(fyi.. you can skip all my rambling if you want. The pictures are at the end of the post. :))
I can't believe I am just now getting around to blogging about THE MOST amazing, emotional, difficult, awesome, love-filled event of my life! It has been a crazy five weeks. I can't believe it has been FIVE weeks already!!!!!! Zoe is 5 weeks old today. WHAT???!
When people told me that being a mom is the hardest job on Earth, I was like yeah yeah okay. But, holy cow, IT IS THE HARDEST JOB ON EARTH. I am learning that being a stay-at-home-mom is not fun 24-7. It is REALLY hard. And a lot of times it's not enjoyable and it's frustrating and lonely. I don't get to just kick it all day long. It is a full time job. NO- it is more than a full time job. It is a 24-7 job. But I wouldn't trade it for anything. I recognize that we are so blessed that I can be home with our daughter, and I'm grateful for that.
So let me tell you how it all went down. We (me, Ryan and my Mom) went to the hospital the night of Wednesday March 25th around 8:00pm to have me induced. That night was so laid back. It was weird, like we were checking into a hotel. I was worried that I would be sad that I didn't go into labor all on my own, but at that point I was so ready to not be pregnant anymore. So they gave me cytatec (to start the dialating), started my IV, and gave me a sleeping pill (which hello, did not work one bit) and we just hung out! My mom left around 10:30pm to meet my dad and sister at our place, and to catch some Z's. They would come up to the hospital in the morning. Ryan and I watched Mean Girls on the TV (it was the only thing on) as we tried to get some sleep. I slept, but not really.
Around 2:00 or 3:00am I started having contractions. The nurse came and checked me and I had dilated to a 1. So she gave me another cytatec to continue the dialating. Around 4:00 or 5:00am I was at a 3 and my contractions were getting pretty uncomfortable. Around 6:00am they gave me my epidural and I was feeling good. I was able to sleep for a couple of hours after that. Bill and Cherie got to our room around 9:00am to say hello. At 10:00am my nurse came in to check me and I was at a 10! I went from a 3 to a 10 in about an hour. I never had an urge to push because I was so numb. It was GO TIME! My parents and sister made it to the hospital JUST in time to wish us luck. They were in the room for all of 30 seconds and the nurses were practically kicking them out.
The pushing.... was easy and, quite frankly, pain free for me, which is not what I expected. After I pushed once they could see Zoe's head. My doctor and nurses were so excited about how much hair she had. After about 3 or 4 more pushes Zoe arrived Friday, March 26, 2010 at 10:18am. She weighed 7 pounds 2 ounces and was 20.75 inches long. She has lots of dark hair and the cutest little features. It was such a wonderful, loving, emotional moment for me and Ryan. The thing we had prayed and longed for, for sooooo long had finally arrived. She was here, and she was ours.
The next hours and days to follow were probably the most excruciating I have ever experienced. Due to complications with my epidural I starting having spinal headaches. Spinal headaches are like the worst migraine you can image times 47 billion. There are two things that can fix a spinal headache. 1- lay flat on your back until they go away on their own, which is about 2 weeks for most people or 2- have a blood patch. I obviously choose option number 2.
I will not go into detail as to how ridiculous the next week of my life was, but believe me when I say it was HELL. There is just too much to explain. But in a nut shell... I had THREE attempted blood patches, about 30 needles poked in me, countless bruises all over by arms and legs from needles, threw up too many times to count, cried (a lot), took a trip to the ER, couldn't take care of Zoe like my motherly instinct wanted to, wanted to die anytime I sat up to any incline, nearly passed out from the pain of just getting up to go to the bathroom... yeah. But, all of that is over and I have never been more grateful for good health in my entire life.
We are doing well though. We appreciate ALL of the many acts of service that have been rendered on our behalf. From dinners, visits from friends and family, texts, emails and calls, to flowers and gifts. We appreciate it ALL! We couldn't have made it through these weeks without you. SO THANK YOU! I especially want to thank Ryan. I'm about to get sappy people... but without him I would not have been able to survive these weeks. He is seriously my most favorite person in the entire world. He is the most loving, caring, thoughtful man and I have grown to love him in a different light, in a more complex way through this whole experience. He took care of me and Zoe so selflessly, and still does, and I love him so much for that. He is the sweetest dad to Zoe. I know I don't thank him enough for being so awesome...
A few things for me to remember:
- Zoe weighed 8 pounds 2 ounces at her 2 week check up. She was 21.25 inches long and her head was 15 cm around.
- She will only take the binky (the ugly bluish-green one) from the hospital.
- The dogs love her. Bella just stares at her. Roxie is always concerned when she cries. And the cat has licked her head a few times.
- She makes us get up 2 or 3 times during the night. Hopefully this will change....soon.
- She can load up a diaper like nobody's business.
- Her umbilical cord stump fell off when she was about a week old.
- Zoe's first official outing was to Red Mango. She has been back several times.
- She smiles quite a bit.
- She was born with a mow hawk. It's so cute.
And now for some pictures of the big day!!!!
The first time holding her.
Proud daddy.
Family of 3!!!!
My mom and dad with Zoe. She is the first grandchild on both sides.
Proud Grandpas.
Proud Aunt Sue Sue!! Cutest picture ever.
Grandma ReRe holding Zoe.
