Monday's Child is Fair of Face

Zachary Evan is here!!!
8 pounds, 5 ounces
20.5 inches long..

After long last... at 9 am this morning I went in to the hospital to be induced. I guess the walking over the weekend did help some since I went in and was already almot 4 cm dialated and I really can't remember the other stats. Only that the nurse said "oh good!! you're almost half way there!" I was also having contractions which I couldn't even feel so that was wonderful. Sometime between 10 & 11, they decided to start me on pitocin.. then it began.. holy cow. I've heard of back labor but this.. this was nothing I ever imagined. I remember my first pregnancy and labor experience and the pain was really tolerable. This.. this is was.. each contraction brought tears to my eyes and I asked for an epidural at the first opportunity. I knew I wasn't going to be able to handle it for long. The nurse came in felt my stomach and we both knew the baby was turned sideways.. not the sideways where his head is in my side but that his back was not out front but rather on my right side and his feet curled up on my left.. she said often if the back isn't out front it causes back labor... so on came the drugs and off went my grimaces..

Around 3pm Tony & I were discussing how to organize and paint and decorate the soon to be family room and master bedroom. What type of furniture.. mainly. Dreaming up deck plans for the backyard and in rushes 3 nurses, followed by a doctor. We had taken our eyes off the monitor. Zack's heartrate was dropping with contractiosn and they lost it all together a few times.. a few times when they found it well it was so low I can't even think about it... Tony jumped up from the side of the bed and was on the other side of the labor & delievery room watching.. not really making eye contact too much but nor was I because I just felt surreal honestly ... all these people flipping me and turning me and moving the monitors and talking over me about the doctor being in the middle of a c-section next door and needing an internal monitor now.. then the heartrate went back to normal. It felt like forever and a day but was probably more like minutes.. After they staff was satisfied he was "stable" (very scary word mid-labor .. even if it is suppose to be a positive thing) So there I lay on my side because that's the position the baby stablized in..

My husband walked over to me and asked if I was ok. Of course the minute he rubbed my head I got teary and gave him a lame excuse that the oxygen mask I was now sporting was drying my eyes out. I don't think he bought it but he didn't say anything. The same doctor came back in to administer some medicine. Apparently, my blood pressure was now dropping too low.

A few minutes later another doctor came in from the c-section going on next door.. to insert a fetal monitor internally. He then pronounced me at an 8 and asked if my doctor had been called. The nurse had checked me just before, I had still been at a 4 so they theory is that the rapid change most likely caused the distress to Zachary. They called my doctor who rushed over.. when she got there I was at 10. Due to the epidural (wonderful drug I tell you) I couldn't even feel my contractions.

So there I lay ever so calmly flat on my back with the doctor monitoring my contractions.. internally. Husband on one side, nurse on the other.. couple other people in the room.. My doctor gave me the "ok here comesone push" I did. She said good job.. but there was no baby so in my opinion.. not good enough LOL. Second one came and she said push. Baby's heartrate dropped signifcantly, I remember hearing an 80. The doctor made a comment.. basically she wasn't messing around with Zachary so she asked for the vaccuum and prounced he would be born on the next contraction.

I can not even describe the feeling of having 8lbs and 5ozs vaccuumed out of you. There wasn't any pain at the time but holy cow I remember thinking "that is going to hurt later". But out he came. He cried, Dad got all excited.. I cried. We all tried to guess his weight. The doctor was 1 ounce off.

My in-laws apparently were waiting at the hospital. They asked if they could go get the kids. They did. It was the greatest thing. They allowed everyone in the room and we had our first family picture. It was wonderful.

The kids went home after a few hours.. my nurse came in to introduce my new night nurse who wanted me to get up and shower. I looked at my husband who was now looking rather ill... he hadn't eaten hardly anything all day and was now getting a headache and stomach ache.. I told him to go get the kids from his dad's and go home and I'd see him tomorrow. I took my shower.. they brought me Zachary and I just laid in bed holding him alone. That was really wonderful.

I was up more that night than Zachary was.. all the water I retained the last nine months was saying bye-bye..