Born April 2 at 8:57 pm 8 lbs 6 oz 20 inches
I was actually due March 20, so she was 2 weeks overdue and I still had to be induced! She did not want to come on her own. Apparently I am a great baby incubator. Because I had a C-section with Zayden, I wanted to try and have a normal delivery this time around. (VBAC - vaginal birth after cesarean) Because of that, I was considered high risk and could not be induced. I was supposed to go into labor on my own. Well, her due date came and went and my mom came to help out and arrived 2 days before Zoey's due date, thinking that I would have a baby within a few days. Little did we know my mom would be here two weeks and not have a baby! So she extended her trip another week, no way was she going home without holding that new grandbaby! She had a blast playing with Zayden and helping with all the cooking and cleaning around the house. I had completely cleared out my schedule thinking I would need to be home recovering with a new baby so we had a lot of free time on our hands!
Anyways, I went with midwives this time around and I loved it! I was hoping they would be more supportive of a natural delivery and not try and force a c-section again. I was completely against another c-section. I had a very difficult time recovering from Zayden and I remembered vividly the pain of getting out of bed the next day after the surgery. I did not want that pain again. Almost two weeks after her due date, I was still only dilated to a 1 (which is very depressing when you need to get to a 10 to have the baby). Every doctor's visit was pretty depressing when my body was making no progress to deliver a baby on its own. (With Zayden I had to be induced because we were moving from Montana to Illinois two weeks after his due date) So I was not sure what it would be like to go on my own without pitocin. I was hoping to have a St. Patrick's Day baby, then when that didn't happen, I moved it to hoping for an Easter baby, then an April Fool's baby... nothing! Three holidays and I missed all of them! She was on her own agenda.
So they decided to induce me, but they couldn't use pitocin because it causes too hard of contractions which increases the risk for a uterine rupture. So they used the balloon to help me dilate then they had to break my water. None of that hurt too badly. However, when they put the IV in I almost passed out! I still cannot handle needles! So after my water broke, then I had awful contractions! Originally I had thought maybe I could deliver with no epidural. HECK NO! After those contractions, I was begging for it. But because I hadn't started labor on my own, they needed to see if my body would still progress. The epidural can slow labor down. So the midwife made me wait and spend some time eating ice chips and using breathing techniques. Labor is awful! That was the worst pain I have ever endured! So as soon as I could, I got the epidural. That is God's gift to women! The only way to make it through labor! I actually got it twice. The first time, it was only numbing the right side of my body so I could still feel those awful contractions on the left side. Ugh, the anesthesiologist thought he just needed to up the dosage but that didn't work, so he had to take it out and retry. (After an hour and a half of needing the pain relief and not having it) Well, I was dilating slowly but surely. Everything was going well, the baby was great, I was having contractions so everything was on track. I dilated to a 9 1/2 and was told to push and hoped to help out that last 1/2 cm with a baby. Well as soon as I did that, her heart rate plummeted! This really scared the midwife and got the doctor on call's opinion on the situation. I was told that I had to have a c-section. She was not going to handle labor the normal way. I started bawling! This was everything I was against and was just traumatized by the idea of going through the recovery again of a c-section. I asked to wait and try pushing again in a little while but the doctor was really against it and I felt like it was my only option. I was devastated. So I agreed and cried through the whole delivery. Also, I had the "labor shakes" which is your body is so exhausted that your body shakes and convulses. I'd been having those for about 5 hours. So through the surgery my upper body was shaking so hard I had to have Justin and other nurses hold my arms down. I was emotionally and physically a wreck and just closed my eyes through the whole process because I knew exactly what was going on and I didn't want to see any of it.
But the good news is, Zoey was born healthy and happy! Her eyes wide open and curious and my shakes slowed down so I could hold her! The doctors knew my concerns about pain tolerance and made sure that I would be on good pain meds afterwards! And I had heard that recovering from a 2nd c-section is easier than the first. They were right! I expect it is because they cut on the same incision so the scar tissue is already there and you aren't cutting through new muscle. Every time I got out of the bed, I felt like I could recover well and I didn't want to cry and stay in bed the whole time! I felt much better this time around! And for the future, I will always have to have a c-section to deliver a baby. So the good news is I will know the exact date when I will have a baby! And that is Zoey's delivery story! Now for all the fun pictures!
These pictures were taken by a good friend in our church, Sara Mavromatis. Zoey was already 3 weeks old by this point! Her umblicial cord fell off the morning of this photo shoot!
And these were taken by me! 1 month old
Now here she is, 1 month old and doing great! She is sleeping 2-4 hour stretches (the 4 hour being rare). She eats like a champ; she was 10 lbs 10 oz on her 1 month check up (90th percentile), and 21 1/2 inches long. She is growing so fast and is already in 3 month clothes! I can't believe it! She is so different from Zayden. It took him forever to get to that weight!
Not to forget Zayden of course, he had his picture taken. Here's our little farm boy. :)
So darling! Zayden is 21 months old and a hoot! Almost 26 lbs now! He is all boy! Loves to play outside and with cars, trucks, tractors, and everything else that little boys play with. He's adjusted to having a sister pretty well. He sleeps through her crying and tries to rock the carseat to help put her to sleep. The only thing he misses is complete mom time. So I have to make sure that I spend some quality time with him every day while she is sleeping.
We've all been adjusting to being a family of 4 and a newborn in the house. Running on a few hours of sleep at night is harder with a toddler who is into everything. Justin has been great the past few months. He finished his thesis and passed. He will be graduating this Saturday with his masters in Technical Systems Management. We will be moving in 2 1/2 weeks to Iowa to attend Iowa State for his PHD. But we will be living on his parent's ranch in Montana for the month of June. Zayden is going to love being on the ranch. Tractors and trucks galore. Things seem to be going really well for our little family. We will have more posts after this weekend for graduation and Zoey's baby blessing. There's going to be lots of family here!
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