Version 1: Short and Simple
McKenna was born! Everyone is home, mama and baby are doing great, and she is, so far, a darling, fairly content, easy-going baby! We are all happy about that.
Version 2: A Few Nitty Gritty's
Little miss McKenna Grace was born on Thursday, November 13th at 6:18 pm. She weighed in at 7lbs 13oz, was 19 1/2 in long, has a decent head of surprisingly dark hair, and is absolutely adored by her mama, daddy, and big sister. She did not come as quickly as Brinlee did (thank goodness), but still kept it fairly short and sweet (about 6 hours start to finish). Everything went smoothly, and we were able to make it through again this time without any pain meds. She swallowed a good amount of fluid, and right at first she had a little trouble clearing those lungs and getting a good breath. She spent some time on a CPAP machine and had a NICU nurse hang close for a while right at first. But they had her to me pretty quickly and she has done great ever since. As of her first doctor's appointment at 6 days old, she was already almost back up to birthweight, measured well, and seems to be on a good track. She's already an awesome eater, a decent sleeper, and wasted no time finding quite an impressive little cry. She is almost the spitting image of her big sister as a newborn. She has the same little mouth and gorgeous blue eyes that Brinlee picked up from daddy. Basically, she's cutest, most perfect and precious little angel! What can I say? We make darling girls!
Version 3: All the FUN Details
The last couple weeks of this pregnancy were a little rough (read: miserable!). I was super sore, fairly consistently sick to my stomach, absolutely exhausted, having trouble walking, and horribly swollen everywhere. I had a pretty strong feeling that we were not going to make it all the way to 40 weeks, and I was ok with that.
At my 37 week appointment (October 29th) I was dilated to 2 cm and was 50% effaced. The midwife I saw that day gave me the speech about how quickly I would need to get to the hospital when things started moving (like anyone had to tell me twice!). I wasn't super surprised, but was definitely glad to see things were moving along. Having movement meant the end was near. That, and all my whining was a little more justified :) It did put me a little on edge though. I kept picturing myself going into labor within the week, prayed that Tim would be contact-able, and almost had myself convinced that I wouldn't need the appointment I had set up for the next week. But, another 6 days went by with nothing and I found myself back at the OB office a week later for my 38 week check-up. This time, I was dilated to a 4 and 80% effaced. I was ecstatic! I was exactly 4 and 80 at my 38 week mark with Brinlee and she came in a blaze of glory only 4 days later. I figured those must be my magic numbers and felt for sure that this baby would be making her appearance within the next couple days. I had my sister come down from Michigan for a few days to be on stand-by, told Tim to expect a phone call any time, and then waited patiently (read: not really patiently at all!) for her to show her sweet face.
But alas, another rough week went by and still no baby! So frustrating!!! I was super bummed and, of course, even more uncomfortable. I didn't even think that was possible! I went moping back into the office for my 39 week appointment (November 12th) fully intending to whine until they just delivered that baby! But I eased up some when she checked me and said she wasn't sure how I was still pregnant. I was dilated to a 6 and almost 90% effaced. Hello! She assured me that without doing anything we would have the baby in the next couple of days, but said she would be willing to strip my membranes and send me right over to the hospital if I didn't want to wait. Tempting. But Tim was on campus, and my mom was in the air somewhere between Idaho and Ohio. And I figured, really, what was another day or two anyway? So I opted out. My mom got in safely that evening. And we all waited, "patiently".
That night was torture. I kept waking up sick, hurting, and more and more miserable. All night long I thought for sure I was going into labor, but never saw any sure signs. Tim contacted his professors first thing the next morning to tell them he would have to catch up the day's activities and he and I headed back to the OB office. I was shocked when she checked me and said I hadn't progressed at all. How could that be? I sure felt worse! It was a different midwife there that day and she was not as willing to move things along for us. She was afraid I would go into labor too fast, so for some reason she sent us back home to try our luck there. I again was super bummed. Tim was just down right frustrated. We sat around home for an hour or two not quite sure what to do next. About the time Tim was getting serious about trying to contact one of my more regular doctors, I started having some back pain that felt a little too familiar. We watched it for just enough time to recognize some time-able intervals and then decided that was enough. If it wasn't for sure time, it was sure close enough!
We got to the hospital around 1:00 pm timing minor contractions at about 8 to 12 minutes apart. They put us in a triage room, hooked up the monitors, and watched for about an hour. Around 2:00 the nurse came in and checked me. I hadn't progressed at all. She said she had talked to the midwife on call and that she wanted me to walk around for a bit to see if labor was going to move forward. So, I did. We walked for about an hour and came back with more noticeable contractions at about 4 minutes apart and I had dilated to a 7. Yay! They went ahead and admitted me to a labor room and got me all hooked up and ready to go. We were going to wait for the midwife to get there before we did anything, but luckily Dr. Kelly was still rounding. He was the doctor who saw me at my 38 week appointment. He had seen my name pop up on the roster and was surprised to see I was still pregnant. So he poked his head in and asked if he could take over and get things moving for me. I, of course, was more than fine with that. Just before 4:00 he broke my water and told the nurse to call him as soon as we were ready. He expected things to be over within the hour. So, we settled in and waited "patiently". Tim found a show on TV and I actually dozed off in between contractions. Such a different pace from what I was used to labor being like!
Around 5:00 the nurse checked me. I was an 8 and not quite fully effaced. She let me labor for not quite another hour, at which point I must have looked like the contractions were getting tougher because she asked if she could check me again. I was still an 8 but much more miserable. She had me reposition to my left side, and I'm still not sure what it was about that that made a difference, but it worked! Things moved really fast after that (more like what I am used to :) and baby girl was there 20 minutes later!
The doctor did make it back in time, though just barely. I guess I wasn't the only gal who got serious about having a baby right then. Because I did end up finishing fast, I did tear some again. But not nearly as bad as last time. Only 3 stitches this time. I remembered liking the recovery after my last delivery, so I had told the nurses that I wanted to do things as naturally as possible. So thats what they let me do. I don't feel like I handled it as well this time though. I had more time to realize what was going on and when things really got moving, pain medication started to sound really awesome! But we pushed through (no pun intended) and this little girlie did come "au natural". Despite my resolve to be a more quiet laborer, I hollered this time worse than I remember hollering last time... the doctor commented that he didn't think such a noise could come from someone so small. Talk about embarrassing. No profanities though, success! McKenna came out weighing 7lbs, 13oz and was 19 1/2 in long. She had had her first bowel movement in utero and when she came out she swallowed a good amount of the meconium fluid. She did cry pretty quick, but had some trouble clearing her lungs on her own. They had an NP and a NICU nurse work with her for a while. She spent 30 minutes or so on the CPAP machine, but they had her to me in no time and she did awesome after that!
It took us a full day to decide on her name. We had tossed around several that we really liked. But the more we held her, the more her face just looked like a McKenna. We were in the hospital for 2 nights this time. McKenna needed one extra check the morning after her 24 hour mark. Plus I was still feeling a little crummy. I had heard women talk about post-labor pains, but I had never had any and didn't really know what they were talking about. I do now. They were fairly short lived though and by the time we went home Saturday morning I really felt pretty swell. Thanks to my mom being home with Brinlee, Daddy was able to stay with us both nights. McKenna looks like him. That makes two daddy's girls now! It's so fun to watch him with our new babies. He's instantly enthralled and has been wrapped around her little finger from the first minute. Brinlee took a little more convincing. She and my mom came up to the hospital Friday morning. Brinlee took one look at McKenna, held her for a second, and then wanted nothing to do with her. Even when we walked through the door at home, Brinlee was not at all interested in that baby! But she got over that real quick and now she can't get enough of "baby sister"! She loves and kisses on her all the time. It's my favorite thing ever!!!
At her first doctor's appointment at 6 days old McKenna was almost back up to birthweight (7lb 10oz) and looked great! She's in the 50th percentile for weight, the 75th percentile for height, and is, in a word, perfect! She eats like a champion, sleeps fairly well, and has already decided she needs to be loud to be heard. When she decides to that baby can holler! But so far there isn't much that seems to really ruffle her feathers. She's pretty laid back, pretty easy going, pretty content, and just so dang sweet! You can really tell that she & Brin are sisters. She has the same little mouth, the same nose, and the same beautiful blue eyes. She does have a head full of surprisingly dark hair, and the prettiest little face you've ever seen! Needless to say, we have again been spoiled and are very thankful for an awesome baby! She is certainly one loved little peanut!! :)
And now, of course, a photo montage!
This is an I Spy photo. Can you spot Brinlee?? Yes, that's her, asleep on the couch, with the blanket over her head. She was so into this whole baby thing.
Home and Happy!
First bath.
Love this angel girl!
