Jade McKenna was born on July 8, 2016. That's right- she was born exactly 14 months after big brother Jackson. I love that! Should make it easier to remember their birthdays, right? We'll see about that. Jade has a totally unique story. And I love her baby story just as much as Jackson's- as crazy as her story might be. Here is Jade's story...
My due date for baby #2 was July 21st. Whew, I thought. The end of July sounds good. It will give me more time with baby #1 and it will give Daddy more time with getting our basement done. Good plan. Except, it was not her plan. Or better, it wasn't His plan. Jade did not wait until the 21st. And she didn't wait until July 13th either, her second due date. Because Jackson was a c-section baby (read his story in post 1 here), Dr. Mormol also felt it best that Jade be delivered via c-section. So the new date of July 13th was set for 7 o'clock in the morning.
Let me start by saying this was not an easy pregnancy. It wasn't complicated, and Jade and I were never in danger (thank God!). It just wasn't easy on me the same way that pregnancy isn't easy on many women. With me, it's the nausea. It starts the moment I find out that I am pregnant (although it has never been my first sign that I am pregnant) and (with this baby) ended the day she was born. That's a long time to be nauseous. I had heartburn (although not as much as baby #1- and let me tell you that baby #2 has A LOT more, dark hair), extreme fatigue and exhaustion, insomnia, numbness, etc. But mostly... nausea. Towards the end, I got very uncomfortable too. I just felt I could not go the full 39 weeks until my c-section date. Running around with a 14 month old did distract me, but it also made the exhaustion even more present. Because of my insomnia, sleeping didn't really happen too much either. In addition, at night, I would have to move from side to side to side to side to stop from feeling completely numb on one side. (I didn't get carpal tunnel in this pregnancy though- isn't it funny how different pregnancies can be totally different for the same lady?)
Well, on July 7th, not only was I switching from side to side to side while sleeping, I was also adding a bathroom break in there EVERY hour. So, like my other pregnancy, I felt off. I knew, "This baby has got to be coming soon." At 5:30am, even though Jackson was still sleeping, I gave up on sleep. Getting up every hour was getting old and obnoxious. Goal-oriented, there was a lot I could do to still prepare for baby #2 anyway.
Once up and out of bed, I also noticed that I was uncomfortable in a different way. Ugh, Braxton Hicks, I hate you! I went to the hospital with false alarms too many times with pregnancy #1 to already start this with baby #2. I decided to eat some crackers and peanut butter (cravings got me good this pregnancy and I totally gave in!) to ward off these contractions. But, I could time them. They weren't painful, but they were consistent- every two minutes. However, some could have been three minutes apart, so I told myself that it was still nothing to worry about. But just in case they did continue, I wanted to be ready to be in the hospital for 5 days, so I took a shower (it had been a couple of days anyway...hey, I was still pregnant people- exhaustion makes the smallest of tasks seem impossible and sleep always wins). I got in the shower around 6:10am. I didn't time my contractions in the shower, but they didn't go away. I got out of the shower and just mentioned to my sleeping husband, "Hun, just so you know, I am contacting and they're about two minutes apart." It was enough to wake him up, but I just didn't have any urgency in my voice to have him get up. No need for that at this point. But, in case this got serious, I could't stop thinking that we were totally not ready for this. Jade's bag was packed- all of her sleepers (Newborn size just in case), her flower blanket, a few photo props (ex. name banner), and her going home outfit. But my husband and I had nothing packed. I kept track of the time and duration of the contractions on a note on my iPhone while I packed, something I highly suggest. (Noting the contractions- not waiting until the last minute to pack.) A contraction at 6:29am sent me to my knees. A contraction at 6:40 also felt very strong and caused me to stop walking around the house, cleaning and packing. At 6:50, I stopped keeping track of the contractions. Shortly after Marianne got to our house (but not soon enough), we left for the hospital. This was probably the 4th (yet final) time that I told my husband that we needed to go. I just had a feeling that the strong contractions I was having made up for some of the weaker ones in between and that these were not Braxton Hicks.
We got in the old Mazda and drove off. Once almost to the main street, we realized that we had the keys to the Explorer. If Jackson and the MIL were going to come up later, they were going to need the keys to the car with his car seat. And of course I wanted them there. So, although contractions were extremely painful the moment we got in the car, I made the tough decision to tell Josh to turn around and drop the keys off in the mailbox. At this point, I didn't have a seatbelt on, my back was arched in the seat, my pants were pulled all the way over my stomach as not to touch it, and I was holding on to the handle on the top of the car door. I had never felt this type of pain before. Well, I remembered similar pain... exactly 14 months ago as I pushed for 5 hours...
As we finally entered the highway, we realized that it was about 7am and there was rush hour traffic staring us in the face. Luckily, it wasn't too bad yet. There are times that I think Josh drives too fast or too "crazy" as I call it. This wasn't one of them. I was crying and moaning and yelling and begging for him to break the rules...all of them.. just this once! Drive in the shoulder, ride the car's butt in front of us, speed, ANYTHING to make this little, old car drive faster. MoBap had never seemed so far away. And even as we were pulling up to vallet parking, we still weren't close enough. I was helped into a wheelchair and rolled to the third floor. I didn't have to say much when we reached the front desk of Labor and Delivery, which is good because I could barely get a word out. The receptionist paged a nurse and told her that I was in active labor.
Very shortly, I was wheeled into a room with my husband and about five frantic nurses. One nurse helped me into bed and assisted me with taking off my clothes and putting on a hospital gown. One nurse put a monitor on my stomach to hear the baby's heartbeat. At the time, it was one of the most uncomfortable feelings and I immediately wanted it off no matter what it's function. That same nurse told another that my stomach was really tight- seeing and feeling exactly where the baby was. Another nurse put in my IV while yet another took my vitals. A doctor came in to feel how dilated I was. Two anesthesiologists were in the room. In the moment, I might not have been very friendly or kind with the nurses while in labor, but I do love those anesthesiologists. Before he could get out a "Would you like an epidural?" I said yes. Actually, I think I said yes a few times. Then, Dr. Mormol walked in. Luckily, he had just delivered a baby and was next door. He spoke with the nurses in the room. Apparently, I was 9 cm dilated, the baby was at a +1, and my bag was bulging. Of course, it was obvious with my moaning and crying and super short answers (if anything) that I was constantly contracting. It was hard for them to find the baby's head though. Dr. Mormol asked if I wanted to try delivering vaginally or if I still wanted a c-section. I hate when doctors ask me questions- I wanted him to tell me. He is the doctor. He is the expert. So, I asked back, "What do you think I should do?" He said it was up to me, but that he was thinking a c-section. I told him that I was nervous for both. Anything could go wrong in either situation and both were scary whether I already had gone through a delivery or not. We decided to keep the planned c-section (which is good since we later found out that we would have had to anyway because of the way baby was positioned). I was somewhat relieved that we had decided on it because it was all almost over. But, I was still nervous because 1) it is a surgery and 2) as easy as the operation is for me, the recovery is NOT easy. And I knew with a 14 month old, the recovery would be trickier. Also, I am not a fan of sharp objects. Last c-section, I feel asleep. This time, without pushing for 5 hours and with it being morning, I thought I might be more aware of what was going on. And I was.
Around 7:30, I was taken into a sterile, white, bright, operation room. They moved me from the room bed onto the operation table, and I got my epidural. For some reason, this time it was much less painful. Maybe because the nurse did a good job holding me forward (like a huge hug), and I kept telling myself that "it was almost over." I knew c-sections were quick. Again, I had my best friend the anesthesiologist (and my husband) by my side. It is amazing how quickly that medicine works. One moment I can feel every painful contraction and muscle in my body. The next moment, I am completely numb below my head. I knew that a curtain separating my head and my body wasn't going to be enough to distract me from what I didn't want to pay attention to though. I made Josh and the anesthesiologist talk to me, especially after (I swear) hearing the word "wrench." Also, being more awake this time, I felt way more tugging. It was not comfortable and I did not like it. And I made sure my BFF the anesthesiologist (I wish I remembered his name) knew it- just in case there was a way to get more medicine.
Through all the tugging and conversations that I was trying so hard to make happen, I heard it this time! I heard a baby cry and I knew that we were almost done! Jade McKenna was born at 8:06am and weighed 7 pounds and 1 ounce. She was 19 inches long. And again, Daddy got to cut the cord, watch the footprints and birth certificate being made, and hold baby right next to me when she was clean(er). Although I couldn't hold her immediately, I loved that he could. I was still in shock that she was our baby. This time, I felt more comfortable and awake holding her as we made our journey back into our room.
I immediately got to feed her and do skin to skin (my favorite!) once we made it to the room! And then, shortly after, family came in. The best part was that I got to enjoy my family of four!
