Labor Day

This morning I awoke at 4am and was never able to go back to sleep. That was after not going to bed until sometime after 1am last night. After laying in bed for nearly an hour, I finally got up and took a shower. At 5:30am I called up to the labor and delivery department of the hospital to see if they had a bed available for me this morning so we could start our induction. They did indeed and told me to be up there between 7:30-8am. When I texted Tifni to tell her she told me to just be there a few minutes after 7 and she would come get me when my room was ready. I started to get ready and waited another fifteen minutes before waking Marshall.

By the time we arrived at the hospital, Tifni was texting me telling me that my room was ready so come on up. When they led us into our room on the table was a bay labelled "Happy Labor Day" and a little tie onesie was laying beside it. Inside the bag was all sort of goodies - mostly chocolates and crackers. Tifni and Elyse walked in shortly after and we started the process of getting me ready for the induction. Dr. McLean texted Tifni orders to get everything going before she got there. Once we were settled in our room and my IV drip was going we started texting and calling our families to let them know what room we were in and that they could come up any time they wanted to. It didn't take long for them to start arriving at the hospital. Things were progressing pretty well and my pain level was fairly minimum so we were able to visit with our family members in my room. They only had to leave whenever the doctor came in or Tifni needed to check my cervix.

Right before lunch my contractions had become more intense so we decided to go ahead and get the epidural before Tifni's lunch break. Shortly after the epidural was administered I no longer had much control over my legs. Having had an epidural last time with Nolan, I knew what to expect including the pain of the epidural needle. I grinned and bore it knowing it would help alleviate the pain I would otherwise feel later. Afterwards, our families were let back in. It was hours later before I was dilated enough to start pushing.

After about an hour of pushing I felt as though my epidural was wearing off. The contractions were becoming more and more painful and I was becoming less and less sure I was going to be able to do it. Three hours of pushing later and virtually no effects of the epidural lingering, I was spent. So when Dr. McLean mentioned the option of continuing to try to push for another 30 minutes to see if the baby can progress past my pelvis or having a C-section, I was ready to scream, "Thank God!" I had been on the verge of asking about a C-section when I was told there was nothing more they could do for my pain. Dr. McLean left the room so we could make a decision. Marshall looked at Tifni and asked her what she thought and she just started to cry. I knew right then what her answer was. I could continue pushing for another 30 minutes but the result was going to be the same. I was eventually going to have to have a C-section in order to get this baby out. I told Marshall I wanted a C-section that I couldn't deal with the pain any more. They started making preparations for the C-section and the pain started to just become too much for me. I started getting nauseous and eventually I threw up. I knew at that point I just couldn't deal with the pain any more. They couldn't get me into that operating room quick enough.


Tifni was in there with her camera and Dr. McLean spoke to me and there were a whole bunch more people doing who knows what. They gave me some more pain killer in my epidural and quickly the pain from the contractions subsided. What did take its place was the chills. I started freezing. So much so that I was shivering uncontrollably. Tifni assured me that it was normal and to just take deep breaths. Nothing to seemed to help it though. Not the deep breaths and not the warm blankets they piled on me. Eventually a curtain went up in front of my face so I could no longer see Dr. McLean and all I could see of Tifni was her face peeping over it. Marshall was finally let into the room and he took a seat beside me. I remember someone telling me what was going on but I was so focused on how much I was shivering that I didn't even listen. Nothing about the C-section hurt. I could feel them tugging and pulling but it didn't hurt.

I do remember someone telling me there would be some pressure and then the baby would be out and I think I just held my breath. I was just waiting to hear the baby cry. I felt like a cry would mean he was okay and I could breath a little easier. It seemed like it was an eternity before I finally heard his cry but when he did finally cry, boy did he cry. I was so relieved I just started crying with him and I couldn't stop. Someone brought the baby around in between me and Marshall for us to see him. He was still covered in blood and was all wrinkly and gross. I couldn't see him that well as I couldn't move my head around any further to see him. After the baby went away, they took Marshall with him and a nurse sat back down beside me. She kept reassuring me that the baby was great and healthy.

I next saw the baby briefly when Marshall sat down beside me with him. He was all cleaned up now and swaddled in a blanket. I wanted to just touch him but I couldn't as my arms were still out straight on the operating table. It didn't seem like they were there very long before Marshall and the baby went somewhere while the doctors continued to sew me back up. I don't know if it was the drugs or the rollercoaster of emotions I was on, but most of what took place in the operating room remains a blur to me. What I remember clearly was how cold I was and how I couldn't control my shivering and the sound of hearing my baby cry for the very first time and the uncontrollable crying that came out of me as a result.

I'm not sure how long it took them to finish with me in the operating room, but Marshall later told me it was another 30 minutes or so before I joined him in the recovery room. By the time I got to the recovery room I was still shivering from the cold, although it was becoming less and less. They replaced my blankets with fresher, warmer ones and eventually they let me hold my baby. He was so beautiful! Words couldn't even describe the feeling of holding him in my arms for the first time. I just couldn't believe that finally after all we had been through in the last year that I was holding my healthy son in my arms. Ronan Finlay McGee was born at 8:27pm on Saturday, March, 9, 2013. He weighed 8lbs 1oz and was 20 3/4" long. I'm not sure how long they allowed me to hold him before they had me try to breast feed him some. He latched on with their help and started to feed.

Once he was done, the nurses then asked us if we wanted to let our family come in. Marshall went to go get everyone. I was surprised when he returned that everyone was still here. I had no idea how late it really was at that point but I figured it must be close to midnight. The grandparents took turns holding him. Everything was still pretty much a blur to me but eventually someone gave me the baby back and we were moved upstairs to the 3rd floor. When we got into our room I looked at the clock and it was nearly 1am! Yikes. My Dad and his friends came in briefly when we got to our room and then we were left alone for the night. The nurses kept coming in every couple of hours to take our vitals and to help me breast feed. I don't think I slept at all that night but I didn't care. My baby boy was here and he was healthy and that is all I've waited over a year to have.