HE'S HERE!!!

Warning:  Super long post

Well, he just couldn't wait until Christmas Day.  On December 7, 2010 at 2:32 pm our baby boy, Balian James Terence McKee decided to grace us with his presence.  Here's how it went down.  At 4am I was startled awake but a certain trickling sensation.  I pondered for a moment....is it really possible for a grown woman to pee her pants???  I wanted to believe it was....because I secretly was NOT ready for this baby to come.    So I cleaned up and went back to bed, only to feel a gushing trickle 20 minutes later.  It was on.  I thought.  Just to be sure I consulted my trusty friend....google.  Sure enough I was convinced my water had in fact broke and we were going to have a little baby boy in a very short while. 

So I decided it was time to tell Stephen.  I walked into the bedroom and quietly and calmly whispered, Stephen my water broke.  For those of you that know Stephen you can probably picture his reaction.  Hilarious.  He SPRUNG out of bed.  It was game time.  He quickly set about getting the baby's bag and my bag ready while I showered and got a little cleaned up.  He somehow managed to sneak in a load of laundry.  Hilarious. 

So then we were off to the hospital.  We got there in about 2 minutes...it's right down the street.  I got all checked in and everything.  I was only having contractions about every 8-10 minutes and they weren't intense at all...I hardly noticed them.  I was so grateful my doctor was on call that day.  I love my doctor.  He's hilarious and so nice and gentle.  So he checked me and I was only like 1 centimeter.  BOO!!  He gave me Cervadil (sp) to soften my cervix.  Well that was a big mistake.  But who am I kidding?  I had a bit of an odd pregnancy, so why not have a bit of a weird labor right?  Well about two minutes after it was in I puked.  And I continued to puke about every half hour after that.  Finally we decided to take it out.  Thank goodness.  The puking stopped.  Unfortunately I was still only 1 centimeter.  Stupid useless cervadil.  

Well at this point I've been at the hospital for about six hours.  So they decided to move me into my own room.  At this point I'm getting contractions about every 2-3 minutes now, and they're starting to hurt...really hurt.    I had the choice to either get some morphine or an epidural.  I had no opposition to getting the epidural...but if any of you know ME then you know my reaction to needles....especially large needles going into my spine.  But I can honestly say that the pain was that bad.  Just ask Stephen and his two middle fingers that had the life squeezed right out of them.  So I requested the epidural. 

My anesthesiologist was awesome.  I had really great doctors and nurses throughout the whole day.  The epidural went fine...a little pain but NOTHING like what I was picturing, which was a huge relief.  Unfortunately there was no huge relief in my pain level.  Like zero, nadda, zilch.  In fact...it got worse.  Much worse.  This went on for about an hour.  They had me roll this way and that then back again, trying to get the medicine to numb me but to no avail.  So they had the doc come back in and give me some more of the good stuff.  It was no good.  The contractions continued, the pain continued.  At this point everyone was a little baffled.  I'm only 5 foot 1.  I'm small.  I'd had enough medication for someone was was almost 6 feet by this point.  He decided to try giving me a little bit more to see if that worked...if not we'd go a different route.  So i suffered through contractions every 2-3 minutes for another half hour and no relief.  I could have gotten up and walked around.  There was no effect on me. 

So my options were to take the epidural out and try to reposition it or get a spinal and have a C-Section.  I also was still only 2 centimeteres dilated.  Are you kidding me!!!  All that pain for nothing!!  I was getting a little pissed at this point.  I almost swore....almost.  Stephen was impressed.  haha  After talking with both of my doctors and Stephen we came to the conclusion that even if I did go through another 6 or 8 hours of labor there was a very high chance I would need a c-section anyway.   We had a few scares up to this point in labor with the baby.  Every time I had a really intense contraction his heart rate dropped to like 60.  The first time this happened scared the crap out of me.  All of a sudden there's like 8 nurses in the room rolling me and flipping me and turning me and trying to move the baby to get the heart rate back up.  And where is Stephen???  I DON'T KNOW!!!  I'm freaking out and stephen is nowhere to be found.  This happened three or four times, and somehow everytime it happened Stephen was out of the room.  Ridiculous!!  Anyway...so they didn't want to risk something more serious happening to the baby while I was in labor, so we all decided it would be best to do a c-section. 

So begins my hyperventilating.  This was NOT my plan.  I was scared to death of a c-section.  I just began bawling, and the poor nurse didn't know what to do.  She thought I was in pain or something.  NO.  I was just freaking out.  Luckily I have a husband who knows me to a T.  He knew I was just scared and knew exactly what to say to calm me down.  I'm so glad he was there with me.  So I got rolled down to the operating room and prepped.  The spinal really wasn't all that bad.  I got about a dozen different pokes all in the same area until I was right paralyzed.  It's the weirdest feeling ever.  It's like you know when your foot falls asleep and it's soooo heavy, and you poke it and you know something is touching you but you can't really feel it.....that's what it felt like.  That's the best I can describe it. 

So they let Stephen come in and the docs got down to business cutting and sawing away....or doing whatever they do.  And I didn't feel a thing.  Finally.  Sweet sweet relief.  I was violently shaking from the medication, but that was about it.  So about 10 minutes or so later Balian came out!!  He didn't cry at first.  My doctor's prediction was right, and the cord was wrapped around his neck.  That's why his heart rate kept dropping with my contractions.  His little head was also wedged in my pelvis....which i totally KNEW!!  It was so uncomfortable the last two weeks of my pregnancy.  I knew he was wedged down there.  So yet another good reason why we had the c-section.  They said I probably wouldn't have been able to deliver him anyway.  So he wasn't breathing when he first came out, but they got to work and very quickly we heard that little squawk of his.   Balian's first order of business of course was to pee all over all the nurses.....twice.  What a little brat.  haha 

Stephen was sooooooo good throughout the whole thing.  He had no desire to peek over the blue sheet or to cut the cord or anything.  His whole focus was on me, keeping me calm.  He just looked at me and had me look at him the whole time.  It was really sweet.  As soon as we heard Balian for the first time we both kinda lost it.  I totally started bawling.  I don't think you can explain the amount of kind of emotion you feel in that moment.  It's something I'll never forget though.  I've seen stephen cry very very few times in our marriage.  I can count them on one hand.  But this was definitely one of those times.  It was so sweet to see the love he immediately had for our little boy.  So they cleaned him up and wrapped him up and handed him to Stephen.  He brought him over to me to see and we just sat there all together as a family.  It was such an awesome moment. 

So after that everything went about as smoothly as it could. I got all sewn back together and we went back to our room. My parents were there and my uncle, who took some pretty cute pictures of our little guy. Unfortunately Stephen had to run to school to do a quick presentation. Turn out he got sick on the way with the stomach flu and ended up puking the night away at our house. Luckily my mom was there to spend the next two nights with me in the hospital and help me out. Stephen came back for the third night finally feeling half alive. Poor guy. And now we're all at home, one happy family at last.


First family photo.  Nice and swollen from my IV.   Nasty....but my cute boys make up for it.

There are few things I love more than watching Stephen with Balian

AHHHH!  Isn't he just the cutest thing you've ever seen?!?!  I love him so much.  He is such a good baby.  He doesn't cry...like ever.  I know, I know, enjoy it while it lasts.  But seriously, there were babies that would cry for like minutes at a time all around us in the hospital and all we get out of this little guy is a squawk.  He's the best.  So easy to please and full of smiles and love for his mom and dad.  We're so grateful for Balian in our lives.  It still kinda hasn't set in for either of us that we're parents yet, but I'm sure it will, and we'll love every minute of it.