McCoy Jeffrey Erickson

I'm so sorry it has taken so long for me to finally tell about the birth of our little one. Recovery has been hard and I've decided that this being a mom thing isn't for the weak. First of all his name is McCoy Jeffrey Erickson. We had a few names picked out and that one topped the list. Thank goodness he looks like a McCoy.

Now for the story. We were supposed to go in Sunday morning at 6:00 to be induced. Saturday morning I started having contractions but they were far apart. So I went with my mom to Target and Costco. My contractions became closer together. Finally around 5:00 we decided that I should go in since my contractions were 5 minutes apart. They took me and put me on the monitors to watch what was going on. Finally around 8:30 they said they were going to keep me because my contractions were obviously labor contractions so they put me in a room. Jeff had stayed home to make sure things were ready for the baby so he came in at that time. He showed up just after 9:00 as they were giving me my epidural. Yes, I immediately got an epidural while only being dilated to a 3. Around 10:00 they broke my water. About an hour later they came in and started a pitocin drip. They didn't have to increase the pitocin more than twice because my body was taking care of the contractions and dilating alone. We decided to get some sleep since it was going to be a long night. At around 1:30 I started feeling the contractions in my lower back. I pushed the button to give me a little more epidural and nothing was happening. I decided to give it about 20 minutes to see if it would kick in. When it didn't and I started feeling more pain I decided to call the nurse. She paged the anesthesiologist but she was in doing another epidural so it would take 45 min to an hour. I figured I could handle the pain for a while but it started getting worse. Eventually I wasn't numb at all anymore and was feeling the contractions that were coming about every minute and half. I was so upset because I had decided on the epidural so I wouldn't have any pain and now I was experiencing horrible pain. Finally the anesthesiologist came in. She said she was going to give me the strongest stuff she could and left to get some ice so she could check where I was numb and where I wasn't. When she came back in I told her that my legs weren't numb at all. This worried her. Sure enough with the check I was feeling everything. So she turned me over thinking she may have to start a new epidural and found that the tubes had come unhooked. This never happens, the nurse said she wouldn't have even thought to have checked that because it never happens. So the anesthesiologist sterilized everything and got me hooked up again. She gave me two shots of the strongest stuff she could, 2% Lidocaine and stayed around for a while to make sure it got better. I could still feel pressure in my lower back but it was so much better. Just after this they checked me and I was to an 8. When the 2% Lidocaine was wearing off I asked for some more because of course the regular stuff wasn't going to work for me now. After I got another shot I became really worried because I couldn't feel my legs at all. I couldn't wiggle my toes on my left leg. Jeff was going to die because I was in so much pain that I needed the strong stuff and now I was complaining about being too numb. I fell asleep for about an hour then the new nurse came in to check on me. I had a fever so we started me on an antibiotic. Shortly after I was dilated to a 10 and at +2 station. We decided to try a few pushes just so I knew what was coming. The doctor said that if I could stand it we should wait a while longer and try to get to +4 station. I was feeling some pain but I knew that there was a good chance that once he was so low the epidural may not work completely. After about a half hour I decided that I would rather push through the contractions knowing that I could be pushing for a long time since he wasn't all the way down. After about an hour and a half of pushing the nurse said I was almost to +3 station. This was a little sad because I was pushing hard. By this point I was feeling every contraction and wasn't numb anymore, although the epidural was still hooked up. We got the doctor to come in and check me and she said that he wasn't coming down, his head was coning. My pelvic bones had not separated and so he wasn't going to come out. Wish I had known this before being in labor for 18 hours. So she went to consult with a different doctor about a c-section, telling me that most likely that was what we would be doing. I started to cry, not because I was scared but because I was so ready to have the baby out and was happy to be going in for a c-section and asked Jeff to go get my mom. Both my mom and my sister have had to have c-sections so I was completely fine with the decision. We had to wait for the anesthesiologist, who was finishing up an epidural, I know my luck sucks when I really need something. The contractions now were continuous with no break between and I was feeling each. Thank goodness I had the best labor and delivery nurse. Seriously I couldn't have made it without her. She was pushing on my hips and talking me through the breathing. I'm serious, amazing. Finally the anesthesiologist came in and she and the doctor talked to me about everything and I signed all the paperwork needed. I was given some of the strong medication and I was feeling so much better. After they wheeled me into the OR I started to smile because I was feeling so much better. The doctors and nurses commented on how they thought they would never see me smile again after all the pain I had gone through. I was all prepped and they let Jeff come in. Jeff watched the entire c-section. The anesthesiologist kept me notified on what was happening and told me when I would be feeling pressure. She said some women find the pressure to be so uncomfortable it may be painful but really it didn't hurt at all. My c-section of course couldn't be normal because what else had been normal during my delivery? The baby had been pushed so far down and was wedged in my pelvic bones. Sorry to be graphic but the nurse had to push from the bottom as well as the doctor pulling from the top. The nurse couldn't even get a good stand on the floor while she was pushing. They thought they were done but she ended up having to push again but this time the nurse had to use a fist because the finger tips weren't giving enough pressure. Poor McCoy. Jeff said he thought newborns were incredibly fragile until he watched them pull him out of my stomach. It took a moment for him to cry, they said he would eventually and the second he did I started to cry. I was so happy to hear my son and know he was there. They brought him to Jeff and he showed McCoy to me, since I couldn't move my arms. He was so beautiful. There were complications with my uterus because it had thinned with my pushing him down so far so they had to do a few extra tests and things causing my c-section to last forever. Part way through I ended up falling asleep because I was so exhausted.

Jeff left shortly after McCoy was born to take him to the nursery. He said he would stay with me but I told him to go, knowing it could take a while, not knowing it would take that long. My parents and sisters were waiting for us in the labor and delivery room we had been in. Jeff walked right passed them, not realizing he did because he was so interested in holding his boy. They all got to go up to the nursery and hold the baby while they waited for me. I guess he had a horribly coned head. I finally came out of surgery and was so out of it. Unfortunately I lost a lot of blood, more than they like but not enough that I needed a blood transfusion. So I'm still trying to build my red blood cells back, I have horribly pale skin. My family left so that I could get some sleep and they brought my baby to me. It was so good to see him. We were taken to our room where we stayed for the next 4 days.

We are so happy he is here and love him to pieces. I won't lie, the adjustment has been hard. The recovery from the labor and delivery has been hard and then learning how to take care of a newborn has been difficult too. Every day gets better and just looking at my son helps me to remember why it is so worth it.

The other exciting news is that my brother Billy and his wife Jacee had their second baby, a boy on the same day McCoy was born. Jeff and Billy had both said we should just have our babies on the same day since we were being induced just a day apart. Jacee happened to go into labor a day early and had him quickly. So we have two boy cousins with the same birthday. So fun.