Friday, October 31, 2008

Halloween McKye

McKye was trying to spook us in this cute ghost outfit.

McKye was a true baby burrito at Chipotle tonight. He was the absolute hit as high schoolers and cooks came out to see the best dressed chipotle outfit. If you are not familiar with the tradition, Chipotle gives you a free burrito if you use aluminum foil in some form as a costume. The manager liked baby burrito so much she told us we get two free burritos. I guess I am kind of shameless using my son to get free food...why not.



Thursday, October 23, 2008

The Grandparents were in town

The Long and Mackey Grandparents came in town and it was a great joy to see them meet and hold McKye. Plus they helped with meals and little jobs around the house. I am especially grateful for the dads who help minimize the long "nesting list" Angie had for me.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

McKye Benjamin Long

Four and a half weeks early but absolutley adorable: 4 lbs. 15 oz. 18 in.
Born: Oct. 2nd, 2008. 1:04 pm

McKye is looking over at his dad as he just entered this new and strange world.



Angie did a phenomenal job giving life to our son. You can see how small he is. But I remind McKye that I too was first small as a baby and he will grow to be as big and strong as his dad.

As we talked about McKye's arrival, Angie kept on saying how she wanted him to have hair. I thought that he would most likely just have blonde fuzz. Well, right when I saw his head coming out, I said, "Angie, he has hair and he is beautiful!"


His first outfit to go home from the hospital... a friend brought us some premie clothes which are still a little big on him.


The Name of McKye

McKye Benjamin Long
Angie and I really wrestled with what name to give our son. We ended up choosing McKye, which comes from the origin of Angie's maiden name Mackey. It comes from the Scottish clan Mackay but pronounced "mc-eye." The name actually means "son of courage" or "with a strong hand," which we found quite fitting considering all that he went through in the pregnancy and birth. Angie was sick throughout her pregnancy and was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia last week, which necessitated the early inducement.

McKye was 4 1/2 weeks early but was healthy in every way: heart, lungs, body tempterature, reflexes, etc. When the doctor broke Angie's water for inducement, there was meconium in the water which often means he was in distress or would have been shortly. Additionally, when the placenta was delivered, the doctor said it looked like a 42 week old placenta and was giving out. So we consider him a true fighter, a "son of courage."

His middle name "Benjamin" comes from my father's name. So there you have it:

McKye Benjamin Long

The Story: McKye's birth

The Story: the surprising arrival of McKye

On Wednesday, Oct. 1st Angie gave me a call and in a excited voice she said, "The doctor just called and said that my protein had double and we need to come into the hospital tonight and try to induce tomorrow." I knew we were getting closer to the date but tomorrow and only 35 1/2 weeks along.

So we gathered our stuff together and would continue to look at each other in the shocked reality that we might have a son tomorrow...crazy. We arrived at the hospital at around 10:00 pm and started to get situated. Which a hospital is not necessarily the best place to get comfortable as you await labor and delivery the next day.

On Thursday, they started the pitocin to induce the labor. The contractions started to get stronger and stronger. If Angie had her desire she would have already been on the epideral but they wanted to at least get to the point where the contractions brought the "evil twin" out. Well, she came out and the epideral was finally given. The only problem was that it usually takes 10-20 minutes for it to work and 50 minutes later, Angie was still in some very painful contractions. We were scared the epideral was working and they would have to try it again but finally the pain started to subside.

Now with Angie relaxed and about 4 cm dilated, the nurse said that it would probably take about 6-10 hours before she needed to push. It was 12:30pm, so as a friend stayed with Angie I went to Qdoba to get some food for the long journey ahead. While I was in line ordering a chicken quesadilla, I got a call from Erma, Angie's friend who says, "Adam, Angie is at 10 cm and pushing. You need to get back here right now." So there I am in line and tell them that I need to go because my wife is about to have a baby. They smile and cheer me on as I run back to the hospital. I get back into the hospital room which is packed with people and see my wife pushing. She pushes through a couple contractions and the doctor notices that the babies heart rate is not coming back after the contraction. So the baby needs to come out now. The forceps came and (thank God for the epideral) she is grabbing the baby and pulling him out. He comes out all covered in stuff and I wait for the cry but it does not come. They put him over at the examining table and I finally see his chest rise and fall. Our baby is okay.

This wasn't the end of the journey. Angie is given magnesium through an iv to prevent ceasure due to the pre-eclampsia. Well, she starts violently shaking in response to all the drugs in her body and to the magnesium. Pretty soon she is projectile vomitting across the room as I am trying to sooth our son. After an hour she finally stops shaking and goes into a serious drugged state. Basically she is drugged up for the next 24 hours.

McKye did remarkably well with all the test and was able to stay in the room. So I would change him, feed him and hold him. I didn't need a book or movie to past the time, I would just look at this cute son of ours and tear up.

The next day after they took her off the magnesium Angie started to do a lot better and we were transferred to the mother baby rooms. There I saw the most beautiful thing - my wife falling in love with our son. She would speak, sing, laugh, and cry at him. Some of it I believe was the roller coaster of hormones. At one point, we were both crying as she told him, "I thought you would not be worth all the pain of pregnancy but you were totally worth it."