Here is her super long and detailed birth story:
On Saturday, May 12th Nicholas woke up and had the great idea to go out to breakfast as a family. He suggested we walk there since it was only a block and a half away and I definitely agreed since I wanted to see if I could jump start labor over the weekend. Of course, once he suggested that my mind went a million miles a minute and had tons of plans that we could do as a family day. So, we loaded up Brodie in the stroller and started off our family day adventure (Our adventure details are in the next giant paragraph)
First we walked to breakfast, where I got some strawberry french toast. After breakfast we walked to a garage sale my mom/dad were helping out with. After visiting for a few minutes we walked across thew street to the park to let Brodie play for a while. While there I got a phone call from someone wanting to buy our old bedroom set and they wanted to pick it up right then. So, we walked back home, unloaded everything from the drawers and helped the people load it into their car. After that whirlwind adventure we headed off to Carlsbad to do a bunch of errands, stopping to drop off something to Ryan/Jessica Frausel on the way out of town. We went to K1 speedway to redeem a Groupon for Nick, and after that we headed to lunch where I got the most delicious Turkey/Bacon/Avocado sandwich at a deli. We ate and then headed to Carlsbad Outlet mall so I could buy a few maternity bras with a gift card. After walking like a mile each way to our car there (parking is AWFUL) we headed off to Bed, Bath and Beyond to return some sheets and get some king pillowcases for our new king bed. :) We walked around the whole store to see if there was anything else we couldn't live without and finally left with new pillows. At this point the Braxton Hicks contractions that I had been having for a month were beginning to be accompanied by some period like cramps. I told Nick they were getting a little more frequent and were uncomfortable. We both prayed that they possibly would help dilate me a bit further before my appointment the next Friday, since I had been stuck at 1.5cm/50% effaced for a month. We hopped back in the car and drove to Costco where we tackled a list and the weekend crowds for some delicious food stuffs we needed. After Costco it was back to Ramona to drop off groceries/visit my parents for a few minutes before returning home to feed Brodie dinner. As we were feeding Brodie Nick discovered 3 baby kittens in the back yard so we called Kati Carmody to come get them since he's allergic. Michelle Miller also dropped off a mattress for Zoey in this chaos and we went through everything from the drawers that was dumped on our bed so we could sleep that night. FINALLY we got to sit down and eat some leftover pizza at 8:30pm, which tasted gross to me. I also started timing the uncomfortable contractions at this point in case I was in labor.
At 9:30 I had been having contractions every 6 minutes consistently and texted Amy Glanz to see when I was supposed to go to the hospital for a 2nd child (Brodie had eaten my labor instructions paper...literally). The sheet said if I were having them every 10 minutes or less for an hour to go, so I hopped in the shower while Nick took a sleeping Brodie over to my mom's house. We threw the camera in the car and left at 10 pm for the hospital, with my mom in her car right behind us. At 10:45 I got checked in to an observation room to see if I was having contractions/check baby's heart rate/see if I progressed in an hour. I was only 2cm dilated and 50% effaced when I got there which was super discouraging. I was sure I wasn't in labor because it was pretty much what I had been the past month. I was having contractions at this point but could still talk through them. Zoey's heart rate was great! So, our nurse Sarah (who I LOVED), called Dr. Lasting at midnight to see what he wanted to do with me. He said I could either go home or I could walk for an hour and then go home if I didn't progress. So walk we did! For 30 minutes Nick walked with me while my mom took a cat nap and then they switched for the other 30 minutes.
At 1:10 Sarah went to check me again and all of us were praying I had made at least some progress. Well, our prayers were answered because in that one hour I had progressed to 4-5cm dilated and 100% effaced with my bag of waters now bulging. I actually had a contraction while she was checking me and she felt Zoey's head come down with the contraction, which was a good sign since she couldn't feel the head before. So, off to the official labor/delivery room we went. At 1:30am I got blood taken and my Hep lock installed. It took 4 tries for the Hep lock and I STILL have a giant bruise 16 days later! The anesthesiologist had to come in and place it after 2 different nurses took stabs at me. I got my 1st dose of GBS antibiotics through the Hep Lock pretty quickly and was monitored by Sarah holding the fetal monitors manually (Zoey was stubborn and kept moving away from them) for 20 minutes. Then, I got to walk walk walk! I walked for 40 minutes and stopped in the hallway for a quick Doppler check and then got to walk for 30 more minutes. By this point I was in full on labor and having to stop every contraction, lean against the wall, and really focus on breathing and relaxing through it. The pain was manageable though, and I didn't have to scream or moan at all. Unfortunately I had come to realize I was going to have some back labor as well so my mom was in charge of pushing on my back each contraction to help apply some counter pressure. She was a life saver!
In between contractions i was talking and laughing and giving thumbs up/dances to the nurses at the nurses station. I felt FINE as long as I wasn't having one and Sarah was very impressed by how well I was handling things. Maybe I just had a worse vision for labor...but this was way better than expected. I went back to the room and got checked again on the fetal monitors before deciding I wanted to bounce on the yoga ball a bit. This felt awesome for my back since it took pressure off of it and I swayed my hips during the contractions to help baby come down. Sarah checked me again at about 3:30 and said I was 6-7cm and if she pushed up against the head I was very stretchy and could be stretched even further. She suspected that as soon as my water broke I would have the baby very quickly. Contractions were stronger now and the bed felt awful to be in. I went pee about 1000000 times during labor and seemed to always have a contraction when I sat on the toilet. On average my contractions were about 5-7 minutes apart and lasted 2 minutes each time I had one (which I guess is abnormally long in between, but also abnormally long lasting). At this point I lost track of time and was just exhausted because I had done so much the day before and almost been up 24 hours. My mom/Nick took turns resting while the other helped me during contractions. I alternated between walking, staying on my hands and knees, and bouncing on the ball a bunch and then decided I wanted to try the shower for some relief. I sat in there for a long while and had 6-7 contractions. The hot water really did help with the pain, but I also felt like it was slowing down the contractions a bit. It was time to be monitored again at this point and given the second dose of GBS antibiotics, and about 6am. Sarah had me do a weird position where I was on my side on the bed with my knee draped off the edge to help the baby come down. She was stuck on my hip. I stayed that way for almost an hour, and only had 4 contractions. I actually fell asleep in between them because I was so tired. They were really really strong ones when I did have them and my back was killing me. One of the contractions I had my mom push really hard against my right hip, where she was stuck, and actually felt her move off my hip and towards the center of my body after that contraction. It was the weirdest thing!
At this point it was 7am and Sarah was getting off shift. I was bummed she wasn't going to be there for delivery but I got another very nice nurse, Cathy, who checked me again. She said I was 7cm when baby's head was not coming down with a contraction, and 8-9 with the babies head pressed against my cervix. She went ahead and called Dr. Lasting to come break my water so we could get the show on the road. Dr. Lasting got there about 30 minutes later and ran in with his hair all crazy yelling, "Did I make it?" I laughed and said yes, remembering that Brodie was crowning when he arrived last time. He waited to break my water until I was having a contraction and used a little push pin type thing under his glove to break it. I gushed out SOOOO much fluid that they were using tons of towels to try and corral it in. Dr. Lasting commented that it was enough for 3 pregnant women and said that's why I was measuring so large.
He left for about 5 minutes because they figured it would be a while for me to get to pushing stage. I got on my hands/knees and immediately had the worst contraction I had had yet...I threw up throughout the whole thing and almost cried. I had told them I was about to throw up so they called Dr. Lasting right back into the room and he was actually holding my hand as I was coming down from the contraction and asked me to get on my back so he could check me. I only made it to my side before another monster contraction hit and I was crying/moaning through that one as I gripped the side rails. I felt a ton of pressure and my body was spontaneously pushing without me knowing it. I got on my back right after that one and barely got my feet on these little push blocks (not the stirrups...more like something to set your feet on so you could be checked) before the next contraction hit. I was in SO much pain for this contraction and scared because I couldn't get on top of them. I started screaming a mix between a scared/hurt scream for about 30 seconds. Dr. Lasting exclaimed, "You're crowning!" as he checked me and I felt that intense burn of "the ring of fire" everyone talks about which lasted 15-20 seconds. Then her head popped out and a few seconds later her shoulder dislodged from being a bit stuck on my hip and she literally shot out of me while Dr. Lasting caught her. He said, "that was officially one push to get her out" while he laughed and set her on my chest. Then all of the nurses as well as Dr. Lasting told me Happy Mother's Day, since it was 8:55am on Sunday, May 13th...Mother's Day.
My brain couldn't process the fact that there was a baby on me. I was still in the "OH MY GOSH I AM GOING TO BE IN HORRIBLE PAIN FOR THE NEXT 1-2 HOURS TO PUSH HER OUT" and never got a chance to process that I was pushing because my body pretty much pushed her out for me. She was beautiful and immediately started crying. I got to have 2 full hours cuddling her and trying to get her to nurse before they took her to be weighed/measured/bathed. Nick and my mom both got to hold her at this time too and were both crying when she was first born. I was sort of in shock/awe that I had been able to do it...I was able to give birth totally naturally and drug free. I asked for a numbing shot while he stitched me up and he informed me I only tore superficially with a 1 degree tear and gave me 2-3 stitches. That's less than I did with Brodie which surprised me since she shot out so fast. She had some bruising on her face because she came off my hip and out so quickly, and her little shoulder was scraped/bruised as well (all that went away within the first day).
When they finally measured her Zoey Belle weighed in at 7lbs 11oz, was 19.25 inches long, and had a 13 inch head. :) She is PERFECT and we are so in love with her. We only had to stay at the hospital 24 hours after she was born and were discharged around 11am Monday morning. The day she was born only family came to the hospital, which was nice. Zoey got to meet both sets of grandparents and all 3 of her aunts in the hospital, and several friends the following week.
She is 2weeks 2 days old now and THRIVING! Last Thursday (at 11 days) she was already up to 8lbs 6oz and she is a nursing pro. She gives me about 4 hours between feedings at night and 2-3 hours during the day. She still sleeps a ton, which I forgot was so normal. Brodie loves loves loves her and asks to hold her all the time. He is also keen on giving her a million kisses and hugs. It's been crazy adjusting to b a family of 4 but each day is getting easier and hopefully I'll have a good schedule down soon. :) Until then, I'll enjoy every crazy moment of cuddling her and entertaining Brodie and attempting to get a shower at some point each day. Nick is amazing with Zoey and has been such a giant help to me these past few weeks...I would be curled up in a fetal position crying somewhere if he wasn't here. Zoey is definitely a daddy's girl already and he would bend over backwards to do anything for her, his "baby girl" as he has so lovingly nick named her. My nickname for her is "little one" and Brodie still refers to her as baby. :)
Now, after all that, here are a few pictures of Ms. Zoey!
