The Arrival of Grayson Robert McKinney

Although this post is nearly two months late, it comes with no less excitement. We are overwhelmed with thankfulness at the birth of our beautiful baby boy, Grayson Robert.

At my last OB appointment, we discovered that Grayson was measuring extra large. Our doctor moved the scheduled c-section to Monday, instead of Wednesday that week. He suggested Friday, but that was my sister-in-law's scheduled induction for her baby, Logan Christian McKinney. (Yes, the cousins were born two days apart.)

On the morning of March 7, 2011, Chad and I woke up early and headed to the hospital. We needed to check in by 7:30 a.m., since the c-section was scheduled for 9:30 a.m. My mom stayed the night, so she could watch Big Brother Tyler.

We arrived at the hospital at 7:25 a.m., spent several minutes trying to locate the registration lady and waited patiently for her to unlock her office. After filling out all the digital paperwork, she took us to the labor and delivery wing. We were taken to a room to begin the nursing check-in process, which we assumed would be long and painstakingly drawn-out. At 8:05 a.m., only five minutes after sitting down in the L&D bed, the operating room nurse walked in and said they were ready for me. I questioned the comment, since we still had an hour and a half before the scheduled surgery. The nurse replied, "no waiting. The doctor is here. The OR is prepped, and we are ready to have a baby." I asked how long, and she responded "five minutes." WHAT?!?! So before my mom could even make it to the hospital with Tyler and before I could take photos in my adorable custom-made delivery gown, I found myself walking hand-in-hand with the nurse to the operating room. Here we go ...


Chad stayed behind to send an insanely quick text message to alert family and friends. By the time he changed into scrubs and made it to the OR, I had already been given the spinal block and was laying down, arms secured to the boards. Because I am allergic to morphine, the anesthesiologist had the pharmacy mix a special spinal block concoction that was narcotic-free. Due to the risk for pain, the anesthesiologist stayed at my head, talking to me the entire time. I started throwing up as soon as the medicine kicked in, which was the worst part of the entire procedure. I begged and pleaded for him to let me sit up, as throwing up horizontally is probably the worst thing in the world. I asked, "please make it stop." He responded, "okay," and he added something to the drip. Within seconds it worked, and I was comfortable again. I took several deep breaths, looked over at Chad and braced myself for the surgery. I was unaware that at this point, they are had already begun. Our doctor didn't even wait for his partner to get there. Thankfully, I had no additional reactions, and the procedure went very well.

At 8:38 a.m., Grayson Robert McKinney was born! The doctors exclaimed that he had a massive umbilical cord. I like to grow my babies well. Grayson didn't cry immediately or nearly at all, for that matter. He was just as quiet post-delivery as he was in-utero. In fact, he took a few glances and fell peacefully back asleep, while they poked and prodded him on the scale. He's just my incredibly laid-back baby! Proud Papa Chad was taking lots of pictures while they cleaned him off, bundled him and handed him to me. Chad asked, "so what do you think of your new son, mommy?" Without a filter, I said the first thing I thought, "he's chubby." 

Grayson Robert McKinney
Born 8:38 a.m.
9 lbs. 8 ounces
20 3/4 inches long

 

The nurses took us back to the recovery room. Thankfully, they wheeled Grayson in the little crib, as holding him immediately post-surgery always makes me nervous. They did a couple more things with him and placed him on my chest for some skin-to-skin time. Before I could even get positioned, I felt a pinch. I looked down and little Grayson had latched on and started to nurse all by himself. He was a hungry baby! Breastfeeding has been easy with this instinctive little one. We stayed in the recovery room for about an hour, and then we were moved to the postpartum room. We saw our family waiting in the hallway, as we passed by.








We wanted Tyler to meet his baby brother before anyone else, so Chad scooped him up and took him into the room with us. Tyler was beyond excited to see the baby! From that moment on, all he wants to do is hug, kiss and fist bump his little brother.

Grandma Marty (now called "Memaw" by Tyler), Grandma Judy, Great Grandma Morgan and Grandpa all came in to meet Baby Grayson. We took photos with him and admired his long black hair, dimples and chubby cheeks. Auntie Rachel and Alisha came to visit later that night. And Russ, Andrea and The Owens came to meet Grayson on Wednesday.

 

Grayson stayed in the room with us the entire time. Plano Presby received the "Baby Friendly" designation, which means that he never had to leave the room. They do all baths, tests, exams, etc. right in front of the parents. It was great to have all that time to bond with him, and since he was a great sleeper from the beginning, we were still able to rest.


 

Apart from one mild allergic reaction to Percocet, I had a pleasant hospital experience. In fact, all three of us were doing really well. The nurses said that "we could teach the other parents a thing or two." They laughed at how comfortable we were with a newborn, and teased Chad about how he "tossed" the little guy around. We explained that we had a 19 month old at home. We were able to go home Thursday morning, a day earlier than expected. We packed up as quickly as possible, and Chad had the car loaded before I was even discharged. Very eager to get back home, we anxiously awaited the last few precautionary procedures. Chad took a humorous picture of me making a to-do list while waiting. Then, we got in the car and set out for home.

Tyler was at home with Memaw waiting for us. He ran over to greet his baby brother and then quickly got distracted by how incredibly cool the baby carrier was, ha. We snapped another family photo and now begins our life as a family of four. 

Grayson's Birth Announcement