This is long overdue. I mean, Zoë is sneaking up on 4 months old (ugh they grow too fast!). But before I completely forget, though at this moment it's solidly etched in my memory, I wanted to tell her birth story. And feel free to not read - it's quite long.
So it actually starts the Saturday before I had her. I had been walking around having braxton hicks off and on for a couple of weeks but nothing too serious and they definitely were not in a pattern. So I pushed myself to walk. A LOT. I walked in the parking lot during lunch. I went to the mall to walk around. I was oh so ready for her to be here (not to mention pregnancy for me wasn't all that great...I still don't miss being pregnant).
Early Saturday afternoon, I started having some more intense contractions but I didn't really think anything of it. I thought maybe I was psyching myself out. After a few hours of it and noticing they were getting closer, I started timing them. And they started getting closer. And my pelvis felt like it was going to explode. After a few hours of watching them stay consistent - no more than 5 minutes apart but closer to 2 or 3 minutes and lasting for a minimum of 30 seconds - I called my mom (my hubby was at work and I was not calling him unless it was to tell him to come home - I knew he would become discombobbled if I did call :)).
I was nervous. I wondered if this was really the real deal. I had nothing to go off of. The contractions were quite uncomfortable but they weren't wrapping around to my back like everyone said they would. Plus, at my last visit though I was 80% effaced, dilation was between 1 and 2 cm. What if nothing had changed? That can happen even with consistent contractions, right?
So I said all this to my mom. And she thought it was the real deal. I kept doubting. And asking. And she kept telling me, "I don't know, Meg. That really sounds like it's the real thing." She eventually asked if I had called the on-call doc. I admitted I hadn't. I was nervous. She told me to call, so we hung up and I did.
The on-call doc asked me all the same questions my mom did. And finally told me to monitor it for another hour or so and if they kept up to go to the hospital.
Well they weren't letting up. So I called my mom and freaked out some more. And she asked if I had called Ben. I hadn't. What if this isn't it?!?! I didn't want to be one of those people who went several times before the real thing. I don't know why. I don't judge anyone for going and it ends up being false labor or whatever else it could be. I just only wanted to go to the hospital once (I'm not a big fan of them) and come home with a baby in my arms.
So I called Ben. And he made the decision: "I'm coming home!"
Ok then. To the hospital we will go. I started making sure we had everything we would need between contractions. And in the shortest time possible, Ben was home, the car was packed, and we were headed to the hospital.
After finally being checked in and being hooked up to a monitor for some 2 hours, they sent me home. I was right. I was having contractions. Steady. But they weren't changing anything down there. Talk about frustrating. Especially considering when we asked the doctor how we would know if we needed to come back, he said, "Well, normally this is when we tell you to come to the hospital. But in your case, if they get stronger is when you need to come back." Great. Just what I wanted to hear.
Thankfully, the contractions let up some. But not much. So I walked around in the early phases of labor.
Sunday came and went. So did Monday. And all I could think was, "I hate walking around in labor but not feeling enough change to go anywhere. I'm gonna be stuck like this for eternity!" Can you tell I was sick of pregnancy and ready for my little bundle?
And then I woke up Tuesday at one am in pain. Not much more than Saturday. But enough to wake me up (and that's pretty intense as I'm ridiculously hard to wake up; just ask Ben). So I started clocking them. At first they were about 10 minutes apart. So I dozed off and on. And I tried to make myself comfortable. And they started getting closer. And I wasn't getting sleep.
Finally, after 4 hours of clocking them, watching them get closer, and wishing Zoë was positioned a bit differently, I woke Ben up. I asked him to clock them. And by that time they were no more than 5 minutes apart and lasting a good 40 seconds. After he clocked them like that for 3 hours, we called my doctor's office. I purposely waited until their office was open as I was NOT going back to the assessment center. No thanks. I'd had enough of that!
They told me to come in and my doc would check me. Phew! At least if I was wrong then it would just be my doc and some other people I had become comfortable with. And no long waiting for 2 hours while hooked to a machine.
So we arrived. He checked me. And after stripping my membranes and stretching me to a 4, he sent us on our way to the hospital. He also said he would be behind us shortly to break my water. Woo! It was here! Finally, I was going to be working on getting to hold my baby in my arms!
Boy when he told us to go did the nervousness jump by about 200%! I didn't know I could feel that nervous. It was worse than performing an entire recital on my own! But the excitement knowing Zoë was coming somewhere in the near future far surpassed that.
So we got all set up in an L&D room. My mom and younger sister, Laura, came to be with us. And my dad, brother, and Ben's mom came to wait in the waiting room. Eventually, Ben's dad joined the rest of the group once he got off of work.
I didn't want an epidural - I'm a needle ninny and I wanted to try to have her as natural as possible. So I continued to labor without. The contractions really never got much stronger than they were when I woke up. I never felt them in my back. But man was her head hitting the front of my pelvic bone! Even after my doc broke my water the contractions were steady but never stronger. (The entire time my contractions never wrapped around to my back. I even asked if that was bad and my nurse told me no, it's just typical that they do wrap around.)
Finally around noon, I had had enough. I hadn't budged from a 4 since my doc had checked me at 8:30 that morning. And I was getting really annoyed: all the pain with no improvement? No thank you! Just as I was calling the nurse to ask for the epidural, she was walking in to tell me my doc had ordered pitocin. Perfect timing!
*Side Note* Looking back, I wonder if I would have made it without the epidural, because honestly my reasoning behind getting it was this: "I'm not dilating. I'm really, really, really annoyed that I'm not dilating. If the pain is not being productive, I'd rather be comfortable than sit here thinking during every contraction (which was about every 2 to 3 minutes mind you), 'Why is this not working!?'" The pain wasn't great but I was fine with it if it was doing what it was supposed to. But it wasn't. And that wasn't something I could do anything to change considering she was in the perfect position. Not to mention, I kept changing positioins and sitting on the birthing ball to see if any of that would help. Nada. And as such, my mind went into the future and worried (oh if I would just let go and trust God!) that even the pitocin wouldn't work (Dear God, please no! I really don't want surgery at all if I can avoid it!). So I got the epidural and boy was it nice to be comfortable :) *End Side Note*
My nurse was awesome and immediately said, "Let's get you the epidual before we start the pitocin." Oh thank God! My thoughts exactly! By 12:30 the anesthesiologist was in. I was so ready I didn't even have time to freak out about a needle between my spine. They got the medicine going and it worked great on all but one spot. They ended up giving me some pain meds to fix a hot spot I had and were done with it. Before leaving, my nurse checked me and yet again, I was still at 4 cm.
Now I could sleep! And boy was I glad because no sleep AND really hungry were starting to have a bad toll on my body. Not to mention all the frustration from getting no where - ugh!
After a nice 1.5 hours of sleep, we goofed off, and by we I mean my younger sister made this ridiculous video. Around 2 pm my doc came in to check me and I was at 6 cm! AHHH! Finally! Some change. Not much considering I had been in labor since 1:30 am but still! Better than nothing :)
That gave me some hope. As we sat around waiting for my docs day to end, I kept praying, "God, whatever happens, I really would like to not have a c-section and I really would love to have my doc deliver Zoë." Neither necessities but both were of great comfort to me and meant a lot to me. So I asked.
And God blessed me with both!
This next tidbit isn't much, however, I want to remember it so I'm going to write it :) Around 4:30 my nurse came in to let me know my doc had called and said he would be by after he had finished clinic. BTW, both of my nurses were AWESOME! A God send! And I really clicked with my second. Even had several conversations with her (I was her only patient that day). So anywho, she came in and told me that but asked if I would want her to check me as we would be waiting a bit before he got off. I told her I was a bit nervous but I really wanted to know. She smiled: she was just as curious as I was. And...9.5! Heck yes! She even said she was being a bit stingy just in case my doc said something less. We also agreed to not tell him she had checked me so he would have to: we all wanted to see what he thought compared to her. Plus it was kind of fun (Not so sure I would have had this much fun at this point if I hadn't had the epidural!). :)
Somewhere close to 5 my doc came in and all I could think was if my nurse was right I should be ready to have Zoë!
He checked me. And I will never forget the face he made because in that moment I forgot how funny (laughing funny, not weird funny) my doc could be and thought, "Hell no! We were wrong. We were so wrong. There is no way I'm about to have a baby..." So I mustered up the courage to look straight at him and asked, "What?"
He proceeded to get the biggest, goofy grin I've ever seen while saying, "You're gettin' ready to have a baby!"
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! YES!!! HALLELUJAH! SHE'S A COMIN'!!!
Seriously, if I could have jumped for joy I would have! No c-section! Thank you God! AND my doc was delivering! SO FREAKIN' BLESSED!
He almost immediately had me start pushing. Then he had to go tell a colleague they could leave, he didn't need them to assist in a c-section (GO ON HOME! We don't need you here today!!!). So my nurse took over. When my doc came back he sat in a chair, while he waited on all the sterile equipment and the rest of the delivery team to arrive, and started looking at the book my sister was reading. I find this stinking hilarious that he is so low-key he just propped his feet back and started talking with us about her book. I guess I find it funny because I love that he is laid back but if action needs to be taken he's there (no I didn't feel like I wasn't being cared for while he did that and that is all that matters to me). I still laugh about that.
As soon as the team arrived, they got everything set up while I kept on pushing. And people moved around. And I kept pushing. And everything was together. And finally after 30 minutes of pushing (total!):
So it actually starts the Saturday before I had her. I had been walking around having braxton hicks off and on for a couple of weeks but nothing too serious and they definitely were not in a pattern. So I pushed myself to walk. A LOT. I walked in the parking lot during lunch. I went to the mall to walk around. I was oh so ready for her to be here (not to mention pregnancy for me wasn't all that great...I still don't miss being pregnant).
Early Saturday afternoon, I started having some more intense contractions but I didn't really think anything of it. I thought maybe I was psyching myself out. After a few hours of it and noticing they were getting closer, I started timing them. And they started getting closer. And my pelvis felt like it was going to explode. After a few hours of watching them stay consistent - no more than 5 minutes apart but closer to 2 or 3 minutes and lasting for a minimum of 30 seconds - I called my mom (my hubby was at work and I was not calling him unless it was to tell him to come home - I knew he would become discombobbled if I did call :)).
I was nervous. I wondered if this was really the real deal. I had nothing to go off of. The contractions were quite uncomfortable but they weren't wrapping around to my back like everyone said they would. Plus, at my last visit though I was 80% effaced, dilation was between 1 and 2 cm. What if nothing had changed? That can happen even with consistent contractions, right?
So I said all this to my mom. And she thought it was the real deal. I kept doubting. And asking. And she kept telling me, "I don't know, Meg. That really sounds like it's the real thing." She eventually asked if I had called the on-call doc. I admitted I hadn't. I was nervous. She told me to call, so we hung up and I did.
The on-call doc asked me all the same questions my mom did. And finally told me to monitor it for another hour or so and if they kept up to go to the hospital.
Well they weren't letting up. So I called my mom and freaked out some more. And she asked if I had called Ben. I hadn't. What if this isn't it?!?! I didn't want to be one of those people who went several times before the real thing. I don't know why. I don't judge anyone for going and it ends up being false labor or whatever else it could be. I just only wanted to go to the hospital once (I'm not a big fan of them) and come home with a baby in my arms.
So I called Ben. And he made the decision: "I'm coming home!"
Ok then. To the hospital we will go. I started making sure we had everything we would need between contractions. And in the shortest time possible, Ben was home, the car was packed, and we were headed to the hospital.
After finally being checked in and being hooked up to a monitor for some 2 hours, they sent me home. I was right. I was having contractions. Steady. But they weren't changing anything down there. Talk about frustrating. Especially considering when we asked the doctor how we would know if we needed to come back, he said, "Well, normally this is when we tell you to come to the hospital. But in your case, if they get stronger is when you need to come back." Great. Just what I wanted to hear.
Thankfully, the contractions let up some. But not much. So I walked around in the early phases of labor.
Sunday came and went. So did Monday. And all I could think was, "I hate walking around in labor but not feeling enough change to go anywhere. I'm gonna be stuck like this for eternity!" Can you tell I was sick of pregnancy and ready for my little bundle?
And then I woke up Tuesday at one am in pain. Not much more than Saturday. But enough to wake me up (and that's pretty intense as I'm ridiculously hard to wake up; just ask Ben). So I started clocking them. At first they were about 10 minutes apart. So I dozed off and on. And I tried to make myself comfortable. And they started getting closer. And I wasn't getting sleep.
Finally, after 4 hours of clocking them, watching them get closer, and wishing Zoë was positioned a bit differently, I woke Ben up. I asked him to clock them. And by that time they were no more than 5 minutes apart and lasting a good 40 seconds. After he clocked them like that for 3 hours, we called my doctor's office. I purposely waited until their office was open as I was NOT going back to the assessment center. No thanks. I'd had enough of that!
They told me to come in and my doc would check me. Phew! At least if I was wrong then it would just be my doc and some other people I had become comfortable with. And no long waiting for 2 hours while hooked to a machine.
So we arrived. He checked me. And after stripping my membranes and stretching me to a 4, he sent us on our way to the hospital. He also said he would be behind us shortly to break my water. Woo! It was here! Finally, I was going to be working on getting to hold my baby in my arms!
Boy when he told us to go did the nervousness jump by about 200%! I didn't know I could feel that nervous. It was worse than performing an entire recital on my own! But the excitement knowing Zoë was coming somewhere in the near future far surpassed that.
So we got all set up in an L&D room. My mom and younger sister, Laura, came to be with us. And my dad, brother, and Ben's mom came to wait in the waiting room. Eventually, Ben's dad joined the rest of the group once he got off of work.
I didn't want an epidural - I'm a needle ninny and I wanted to try to have her as natural as possible. So I continued to labor without. The contractions really never got much stronger than they were when I woke up. I never felt them in my back. But man was her head hitting the front of my pelvic bone! Even after my doc broke my water the contractions were steady but never stronger. (The entire time my contractions never wrapped around to my back. I even asked if that was bad and my nurse told me no, it's just typical that they do wrap around.)
Finally around noon, I had had enough. I hadn't budged from a 4 since my doc had checked me at 8:30 that morning. And I was getting really annoyed: all the pain with no improvement? No thank you! Just as I was calling the nurse to ask for the epidural, she was walking in to tell me my doc had ordered pitocin. Perfect timing!
*Side Note* Looking back, I wonder if I would have made it without the epidural, because honestly my reasoning behind getting it was this: "I'm not dilating. I'm really, really, really annoyed that I'm not dilating. If the pain is not being productive, I'd rather be comfortable than sit here thinking during every contraction (which was about every 2 to 3 minutes mind you), 'Why is this not working!?'" The pain wasn't great but I was fine with it if it was doing what it was supposed to. But it wasn't. And that wasn't something I could do anything to change considering she was in the perfect position. Not to mention, I kept changing positioins and sitting on the birthing ball to see if any of that would help. Nada. And as such, my mind went into the future and worried (oh if I would just let go and trust God!) that even the pitocin wouldn't work (Dear God, please no! I really don't want surgery at all if I can avoid it!). So I got the epidural and boy was it nice to be comfortable :) *End Side Note*
My nurse was awesome and immediately said, "Let's get you the epidual before we start the pitocin." Oh thank God! My thoughts exactly! By 12:30 the anesthesiologist was in. I was so ready I didn't even have time to freak out about a needle between my spine. They got the medicine going and it worked great on all but one spot. They ended up giving me some pain meds to fix a hot spot I had and were done with it. Before leaving, my nurse checked me and yet again, I was still at 4 cm.
Now I could sleep! And boy was I glad because no sleep AND really hungry were starting to have a bad toll on my body. Not to mention all the frustration from getting no where - ugh!
After a nice 1.5 hours of sleep, we goofed off, and by we I mean my younger sister made this ridiculous video. Around 2 pm my doc came in to check me and I was at 6 cm! AHHH! Finally! Some change. Not much considering I had been in labor since 1:30 am but still! Better than nothing :)
That gave me some hope. As we sat around waiting for my docs day to end, I kept praying, "God, whatever happens, I really would like to not have a c-section and I really would love to have my doc deliver Zoë." Neither necessities but both were of great comfort to me and meant a lot to me. So I asked.
And God blessed me with both!
This next tidbit isn't much, however, I want to remember it so I'm going to write it :) Around 4:30 my nurse came in to let me know my doc had called and said he would be by after he had finished clinic. BTW, both of my nurses were AWESOME! A God send! And I really clicked with my second. Even had several conversations with her (I was her only patient that day). So anywho, she came in and told me that but asked if I would want her to check me as we would be waiting a bit before he got off. I told her I was a bit nervous but I really wanted to know. She smiled: she was just as curious as I was. And...9.5! Heck yes! She even said she was being a bit stingy just in case my doc said something less. We also agreed to not tell him she had checked me so he would have to: we all wanted to see what he thought compared to her. Plus it was kind of fun (Not so sure I would have had this much fun at this point if I hadn't had the epidural!). :)
Somewhere close to 5 my doc came in and all I could think was if my nurse was right I should be ready to have Zoë!
He checked me. And I will never forget the face he made because in that moment I forgot how funny (laughing funny, not weird funny) my doc could be and thought, "Hell no! We were wrong. We were so wrong. There is no way I'm about to have a baby..." So I mustered up the courage to look straight at him and asked, "What?"
He proceeded to get the biggest, goofy grin I've ever seen while saying, "You're gettin' ready to have a baby!"
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! YES!!! HALLELUJAH! SHE'S A COMIN'!!!
Seriously, if I could have jumped for joy I would have! No c-section! Thank you God! AND my doc was delivering! SO FREAKIN' BLESSED!
He almost immediately had me start pushing. Then he had to go tell a colleague they could leave, he didn't need them to assist in a c-section (GO ON HOME! We don't need you here today!!!). So my nurse took over. When my doc came back he sat in a chair, while he waited on all the sterile equipment and the rest of the delivery team to arrive, and started looking at the book my sister was reading. I find this stinking hilarious that he is so low-key he just propped his feet back and started talking with us about her book. I guess I find it funny because I love that he is laid back but if action needs to be taken he's there (no I didn't feel like I wasn't being cared for while he did that and that is all that matters to me). I still laugh about that.
As soon as the team arrived, they got everything set up while I kept on pushing. And people moved around. And I kept pushing. And everything was together. And finally after 30 minutes of pushing (total!):
Zoë Grace Daigle
was born @ 17:27
weighing 7 lbs 10.1 oz
and measuring 21 in
(I am still in awe over her long, piano fingers! And how freshly wrinkled they were!)
And sweet Zoë,
I'm still wowed over you as much as day one! I tell you almost every day I could squish you I love you so much! That may sound awful but it's really because I feel like I could explode from how much I love you (gah words just don't do how much I love you justice). That, my dear, is your birth story! And I wouldn't have it any other way because you came into this world a healthy, pink bundle of joy! All ready to cuddle in your mommy's arms!
I love you sweet girl!
Mommy
