The Labor Story
So although my induction date was scheduled for Wednesday August 15, Zachary had other plans. On Monday August 13 at 7:50 pm, my water broke (well since it was only a small gush, J.D. and I spent about 20 minutes trying to figure out whether we thought it was my water that broke. After coming to the conclusion that it was my water, we called the doctor on call.). When the answering machine said "The doctor on call is Dr. Kathy Wolf", I literally jumped up and down, because this is my AMAZING doctor! I was so happy that she would be the one to deliver me!!! She said to head into the hospital.
We called our wonderful friends Becca & Gray who came over to our house (since Tyler was already sleeping) and stayed there until my parents could get there. A special thank you to them! By 8:45 we were at the hospital. I was slightly annoyed that they didn't just admit me right away, but they insisted that I go to triage. When I got to triage, I told them that I wanted the epidural right away and that since my first labor went so fast and Baby Bluey was so low, Dr. Wolf was concerned that I wouldn't have time to get the epidural. Let me also say that I was in NO pain. I was having contractions, but they didn't really feel a whole lot different than the ones I'd been having since week 30 (just tightening of the abdomen).
When they checked me and found that I was already 6 centimeters ( I was 3 centimeters in the office the week before) they started moving much more quickly. Several nurses rushed in...one was having me sign paperwork, another started my IV, another did my name bracelet, another started the monitors, and other started pushing the necessary fluids that you have to have before you're allowed to get the epidural. At 9:45 pm, I was admitted and moved into a Labor and Delivery room. My nurse Melissa was INCREDIBLE!!!! I can't say enough good things about her! At 10:15, I got the epidural-phew!! (again, still not in any pain, I just wanted to make sure I got it in time!) The anesthesiologist was excellent as well. Both he and my nurse explained to me exactly what they were doing and how long everything was going to take...very calming!
With Tyler, I got part spinal tap and part epidural, meaning that I was completely numb from the waist down, so I was surprised to learn that with an epidural, you can still feel things and can still move your legs, they just feel warm and very heavy. Another side effect that I didn't have with Tyler was the itchyness.
At this point, I was very relaxed and thrilled to have gotten the epidural. J.D. and I basically had a date night at the hospital from that point forward. We watched a very dumb romantic comedy called This Means War. It was perfect since I didn't really have to pay attention to it. At 11 pm they started me on 2 of pitocin after Dr. Wolf checked me and said "I can understand why the nurse told you were 6 cm, but I'm going to call you 4. " At 11:35, they upped the pitocin to 4 and by 1150, I was having regular contractions 2 minutes apart. At 11:56, the nurse thought I was having too many contractions so she lowered the pitocin back to 2. At about 1 pm, J.D. and I decided to take a nap since our movie was over. The nurse had said earlier that if I felt any pressure that I should let her know. Again, I was still in no pain and had never felt pressure before since I had gotten the part epidural/part spinal tap with Tyler, so I had no idea what that meant. Again, my experience this time was so different than it was with Tyler so I felt like a first time mom.
J.D. and I closed our eyes for maybe 1 minute when I said that maybe I was feeling pressure, but I didn't really know for sure. The nurse woke up Dr. Wolf and she came in to check. She very calmly said that I was 10 cm and that we were going to have this baby. She dimmed the lights. She slowly broke down the bed and got everything ready. J.D. turned on some soft country music. I pushed 3 times and at 1:31 am, Zachary Bennett Moss had made his entrance into the world. I couldn't believe how easy, calm and fast it was. I had absolutely no pain during my entire labor. How is that possible? Who knows and who cares, I couldn't have been happier!
I had told my nurse from the beginning that if the baby was okay that I wanted him immediately on my chest for some skin to skin. The nurse was very receptive to that! Zachary's umbilical cord was very short (no problem at all, but some babies have long cords and others have short cords) so J.D. cut the cord and then they put Zachary on my chest. They were able to do the Apgar tests while he was on me (scores 8/9). At an hour of life, they wheeled over the scale, weighed him, measured him, gave him the vitamin K shot, and the erythomyacin in his eyes right next to me...how great! He weighed in at 7 lbs, 6 oz. He measured 20 inches. What a big boy!!!
From the very first time I nursed him, he nursed easily! What a natural!
It took awhile for them to move us to the Family Centered Care Unit. It probably wasn't until 4:30 am...so at that point we were pretty tired. Zachary was so calm and slept beautifully right from the beginning....so lucky!
The next morning, he got circumsized, got his first bath, and had his hearing tested. All went well!
Our family came to meet Zachary around 10:30 am that day and it was wonderful! Tyler got to give Zachary the football lovie that he picked out for him. We gave Tyler a "congrats you're a big brother present (thanks Susie for picking it out). Tyler loves his little brother (Tyler calls himself the big brother and Zachary the small brother) and was excited to get to meet him.
J.D. and I hate the hospital and were ready to leave as soon as possible. Dr. Wolf said we could leave at exactly 24 hours after Zachary was born (1:31 am), but unfortunately, the pediatrician said we had to wait until the morning at 7 am. We were out of the hospital and home by 8 am on Wednesday August 15 (Happy Birthday Mom!!!). We dropped off our stuff and went to the grocery store. Again, like I said, J.D. and I like to get on with our normal life. ...we did the same with Tyler.
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