The McCollovans: He's Here...

Jack Donovan McCollum was born May 05, 2013 at 5:16 am. He weighed 7 lbs, 3 oz and was 18 3/4 inches long. I have never been more in love nor happy in my entire life. But let me back up a bit and start from the beginning.

I was up all night on the 4th with contractions. I had been having contractions for several weeks off and on and had already had two false alarms so I had decided I was not going to have a 3rd one. I had been fairly miserable leading up to my due date (May 3rd) and was trying virtually everything to kick start labor. In the end I think my mother was right and it was the non stop walking that did the trick. (Thanks Megan and Annie for the walking company!) Anyway back to the morning of the 4th.

The contractions were about 5-6 minutes apart when I decided to take a bath around 3 am, to try and relax and see if this was going to be the day. I was fairly uncomfortable but no more so than my previous trips to the hospital so after my bath I decided to just wait things out. I laid back down and attempted to sleep through them to no avail.

Around 5:45 or so Jim woke up and I told him what was going on. I think at this point to him I was like the boy who cried wolf, but like the smart man he is he decided to humor me anyway. To keep the contractions coming we decided to go on a walk and take the dogs to the park at 6:15 am. That's totally normal right?

Once we got home around 7 am, Jim had to get ready for baseball practice while I bounced on my medicine ball to keep things moving :) Jim left for practice around 8 am with the strict instructions to keep his phone on him at all times. Since we had already had two trial runs at this I don't think either of us were too convinced that anything was actually happening. But thankfully practice was just up the street at Shadle in case this was the real deal. I finally laid back down around 9 to attempt sleep again and that's when things started kicking into gear. The nurses had told me not to come in till I was having consistent contractions under 5 minutes apart that I could not walk or talk through. I did not want another falsey so I was really trying to make sure this was it before saying anything to anyone. Finally after a few more signals that this was the real deal; around 10 am I texted Jim with the word "now." What can I say I like to keep things short and sweet. He apparently got the message and was home within 15 min and we started packing up the car. The contractions were about 3-4 minutes apart at this time and while I could still talk through them it was getting hard to walk through them and they were already more intense than my previous falsies. I did manage to take my 40 week plus one day preggo photo before leaving :)

Two of my oldest friends, Chad and Scott, randomly stopped by while we were getting ready to go so we had a brief convo with them and then made our way to Holy Family Hospital around 10:45 am. Jim actually took the route I liked best and we made it to the hospital in about 10-15 min. We got all checked in and were hooked up to the monitors by 11:15.

At this point we were old pros at the whole process so we were diligently watching the monitors and waiting for my exam to find out if I had progressed at all and if we would actually be staying. The nurse who checked me out told us I was still only at a 2 but that she could see I was having consistent contractions but she wasn't sure if they would admit me or not. This is when I looked at Jim and informed him I was not leaving that hospital without my son outside of my body. The nurse left us to walk around or bounce on the medicine ball for the next hour until she or the doctor would check me again. The only thing I had going for me was that I was a day past my due date and I was in pain. The nurse told me it would depend on the doctor on call that day but there was a chance I would be staying and the baby would be coming. That was all I needed to hear! I convinced myself today was the day and I would do whatever it took to make that happen.

So we called our parents and a few friends and told them we were at the hospital and that if I had any say in the matter Jack was coming! over the next few hours our mom's and Megan began to show up and hang out. We did a lot of walking, and talking, and laughing, and planning of Jack's future, while we waited to really get "admitted" and not just "monitored." I was having contractions about every 3 minutes and to me they were big ones, but again still able to talk and somewhat walk but no progression past a 2.

around 2 pm, the doctor came in and checked me. He did not want to admit me, they were understaffed and even though he could tell I was in labor he was trying to convince me to go through this at home and come back later that evening or the next morning. I however was not having any of that I told him I did not want to do that so he allowed me to stay and stripped my membranes to try and help my progress. And we are back to the walking and the bouncing...

Somewhere between 3 and 4 pm, Jim decided to leave to go get some food (and beer). The poor guy had already puked about 5 times by that point and needed something in his stomach. I assured him I would be fine and that Megan and I would just walk around or sit in the room while I bounced. Can you tell where this is going? Literally 5 minutes after Jim left my contractions got out of control. Megan and I attempted a lap and I barely made it 10 ft before megs had to help me back into the room. No more walking and talking for me. I was in pain, I was tired, my husband had just left (with my permission) and I had my first break down. Poor Megs had no clue what to do or who to call. She tried to get the nurses attention at the station but they did not see her so she came back in the room to call for help. Well since I couldn't talk I couldn't tell her that my nurse had a phone we should call, instead she hit the big blue button above my bed that says ring for help. Turns out that's the code blue button. Oops! about 6 people (including the Dr) ran into my room, and Megan informed them I was in pain and needed something to help. That seemed to do the trick; the Dr checked me out (still at a 2) but after a few more convincing words from me he decided to break my water, start the Pitocin and order the epidural. Hallelujah!!!!!!!!

After getting the labor progressing things moved along at a steady pace throughout the evening. Between 10pm and 11pm our moms and Megan left so we could try and get some sleep. All three told us to call them when I got to an 8 so they knew to come back for the birth. My progress was still slow even with the Pitocin but I was given a peanut ball? that helped things along in that area but definitely impeded my rest. The nurses had to come in every hour to switch my position. Also after everyone left my epidural began wearing off on the left side so the anesthesiologist had to come in every 30-45 min to give me another boost. This would have been great but for some reason every time she did I had the oddest reaction the nurses had ever seen. Literally every time I got the epidural my upper back and shoulders would tense up, cramp and spasm. At that point I am not sure if the contractions or the spasms were worse. Jim did all he could to help by massaging, and even used a baseball to put pressure on certain spots. We learned the baseball coupled with a heating pad usually would do the trick after about 10 minutes and eventually it would go away and I would find a restful position. That is until they would come in to move the peanut ball or I would start feeling my contractions again and the whole thing would start all over. Needless to say not much rest was had by either of us.

FINALLY at 3 am on the 5th, the nurse came in and told me I was at an 8. We called our parents and Megs to let them know it would be within the next few hours and they could make their way back to the hospital whenever they wanted. Of course they showed up sooner than Jack did :)

At 4:43am It was time to push. I was real nervous about this part but it turned out I was real good at the pushing and Jack was born just 33 minutes later at 5:16am.

The greatest moment of my life was when the doctor told me to open my eyes and look and there he was! I will never forget that instant feeling of love and relief.

Here was his first picture sent to Megs...

followed by this one. Ha!

After they let me hold him the nurses brought him over to get his stats. While they were cleaning Jack up he began to have some breathing trouble. Apparently there was some meconium and also some issue with one of his lungs. Thus began probably the worst few minutes and hours of my life. I don't remember a whole lot, thanks to the drugs and hormones but basically Jack was brought to the nursery for some more tests and observations. Jim went with him and I was told to rest while we waited. Way easier said then done, but everything turned out for the best. Jack recovered well and did not end up needing any oxygen or tubes. By the afternoon he was brought back into our room and we could finally cuddle and love on our little guy!!!

We had visits from lots of family and friends but I only caught two people (Uncle Terry and Auntie Megan) on my iPhone. I promise to add more when I get my real camera uploaded.

Side note: Auntie Megan was a rock star during my labor and delivery. She was at the hospital the entire day. She walked laps, rubbed my back, coached me and kept me calm, and basically tag teamed with Jim. Besides all that she came in the middle of the night and made it back again later that afternoon, and did it all with a beautiful smile and sense of humor. She is amazing and Baby Jack is lucky to have her in his life. As am I.

I'm obsessed with this face!

We spent all day Sunday in the hospital and by Monday (the 6th) Jim was ready to get outta there! here we are getting ready to leave. Obviously he needed his coug gear before facing the world.