Gavin Michael McFarland

It has now been 8 days since Gavin was born, and though it has been a sleep deprived 8 days, I am so in love with this little boy I wouldn't have it any other way. I wanted to write down his birth story so I could remember it and I could eventually share it with him when he is older.

Monday morning Taylor and my mom accompanied me to my doctor's appointment. I was miserable at this point and couldn't comprehend how I was going to make it two more weeks. The doctor stripped my membranes and told us that 60% of people that have this done go into labor 24-48 hours later. After 24 hours I had had tons of contractions and had spent the day walking the mall with my mom, aunt, cousins, etc (my entourage as we called them). Every time I would have a contraction they would circle around me and just stare. I finally said, "I can't do this if you are all looking at me!" After dinner we took a walk around my aunt's neighborhood. I was feeling pretty good at this point and was able to keep up with everyone. We came back to my aunt's house, got a drink, dropped the males in the entourage off, and took off again. By this time it was like 11pm. My mom, Ronna, and my cousin Erin were great pre-labor coaches and were so sweet to just spend HOURS walking with me that day.

That night Taylor and I went home. Twenty four hours passed and still no baby. That day was spent walking the mall again, walking the outlet mall and just doing everything I could to try to get Gavin to come out. My mom and Robbie headed home to Boise because we just figured he was going to come on his own schedule no matter how much walking I did. I continued to have contractions throughout the day, but nothing too intense.
That night Ronna invited us over for dinner, and we ate a delicious meal. During dinner my contractions started getting worse. Taylor's mom flew in after a lengthy delay, and we were so glad that she was there. After dinner we headed out to walk the neighborhood again. This time was diferent. I could tell. About 10 minutes into the walk my contractions became so intense I was crying. We were still a ways from home, but I was determined to make it. After an hour of walking, we made it home, and it was decided that it was time to go to the hospital. Taylor and Erin drove back to our house to get the bags while I walked the hallways of my aunt's house. We made it to the hospital at 11. May have been sooner, except someone forgot to stop at my aunt's house to pick ME up. In all fairness, he was under the impression that we were going to meet him there. I love him.
They checked me and I was 4 cm dialated and 90% effaced. At the doctors on Monday I had only been a 2 and 80% so all that walking was not in vain. They decided to keep me and told me I needed to be at a 5 in an hour. The race was on. After an hour the nurse came and checked me and said I was still at a 4 but she would give me another hour. I was determined not to go home so we got up and walked the halls. The contractions were so intense at this point that we had to stop every minute to let the next one pass. It didn't help that the lady across the hall was pushing and screaming and dropping the F bomb.

After the hour she checked me and told me I was at a five! We could stay! I was so happy. I think I immediately asked when I could get the epidural. The nurse said it was on it's way. When the anethesthologist came in he said his name was "James". We never found out what his last name was, but I didn't care cause James was my hero. After the epiural I was feeling pretty good. At about 7:00am I was at a 7 and they broke my water. After that I slept until about 8 am. I woke up and could tell that the epidural was wearing off because the pressure and pain was getting pretty intense again. The nurse came in and checked me and I was at at 10. She also said that the head was right there. I knew that his head was right there because I could feel it. I also could tell I needed to push. I was told I couldn't push because the doctor was in a c-section Some horrendous lady came into bring towels and said, "Just have her put her legs flat and her feet together so she doesn't push." EXCUSE ME? I think everyone in the room, my nurse included, was slightly horrified. My nurse told me we were going to do one practice push to see how I was going to fare. After that one set of pushes she immedieatly called the doctor and told him to get in there ASAP. By this point James had come back in and pumped me FULL of more epidural, as I'm yelling "My legs are on fire." Did I mention I was having full on seizure like convulsions and kept telling the nurse I was going to pass out? They gave me oxyyen, which only made me panic more. Somehow I was able to calm down and rested for about 15 minutes. When the doctor came in I gave three sets of pushes, and Gavin was here. I was so out of it, I don't remember Taylor cutting the cord, or them even laying him on my belly to clean him off. After all the excitement of getting him all cleaned off and ready to see mommy, I had a fever and only held him for a few minutes before they took him to the nursury. Taylor accompanied him there to give him his bath.

At about 2pm my fever finally broke and I felt much better. I actually kept my food down, and was able to have visitors. The rest of the hospital stay was decent, and we got to come home Friday. The reason this post is so long in coming is because I thought I had pulled a muscle in my butt. As the days passed the pain got worse and worse and my mobility became less and less. by Tuesday I could no longer walk. This meant I couldn't hold my baby, couldn't lean forward, even while sitting, to change his diaper, sitting up to feed him was excruciating, and quite honestly I was struggling with my inablity to be a parent to my sweet baby. We saw the doctor on Wednesday and he ordered an MRI. The MRI showed it was not Siatica (which we were fearing) or a blood clot, but rather my butt muscle has torn away from the bone. This is the reason that NO pain medicine has been able to touch the pain. It honestly is the worst pain I could ever imagine. Luckily my mother in law has been here and has been such an angel. She has cooked, cleaned, taken care of Gavin, and endured my "Can you get me this?" "Can you do this?". I don't know what we would have done without her here. Taylor has also been such a wonderful help. He had to work for 5 days straight right when Gavin was born, but he has had the last 3 days off, and we have enjoyed having daddy home with us.

Despite all the drama that has surrounded us this last week, I would do it all again to have this sweet, adorable angel in my life. We look at him and are constantly amazed at how lucky we are to be his parents. He is such a perfect baby and only really cries when he is hungry or has a dirty diaper. I can't remember my life before Gavin, and quite honestly, I don't want to. Aside from getting married to Tay, this has been the biggest blessing in my life. I can't wait to watch him grow up and see his little personality develop.