Makenzie

Born: June 9, 2010 4:21am
7lbs 11oz
19in

We have very few pictures this time around because 1. our camera was dead when Makenzie was first born (my fault) 2. Adam wasn't able to be at the hospital much. In fact he had to leave as soon as we got to the recovery room. So what you see above is pretty much all we have right now. Very sad, but nothing we could have done about it. My mom (the photographer) is in town though so we have more photo shoots planned! :)

I don't remember exactly when I went into labor. I had a bit of false labor almost a week before, so I thought that is what was happening again. Also, I was a bit distracted from the contractions because Shane wasn't going to sleep. I was in and out of his room all night long Tuesday night. The contractions started maybe around 1amish, just a guess. Finally at about 2am I got Shane out of bed to watch a movie while I timed contractions, trying to determine if it was real labor or not. A little while later I woke Adam up in "emotional distress" (aka bawling my eyes out) because Shane was still awake and I had no idea what was going on with my body. Adam took Shane into his bedroom to read stories and try to put him to bed. Not 10 minutes later I came in and told him I thought I needed to go to the hospital. My contractions were very quickly becoming closer together and stronger. So, we called our friends to come watch Shane and headed to the hospital. (I am sorry to our friends for not being very polite and friendly when they came over! I was in a lot of discomfort and was very nervous about making it to the hospital in time.)

While we were in the car headed to the hospital, my contractions were pretty intense. I started feeling some pressure. Admittedly, I was rather terrified. Everything was changing and happening so fast. I was worried we wouldn't get to the hospital in time. I told Adam that if this wasn't "transition" I never wanted to know what it felt like.

We got to the labor and delivery floor and the lady at the admission window started taking my information. They were planning on putting me in a triage room to start monitoring me. When a contraction came while I was trying to answer her question she said, "She looks pretty uncomfortable. Lets get her into a real room." A couple of nurses immediately opened the door and led me to a delivery room. There was no leaving and waiting for me to dress into my gown. Everything was done NOW. They checked me and I was dilated to 10cm. A nurse turned to me and said not to be scared, but that there would be a lot of people coming in to help. With Shane I had one nurse in my room until it was time to push. Then I had 1 or 2 people come in to help the resident deliver Shane since the doctor couldn't make it. This time I had a least 5 people in the room rushing around doing various things and waiting for the doctor. One was trying to put my IV in. She started in my left arm, went through the vein instead of into it and had to switch to my right arm.

Fortunately, my OB just happen to be on call that night AND she just happen to be in the hospital finishing up a delivery. That was a huge relief for me. With Shane I felt like I had a lot of people around me who didn't really know what they were doing. Having my OB there really helped me to feel calm. Waiting for the OB was SOOO HARD!! (When you gotta push, you gotta push). Ultimately, I didn't have to wait that long. I was admitted around 4am and Makenzie was delivered at 4:21am. It sure felt like a lot longer though. Needless to say, there was no time for any type of pain medication. (I was fine with it because I was wanting to try to go natural anyway.) Delivery went by so much faster. 4-5 pushes and I was done (compared to 40 minutes with Shane). I got to hold Makenzie right away. She was very healthy. She even nursed right away and totally got the hang of it (Shane didn't nurse for the first 24hours). With Shane I tore really bad. Recovery was long and hard. This time I got one little stitch and that was it. Recovery has been a million times easier (I might have even started doing things I shouldn't because I have been feeling so good. I've had to force myself to relax. It's hard!)

Shane did eventually go back to sleep that night. Then he woke up with a fever and diarrhea, which totally ruined our babysitting plans for the day. So, as soon as I was transferred to the recovery room Adam had to go home to take care of Shane. We were so incredibly grateful when we were able to find a few people willing to watch Shane for a short while each day (THANK YOU!!). Adam was able to spend a couple of hours here and there with Makenzie and I at the hospital until we came home Thursday evening.

I was very nervous about how I would handle being alone in the hospital. I had visions in my head of nursing a baby every hour, never getting any sleep, and crying the entire time wishing "if only Adam were here". I prayed really hard, hoping it wouldn't be as bad as I envisioned. Well, God must have really blessed me because I didn't have to deal with ANY of the things I was worried about. Okay, I might have cried once, but I am pretty sure all mothers cry at least one little cry while in the hospital (those darn hormones). Overall, I felt so positive and in control! It was the greatest blessing I could have received. Makenzie slept fairly well during the night and even though I didn't get a lot of sleep, I didn't feel like I was completely sleep deprived yet either. The hardest thing for me was being bored out of my mind. I tried to entertain myself by watching reruns of "What Not to Wear", but it didn't last. Sadly, the food didn't do much to entertain me either; flavor was severely lacking :( Boredom definitely contributed to my decision to leave the hospital early.

Adam had his last test for the year in two days. After coming home I tried my best to give him opportunities to cram. He passed his test and we expected everything to be 10 times easier after that. Well, it wasn't. Shane has become a momma's boy over the last few months. The doctor told me not to pick up anything heavier than Makenzie, including Shane. So I couldn't put him to bed, pick him up to hold him, put him in his booster seat, put him in the tub, etc. It was so hard for Shane. He wanted me to do everything I normally do for him, but I couldn't. When Adam would try to play with him, put him to bed or just about anything else Shane would start crying, reaching for me. Later I got permission to pick Shane up, but only in moderation. It has definitely made things easier. It sure is amazing though how simply picking up your son can take you from feeling great to feeling very tired.

I am still trying to figure out how to take care of two children, a husband and a house all with out feeling completely exhausted (I'm looking to the future when Adam is back in school). Even with the help of Adam and my mom right now, I feel wiped out at the end of each day. I'm hoping I eventually get a surge of energy that lasts the rest of my life! :)


P.S. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to those who have helped us get through this first week. For all the meals, play dates, babysitting and hang outs, THANK YOU!