Labor

Dear Zach,

So you have been here for just over a week and we couldn’t be happier. You are a joy, and one handsome fella. You gave me the easiest pregnancy in the world, and I was hoping for an as easy labor or better. You gave me the latter. Your two awesome uncles, Max and Eric slept over on a Sunday night. We played games, hung out and giggled lots. This lasted way into the early hours of Monday morning.  Around one in the morning, I decided it was time you and I got some sleep, though that comes rare…however I don’t blame you too much. ;) Well one thirty comes, and I head to the bathroom. No surprise. Then 2 rolls around…same thing. Two thirty….three…three thirty…same story. This is unusual. Over and over I have to head to the bathroom, compared to the normal, few times a night. I didn’t think much of it and I don’t think anyone else in the house even noticed. Then the sharp pains were coming and going. Again, I didn’t think of it much. They weren’t regular and I wasn’t hunched over in pain or in a dead sweat like you will see in the movies. Well seven in the morning rolls around and your sleepy uncle Eric had to get up and get to school. So like the responsible sister I am, I checked if he was awake….of course he wasn’t, so I got him up and he headed off to school….probably without brushing his teeth. After he left, I headed back to bed. I try to get as much sleep as possible, but with you taking up all the room and comfort, it’s all in vain. Eight a.m. comes and Daddy and I decide we better start our day. We have a Dr. Apt at nine thirty, which means we get to see you on the ultra sound machine. That’s my favorite part of the day. It’s not very exciting any more though because you love to hide your head way in my pelvis, so the best shots we get now are of your femur. It’s an exciting and cute femur , so we will take it. Max had class at nine thirty also and rather than going early in the morning with Eric, he opted to sleep in and catch a ride with us conveniently. The time came, we took Max to school, and we headed to the Dr. Office. Wesley Davis is a wonderful Dr. Zach and always takes good care of you. He asked how things were and if we had any concerns before he checked how you were and did your ultrasound. I just mentioned being up all night, being a little wet each time and the sharp pains that weren’t far apart but not exactly consistent either.  He isn’t one to jump to conclusions or to cause alarm quickly so he just said, well let’s take a look and see how far you are and if that water is broken.

We were at 90% effaced 3 cm. He took a test to check our water, which he stated he was 90% sure it was broken. Then the ultra sound. He saw plenty of pockets of fluid but still said my story was an excellent one so sent your Daddy and me on an excursion to the hospital to do a more accurate, water breaking test.  Well finding labor and delivery was the hardest part of the day. Who knew you actually had to go through the doors that said, “Labor and delivery.” After about 30 minutes of looking, and asking various people, whom were clueless and unhelpful, where we needed to go to have this test taken, we found a nice lady that escorted us straight to the test site. Mommy got all dressed in the beautiful hospital gown and socks and was placed on a bed. The nice nurse started doing all sorts of things to you and me. I was put on an IV for fluids….and she asked if I wanted some numbing stuff for the IV! Mommy just thought that was the silliest thing she had ever heard. Mommy is tough; she didn’t need silly numbing for the little needle. Then a round machine was attached to my belly and…whala! Daddy and I could hear your fast little heartbeat. Well about half an hour in, our nurse decided that we were going to have you today. So she prepped us and took us to a delivery room. By this time, mommy was having pretty annoying contractions that were about every three minutes. Daddy figured; we are going to have a baby today so he sent out the word.
You had lots of people anxious to meet you. And you didn’t keep them waiting.  Guess what Zach! We really lucked out these entire ten long months.  But the last day was the best of them all. We were in the delivery room; Daddy was making calls and what not, while you and I were enjoying watching Friends and having “grin and bear it” contractions. Then our nurse asked us a question about an hour after we had been laying there. “Are you ready for an epidural?” At this time, we were at a four so Mommy wasn’t sure if she should wait or not because those icky contractions weren’t bringing tears to her eyes, but they weren’t something I enjoyed particularly well. Well the nurse informed me that the anesthesiologist was going to be out of commission for my use for about three hours if I didn’t have it now, so that made my decision easy. We had the shot an hour after we arrived, Daddy didn’t pass out and Mommy was feeling much better. Uncles Max and Eric came by to drop off some things, like Daddy’s laptop and Mommy’s pink brush, and then headed home to wait. Our good friend Heather Stephenson was in the building and dropped by to say hello. Also Grandma Wiser, or Nana, brought Daddy some food and he ate it in front of me while I enjoyed a red sucker. Our nice nurse came in to check how we were doing and decided that since I was progressing well enough on my own, she didn’t think we needed this yucky stuff called Pitocin. We did awesome, and only had it for about an hour before she made the call to stop it. Zach, from there you decided you couldn’t wait much longer to meet your anxious mom and dad so you went from a 4 to a 10 in about three hours and only needed 15 minutes of pushing from mom. The nice nurse had us push a few times, then the Dr. came in, we pushed one round of 3, and then on the last round, he had to use this cool tool that helped you out because your cord was slightly wrapped around your neck. Daddy thought you looked pretty scary with a cone head though. That’s all he could talk about for a long time. At 4:17 that afternoon, you took your first breath, Daddy cut your umbilical cord and you were sent to be cleaned. You came back weighing in at 6lbs and 12 oz and measuring 19.5 inches long. You were beautiful, (you still are) and Grandma G didn’t think you looked like a newborn because you weren’t swollen much and didn’t have that “squished” look.
After you were born, we went to our room and visited with Mommy and Daddy’s brothers and sisters and mom and dad. Everyone took turns holding you and smiling at your beautiful face. We didn’t do much in the hospital except play and have visitors. You had lots of people come see you. But by Wednesday, Mom and Dad were ready to get you home so we packed up our bags and your loaded bag and headed home early. You didn’t like getting in the car seat at first, but once you were snug and tight, you didn’t make a sound all the way home.
Zach you made things pretty easy on me, and although I complained a lot, because my darn jeans didn’t fit, we will work on that together. You were worth everything and more. It’s so great to have you in our lives. You don’t know how much you are loved and by how many people. I will put it simply. It’s a lot. You have only been in our home for a week now, but here are some fun things we already notice about you.
1.       You HATE getting your diaper changed.  You do well getting undressed for it, but once we start taking it off, out comes the screams. And wow, you are a strong little guy. As soon as we get that diaper on and set, you stop crying. Just a modest boy I guess.
2.       Burping is a skill you are not void of. You get that from your Dad. We will feed you, and as soon as we go to burp you, you belch like a champ.
3.       You absolutely love belly time. Rather than laying on your back, which you do great at, you would much rather be lying on mommy’s boobs on your belly. You curl your feet way up close to you and snug your tiny hands underneath your head and can be asleep in a few minutes like that.
4.       When we tickle your lips, you pucker them up to give us a big kiss.
5.       You go through a million and a half diapers every day.
6.       Often times, you hold your pee till mommy takes off your diaper and then in spite of having your diaper changed, you will pee on me instead of in the diaper.
7.       You LOVE your daddy very much.
8.       You only fuss when it’s time for a diaper change, or at your 1 in the morning feeding.