Zoe's Birth Story

This is old news, but I had a baby 19 days ago. Ha ha ha. I can't believe how long it's taken me to sit down and write Zoe's birth story. I knew motherhood was a hard job and time consuming, but I guess I didn't really know how hard and time consuming it would be. But I'm enjoying every minute of it.

Some of this story is a little TMI, but it's part of birth story.

Thursday, February 5:

I had my 38 week appointment with Dr. S the morning of February 5. My cervix was still closed and hard, so Dr. S said she'd probably be seeing me again the following week for my weekly check-up. Due to swelling in my hands and feet, I decided to work from home Thursday and Friday so I could work on elevating my feet and taking it easy.

After running a few errands, Trevor and I had Chick-Fil-A for dinner. I got my usual--#1 deluxe with a diet coke. Around 11pm, I suddenly started feeling really nauseous. I mean really nauseous. And then I started feeling like I needed to go to the bathroom. When I did, I had diarrhea. (TMI) And Zoe was SOOOOO active, to the point that it actually was causing me a lot of discomfort in my lower pelvis. All I could do was sit in bed with my eyes closed and hold my stomach. I read my childbirth booklet and noticed that diarrhea can be an early labor symptom and can present itself 1-7 days before labor. Concerned, Trevor and I immediately started packing our hospital bag....just in case. I decided to go to sleep and see how I made out through the night. I woke up around 4 am still feeling nauseous, but was able to doze back off.

Friday, February 6:

I woke up around 8am and was talking to Trevor as he prepared to take one of our cars to the dealership for service. I was still feeling a little nauseous, but not as bad as the night before. As Trevor and I were talking, I got a sudden urge to use the bathroom. More diarrhea. Even more than the night prior. Then I heard "drip, drip, drip" in the toilet. I looked down and saw bright red blood dripping in the water. It wasn't the "bloody show" I'd read about because it was pure blood, no mucous mixed in with it. I was kinda freaked out, but I recalled Dr. S telling me something about bleeding and labor. I couldn't remember what she said, so we decided to call her. In the meantime, I put on a pad in the event the bleeding increased. As we were waiting for Dr. S to call back, I felt a warm gush between my legs. This was at 8:42 am. I looked at my pad and saw a brownish-yellow fluid. I knew at that moment that my water broke. A few additional gushes followed, but thankfully not a huge flow of fluid. Dr. S's nurse called back and instructed us to head to L&D. After taking a quick shower and stopping to get something to eat (I knew they would starve me once I arrived at the hospital), we were on our way.

We arrived at the hospital at 9:45 am. My first L&D nurse, Kimber, checked my fluid and confirmed it was amniotic fluid. She also informed me that I would be admitted and would be having a baby today! My water had officially broke, and the color indicated there was meconium staining, which meant Zoe had a bowel movement inside of me. I knew this meant that my labor had to be watched closely and that the NICU would be called in at the time I delivered to make sure Zoe's lungs weren't compromised by the meconium. Kimber checked my cervix and it was....hard and closed. HUH?! After consulting with Dr. S, Kimber administered pitocin to get my contractions going. My IV was inserted at 10:45 am (ouch! - it took two tries to get the IV in) and the pitocin was started at 11:15 am. Dr. S came to check me during her lunch hour and I still wasn't dilated, so the pitocin was increased at 12:20pm and again at 1:00pm and 1:20pm. At 1:35pm I was officially feeling the contractions, but they were manageable. At 1:40pm, the pitocin was increased again. By 3:30pm, my contractions were about 2 minutes apart. At 4:30pm, Dr. S came to check me again, and I was 75% effaced but only a fingertip dilated. Are you kidding me?! She had an internal monitor inserted to gauge the intensity of my contractions and the pitocin was increased yet again. Although Dr. S wasn't on call for the weekend, she said she wouldn't release me to the on call OB and that she would personally deliver Zoe. I was so happy because I really like Dr. S. However, Dr. S told me that if I hadn't progressed sufficiently within 12 hours of my water breaking, I'd probably be having a c-section due to the meconium staining in my amniotic fluid. GULP!

It goes without mentioning, by now I was starving and tired of eating popsicles! How cruel!

At 6:30pm, I was 80% effaced and 1.5 cm dilated. Seriously?! And I was in HORRIBLE pain. I had back labor like you read about! At 6:40pm, I couldn't take the pain any longer, but I knew I couldn't get an epidural because I would risk slowing down my already slow labor, so Kimber ordered up some Nubain to "take the edge off" the pain. Boy was I feeling good....for about an hour and then "the edge" came back with a vengeance! I was gripping the bed rails with every contraction and just as I recovered from one, the next one came. My new L&D nurse came in at 7pm, but I was in so much pain that I honestly can't remember her name. I think it was Julie???? Anyway, at 8:25pm I started getting really nauseous from the back labor, and I was in tears. I was 100% effaced and still only 1.5 cm dilated. I was up against the clock. Only 17 minutes to go before the 12 hour mark. I was praying for a miracle, but I desperately needed the epidural. I was so afraid to get it because I knew I was risking slowing down my labor, but I couldn't take the pain any longer. The L&D nurse got the okay from Dr. S and the epidural was ordered. At 8:45pm a walking epidural was inserted. It was a strange experience, but I lived through it. The pain relief wasn't instant, but I was feeling pretty good within about 10 minutes. But I started itching like crazy! I was told that it was normal and eventually the itching went away.

At 9:13pm, the nurse checked me again as we awaited Dr. S's arrival. I was 100% effaced and 3 cm dilated. The nurse inserted my catheter.

At 9:31pm, Dr. S arrived and checked me. She told me she wasn't very optimistic since it had taken me so long to reach 3 cm. Also, Zoe was starting to show early signs of distress because her heart rate was starting to drop slightly. When she checked me she was surprised to find me at....9 cm. YAY!!! While she was still checking me I dilated to 10cm. She was still skeptical because my epidural was so fresh, and she wasn't sure I would be able to push. On the next contraction we decided to "practice". I pushed like a champ, and Dr. S said it looked like we'd be having a baby via vaginal delivery. Thank you, Jesus!!! The next thing I knew, the NICU was called in, everyone got prepped and we awaited my next contraction. It came, I pushed three times and Zoe was born! Just like that! Two contractions and five pushes!! At 9:41pm, Zoe Alexis entered this world!!! Before she was delivered fully Dr. S had me reach down and touch her head. I can't explain how it felt to feel a human being's head coming out of me. Weird and amazing at the same time! Oh, turns out that Zoe's cord was wrapped pretty snuggly around her neck, which explains the signs of distress. I'm so glad she was okay! After she was fully delivered, Zoe was immediately taken to the NICU staff to suction out the meconium and to check her lungs. Thankfully, the meconium was only in her stomach and none had migrated to her lungs. Thus, she didn't require oxygen, a NICU stay or any other interventions. I was worried when I didn't hear her cry, but Dr. S told me that they were suppressing her cry to keep the meconium from traveling to her lungs. Within a few minutes she cried and so did I.

I only had a minor 1st degree tear, so my body handled the labor well. Other than the back labor, giving birth to Zoe was not as hard as I expected it to be. Start to finish, my pregnancy was incredible. I actually miss being pregnant. :- ( I can't put my finger on the reason why, but I really miss it. And I miss feeling Zoe inside of me so much.

A few pics from the glorious day:

Zoe and the NICU Staff

Daddy Cutting the Cord

Zoe and Mommy Meet

Zoe and Dr. S

Our First Family Photo

Our Princess