The Arrival of Mackenzie Rose

kelli070607 · August 2009

Here is the scoop...

Around 6pm on Saturday, July 18 I started having what I believed to be contractions. DH and I were watching a movie and eating pizza. The contractions seemed to follow a pattern but were not intense or anything. We went to bed and I woke up for my usual potty break and still had them. I stayed up and decided to see if I had another...sure enough 15 minutes later I did. I woke up again at 4am and had another. Still at 9am...every 15 minutes. I kept busy all day Sunday--cleaning, organizing my scrapbooking stuff!--and DH even went to football practice locally Sunday night (after I convinced him I was fine to be alone for a few hours and I would call if I needed him to come home!). When he came home they still were 15 minutes apart and really no more intense than the previous night. At 9:20 pm they started to be 11-12 minutes apart. Then by 10pm they were around 8-9 minutes apart. By 11:30 they were 5-6 minutes apart. DH called the doctor around midnight and he said to wait a little longer before going to the hospital. I took a shower (!!) and "relaxed" in there for about 30 minutes. I wish I got in the shower sooner...it was heaven (compared to not being in the shower of course). By 1:30am I said "we need to go"--I wasn't sure how I was going to labor in the car since I had been doing so by kneeling, on all fours, standing up, sitting on the toliet--all things that I really couldn't do in car! I managed to labor kneeling and being on all fours in the back seat of the car.

We arrived at the hospital around 2:15am and my doctor had called ahead so they were waiting for me. I was eventually hooked up to the monitors and checked and was 4cm! Woo! The nurse asked me if I was planning on an epidural---and I said "yes, I am. I am ok now, but I do want one". And to my surprise I had the epidural within 20 minutes. (I thought it would take a lot longer) The anesthesiologist was awesome! I did not feel a thing. It was by far the easiest part of the night. By 7am I was around 6-7 cm and by 9am I was fully dialated however DD was still "really high" so I had the epidural topped off twice and the nurse wanted to see if she would move down on her own. (She did a little bit) Around 11:15am I puked--awesome--and by 11:30am I started pushing. OMG the hardest work EVER! I did not feel pain--just a lot of pressure. I had full control of my legs and was able to recognize when I was having a contraction and when I was supposed to push.

And, Mackenzie Rose arrived at 1:15pm after 2 hours of pushing. She weigned in at 6 pounds 10 ounces and 20 inches long. I did it. DH was AWESOME and so was his aunt (she acted as my doula in L&D). My nurse and doctor were incredible, too! We did well in the hospital and were excited to come home and do our own thing.

We came home Wednesday afternoon. We had to take Mackenzie to the peditrician that day because she was slightly jaundice. The dr. was not concerned with it at all but he detected a possible heart murmur at the exam. He set up an appointment with a pediatric cardiologist the next day. After a LONG appointment with him (where she had an EKG and an echocardiogram), she does have a murmur. Apparently they are quite common and should go away within 2 to 3 months. So, we really just need to monitor it. If it doesn't go away, there are ways to fix it before it could ever become any medical problem. We go back in 2 weeks and then again in 2 months. I still cannot believe I survived L&D and Mackenzie is here. Its truly incredible. I wish all of you lots of luck and health!