McKenzie's Birth Story

I know it's been awhile since I last blogged, but i have been a little busy having a baby and trying to figure out this whole being a mom thing. Man! It's exhausting, but I have never been happier.

Let's start from the beginning.

On Thursday, March 21st I got about halfway through the work day when I just started not feeling so well and, with the much appreciated persistence of one of my co-workers, decided to finish up what I was working on and head home a little early.

So, I got home and tried to decide if the cramps were just cramps or actual contractions. Once they started feeling more regular, I began timing them with my fancy pregnancy app. After several hours of debating whether I was in labor or not, they started following the pattern we were told to watch for (5 contractions within one hour, each 1 minute or longer). So ... I hopped in the shower (they didn't hurt very bad so I figured I still had quite a ways to go) and took my time blowing out my hair before heading to the hospital.

We got all checked in and sent back to OB Triage, but everyone kept saying "You look too happy to be having a baby". Knowing what I know now, they were right ...

 last picture of the bump

Representing NAU since McKenzie has already been bombarded with Wildcat and Sun Devil nonsense.

After a few hours, they said I was having contractions and they were following the correct pattern, but they weren't strong enough to progress my labor. I was at 4cm the week before (at my dr appt) and was still at 4cm. She said that I need to come back when they are either 3 minutes apart, or very painful.So, sadly, we went home.

The contractions stayed consistent through the night, but didn't get any closer together or stronger. When I woke up in the morning I was determined to get McKenzie out. So, Mac and I headed to the zoo to do some walking. While we were there they got much stronger, so, fearing I would be sent home from the hospital again I called my dr and asked for my appointment to be moved up and they kindly obliged. 

As we started driving to the Dr. office, the contractions started getting much closer and much stronger - part of me regretted not heading straight to the hospital, but we were in the waiting room at that point, so I just waited to be seen. We saw my favorite doctor (Dr. Potorff). As she started the pelvic exam she explained that I had scar tissue on my cervix which was preventing the contractions from progressing the labor but were more painful. As she was explaining what this meant, my water broke. Mid exam, on the table (SO GROSS!) it was showtime. Luckily a good friend told me to keep a towel in my car for this reason - thank you Lynn!

From there everything began moving very quickly and the contractions got indescribably painful, so much that they had to wheel me into the delivery room on my triage bed because I wouldn't have been able to get into the wheel chair. Once in the delivery room, I received an epidural (I was really struggling to get through those contractions), which took effect almost immediately. 

At some point between triage and the epidural, McKenzie had broken through the scar tissue (hence the sheer pain I was feeling) and labor was rapidly progressing. I was a 4 when I was admitted, a 7 within 45 minutes and 9 just 5 minutes after that. The rapid progression combined with the epidural caused a a little bit of stress on the baby so I kept having to lay on my side and switch positions to keep her heartbeat regular. 

Once they measured me at 9 my doctor (Dr Mayer) came in and the "practice" pushing began. During one of the "breaks" I asked Mac to get me some water. But, seconds after he left, the nurse came in (her name was Sam too) and said it was time to deliver. I started having a mild panic attack since I just sent him out of the room. I was terrified he would miss it but as he stopped to talk to our family and Nicole, who was now in the waiting room, he heard alarms and saw everyone going into my room so he got there just in time - whew! 

The final stages of labor and pushing went flawlessly. Little Miss made her grand entrance at 5:00pm on Friday, March 22nd after only 45 minutes of pushing and less than 3 hours after arriving at the hospital. She was 6 pounds, 14 ounces and 21 inches of pure perfection.