No Longer Waiting for Baby Witko!

I'm going to give all of you a heads up....this is going to be a long one, but I'll make it easy on you by weaving my story and pictures together.

McKenna's birth story begins on Wednesday, April 7th. I was 38 weeks 1 day pregnant and Brian & I had our weekly OB appointment that included another NST. McKenna failed the NST once again in the office and we were sent to the hospital for observation and for another biophysical profile ultrasound. We asked if there was a possibility of staying and being induced, but Dr. Kagan didn't think so because my cervix still hadn't budged. He decided to schedule our induction for Monday, April 12th.

At Edward Hospital, McKenna continued to be nonreactive. We had our 4th biophysical profile, which she passed once again with flying colors. When we returned to the room, we figured we would be shuffled right out, as we were each week prior.

But, this week was a bit different.

Dr. Weeks looked over the ultrasound and the baby monitor and decided that he wanted us to stay and be induced that evening. He felt that McKenna was trying to tell us something by failing the NST so many times and that we should probably just get her out. Mom, Brian, & I were definitely on board with that decision! Dr. Weeks was aware that Dr. Kagan had scheduled our induction for Monday, but he didn't think that there would be much change to my cervix anyways, so why put it off. At that point we were moved into our labor & delivery room.

To begin the induction process, the nurse inserted a vaginal insert called Cervidil. Cervidil is used in order to begin softening the cervix, it is kept in place for 12 hours.

Wednesday night...night #1

Brian's bed

Wahoo! We're going to have a baby!

Thursday morning we woke up to find out that the Cervidil hadn't done a thing! My cervix had made no change in the 12 hours. The next step was to put me on Pitocin to induce labor. The Pitocin not only brought on contractions, it seemed to bring on endless contractions. It didn't allow me a break in between them...it was awful. Every hour the nurse would come in to increase the amount that was being pumped into my body. Brian was an amazing birthing coach, he talked me through each of the contractions, letting me know when they were at their peak and when they would start to come down. In order to help give me some sort of a break, the doctor gave me a half of a dose of Dilaudid, a pain medication. The Dilaudid gave me the opportunity to rest. Although the Pitocin brought on strong contractions, it did nothing for my cervix. By the end of the evening on Thursday, my cervix had still not budged - ugh!

I was most comfortable sitting in the rocking chair.

Brian & I took a walk hoping that it would help move things along...

Mackenzie stayed at the hospital all day on Thursday and Friday...she said that she just couldn't bear to leave!

Mom & Krissy came too!

...in the waiting room

This is a picture of Dr. Martin's explanation of dilation and effacement that he drew for us. He was pretty much showing us what was NOT occuring for me at the moment.

On Thursday night, the doctors made the decision to take me off of Pitocin and to insert another round of Cervidil. They didn't want to put me through a c-section, so they wanted to try one more round of Cervidil and Pitocin. The strength of my contractions decreased when I was taken off of the Pitocin, so that allowed me to be more comfortable. They also gave me an Ambien to help me sleep.

Thursday night, night #2...Lizzie & Dad came to hang out

When I was taken off of the Pitocin, they let me eat!

Woke up Friday morning to find out that once again the Cervidil hadn't done a thing during the night. So...on to another fun filled day of Pitocin!

walking, walking, walking

The Witkowski's came to visit too!

yummy ice chips!

ahhh...the many emotions of labor...

I spent the entire day getting pumped up full of Pitocin and made no progress. Around 5:00pm, Dr. Frangella checked my cervix and found that I had finally progressed to 1cm. At that point she made the decision to break my water. That is when labor REALLY started. OH.MY.GOD. Mom was right...now that is pain. They decided to give me the other half of the Dilaudid, because they were trying to wait on the Epidural. The Dilaudid gave me some relief, but not much. Due to the amount of pain I was in, the doctor let me get the Epidural at just 1cm. My nurse was the absolutely the best, she walked out of the room, grabbed the anesthesiologist and got him in the room in no time. I'll tell you...I don't know why anyone would opt out of the Epidural...

About an hour later my dad came and sat with me and Brian in the room. I was relaxed and able to rest. Then around 7:30pm, I started to feel an unbelievable amount of pressure in my pelvis. It was terribly uncomfortable as each contraction passed. So, I asked the nurse if she could check my cervix again. Well, in two hours time, I had progressed to 10cm! The nurse looked up at me and said, "Are you ready to have a baby?!" Uh...it's been two days...OF COURSE we're ready to have a baby!!!

From that point on it got pretty crazy in the room. Dad excused himself and headed back to the waiting room. The nurses came in and out of the room getting everything ready. I pushed three times with each contraction and had six contractions. At 8:11pm, McKenna Jo Witkowski was placed on my belly and I heard the most beautiful sound in the world...her cry. Brian & I joined her.

McKenna Jo, my daughter, was a petite 5 lbs. 9 oz. and 18 inches long.

getting all cleaned up

our first picture together
Mommy & McKenna

Daddy & his baby girl

family picture

TOTALLY.WORTH.IT.ALL

first visitors...Grandma & Grandpa Witkowski
and Grandma & Grandpa Milazzo

Kenna & Aunt Puggie

lots of love from Aunt Krissy

MJ with her Aunt Beanie

Aunt Lynn came too!!!

it was time to leave the Labor & Delivery floor...we headed up to our new room on the Mommy & Baby floor of the hospital

McKenna getting settled in her ride

first elevator ride!

chillin in our beds

so wide awake! look at that grip!

new Mommy on Saturday morning

baby belly be gone!

Our McKBunny during her Bella Baby Photography Photo Shoot!

Grandma lovin' on her girl

Kenna loves her Uncle Brady...

...and her Aunt Megan!

Aunt Katie will always have a special place in her heart!

Grandma Witkowski is so excited for a baby girl!

Uncle Brad came to visit McKenna at the hospital on Sunday

Auntie Deana came too! Kenna wished that Kailey could have come!

Here's Dad getting McKenna all dressed and ready to head home from the hospital!

ready to go!

After 5 long days in the hospital we were ready to go home with our baby girl. We couldn't wait to get her home and into our own routine. McKenna lost a bit of weight in the hospital and left weighing 5 lbs. 1oz. the doctor wanted us to supplement the nursing with formula in order to help her put on some weight. They wanted to see her at the doctor on Tuesday, April 13th for a weight check.

Oh Happy Day!

It's a special day for someone special!!!

Today is my Momma's BIRTHDAY!!!


Happy Happy Birthday Momma, I hope you had the best day! Just think...when you get home there is an extra special little grand baby waiting to give you lots and lots of birthday hugs and kisses!

We love you!!!

I know you are all anxiously awaiting a birth story post and I promise you it's coming (I just don't have as much time on my hands these days!! :) )...I figured that I would just tease you with some of these...

To see more pictures of our sweetness check out her Bella Baby Photos! www.bellababyphotography.com
click on 'view photos'
password: 0409mckennawitkowski

She's On Her Way!

It's Katie K...getting to be the Guest Blogger tonight! :)

This seems like the moment we've all been waiting for, and I'm so excited to share the news that Rachel is AT the hospital, and McKenna will be making her arrival within the next day or two!

Quick Update: Rachel had her regularly scheduled weekly appointment this afternoon. Little One was non-reactive with her NST (again!) so Rachel was sent to the hospital. She did just fine with her biophysical. But, Dr. Weeks decided that this might be McKenna's way of telling everyone she's ready! So, Rachel has been admitted, has gotten "cervidil" (had to google that!), and will be playing the waiting game. Pitocin will be started tomorrow morning.

Mommy-to-Be sounds fantastic!! Daddy-to-Be went home to grab the bag & everything else that they'll need.

I know I speak for all of Rachel's loyal blog-followers, family, and friends when I say how excited we all are for you, Rachel & Brian...and we can't wait to meet your little miracle McKenna! Love you!!

Week 37... my 150th post!

This week was our Spring Break, so I got to spend the whole week with my Momma! We had absolutely gorgeous weather and we were able to sit outside, read, and get some sun. It felt so good to get out of the house.

I'm really starting to get restless about McKenna's arrival. Along with starting to feel like a big puffy lug, I'm just so ready to meet her. This week my ankles, feet, and hands have started to swell and I definitely can't say that I'm very comfortable anymore.

Week 37 baby bump

me & ChiliMack

On Wednesday I had my 37 week appointment with Dr. Frangella. It was my first time meeting her, although she has been the on-call doctor each time I've been in the hospital. Dr. Frangella is the last of the doctor's for us to meet, we have now met with all 5 of them. Although I'm hoping Dr. Weeks is on-call the day we go in...I'd honestly be happy to have any of them deliver our Kenna girl.

Mom drove me to the Spalding office and Brian met us there. As I had said last week, we were pretty much resigned to the fact that we would be heading to the hospital after our NST, so mom stayed with us.

BUT...we didn't have to go anywhere!!!

McKenna did in fact pass her NST this week and we did not have to go to the hospital!!! See...there's a first time for everything! As you can see from the picture Brian took of the chart:


The top squiggly line is McKenna's heartrate. Each time she moved I had to push a button - kinda like a game show buzzer - those are indicated by the arrows...see? The bottom squiggly line is my contraction monitor. I had a couple of small contractions while we were there, but nothing like labor contractions.

I wish we had a picture of her chart from the first few NST's so that you could see the difference. Her heartrate on the first few was very consistent - the line was pretty straight, it didn't stray much from the 145-148bpm mark, movement or no movement. As you can see from this one, that isn't so. This time it was much more jagged...up and down...especially as she moved.

Dr. Frangella was very happy about her heartrate movement and declared the test reactive!

We continued with the rest of our appointment after our NST. My blood pressure was 126/84 and McKenna's heartrate was on average about 155bpm. The internal exam revealed that my cervix is still closed up tight and not dilated at all. My belly measured big...39 1/2 cm (I was only 37 weeks 1 day)... Dr. Frangella was a little concerned because my belly measurement has been right on up until now, she wanted to make sure that McKenna hasn't gotten too big, so she ordered a growth ultrasound. We were lucky because the ultrasound tech was actually in the office and was able to fit us in that day. McKenna's ultrasound turned out great, everything looked fine with her size and growth. She measured 5lbs. 13 oz!

Dr. Frangella was also worried that my blood pressure medication may be masking what could really be going on in terms of blood getting to McKenna, so she ordered ANOTHER 24 hour urineanalysis and blood work. She wants to make sure that preeclampsia hadn't snuck up all of a sudden.

We left the doctor's office with a couple of possible scenarios...if my blood work or urineanalysis came back with a positive for preeclampsia then we would be delivering this weekend, if it came back negative for preeclampsia then we would be good to go until our 38 week appointment next Wednesday where at that appointment we would schedule our induction/possible c-section.

a nice picture of me getting ready to take my urine to the hospital to be analyzed...fun stuff! See how much color I got from sitting outside!

I love SPRING!!!

I spoke to the nurse this morning about my labs and everything came back just fine...so we are good to go until our appointment on Wednesday the 7th. I was hoping for a little Easter Bunny Baby!!!

I guess you really never know....my water could break...keep your fingers crossed!

Here are a couple of pictures of us sitting outside with the pups this week...

Puffy with her dog, Trip

what a sweet face!

poor Bunny could only stay in the sun for so long...then she got too hot!

she said that she's already dark enough!

laying her head on Aunt Puggie's leg...she could sit outside all day long!

headed out for a Good Friday lunch of Pepper & Egg's sandwiches

at Portillos with Mackie, Mom & Dad!

...and yes this is my 150th blog post! What a 150 they've been! It sure is amazing how the meaning of "Waiting for Baby Witko" has changed! It definitely shows how love, support, and prayers can get you through. Love to you all, thank you!

Happy Easter!