A week in the books..

So we've now been home for a week, and I must say, time is already flying!  She's already over a week old.  So since its been a week, I thought I'd share her birth story.

Well Monday night (January 24th) I started to feel a little crampy about 10 o'clock at night.  I had felt this before in the last few weeks, but this time it was sticking around.  The next day, Tuesday, Donny was home from work because we got a new furnace.  I hid out in bed with the dogs all morning, keeping Donny updated on any changes.  Everytime I said they were sticking around he'd say "Ohhhh boyyy!"  Well could this be it?  So we decided to call the doctor and they had us come in, instead of heading to the hospital.  I had another nonstress test which showed...Nothing (as far as contractions)!  Well we felt pretty silly.  Baby was still moving, but I wasn't feeling it as much, which many people told us would happen.  So I then saw the nurse practitioner who I had seen the previous day.  I was now 80% effaced, and 5-6cm dilated!  Whooo!!  A dilating machine!  So she talked to the Dr and came up with a plan because something was defiantly going on.  Soo..she said to go get some lunch/dinner, and head to the mall for a hour walk, then head over to the hospital to be checked again.  We may stay we may not.  But holy cow we are doing this!!

So we headed to Panera Bread for a late lunch, then headed home to do some walking on the treadmill...afterall we have our pups at home.  We wanted to delay their world being turned upside down as long as possible.  So walking on the treadmill, I'm now feeling consistent contractions 4-6 minutes apart.  I walked a total of 45 minutes, then did some last minute packing, showering, and cleaning up.

Off to the hospital...(after a quick stop for dog food)

So we got to the hospital about 7:30 and got in an exam room.  They had the midwife check me.  The funny thing is (and by funny I mean not really funny at all) was she said I was 4 cm.  What?!?! Umm, where is my optimistic nurse practitioner!  So we got to now walk around the L&D unit and mother baby floor.  Now this is not nearly as private as the comforts of your own home.  Who wants to hug the wall in pain, while random people are watching you.  So come 9:15 I got checked again, and I'm now 5-6cm.  Contractions are defiantly about 4 minutes apart, and are very much visible on the monitor.  Donny was so excited to see the number go up and up and up.  Like it was a contest to see if we could beat the previous one.  What a "fun game."

So they decide to admit us, and were put into Labor and Delivery room 1.  Contractions are strong and horrible, intolerable really.  I tried the birthing ball, with very little success, and quickly realized this was not going to happen.  So, about 11:00 I called my nurse Amy, and she came in and said "uncle?" and I said YES!  So we called anesthesia and epidural was placed by 11:15.  Ahhhhh! The epidural process was something I was really nervous about, but I think my IV hurt more!  Oh and no problem at all with my platelets!

Alright, so I got about an hour sleep, and was checked again.  8cm!  8cm in 1 hour!  Whoo hoo.  About 2:00 they decided to break my water, which I didn't feel.  Probably got about another hour of sleep.  So at 4:30 or so they checked again, and I was fully dilated and practicing pushing!  The nurses kept saying, "oh these are great pushes" "this will be easy for you" and they called my doctor.  Well Well Well....Since I wasn't feeling anything from that miraculous epidural, they decided to turn it off so I could make my pushes count.  Well ouch!  My doctor and nurse kept saying you're so close she's right there.  (they were all calling her she because of all of the hair!)  Well almost 2 hours later, I was exhausted and not knowing how I could possibly do this any longer.  So because her heartrate was going up a little and I was pooped, they decided to use the vacuum to help assist.  She popped off the vacuums a couple of times because of all her hair.  But then pop!  She came flying out!  The Dr had Donny tell me what it was, which I felt like I was waiting for 5 minutes, not 5 seconds to find out!  A girl!  My "little" Mackenzie Leigh!  21.5 inchs and 8lbs 7oz of pure love and joy!

Here are some pictures from her first week at home!