Introduction
Wednesday, November 20th. That was the day! The day we were going to meet our little baby girl, but of course, that’s not quite what happened. It was a reminder that life really doesn’t ALWAYS go as you plan! Just a day after our due date, I would have expected to be sitting in a squeaky hospital bed, wearing a classy hospital gown & postpartum garb while holding a cute newborn. Instead, I am sitting on my living room floor next to a cozy fireplace snuggling one of the most peaceful babies I have ever been around. Now you know why we’ve been so quiet over here! Our baby girl decided to make her arrival 13 days before her scheduled date. Believe it or not, she is two weeks old today and I still can’t believe she’s here! If you’re ready to get ALL the details, here they are! Remember the Midwife we drove down to visit each month then every week in South Ogden (over 2 hours away) because we loved her so much? Well, let’s just say she missed the delivery... This delivery was unlike what I had imagined...
Have you ever had one of those days where you feel like you are on fire? You have an endless amount of energy and a serious case of urgency to get things done and in order? Me too. I had a bad case of urgency. I woke up earlier than normal, and my to-do list seemed to grow by the minute. Just two days away from 38 weeks I was normally tired, and slow-moving, not this day. I cleaned & organized our extra bedroom that had been a HUGE disaster, cleaned, gutted, and organized an equally disastrous playroom, AND a basement storage room, started and finished load after a load of piled up laundry, stripped the bunkbed bedding off, washed and remade the beds. Cleaned the bathroom, the kitchen floor, the kitchen, loaded the dishes, dusted, organized my closet, the pantry the list went on. I know it seems quite incredible if I can say so myself. But the urge to go faster kept coming. I submitted photo orders, sent out reminders for church assignments, even packed hospital and overnight bags for each member in our family (that alone is huge because I didn’t have anything packed when Mercedes decided to enter this world...).
Around 6 pm I sat down long enough to realize the contractions I had been having were more consistent than I realized. This wouldn’t normally be a big deal, I had contractions pretty frequently throughout my pregnancy. The only problem was these were in my back as well- my normal tell-tell sign I could be in labor. At 6 pm, I was recording a contraction every 10 minutes. REMEMBER we were going to be delivering at McKay-Dee Hospital in South Ogden, Utah. That drive would be over 2 hours...my fear was we would make the drive just to have it be a false alarm, so like a smart wife, I didn’t tell Craig what was going on until he was about 30 minutes from home. That 30 minutes sure did go by quick!
By this point my lower back was bothering me, so I figured I’d just to sit in the shower- shower’s fix everything in my opinion! Just when I was getting ready to jump in I got a call from my parents checking in on me. When I told them about my current state, the only words I remember hearing were “Mikenna, get your clothes back on and get to the hospital NOW.” I remember calmly responding, “Fine. I’ll drop the kiddos off first...” 10 minutes later we were in the truck with our bags, a baby car seat, two confused kiddos, and a husband who was praying he wouldn’t be delivering his daughter in the truck.
My parents followed us down to Utah, and the two kids stayed back with Marina & Nyler- I’m so grateful for them! That two-hour drive was exciting. I watched as the contractions got closer, and closer together and just prayed we would make it in time. Each time one of us passed a cop, we would text or call the other just to give a friendly heads up- quite the traffic crime team we were :). 11:15 pm I was kindly carted up to the labor and delivery floor. No rush, just a regular visit to the doc... As per the usual, each encounter I had with hospital staff was low-key, no rush kind of encounter until we went to the triage to check my progress- and see if I was ‘really’ in labor... Surprise, I was! Unfortunately, I was quite disappointed to hear I was only dilated to a 6, full-effaced, but just a measly 6. I had told myself I would have a natural birth with this baby, I could do it...Then to know I was at a 6 and had to get to a 10 I quickly changed my mind. Epidural it would be! Now as a side note, my labor had been 12 & 14 hours from start to finish in the past. I had walked in with both of my other babies dilated to a 6 as well and the thought of doing that for another six hours or so really did not appeal to me. We changed rooms (to a delivery room) and my Midwife was informed I had checked in. My water had not broken, and at this point, contractions were about 4-5 minutes apart and lasting longer. My sweet parents and hubby were so attentive, I couldn’t really figure out what I needed, so they found ways to be helpful! Mom rubbed my feet, dad stayed close holding my hand, and Craig kept adding blankets to my shivering body.
The anesthesiologist was called in to place the epidural. When he arrived, he asked me to sit on the edge of the bed, slump over- and try to relax. Yeah, I love that they ask you to relax, it’s cute! At that same moment, I hit another contraction, one with an intensity I didn’t quite know how to deal with, but there was an urge to push. So I did. That’s when I felt the water break. But the contraction didn’t stop there, it kept growing in intensity, so I pushed again, and although it was painful, it felt so much better! Honestly, I didn’t even notice the epidural needle making its entrance. When they had me lay back down I felt better- but keep in mind my pump wasn’t hooked up so there was no medicine quite yet.
My sweet Craig noticed I was still shivering so he tried to fix my twisted blankets and noticed they were wet. He verbalized the fact that he thought my water had broken. Ok, no big deal it happens, but when he went to remove the wet blankets I heard him exclaim, “AH! There’s a head!” Remember that last contraction? That was my baby making her entrance into this world. The nurse flipped the blankets back and pulled the rest of that little body out. Suddenly like chickens with their heads cut off- yet sounding like a bunch of turkeys, 10 staff members poured into the room in a bit of a panic. My nurse delivered the baby, and a random doctor who was in the hall at the time came to help deliver the placenta- of which I still felt. That epidural finally kicked in AFTER everything was out, (you may ask how I know when it took effect, well there is a warm feeling that courses through your body- specifically your legs when it kicks in, it’s a pretty distinct feeling)... Even the Anesthesiologist commented, “Well, that’s not going to do a lot of good...” Craig half-joking asked if we would get a discount on the epidural... We arrived at the hospital at 11:15 pm, our little baby girl was born 12:09 am. Yep, just 45 minutes later. At 12:12 am my midwife was called. The look on her face when she walked in was priceless, and pretty much said what we were all thinking. “She’s here already!?” 6-hour labor (6 pm-12:09 am) was a surprise to us all! The biggest downside is because of how quick it all happened, we have just a handful of pictures! I guess we will have to make up for it in the years to come!
Our little Mckenzie Marie Atkinson was born at 12:09 am, weighing 6lbs 13oz- heavier than both of my other kiddos, & 21 inches long. Healthy, happy, and thriving, with chubby cheeks, a head full of dark hair, and beautiful, perfect little lips!
The next 24 hours were spent with family greeting this new arrival, she met Grandparents, Great-Grandparents, Aunts, Great-Aunts & Uncles, and her new siblings. What an incredible experience! Filled with more love, and tenderness than I could have ever hoped for.
She’d gained weight at her 1-week check-up, she is a fantastic eater, and has been absolutely loved around our home. Bridger keeps a watchful eye on ‘Bebe Kenzie’ and loves to stroke her head. Mercedes would hold her all day if I let her, Craig is absolutely in love with this little girl and as for me, I have a hard time putting her down! A perfect addition to our little home!
