Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Happy BIRTHday Makenna!


MAKENNA GRAYCE FOX

Our Angel

Born: June 29th, 1:43pm
Weight: 6lbs 2ozs Length: 18 1/2in


As I wrote to you all last Wednesday night, when we went in for our scheduled appointment, we met with our doctor about Kimi's blood pressure. Earlier that day we had an ultrasound to measure Makenna's growth and to see how the fluid around her was doing. All looked well, her heartbeat was steady and great, and we got a couple more pictures, thinking it's be another two weeks before we got to meet her. Right after that, we met up with Kimi's doctor and began to go over how Kimi felt. She had been feeling really queezy and drained, more than normal pregnancy. The doctor said she really felt it was time for us to "get this kiddo out of ya". We looked at each other, realizing we were going to meet Makenna a whole lot sooner! The doc didn't even want us to go anywhere but straight up to Labor and Delivery and check in. Needless to say, when we got to the parking lot, we started calling our parents and the calling chain to let people know it was time.

Not much longerWe checked into the hospital and they hooked Kimi up to an IV to give her a magnesium drip to counter the effects of high blood pressure; mainly to keep her from having a seizure during delivery though the side effects were feeling like you had the flu and wanting to be really sleepy. The evening time went well but the night time Kimi had a lot of heartburn and being so excited as she was, she really didn't sleep at all. She was at a 0 cm dialation (out of 10) and 0% effaced when we came in. Three times during the night Kimi received a medicine called Cervidil (sp?) to help her prepare down there so the baby could come along more easily. This was a very painful procedure but it helped her dialate to a 1 and be 85% effaced by early morning time. At 5am the nurse came in and gave Kimi medicine called potocin, which is intended to help her start contractions. They were small for a while so Kimi was able to sleep for a little bit longer. At 7am, Doc Lashbrook came in and broke Kimi's water. There was no going back from this point.

Doc Lashbrook giving us an updateAbout 10am or so, most of Kimi and I's family had arrived to support us. Earlier, the docs had given Kimi some kind of medicine that they described as "having the effect of drinking 5 heavy margaritas". Since Kimi's never been drunk before, it was quite funny seeing the effects on her. :) She doesn't remember anything she said at that time. Haha But it did it's job and helped ease her pain for a while, though not all the way. About 10:45 the Anestesioligist (pain medicine guy) came in and gave Kimi the epidural, aka the Drip from Heaven. It started working immediately, allowing Kimi to rest while the contraction onslaught came on over and over again. They checked Kimi again and she was now at a 3 and was 100% effaced. Slowly but surely.

Lots of Grandma's!I waited about another 30 minutes until Kimi was resting and the nurse told me that I should take a nap or get some lunch while I could. So my mom and I decided to grab a bite to eat down at the deli on the 1st floor. We made our way down there, ordered some food, and started eating our lunch. About 20 minutes into our lunch, my cell phone rang. I tried to answer it but I couldn't get any reception. I headed toward the large windows of the deli to get some "more bars" when my dad rushed to the edge of the overlook on the floor above us and began to shout down to us. It took me a minute to understand what he was trying to say but I heard loud and clear the part where he said, "KIMI'S HAVING THE BABY RIGHT NOW!!!!" I jumped up, grabbed my mom and we ran upstairs to the elevator. Apparently between the time Kimi got her drip started and the time I sat down to eat my lunch, her body decided to dialate from a 3 to a 9 before I could finish my chicken salad! It was already time to push!

PUSH! PUSH! PUUSSHHH!!I rushed upstairs just in time to wait. It was true she was ready to start pushing but it would be over an hour and a half later before the baby was actually born. We all took bets as to the time when the baby would be born. Only Grandmpa Miller was right, off by 1 minute. Hehe. Anyway, we chose to have a croud of people in the room for the birth which consisted of all the Grandmas and Denise. We wanted to share in this experience with all of them because of how much they have meant to us through the last 8 months. And really as gross as the birth process truly was, nothing seemed to matter except making sure both girls in my life were safe and healthy. Just after birth, pretty emotional...As Makenna came out, she tore Kimi up pretty badly. She had an epiziotomy plus additional trauma rated to a "3" out of 4 on the trauma scale. All you girls out there would be so proud of Kimi at how she did. She was running off of no sleep, had flu-like symptoms from the mag drip, and was being torn to shreds in a very sensitive area and still had the determination to stick to it through the end. When Makenna was born, it was amazing. The whole room exploded in a flood of emotion. While I don't cry very much, it was like a wave came over me when I saw Makenna for the first time. I couldn't hold it back. She was just so beautiful. Literally our little miracle. They held up the cord and handed me the scizzors. :) Yuck. But I didn't queez out or hesitate, I just cut away. Haha

You did SOOO goodRight after Makenna was born, they took her over to the cleaning table to be examined. She had all her fingers, toes, legs, arms, and a full head of dark brown hair. She scored an 8 on the APGAR test in the 1st minute of life and a 9 at the 5 minute mark. Kimi and I got to hold onto her for just a few seconds before they took us down the hallway to the nursery. I was so proud of my wife. We were in complete awe at this little person being inside of Kimi. Just incredible. They took Makenna and I down the hallway to the nursery so they could assess how she was doing. She had labored breathing but they said that was somewhat normal because her lungs weren't completely ready to work full speed yet due to being underdeveloped by almost 5 weeks and having fluid still in there. I stayed in the nursery for what seemed like 2 hours just watching my new precious baby while Kimi was getting taken care of by the doctors. After the surgery the doc came by and filled me in about what was going on with Kimi and the baby. She said Kimi was fine and was surrounded by our family and that my place was here with Makenna. Dad's comforting handsSo I did my best to comfort her because I am sure she was in shock from such an insane event as being squished out the birth canal. But I immediately fell in love with her. I mean, just looking at her, how could you not? She was absolutely beautiful. I was asked what I thought she would look like and my reply was always, I have no idea but I know she will be perfect. And it was competely true. She was perfect. Yes, I might be a little biased but there is a feeling in my heart that I felt in which I cannot explain. It was such a deep emotional connection immediately that I felt with her. I still feel it today as I write this. I know I always will. I guess it's called parenthood? or the love between a daddy and his daughter. Who knows.

Makenna's Hospital PhotoWe had a couple more days to stay in the hospital while Kimi recovered and the magnesium drip exited her system. During that time, the nurses kept a close watch on Makenna's breathing to make sure she got back to normal. By Friday night, her grunt was gone and her breathing had eased. This photo was from the hospital's staff for their website. We did a little posing but I think it's a powerful picture. My hands are so huge compared to her entire body, just showing how fragile she really is. And her little piercing eyes just looking up at mine, almost saying Daddy you've got to take care of me. That was one of the first times she opened up her eyes to explore her new world. And I am so glad I could be part of her first vision, as scary as I might have looked. :)

Beautiful EyesKimi thinks she looks like me, mainly in the face. I'm still holding out for Makenna to get Kimi's eyes. She's got captivating eyes and is one of her most beautiful features. Even if this doesn't happen, it will be okay. Like I said before, she's perfect just the way she is. I put a lot more pictures on our Flickr page so when you get a chance, head on over there and have a look. I promise to put more pictures on there when we take them. I'm also sorry to have taken so long to write out our story. Makenna has developed a case of biliruben (sp?), which is basically jaundice or a yellowing of the skin. We have her under the "bili" lights right now to help get it out of her system. I'm on the late shift tonight so I'm taking time between her feedings to write. As we go through more things, I'll post it up for you all to stay abreast. I should be off work for the next 2 weeks while Kimi gets adjusted so hopefully you'll hear about all of her "firsts" that happens! :)

Thank you all again for your prayers and support. We got so many phone calls telling us they were praying for us. We also got floods of support from everyone. My wife and I truly thank you all from the bottom of our heart. I hope you all have a happy 4th of July, at least the last 30 minutes of it!

God bless!
Jason, aka "Proud Daddy"

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

HaHa! I'm the first one to leave a comment! Makenna is so beautiful! I am so glad that I got to be in the room when she was born, I think I cried more than Makenna. There is nothing more beautiful than seeing God's creation right after they are born! I love all three of you!

~Denise

Anonymous said...

Congratulations Jason and kimi. You have a beautiful baby girl.

Christy

Anonymous said...

Jason and Kimi, I spent all yesterday afternoon looking at the pictures. Thank you for the beautiful letter taking us through this awesome event. God bless you and kimi and Makenna Grayce. Love you so much. Grandma

Anonymous said...

Hi sweetheart, I've never got to really say how proud of Kimi and you I am. You both are very beautiful people both inside and out and make a wonderful family now that our little MaKenna has arrived. Being a grandma is the best thing in the world because you know what lies ahead will be a wonderful family that has lots of love to share. Both you and Terry have always been the love of my life and now you and Kimi get to share that kind of love together. Welcome to your new life :) sweetheart!! love you always, mom