FINALLY! The Wait is Over

we have our beautiful addison grace mckay!! (yes it did turn out that we with with addison even though kyle created a facebook group to get people to vote for their his favorite name, brooklyn). here's addy's story.

like i said, i had my membranes stripped on tuesday morning. i had many contractions that didn't get me any closer to having her. i was scheduled for an induction at seven thirty wednesday morning, but got a call around five saying that they were too full and they would call when they had room for me. i was pretty disappointed, but with kyle still so sick i thought that heavenly father was just trying to make it work out for the best for him. then i got a call just before three pm from the hospital saying that i could come in.

we arrived forty five minutes later and while we were waiting to be checked in, i walked the halls to try and speed labor up myself. i figured it just made sense since my body had done a pain free job of dilating so far.

i was checked in around five and hooked up to the monitors. i had to get my blood taken - which terrifies me because i hate needles. then they stuck me on my other arm and waited until they had given me a whole bag of fluids before they started me on pitocin at seven to make my contractions become serious business. it didn't affect me for a half an hour. i remember feeling the first contraction that wasn't painful, but really just more pressure and tightness. i was excited to feel what everyone called labor, but i knew that i would eventually ask for an epidural.

my contractions came and went for about forty five minutes before i talked to the nurse and asked her if my contractions would get a lot worse. i knew that if they didn't get too much more intense i could handle it without medication. (my thought in the middle of labor is if it doesn't get worse and i don't need medication, that would be a cool thing to brag about.) the nurse just smiled and told me the pain was going to get much worse. BRING ON THE EPIDURAL.

i had to wait about 15-20 minutes before the anesthesiologist was available, so of course that made the contractions seem much longer and more painful. but she finally showed and kicked everyone out except kyle and my nurse. when i get nervous or am in pain, i tend to make jokes about myself to try and make myself feel better. the nurse sure seemed to think i was funny, but i never felt too much relief until the epidural kicked in. it took about 30 minutes for it to take full affect. but don't worry, my contractions got lighter and lighter, and ten minutes into it, i didn't feel pain. modern day medicine is amazing. that's what i kept telling everyone.
after that, some of my family left and the rest of us fell asleep, with the nurse coming in every so often to fix a monitor, up the pitocin, or check dilation. poor kyle was so tired and let my mom do all talking for him (he still had sores in his mouth) and eventually went to sleep and let her do everything for me. at about 2:10 am, summer - my nurse - turned on the lights and woke me up to tell me that i was dilated to a ten and that my water had broke. after that, my sisters were kicked out, kyle was woken up, and nurses were everywhere. my mom got the camcorder ready and kyle grabbed the camera. i asked to have a mirror so i could see everything. (you have to understand that i have been waiting for this for years - reading pregnancy books and watching the birthing channel, there was no way i was going to miss this.)i started pushing with the nurse. it was crazy, the whole time i thought, "this is really it, i'm going to meet my baby. i'm the one having the baby this time, me". i was in shock. it was surreal, the whole experience. i could hardly believe it was happening, addison was finally coming. the nurse had me push for a few minutes and then called the doctor. he asked me to push when he got there and then said "whoa, whoa, stop!" in the mirror i watched him catch/pull her as a contraction pushed her out for me. (only thirty minutes of pushing and only 1/2 push with the doctor). then she was on my tummy screaming and i couldn't stop staring at her. i was in shock. she was my daughter. seconds ago she was in my tummy where i had known her to be for nine months and now i was meeting her face to face. i felt like she wasn't really mine and that the real parents were going to come and whisk her away. everything about her was amazing, but i mostly loved that she was a little part of me and a little part of kyle. i immediately noticed she had kyle's mouth and my eyes, swollen as she was. she was beautiful.

just a quick look at the facts:
name: addison grace mckay
born: thursday, february 19, 2009 at: 3:21 am
weight: 9 lbs 7 oz height: 21 inches
hair: dark brown

recovery for me has been great, although my mom thinks that i just have a high pain tolerance. i can sit down now (yeah!) and can walk at a decent speed (woohoo!). can't wait to heal up the rest of the way so that i can enjoy my husband and brand new baby girl to the fullest!