Baby Leland’s arrival

What started as a short trip to the hospital to get induced (Elise was 41 + 1 weeks pregnant) turned into a crazy three day event full of struggles and victories.

Elise and Patrick checked in at the hospital at 4:30 pm Wednesday June 3rd to get induced, She was a week overdue and ready to get her baby out! Being barely dilated, Elise knew it was going to take a little bit to get the party started, but definitely didn’t realize how long her body wanted to take.

After contractions slowly ramped up over the night, they were hopeful to see some progress. They checked Elise again and she was barely a centimeter dilated. Feeling discouraged, they started up the pitocin and hoped for better results.

The pitocin was definitely working! And it made the contractions a bit more bearable for Elise, but the baby had other opinions. One of the nurses noticed that during contractions with pitocin, the baby’s heart rate would drop dramatically. They were afraid if Elise didn’t find a stable position, they would have to plan for a c-section that afternoon.

Not being quitters, Patrick and Elise tried out different positions and monitored the heart rate for hours. And not surprisingly, the most stable position for baby was the most uncomfortable position for Elise. But she white knuckled it until they knew for sure that the baby was feeling better again. Luckily Elise advocated for herself and was able to get some sleep medication to help her sleep between contractions (she wasn’t dilated enough for an epidural just yet).

After an hour or two of sleeping and dealing with painful contractions, the doctor checked Elise again and saw she was significantly more dilated! They broke her water and warned her that now the contractions and pressure will definitely get more severe. Knowing how well Elise progressed with some pain/sleep medication, the doctor advised her to use an epidural to help relax her body even more. Even though an epidural wasn’t part of her birth plan, Elise gratefully accepted. She already dealt with about 24 hours of labor, she was very okay with accepting medicine.

The anesthesiologist was top-notch and dialed in Elise’s epidural so she could feel that a contraction was coming, but didn’t feel any pain. She also was able to control her pushing muscles, so when it came time to push, she could control her muscles the right way.

Around midnight, Elise felt the urge to push with her contractions. The nurse checked her and said that she was fully dilated and ready to go. Knowing that with most first time moms it would take an hour or two to push the baby out, Elise and Pat settled in for the marathon.

Four hours passed…

Elise gave it her all with each push (it felt like the longest workout of her life), and the little head kept showing up, but not enough to pull out. The doctor said that it wasn’t even enough to use the vacuum to help guide the head out. So Elise and Patrick were given two options: take a break and try in a little bit after Elise felt strong again, or have a c-section.

This was one of the hardest decisions they made - they heard scary stories about c-sections from family members, but Elise no longer had the pain relief from the epidural protecting her from the intense pressure of the baby on her body. She was in pain and knew she couldn’t rest. So they decided that the best choice for both Elise and baby would be to have a c-section.

Waiting for extra pain medication and the surgical team was the longest 30 minutes of Elise’s life - contractions were coming fast and the pressure and pain were relentless. The team did arrive and whisked her away to the surgical room to prep her.

Thankfully Pat was allowed to come in the room and sit next to Elise and hold her hand throughout the process. He and the anesthesiologist kept her mind occupied while the rest of the team worked quickly. Elise was able to make a few Alien jokes, so they knew she was going to be okay.

It only took a few minutes, but at 6:10 am on Friday, June 5th, Leland Patrick McGuckin came into the world. He was a healthy 8 pounds 4 ounces, and promptly peed and pooped on the nurses. He was perfect.

They stayed in the hospital until Sunday morning to make sure both Leland and Elise looked healthy enough to leave - everyone was impressed by Leland’s ruddy complexion (yay for no jaundice!), adorable features, and quick ability to latch and eat. They also were very impressed by Elise’s recovery! She was walking around Friday night and everything was healing nicely.

With the help of a nurse, Patrick and Elise carried little Leland to the car and strapped him in to take him to his new home to start the biggest adventure of their lives.