Details, details, details

The day Maycee was born was a roller coaster.

It began at 1 am on Friday morning when I awoke to go to the bathroom. On my return I had my first non-braxton hicks contraction. My contractions were roughly 11 minutes apart until 5:30am...then I fell asleep for 30 minutes, had another contraction, then slept for another 30 minutes, had another contraction, then everything stopped!

My contractions were so sporadic the rest of the day and I was so unsure of what was going on with my body that I didn't know what to do. At 3 or 4pm I called my midwife, Georgiana, to help me figure out what to do. She told me to take a warm bath and go for a walk to get the contractions more consistent. She said if it got more consistent to call the hospital and go in. She also said that I should take a nap because that night was going to be a long and eventful one. Unfortunately I could not go to sleep. I was so wired! My body was finally prepping for an event that Stephen and I had been waiting for for a long time!

A little after 6pm I had a contraction that lasted about 4 and half minutes. That put me into panic mode. I called the hospital to get more direction. They told me to come in and at least get checked.

We arrived at the hospital a little after 7 pm. We were put into a labor and delivery room. After being in our room for no more than 5 minutes, Georgiana walked in. Talk about speedy service...she was actually already at the hospital with another delivery.

I was so nervous for Georgiana to check and see if I was dilated. I was sure that she would check me and I would be dilated to a 1 and they would send me on my way. After being checked I was told that I was at a 7! Wahoo for Kami's body! We were then admitted and sent to walk the halls to get things moving along.

Stephen and I held hands and walked around the halls. We talked about how the next few hours would change the rest of our lives. Everything seemed so surreal. I couldn't believe that we were actually at the hospital preparing to deliver our first child. Stephen and I were about to become parents!

At 9pm I was dilated to a 9. Georgiana suggested that she break my water so that I would have enough energy to get that baby out, seeing as I had no sleep the night before. She did so and I was soon dilated to a 10 and began pushing. This was the part that was so unexpected to me. I was expecting pain, and there was, but I handled that fairly well, but the pushing sent me somewhere in a completely different realm. It was the most exhausting thing that I have ever experienced. There were a couple of times when I really didn't think I was going to be able to push her out, solely on the fact that I was BUSHED! I remember in the middle of that Georgiana looked at me and said, "You've made it this far in pregnancy. It would be so sad if you decided now to keep being pregnant." Basically...you can do it, but you have to decide. At least that is how I took it.

One funny thing that happened while Maycee was working so hard to come into this world, caused her little mommy much pain. Just as her head popped out, Georgiana turned her around to help pull her out. Maycee had her hand right next to her face. In an effort to "help" climb out Maycee shoved her hand and elbow out, forcing my body to tear to give her room to wave her hand. She wanted to make sure her presence was known!

Maycee Donna Post was born that night at 10:48pm.

I don't even know how to describe in words what it felt like when they placed little Maycee on my tummy after she came out. She was flailing all over the place and I was in complete shock. It was really hard to believe that a real live person had been growing inside of me for the last nine months. I kept stroking her hair and face and fingers and toes. I was in awe. I couldn't believe that Heavenly Father had blessed me with one of his children. I knew right then that my life had changed forever.

We were moved at 2am to the post-partum section that had a double bed and a bassinet for little Maycee. The nurses that took care of us until we left on Sunday. The nurse that took care of us during the day on Saturday and Sunday was the nurse who taught us in our birthing class. She was so awesome! When I heard her voice in our room I was so excited. It was so good to see a familiar face taking care of us.

The entire time that we were in the hospital, Stephen took such good care of all of us. I didn't change a single diaper and Stephen always walked me to the bathroom and always made sure that I was comfortable. Stephen I LOVE YOU!!!

I was released on Sunday afternoon, but Maycee's bilireuben count was a lot higher than the pediatrician would have liked. They moved us to the pediatric floor on Sunday afternoon to stay an additional night to have Maycee bask in the blue lights to lower her bilireuben count.

That was the longest night of my life. We were moved to a room with a single bed, so Stephen had to sleep on the couch. I could not sleep without Stephen in bed with me and Maycee would scream every time I put her underneath the lights. SHE JUST WANTED TO BE HELD!!! However, Maycee found a way around that. The doctor told us to keep her under the lights at all times, unless I was feeding her. Maycee figured this out and I fed her for and hour and a half in one sitting that night! I think that she spit up everything that I fed her, but she did NOT want to be under those lights.

The next morning Stephen and I figured that we had not slept for more than 45 minutes that night. They released us and we were on our way home. We're stilll battling a bit with the bilireuben count and jaundice, but the doctors say that all will be okay.