.  We got there about 12:15.  It was probably 45 minutes or so before we went to the room.  My midwife was attending other women, so she took awhile before she could come.

At 3:15, she broke my water, and that was the extent of the induction.  They measured the baby's heart rate for about 15 minutes.  When everything looked good, I got up and started walking around the halls of the hospital.  At 4:00, we came back so they could measure baby's heart rate again for 10-15 minutes, then we walked again.  At 4:15, I started feeling sick, so we came back to the room and knelt next to the couch.  I just felt that cold feeling I have felt when I pass out.  My head wanted to be down, so I laid it on the couch.  Then, I felt hot and needed to be down more, so I laid on the floor. The nurse was pretty mortified that I wanted to lay on the floor, so I tried to tell her I knew it was weird, but I wanted it anyway.

By this time, I was definitely feeling strong contractions. Around 4:45, and in between contractions, I got into a hot water bath.  It felt so lovely!  But, the contractions were quickly getting stronger and stronger.   A little after 5, the nurse checked me and told me I was dilated to 5.  I remember groaning.  I had been a 4 before I was even in labor at all!  It was terribly discouraging to me.  Then at 5:10, the midwife came to check me, but she saw McKay's head crowning.  A few big pushes later, his head came out, but not his body.  When his head came out, the contractions pretty much stopped.  The midwife supported his head, and it felt to me like she was trying to push him back in.  I said, "Don't put him back!" I was so tired, and still had to summon the strength to push the rest of him out.  I rested, then pushed some more. At 5:19, I first held my sweet McKay!

He was 7 pounds 8 oz, 20 inches long.  He was grunty, like Nate was, and I was pretty nervous. They called the NICU team in to evaluate him while I was getting stitched up.  Still, he was grunty (which means he was not taking deep breaths).  He stopped grunting for a few minutes when Brian held him and again while he ate. But still, he was pretty discontent overall.  Then, later that night, they took him to give him a comprehensive evaluation in the nursery. I guess the nurses made him cry pretty hard (you know, they gave him a bath) and he coughed up a bunch of mucous.  After that, we was perfectly content for the rest of our hospital stay.

Unfortunately, our camera (which I had charged the day before) was dead.  The power switch got bumped to on while in the suitcase.  Fortunately, Brian's phone takes decent pictures!

And, tomorrow is his 2 month check up!