Hey, I Didn't Know That...

In talking with my Mom shortly after I had Finn, she began to tell me about the night that I was born. It turns out that when she had me, the umbilical cord was wrapped around my neck three times and I was delivered looking a “lovely” shade of blue. Due to that, I was placed in the ICU for several days after my birth in an isolette, and my Mom said that whenever they took me out of the isolette, I turned blue again. Apparently I was having issues with my breathing, and I was definitely NOT a preemie, in fact I was about 3 1/2 weeks overdue (my poor, poor mother….) so I’m guessing it had nothing to do with immature lungs. How did I not know this story about my own birth? I know I have asked my Mom many times before to tell me about the day I was born….so how did this not come up in the 35 years since then? I must not be asking the right questions. I wonder what else I should know about?

Finley's Birth Story

I am so happy that we were able to get Finley here safely, quickly, and with only a few hiccups during his delivery. We went in early on May 1st to be induced, and as it turned out no one else came in to deliver the entire time I was there, so we had a very quiet stay. Our hospital has excellent nurses in their labor and delivery unit, two of which I had for my last two deliveries, and again this time, so I was thrilled to see some familiar faces. All of the nurses there were incredible and made my delivery and hospital stay so peaceful and the best experience. All was going well with my labor until I stalled out at an 8. The Dr discovered Finn had moved his arm up and his hand was on top of his head, which was preventing me from progressing any further (the Dr. explained it, but I won’t go into details here as it’s a little bit ‘TMI’ for a blog) and would also not allow me to have a regular delivery.
   Another Dr. was called in for a consult, and after about 20 minutes my Dr was able to get Finley to pull his hand down, and we were able to proceed as planned with a regular delivery, not the c-section that they were starting to prep me for, which quite frankly terrified me, but I would have done if necessary. And for another surprise, when Finn was born we saw that he had the cord wrapped around his neck three times. There were no decelerations in his heart rate at any time though so we had no idea, but it was because his cord was so unusually long that it never tightened around his neck during delivery. The Dr was surprised and said he rarely sees cords long enough to wrap that many times around and not cause complications, and I am just so thankful everything turned out so wonderfully.
   It was a great delivery, even though it may not sound like it, but it really was. I checked in at 6am and got my Pennicillin going, the Dr. broke my water at 9:10am to start my labor, and Finley was born at 1:08pm, so my labor ended up being only 4 hours from start to finish. And while Finley was 2 weeks early, he was ready to be here. And even with the little bit of drama during his delivery he still arrived healthy and strong. So all in all, my labor went even better than I thought it would, and we got our sweet little baby boy here safely, so what can I possibly complain about?

Finley is 2 Weeks Old

I took Finley to the Dr for his two week check up today ( I know, he’s 15 days old today, but the Dr was out yesterday), and he is looking great! He weighed 7 lbs. 1 oz at birth and was 21 1/2 inches long. When we went home from the hospital he was 6 lbs. 9 oz. and today he was 7 lbs. 10 oz.  and 22 1/2, so we know he has been busy doing some good growing. We are still trying to decide what color his hair really is. When he was born it was really red, but then it looked like it was blond. Now it seems fairly strawberry blond, but that could change too, who knows. Finn has been my mellowest baby by far, and sleeps for 7 hour streches at night, is a great little nurser, rarely spits up, and he is not a fussy baby at all. Believe me, I know how it could be, and I am really enjoying every minute of this.
   I have a port-a-crib bassinet set up by my big front window (he only gets indirect sunlight, I don’t let him tan) and Finley does his napping in there during the day, and sleeps at night in my room in his co-sleeper (how did I live w/o one before, I love the co-sleeper!). I had read an article a while back about newborn babies mixing up their days and nights, which Finn was, and it said to have as much natural light in your house during the day, and in the evenings to keep it as dim and quiet as possible. Apparently the chemicals in the brain respond to the light, and it helps the baby get on a good sleeping and waking schedule and helps in un-mixing their days and nights too. I have to say it has worked like a charm for us, and Finn was doing his big sleeping at night in no time. Finley is the sweetest little baby, and he is definitely the main favorite around here these days. All of the kids love holding him, kissing him, and talking to him all of the time. I feel great, and I am just enjoying every minute with my kids as I can.

Not So Crazy

It has been like a whirlwind of activity over here, but not crazy like I worried it might be. And that is in large part due to my Mom. She arrived the weekend before Finn was born, and has so very kindly stayed to help us this entire week. My kids are in Mammy Heaven, of course, and it has made things so much easier when trying to deal with 6 children plus a brand new little baby, so I am forever grateful to my Mom for all of her kindness and help, she really outdid herself. My Mom had to go back on Friday to help out at the clinic for a bit, so she took Noah and Haven with her, and they got to have a fun sleepover at Heidi’s house which they have not stopped talking about yet. Saturday morning I took Finley in to the Dr for a newborn check, and he weighed 6 lbs. 9 oz. and his bilirubin test came back low, so he’s looking very good.
   I have been able to get some sleep, not tons, but enough so that I don’t feel like a total zombie. Finn wakes in the night to eat, but he sleeps for large chunks of time too, so I have been able to get some rest. Heidi and Gary went to Burley on Saturday for a baptism, and they stopped by here on their way home today and had dinner with us and let the kids have some fun. We had a great time visiting, and it was so fun to just sit back while the kids all played and had the time of their lives. I love these kinds of days. Craig has some training class for work he has to attend in Salt Lake this entire week, and my Mom will (very kindly) still be coming out here and helping out for this next week too, and I know I am looking forward to it maybe even more than my kids. I have really enjoyed the time I have been able to spend with her, and all of the fun we have been having. I would never have had such a wonderful and peaceful recovery if it weren’t for her. Thank you again Mom, we love having you here, you really are the funnest fun way!

And the Pattern Continues...It's A Boy!

We are thrilled to announce that on Tuesday we welcomed a sweet little baby boy into our family.

Finley James Hilyard McKay

May 1, 2007 @ 1:08pm

7 lbs. 1 oz. 21 1/2 inces long

Finley has a full head of hair that at first looked red, but now we think it might actually be blond, it’s hard to tell just yet. I have posted tons of pictures in my gallery if you would like to see more (and we still have no idea how we managed to keep our pattern going and have a boy, but we will not be tempting fate again to see if we get a girl next, this really is our last baby). We arrived home today and have settled in quite nicely. Baby Finn is doing well and is a very sweet, mild little guy, a great little eater, and adored by his siblings. I will post more as soon as I get some more time. Also, a huge thankyou to everyone for all of your well wishes, congratulations, visits and gifts. We are so grateful for all of your love and we are thrilled that you could share in our happiness!

38 Weeks Today….

Monday April 30th, and 38 weeks along….I went to the Dr today for another checkup, and the problem that was stopping us from induction yesterday had corrected itself (thank heavens!) and I’m also dilated to 4cm again. But, last night my feet began to swell really badly, and even when I laid down and elevated my feet the swelling only went down a little, and only after 3 hours (but no headaches or seeing spots).  I was still swelling pretty badly today when I went in for my checkup, and when the nurse took my blood pressure it was 144 over 86, the highest I have ever been while pregnant (they become concerned at anything 140 and over, so I am just over the mark, everything is still OK). She took it again since I have always been low (never over the 120’s), and again, it was the same. She tried again and it was still in the 140’s, so the Dr. came in and HE took my blood pressure, and it was still in the 140’s. So he said no matter what we are inducing tomorrow, that it was high enough to be worrisome, but that it’s not too high to warrant inducing tonight. I am fine with waiting until tomorrow since I still have a few things left on my to-do list.
   The Dr said that it was unusual to have low blood pressure in all of my previous 6 pregnancies, and then suddenly have it get fairly high at the end with baby #7. Not impossible, just highly unlikely. So while I do not have pre-elclampsia, I’m not in a good place blood pressure wise. But having the baby tomorrow will fix all of that, so we report to the hospital to be induced tomorrow May 1st, at 6 am. The Dr instructed me to go home and lay down, put my feet up and take it easy, and turn on the AC. So of course, I went home and cleaned my basement, sorted laundry and did some washing, laid out a weeks worth of outfits for each of my 4 smaller children, and made sure to write down all of their school schedules for Mammy so that the next few days go as smoothly as possible for her and the kids. I even got 4 bags of toys bagged for the DI and all of my clean laundry folded, so my house is as clean and ready as it’s ever going to be, and I feel like I am good to go. Tomorrow cannot get here soon enough!

A Small Hiccup

We almost had a baby today. The Dr. felt that since I had dilated to 4 cm already and I was contracting too often and too regularly, and given my history of fast deliveries and the need to get the antibiotics in me in a certain time frame before the baby arrives, that is was safer to try and induce me today. So Craig and I went in this morning with the plan of having a baby, Dr. Lish was going to see if he could get my labor started. But due to some complications, it’s been postponed. In fact, we are now not sure if I will even be induced on Tuesday, so I will have to see what’s going on. The baby is fine and doing well, and so am I, the complications are not severe and will be able to be worked out, quickly I hope. Without going into any squirm inducing details, let me just say that most of it is because of the baby’s current position (no, not breech, still head down). The baby had previously been completely engaged, and suddenly the baby moved back up and I had gone from 4cm dilated to 3cm, and the Dr. was worried there might be some other issues at work so we decided to play it safe and wait and so there is going to be some “wait and see” action until we know what the new plan will be. I go back in tomorrow (Monday) for another assessment, and I should hopefully know more then.
I finished the new car seat cover on Friday, and it turned out better than I expected, I am very pleased. I also managed to sew some burp cloths, and two little outfits for Gracen, four for Haven, and three for the baby. They are perfect for the warm weather ahead and went together with very little fuss. I think the only sewing I have to finish now is a quilt I promised to Mathes, and an unfinished baby quilt I stumbled across from two years ago that needs to be tied and bound. I will have to see what I can do. I am hopeful that I can have the baby this week, but if not then it’s OK, then I know the baby must not be ready. I have made it this far, a few more days, while they can seem long at times, are really nothing in the larger scheme of things. Besides, I am still sewing, so I just might get even more done than I originally thought!