Zane's Birth Story

Today Zane is one month old. Happy one month birthday little man!

Just one month ago today Zac and I were at the hospital passing the time until our Zane made his big entrance into the world. We are so thankful to have him in our lives.

I've had a few requests to write a post about my labor and delivery story. It's a post that I've been meaning to write but for some reason has taken me longer than I expected. It was such an incredible experience and while the memory was very vivid in the first few days, I'm beginning to lose the details with each passing day. (I'm pretty sure that's Mother Nature's way of seeing to it that we have another baby. Just kidding!) Thankfully I have Zac to fill in the gaps of my memory. 

I'm sure this won't be a post for everyone. No worries to those of you reading; I won't be getting too into detail about everything. Still, a labor and delivery story might not be your cup of tea. So for those of you who are not interested in today's post, stay tuned. Other posts are soon to come that are a little more fun and filled with pictures of our Zane.

For those of you who stuck around to read Zane's birth story...here we go!

We made the decision on Monday May 13th that we were done waiting for Zane to arrive and that induction would be our next step. After talking to our doctor, we set up a date for induction and knew that we would meet our son on Wednesday May 15th. On Tuesday I went in to see my doctor for my final prenatal appoinment and to fill out a consent form for the induction. After my physical check up was complete the doctor said that I was dilated to 4cm so it was possible that my body might decide to go into labor on it's own before we were scheduled to go in to the hospital. I was excited to hear that my body had already done so much work on it's own at home without feeling too uncomfortable. Zac and I were both excited that whether Zane decided to come on his own or not we would only have one more day until we got to hold him.

Our doctor told us that we were scheduled to go to the hospital at 7:30am. He also said that we were the last ones in the books so it was possible that we would receive a call pushing back our appointment if the ward got too busy and there were no rooms available. Even if we got in a little later Wednesday would still be our day which was good news to us. Zac and I spent the rest of our Baby Eve getting last minute things together, making sure that we had everything ready to take to the hospital, and getting arrangements made for our dog Jim since we were sure to be gone for at least a day if not more. We filled our family and close friends in on what was going on and attempted to get to bed early as we knew the next day was going to be a long day.

I had an incredibly difficult time sleeping that night. I kept thinking about what was to come. Being a first time mom I really had no idea what to expect exactly so my mind wandered. I was also just so excited to finally hold the little man that's been kicking around inside of me for these last nine months. I wanted to see his face and kiss his little forehead.

It took a while, but I finally got to sleep. At 4:30 in the morning I was woken up by the phone ringing. The charge nurse from the hospital was calling to let me know that (as predicted by our doctor) things were a bit busy in the hospital that morning and our scheduled appointment needed to be pushed back. The nurse apologized for the inconvenience and asked that instead of heading in to the hospital we should call her back at 8:00am.

Getting back to sleep after that was just impossible. I closed my eyes but sleep wouldn't come. Before I knew it the sky was getting lighter outside and the alarm I had set for our originally scheduled appointment, was going off. I decided to just go ahead and get out of bed. I had a bowl of cereal and went through our bags to make sure that we had everything together to head to the hospital. Zac awoke shortly after, got dressed, and looked crazy excited for the day ahead.

At 8:00 I called the charge nurse back to see when we should head into the hospital and was given the news that we could check in at 8:30. We packed up the car, said goodbye to our pup Jim, and headed to the hospital. Zac had a smile that stretched from ear to ear. While I too was excited, I was also anxious, nervous, scared, etc.. I really had no idea what to expect and the only reference that I had for childbirth were the stories that I had heard from friends and family.

When we got to the hospital we went up to the maternity ward to check in. After filling out paperwork we found out the unfortunate news that there were a few unexpected delays and our room was not yet ready. We went down to the maternity waiting room to hang out and wait for the charge nurse to call us when our room was ready.

By the time we got the call and headed up to our room it was almost 10:30. It was three and a half hours after our originally scheduled appointment. Though the nurses were apologetic for the wait, I wasn't upset. Like I said before, my nerves had gotten to me and although I was excited, I was also a bit scared as well.

I got changed into the hospital gown and it was time to get started. The charge nurse left and the labor nurse arrived shortly after to make sure that I was settled and comfortable before she started to begin the tests. She drew blood, and put in an IV. I'm not a fan of needles so these were less than fun for me but as I considered what was going to happen to me by the end of this hospital visit, I figured it wasn't that bad. I had tested positive for Beta Strep during tests at one of my final prenatal visits. To make sure that the bacteria didn't cause an infection in Zane as he passed through the birth canal, I had to receive antibiotics through an IV as well.  

By the time that I was all changed and set up in bed with the IV it was just about noon. The nurse informed me that I wouldn't be able to eat anything from here on out. I also couldn't drink any water. It was ice chips or nothing. This was quite disappointing as I was already hungry and knew that there were still hours to go until the big event. Poor Zac was also pretty hungry since he hadn't had a decent breakfast before we left the house. He was going to head down to the cafeteria to eat so that he wouldn't be eating in front of me but I asked that he bring the food to the room. Even though I couldn't eat, I didn't want to be alone in the room for very long.

At one o'clock, my doctor arrived to check on my progress. It turned out that I was already five centimeters without any drugs started to speed up my labor. Chances are, Zane would have been born either that day or the next had we not induced. Since my water had not yet broken on it's own, the next step was for my doctor to break my water and get things moving along. The nurse insisted on showing my every tool that was going to be used. I appreciated that she wanted me to be comfortable and know what was going on however I don't do very well with hospitals and things that go along with hospital visits so showing me these things did not make me feel better. While having my water broken was not painful, it was definitely a strange experience. I immediately wanted to take a shower. Unfortunately, that wasn't possible and I was left to deal with the wetness for a while until it was time to change the pad on the bed.

Once that was over, the nurse began the pitocin drip to get my labor going even faster and I started to feel contractions. They weren't intense or really painful. Instead they were just uncomforable. The nurse asked me if I wanted pain medication or if I was going to go drug free. I have much respect for women who have a natural birth plan but for me I knew that I would be getting medication. I have a low pain tolerance and couldn't imagine going through the process without some assistance. The nurse said that she would check with the anesthesiologist about getting me an epidural as soon as possible. Because of the amount of c-sections that were scheduled that day, the anesthesiologist for the maternity ward was pretty booked up. As I was already dilated to 5 centimeters and the anesthesiologist was held up in other deliveries, the labor nurse informed me that I might not be able to get an epidural in time. I cannot explain the panic that rushed over me with this news. The thought of going through this without a little pain relief was scary and not something I hadn't mentally prepared myself for.

The nurse offered Fentinyl, a temporary pain reliever, as an alternative option. She explained that this option would only last a few hours but that I could get more of it later if I needed it. I figured that some pain relief was better than no pain relief so I agreed to go ahead with this option. This was a decision that I would soon regret. Once the drug was administered I was out of it. It hit me like a huge wave and completely changed the way my entire body felt. It seemed like the room was spinning and my whole body felt heavy. I told Zac right away that I didn't like it, but there really wasn't anything that we could do about it. I just had to wait for it to start to wear off. I spent a good twenty minutes with my eyes shut because although it only helped me mildly, it seemed to be the one thing that worked. At least it distracted me from the uncomfortable feeling of my contractions.

Soon after I was given the Fentinyl the labor nurse came in with good news. An anesthesiologist from the surgical ward was available to come up and administer epidurals to patients in the maternity ward. While I was relieved to find out that I would be able to get an epidural in time, I was nervous that my body might react to it as it had to the Fentinyl. I didn't want to have to go through that again. Just after two o'clock the anesthesiologist arrived. The nurse had warned me that the pain from receiving the epidural would be the worst of it. (She was wrong.) I was a bit nervous, quite sleep deprived, and was holding in the emotions of the whole day so by the time the anesthesiologist was all set up, I was in tears. The anticipation of the needle was far worse than the needle itself. The anesthesiologist was very good. I felt close to nothing as he administered the epidural. It didn't take long for the medication to begin to work. My legs felt warm and heavy and I felt no pain or dizziness. Zac asked me how I felt and then laughed as I responded, "I feel cozy". The nurse was happy to see that although my legs were numb I still had the ability to move them. 

Once my epidural was complete, the nurse checked me once more before seting me up with a catheter and replacing my IV bag. I was now dilated 7 centimeters. The nurse was surprised with my progress and predicted that if I continued to progress this quickly, that I would be ready to push by five o'clock. This was exciting news to hear. She also predicted that it would take me about two hours of pushing to bring Zane into this world. This was less exciting news. Two hours of pushing seemed like a very long time.

It wasn't long after this that the labor nurse returned to the room to tell us that we needed to decrease my pitocin and slow down my labor. It turned out that my doctor was finishing up business day at his practice and wouldn't be able to be there in time for me to start pushing. While I was disappointed that we would have to wait longer to get started, I felt nothing due to the epidural, so I was fine with slowing things down. Zac and I had nothing to do but watch television and wait for until we could speed things up again. For a little while I closed my eyes, though I was still unable to sleep.

The labor nurse told us that she would probably be gone before I started to push because shift change was quickly approaching. Sure enough, the change up happened just before it was time to get things rolling.

The evening labor nurse arrived, checked all of my machines and then told me that it was time to start pushing. So, about seven hours after we started to speed up my labor, this was it. I got myself prepared and hoped that it would all be done within an hour instead of two like the first nurse had predicted.

The first few sets of pushes I didn't feel like I was doing anything. The nurse said that with each push Zane was moving closer but during the break between each set he seemed to slowly move back. The nurse had me turn from my back to my left side to push. Being on my side felt much more comfortable than being on my back and I appreciated the change of position. I alternated from my side to my back every few sets of pushing. Rather than pushing in sets of three, I started to push in sets of four to see if I could get Zane moving in the right direction. I continued to do so until it was all over.

I had always wondered how women knew when to push and I quickly learned. The doctor had ordered that before I start pushing that my epidural be turned down so that I could feel my contractions. He explained to me during his afternoon visit that this was important for me to know when to push. Right before I started to push, my epidural had finally worn down to half  and I was starting to feel contractions. The sensation started off slow and then peaked before tapering off. They didn't last for long but I was grateful that I didn't have to go through hours of feeling that way while I labored. Unfortunately, the epidural had only worn off on my left side leaving my right side still numb. Feeling contractions only on my left side was odd but I figured that it was better than feeling them all over. More painful and uncomfortable than the contractions was my back pain. The contractions were bearable, but the lower back pain was intense and wouldn't go away.

Before I knew it, the sky outside had darkened and the clock revealed that I had already been pushing for an hour. I was starting to sweat and my hair was sticking to my forehead and neck. Thankfully, I had packed hair ties and bobby pins in my bag and Zac was there to grab these items for me so that I could pin my hair back. After a few more sets of pushing I began to feel really worn out. The nurse reached over and placed an oxygen mask over my face. This did not go over well with me. The mask made me feel trapped and I pulled and tugged until I freed my face from it. The nurse apologized but suggested that I breathe with the mask in between pushing. I honestly couldn't tell the difference but I'm guessing that it helped.

By this time, my doctor had arrived and came in once or twice to see how I was doing and check on my progress. At the time I was so focused on my contractions that continued to get more and more intense that I wasn't paying much attention to anything else including what was going on in the room around me. Zac told me later that the nurse and doctor seemed a little concerned. Apparently, every time I pushed, Zane's heartrate was decreasing more than the doctor felt comfortable with. Once I stopped pushing, his heartrate would shoot back up. They wanted Zane to get out as soon as possible. All that I noticed was that my doctor had put on gloves and was getting himself set at the end of the bed. I felt a weight lifted because I knew that this meant that it was almost over. I could do this.

The contractions during the last few sets of pushing were the most intense. I knew that each push was one less push that I would have to do and this is what kept me motivated. Then came the most intense pain that I have ever felt in my life. (Zac told me later that because the doctor was concerned with getting Zane out, he assisted me on that push by using both hands to reach in a bit and pull out Zane's head.) After that pain came the greatest feeling of relief and the words that I had been waiting to hear, "Just one more push!". I pulled together all of my strength, gave one final push and then, after two hours of pushing, there he was. A perfect, tiny person.

I stared at him in disbelief and was awakened by his scream. I looked over at Zac who was smiling from ear to ear. After pulling out the camera and getting some video of Zane in all of his newborn glory, it was time for the nurses to take Zane away and get him all cleaned up. Zac leaned over and gave me a kiss on the forehead. Let me just say that when your husband looks at you with tears in his eyes and whispers "You're my hero" in your ear before giving you a kiss, well that's just not something you'll ever forget.