A lot has gone on since I last posted. I guess I shall start from the beginning...
On Wednesday that 10th Mark had duty so I offered to bring him dinner and some more cookies. I spent all day baking and then went to base and hung out on the ship for a while. After I got home it was time to relax, watch Top Chef, and go to bed. I went to bed at 1130 and fell asleep at 1145. How do I know that I fell asleep at 1145, you ask? I for some reason or another looked at the clock right before I fell asleep. At 1230 I was woken up with my contracting; this went on for an hour, constant pain with waves of contractions. I wasn't able to time those but the whole thing went on for about an hour. After that I thought that I would be able to get back to sleep...and that is when the contractions really started in my back and abdomen. Sometimes I would get them just in my back, sometimes I would get them just in my stomach, and other times they would flow from my back to my stomach. These I was able to time...12 minutes apart; just enough time to fall back asleep before another would hit. I kept thinking they would stop but they continued. This went on all night; 12 minutes for a while, 10 minutes for a while, and so on. I got stuck at 8 minutes...but that comes later. Roxie kept coming in and checking on me because I was moving, trying to get as comfortable as I could, and breathing through them...so she was pretty worried about me. I wanted to put her on the bed with me (mind you, Mark was on the ship) but she was in heat so I couldn't. So the contractions went on all night and were getting more and more intense as the time went on. I know you are thinking "Why did you not call Mark to come home and take you to the hospital??" Well I knew that I would have been told to wait until my contractions were 3-5 mintues apart for at least an hour and I didn't want Mark to rush home and have to take off an extra day of work (the next day was a half day and I was pretty sure I could make it until he got off work). So after hours of laying in bed with contractions I decided to get up and take a shower and see if that would at least relax me a little. No sooner I get into the shower I get a call from Mark telling me to come pick him up. I was glad that he was already off work at 9-something in the morning but I just wasn't sure if I could make it that far driving with contractions like I was having, however, I made it to base and all with minimal contractions. As Mark got into the truck he asked me if I had had any contractions the night before. I just laughed and told him everything. Of course he asked me "Why did you not call me?" haha
Mark asked me how far apart my contractions were and I told him 8 minutes and he called my doctor who told him to wait until my contractions were 3-5 minutes apart for at least an hour. After Mark and I got home we took a shower and then he began playing his game while I fixed us some lunch. I sat down on the couch and took my first bite when I got another contraction which caused me to get nauseous. The contractions, by now, had become even more intense like to the point of this particular one I was on the floor on my knees leaning on the couch. All that to say, I was done with lunch. haha
By this time I was ready to go to the hospital but at the same time I didn't want to jump the gun. Instead of going straight to the hospital I called up there and spoke with my nurse, well she had been by nurse when I was in there for observation with my kidney infection and she is the one who essentially recruited me from the other hospital to that one for delivery. She is amazing; not to mention, I felt comfortable with her. So I called and spoke with her and as soon as I got on the phone a contraction started...I was trying to call in between contractions but it didn't work. Mark had been telling me for a while that there was no way that my contractions were 8 minutes apart but much closer. Just for the record, I admitted that he was right but I couldn't figure out how to get back on count. Ok so Christine told me to come in and let them check me and if they send me home than they send me home but at least I would know. She then told me later that she could tell that something was going on just based on the way that I was talking and breathing and all.
After I got off of the phone I went in and told Mark what she said and he asked if I was ready to go...I started contracting again which brought on tears and was like "I don't know...I don't want to jump into anything..." and I went into the bedroom and laid down on the bed and just cried. I was crying because I didn't know what to do, I was in pain, I was tired because I had not slept at all the night before, just everything. Mark then walked into the bedroom and saw me and was like "Come on, we're going now." So we picked up my bag, "just in case", and we left. On the way to the hospital I had a good 2-3 contractions at least and we only live about 10 minutes, if that, away.
Once we got to the hospital at about 230p-300p they took me right back and hooked me up to the monitors and said that they were going to monitor my contractions for a little bit to see just how far apart they were. About 15-20 minutes later I guess it was Christine came back in and said that they were 4 minutes apart and she was going to check me and see how everything else was going. She looked at me and was like "Yep, you're in labor." WHAT?! It was only the 11th and my due date wasn't until the 20th! haha So here I am, I have not even told my mom about the contractions, I had not told anyone other than Amanda and Mark...this was so going to throw my mom off! haha Mark had told me earlier that I should call my mom and let her know but I was like "I want to wait until I get the "you're in labor" before I get her hopes up." haha Well after I got that "ok" Mark and I just looked at eachother and he was like "Call your mom" and I at the same time was like "Get me my phone." haha
Ok let me interject here, my counting of my contractions was off because I was having them in my back and my stomach and although sometimes there was a break between the two I was counting them as one contraction instead of two. So that is why my 8 minutes apart contractions were actually 4 minutes apart. Oops! haha Hey, I just knew that sometimes they came all at once and sometimes they were broken up. This was my first time ever having contractions and being in labor, how I was supposed to know? HAHA
Ok back to the timeline...by 330p-400p I was getting my epidural, which I was SO glad for! (KRISTIN - EPIs ARE YOUR FRIEND!! LOL) So I got my epi and just chilled for a little bit. Not too long though. haha After getting the IV and the epidural my contractions had slowed just a little bit so they broke my water and gave me some pitocin to help them along. My doctor said that I should average a cm an hour in dialation, ok cool. They said they would wait a couple hours and come in and check me again and we would see how things were progressing and go from there. About an hour and a half later I guess it was I called the nurse in to ask her something and she said she was going to go ahead and check me and see what was going on; I was ready to start pushing. My doctor came in and we tried the pushing but decided that we were going to wait a few more minutes to see if McKenna would make it even farther down in the canal. My doctor had said we were going to wait about 30 more minutes but just about 10-15 minutes after he said that the nurse came back in and said she was going to check me again...this time not only was I more than ready but she felt the baby's head! So the doctor was called back in and I began pushing at about 815p and 35 mintues later at 850p McKenna was here!! It was amazing! She came out screaming and wide-eyed and ultimately just beautiful! Mark and I both had tears in our eyes.
My entire pregnancy was a wonderful beautiful experience! I loved every minute of it!! Then to end it with a great labor and delivery just topped it all off!
McKenna was born on December 11, 2008 weighing 6lbs 8oz and was 20 inches long. Oh and did I mention that she has a head full of hair? She is great and no matter what people say about babies not being able to smile, she has a beautiful smile! Poor thing though, she doesn't fit newborn size clothes so we had to go out and buy preemie clothes. I love it though!! She is so small and petite and she loves to curl up on my chest and sleep.
I was released from the hospital on Saturday the 13th, which worked out because Mark's mom was coming into town that weekend; initially she was going to take me to get a pedicure (since I couldn't reach my feet anymore...LOL) and then shopping!! However, things changed a little when McKenna decided she was ready to make her debut. I told Mark to make sure his mom knew that she was still more than welcome to come up; she had already bought her plane ticket and everything. So her plane got in on Saturday morning and I was released from the hospital Saturday afternoon so it all worked out that she was there when McKenna and I got home. It was a good time! My parents had planned on coming up Sunday and staying for a while. My Daddy was able to stay for a week and my mom is staying through Christmas. WOO HOO!!
Well speaking of McKenna I better go get a shower while she is sleeping. If I have missed anything I will go back and edit it but all in all I must say that I have one heck of a birth story! haha
Ciao!
P.S. Pictures to come.
KRISTIN: You are going to LOVE being a mother! McKenna has been SUCH a blessing already!! I just know that Addison is going to bless you and David as much as Mark and I have been blessed!
What a proud daddy he is
McKenna Elizabeth
There we go, looking much better
My mother-in-law and McKenna
My Mom and McKenna
My brother and McKenna
My mother-in-law and McKenna (I LOVE this picture!)
Three Generations
