McKenna Laine has arrived!

Well, she’s finally here!

McKenna Laine Friedmann
Arrived on May 14, 2014
at 3:08 a.m.
at St. Joseph’s Women’s Hospital, Tampa Bay
weighing 8 lbs.
& measuring 21 inches long

As stated in a previous blog post, McKenna was a name Mike and I both loved should we have  a girl (we narrowed our name list down to 1 male and 1 female name back in November before we knew the gender). Her middle name, Laine, came from my mother’s middle name, Lorraine. We knew we wanted a family name, or something derived from one, and this is one we thought flowed most naturally.

McKenna’s Birth Story: 

On Monday evening, 5/12/14, around 5:30 p.m., I started feeling what I suspected to be contractions. I hadn’t felt any contractions yet this entire pregnancy – not even Braxton Hicks contractions. Being 41 1/2 weeks along, I didn’t want to get too excited if it was a false alarm. I’ve read multiple blogs, articles and forum posts about how some women’s contractions showed up and then just disappeared. My dad was in town and was actually scheduled to leave the next afternoon. We were hoping he would be able to meet McKenna, but it wasn’t looking great. I didn’t want to mention the contractions to him because I didn’t want him to get his hopes up and invest in changing his flight if she still wasn’t ready. I began texting my mom and Mike (who was at work) and timing the contractions. They were about 15-20 minutes apart.

I went to bed that night hoping I would get woken up with stronger contractions that were closer together. Or my water breaking. Something. Unfortunately, I woke up on my own around 8:30 a.m. and proceeded with my day as normal. I was spending the morning with my dad before he went to the airport and was scheduled to go into work that afternoon. When I took Rigby for a walk after waking up, the contractions were still present. They were now anywhere from 10-20 minutes apart. I kept a log in my notepad of when I felt each one, and my dad and I went out to breakfast.

After breakfast, I called the doctor’s office to see how I should proceed with the contractions that I was still feeling. I was scheduled to be induced on Thursday, May 15 if she hadn’t arrived on her own by that time. The doctor told me to monitor the contractions and if I felt more than 6-8 in an hour to stop in and they would do a labor check. I waited two hours and during both hour intervals I felt anywhere from 6-10 contractions. Mike and I were going to head into the doctor’s office. (After looking into changing his flight — for a $550 fee – no thanks, Southwest — my dad headed off to the airport. For his sake, I was hoping McKenna would take her time coming, as I couldn’t imagine her arriving just after he left – totally heartbreaking.) Upon our visit, I was 4 cm dilated and my water was ready to break at any point. We could have decided then to be admitted to St. Joseph’s, however since I was striving for a natural delivery we chose to walk around the mall instead.

We spent a few hours walking around the mall and praying my water didn’t decide to  break there (because seriously, how embarrassing). My dad was still at the airport as his flight was delayed, and he was doing everything he could to get his flight changed to Wednesday evening. We had informed my mom, and she was on her way up from North Port. Just before my mom arrived, my dad was able to change his ticket with no financial repercussions! His flight, connecting in Chicago, had been delayed due to the fires/heavy smoke out there that had shut down the airport and, given his situation, the gate attendant was kind enough to change his flight to the next evening. My mom picked my dad up from the airport on her way in, and we all spent a few more hours at the house before heading to the hospital around 8 p.m.

At this point my contractions were about 3 min. apart and very manageable as far as pain. In fact, they hardly bothered me at all. they checked me into triage and then into the labor and delivery room where we would wait to see if my labor progressed. Around 10 p.m., we (the nurses, doctor and I) decided that if my water did not break on its own by midnight, they would break it to see if labor would progress. The contractions started to get a little more intense, and while I still could, Mike and I decided to walk the halls of the labor and delivery area to kill some time. The hallway was very short, so we did about 6 laps back and forth. I would have to stop every minute or so to squeeze him and lean against the wall, the contractions were getting much stronger. When we got back to the room, I walked into the bathroom before laying back down and just like that – my water broke! I was so relieved. Ironically enough, it was about midnight so McKenna must have heard our earlier conversation and decide to come out on her own before we forced her to.

I cleaned up and got back into bed and the contractions started rolling. I struggled with them for about an hour and a half before I called for the epidural. It was probably one of the hardest mental battles I’ve ever had. I wanted a natural delivery so badly, but I wasn’t prepared for how quickly the contractions intensified. I had been so adamant about a natural delivery for a number of reasons, but mostly because I wanted control over my body while pushing and didn’t want to feel that numbness that so many other women feel during delivery. However, I knew that if I was going to be one of those long labors (which most first pregnancies are), I wouldn’t make it without one. Around 8-9 cm dilated, the anesthesiologist came in to administer the epidural. During this process (which was really no big deal at all), I started feeling the urge to push. I hadn’t felt this yet during my contractions. I tried to breathe through it, as recommended by the nurse, but the more the contractions came, the more I felt my body trying to push. As they were still administering the epidural, she called for the doctor.

Mike, who surprised me incredibly with how quickly he stepped in to help. He held one leg while the nurse held the other, and within 20 minutes after I was given the epidural, I was pushing. I was so relieved and thankful that, during this time, I still had complete feeling in my legs and total control over my pushing. In less than an hour of pushing, McKenna was here – crying and healthy and so perfect.

Within an hour we were moved to our Mother/Baby room where we’d spend the next few days recovering and bonding with our sweet girl. I was happy to find that I was able to get out of the delivery bed on my own and into the wheelchair – the epidural had already worn off. Could I have delivered naturally had I known there was only an hour or two left? Probably. And I will absolutely try a natural delivery again whenever that time comes. That being said, I wouldn’t change anything about McKenna’s arrival last week. I think it happened just as it was supposed to. My advice to anyone when developing a birthing plan: Be open minded. It’s great to have a goal, but if you go in open-minded to anything being possible or happening (some of which is out of your control) you’ll always be satisfied. This is an experience you shouldn’t look back on with despise.

I had an amazing support system behind me that I am so incredibly grateful for. Mike was an amazing coach, and I saw him change just a little bit (in a good way, of course!) in those few moments of him becoming a father. It’s true that you don’t know this particular level of love until you have a child. I fell in love with McKenna the second she was in my arms, and I fell even more in love with Mike, too.

We had a great stay at the hospital for the 48 hrs. after McKenna arrived. Nothing compares to being at home of course, but our nursing staff was so wonderful, accommodating and pleasant. Postpartum recovery is not something to joke about though and, probably because of all the gruesome details, it wasn’t something I felt very prepared for – at least not as prepared as I felt for the other pregnancy “obstacles” we encountered.

Our one week update: McKenna is doing great at home! She’s still in sleeping mode but is starting to stay awake more during the day. At night, she gives us about 3 hrs. of sleep at a time and only wakes up for a feeding session and diaper change. We are loving skin-to-skin and cuddle time, and I take advantage of it whenever I can. Rigby seems less curious of her now, although I still don’t think he fully grasps her presence just yet, but he greets her with sniffs and kisses, and will often lay beside her bassinet or bouncer. I am starting to final feel somewhat back to normal and have been out with McKenna and Mike for an evening walk in the neighborhood as well as light errands. Tomorrow we will take a trip to Bradenton to see Papa & Grandma Friedmann.

We are feeling incredibly blessed with all of the love showered on us since McKenna’s birth – all of the kind words, visits, prepared meals, help, etc. We are so excited to finally be on this journey as a beautiful family of 3 (+ Rigby!).