Birth Story - Ruby McKena

Time seems to pass so quickly and I really feel the need to capture and document our little family's journey.  I have become pretty sentimental lately and ramble more than normal, but really, what could be more important to memorialize than the birth of a baby?  I was so lucky to have a relatively easy pregnancy and towards the end was still quite comfortable.  I was able to work out and do basically anything else I wanted at work and home so I wasn't super anxious to have the baby.  However, I did have an agenda when it came to the timing of the birth and foolishly thought that Miss Ruby would go along with my plans.  Turns out that she wanted to let us know early on that she has a mind or her own.
When I first found out that we were pregnant I immediately started to calculate my anticipated due date. As soon as  I saw October 4th, my first thought was that it would be very close to the date of the St. George Marathon. Turns out it was the day before the race.  I realize that it makes me seem a little weird to have that be the first thing I thought about but over the years the race has become such a tradition for the entire family and something that we really look forward to.  Based on my due date it was obvious that we would not be going to St. George this year but I hoped that I would have the baby early enough that my family would still be in town.  September is Tim's favorite month and he really wanted a September baby so the 30th seemed like the perfect day.  That was a Monday and it came and went without any indications of labor.  Tuesday I saw the doctor and was dilated to a 4, I had some contractions that afternoon but they weren't consistent or painful.  For the next few days I continued to have some contractions and several times Tim thought we should go to the hospital but they weren't significant enough for me to think that labor would progress on it's own.  I was worried that if I went to the hospital they would keep me but need to give me Pitocin to keep things moving.   So, I just kept going to the gym, going to work and taking advantage of the last few days with Luke as an only child.  All of my family, except my mom, left for St George ant Tim's parents were in Mexico so I was fine to keep being pregnant for a little while longer.
I worked late on Thursday and tried to leave everything in place in case I didn't make it back.  Friday morning we all slept in and had a super lazy morning.  Once we made it up we all went to the gym - Tim and I to work out and Luke to play at day care.  I ran a bunch of errands then made it home to get everything put away and make some dinner.  Somewhere along the way I started having contractions again but didn't think much about it because they were over 10 minutes apart.  They really didn't seem to get much closer, but they did start to be quite painful - enough to stop me in my tracks.  Tim started encouraging me to get ready to go to the hospital but I kept nesting and trying to ignore the pain.  By about 11:00 p.m. I finally decided that this might be the real thing and called my mom so she could go to the hospital with us and my friend Amy to stay with Luke.

Taken Friday morning,
Tim wanted to document the "bump"

Once we decided to go to the hospital
Tim thought we should have one last pic to remember the moment.
I promise, I didn't crop him out of the frame,
Those were his self portrait skills.

When we left the house I was still pretty comfortable but it was a rough ride there and by the time we got to the hospital the contractions were 3-5 minutes apart and extremely painful.  They got me checked in and said I was dilated to a 5.  It took about an hour and a half to get the IV, baby monitor, and all the necessary paperwork before the anesthesiologist could get the epidural going.  That was a rough time.  I didn't want anyone near me and just worked on getting through each with my own version of labor/yoga breathing/crying, and trying to pretend I was somewhere else.

Once the epidural was in, I was extremely comfortable and settled in for what I expected could be several hours of labor.  We got to the hospital at about 12:15 a.m. and I was actually hoping to hold out until after 7:00 a.m. when my favorite doctor would be the on call doctor. 

For the next several hours Tim and my mom slept and relaxed.  I listened to some music and tried to nap a little.  My nurse checked me hourly and I continued to progress fairly quickly.  By about 4:30 I was almost at a 10 but the on call doctor was at another hospital delivering a baby so we just continued to hang out.  A little later they had me do a test push but then told me to stop immediately because they could see the head. Apparently told the doctor that I wasn't going to last much longer and she got to our hospital at about 6:00.

Once the doctor was at the hospital, they got the room set up for delivery and it finally became very real that I would be having a baby and meeting our little girl very soon.  Little did I know how soon.  The doctor came in and introduced herself - it was a little strange because I hadn't ever met her but I really quite liked her.  She had me do a test push then told me to stop so that she could get her gown on and everything else ready.  I felt like my labor with Luke was quite easy, about 40 minutes of intense pushing but it didn't seem bad.  

Once the doctor had her gown on she said I could try a small push - I didn't even felt like I really pushed but it was enough to get the head out.  She had me do one more small push and she was here. It seemed unreal that it had been so easy and quick - 3 1/2 minutes of pushing - but I was just so relieved to see and hear my girl and know that she was healthy and strong.  

When Luke was born there were some minor concerns so they had  NICU team there and they took him for evaluation as soon as he was born - I didn't get to hold him for about 15 minutes.  I hadn't thought about being able to hold Ruby immediately until they were handing her to me.  It was such an amazing moment, really not something that I can describe in words.  After a lot of prayers, worry and concern, it felt like such a blessing to be holding our baby girl, and to have her screaming and showing off how healthy she was.

After 10-15 minutes they did take her to get her official stats and do some initial checks.  Her weight was 7lb 7oz and she was 19.5 inches.  We were shocked at how fair she was and how little hair she had.  I really expected an olive complexion and full head of black hair.  Other than her nose, she really doesn't look like me at all.  However, I've said all along that I really didn't care what she looked like - I just wanted healthy.  It was so great to be able to share this with Tim and to have my mom along for support.  The entire birth experience was really just joyful and felt like a celebration.

After more time with us she had her first bath, they did a sponge bath under a heat lamp.  She actually seemed to like it and didn't cry at all.  Once they got her dressed and swaddled she was all ours to snuggle and get to know.  Welcome to the world baby girl.