Labor day...

It has been almost a week since our baby girl was born. What an adventure it has already been. We wouldn’t trade it for the world!

On the night of October 15^th, Shannon started to have contractions around 10:30pm that were very consistent, coming every 4 to 7 minutes apart, lasting between 45 to 75 seconds long. She was in some pain, so we called the doctor’s office around 11:30pm, and they told us to go up to the hospital. I grabbed our other bag we had packed for the hospital, as we had already put in the overnight bag and the car seat in my car. I got ready, helped get Shannon ready, said goodbye to her mom, who had just got in the day before,  texted my folks to let them know, and we were off to the hospital.

We got all checked in, and they strapped Shannon up to all the monitors, and checked her over. She was at 4cm and at 80% effaced. We ended up walking around the fourth floor for an hour to see if we could get her to dilate more, but that didn’t work. They ended up sending us home, once again. We were both frustrated because the contractions had been going on for a few weeks, and her cervix had been dilating, but not very fast. We got home at 3:30am and went to bed, exhausted and upset.

At 6:15am, I woke up to Shannon smacking me and saying “Ouch, Owie! It hurts so bad!” We again got out of bed, got ready, grabbed the bag, and headed off to the hospital again. We got there, and the admitting person said “They sent you home?” We got checked in again and headed up to the fourth floor. Shannon got checked by Dr. AJ McCann , who said she was now 5cm and 100% effaced. There was no way we were going home this time! They started her on an IV, got her comfortable.  Soon after, the anesthesiologist came in and put in the epidural. That took FOREVER to get in! After about 40 minutes of trying, the nurse suggested using a birthing ball to wrap her arms around so she could spread her spine apart more. That worked like a charm, and five minutes later, it was in.

They started running some petosin, pain killers, and antibiotics for her. That was a lot of things being pumped into her, plus something else to boost her blood pressure because with all of that, her BP was really low. None of this was having any effect on Finn, so that was good. Having all the meds also helped Shannon relax enough to get some sleep. It also enabled me to get some sleep too, little as it was.

The nurses were in and out all day long. When I say “all day long” I mean that literally. We were there all day. Nurses changed shifts, Dr. McCann came quite a few times to check Shannon’s progress, I was told to go get something to eat. Because Shannon had the epidural, she couldn’t leave the room, so there was a lot of sitting around and talking, napping if we could, and a LOT of being bored. But then, when 5:00pm rolled around, she was 10cm, 100% and Finnian was ready to greet the world!

I texted the moms and told them it was time to start pushing, so they coordinated and came up. Shannon’s sister also came up. They waited in the family room, as Shannon and I wanted it to be just the two of us in the room. If we needed someone else, we had a plan, but with the epidural, that plan wasn’t necessary.

There was one nurse on one side of Shannon holding a leg, I was on the other holding a leg, and Dr. McCann was ready to catch! Shannon was pushing her little heart out. About a half hour into it, Dr. McCann got a call that someone was in another room and needed her right away. She had to leave, but Shannon continued to push. About an hour later, Dr. McCann came back, and checked on Shannon. She had to go deliver another baby, but would be right back. When she came back the last time, she was back for good. Shannon was a champ. She kept pushing and breathing and following the nurse and Dr. McCann. She did great.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, I could see a tiny bit of Finny’s head! On the next push, there was a bit more, and all the sudden, there was a violent turn, and there was her face, then her shoulders, and then she came all the way out, and she was on Shannon’s chest before I knew it! Our baby we had been waiting for was out in the universe for the first time, taking her first breaths! She let out a little cry as she was getting wiped off and getting things suctioned out of her nose and mouth.

The nurses took her away from us for a few minutes to get her cleaned up and wiped off. They didn’t keep her away from us for very long, though. Her head was all bruised and crooked from coming out at a bad angle. The doctor assured us it would look normal in a day or two. She checked out in good health and her measurements put her in the “small” category. She was 6 pounds 12 ounces, and 19 ½ inches long.

It was the most amazing feeling to see her, finally, in person, after wondering for so long about what she would look like, or how she would move, or what she would sound like. Just standing beside Shannon, watching her and Finny, was probably one of the greatest feelings I have ever had. It was like our family had found its missing piece in that wiggly little pink sweet baby girl laying there. It was beautiful.

 The next couple days we spent in the hospital. Shannon was recovering from giving birth. Finn was recovering from being born. I was recovering from all of it. We had visitors come see us, which was really fun. She met family and friends and they smuggled in food and drinks for us. Hospital food is not that good, FYI. Thank you to everyone who participated in that, by the way. We had many medical visitors, as well, who talked to us about care for Finn. We got a lot of education in our few days we spent there. It was good. We feel like we have a lot of support from everyone and if we have questions we need to ask, we know where we can find the answers.

Our overall experience at the hospital was good. Everyone was very supportive and very kind to all of us. The nurses and medical assistants were all so nice and extremely helpful. The other people who dropped in to give us information were very informative and answered our questions. The midwives who checked on us were great, as they always have been. Dr. McCann was amazing, as well. She kept Shannon going through the labor and was very supportive and encouraging throughout the whole thing to both of us. Her sense of humor and her personality fit with her nurses’, and with ours, and she was exactly what we needed. She was awesome. I find it ironic that she is the doctor who delivered Finn, when she is also the doctor who performed my hysterectomy years ago. Hum…

 We got home on Wednesday, and have been having fun getting used to each other since then. The dogs love her. Lilly has already started to guard her. Brody is very curious about her. The cats ignore her, which is fine. Shannon and I are getting used to doing things on our own with her, and figuring her out. She is quite a little wiggly baby. She doesn’t fuss much unless she is hungry. She is pretty chill for the most part, which is fine by us!

It will take a while for all of us to get used to new schedules and new things, but we’ll get there. We are all in this together, and we will get it. We are all new at this, and it will just take some time but I think we are doing pretty darn good at it! It’s something we have wanted for a long time. We love her so much and will do whatever we can for her.

There have been lots of firsts this week. First baby, first poopy diaper changed, first giggle for her, first bath, first bottle, first doctor appointment, first visits from some family and friends. There will continue to be many more firsts coming up and we can’t wait to continue to have them with her. 

Shannon and I have been waiting for Finnian for so long, and now that she is here, we can’t imagine life without her. She is so amazing. The little things she does, even laying down, looking around, sucking on her fingers or smiling up at us, or making funny noises, bring us such joy in our hearts. Becoming a parent is such an amazing thing, especially for someone who wasn’t sure she wanted to be a parent before she met Shannon. I am so thankful she changed my mind. J