Zandon's story

A few days shy of delivery.

Zinnidee's birth story and Zandon's are like night and day. Well, actually Zinni's was like night, and day, and night, where as Zandon's was just day (halleluja!). Zinni was 6 days early, so as Zandon's due date became closer I became more anxious, and my nesting was in super overdrive.

Sunday, July 15, my due date, I was so ready to get this boy out! I had been having some pretty good contractions for a week and I had re-cleaned and organized everything on my nesting list at least twice. I was a bit of a crazy lady. The one thing I was planning on doing on this day was to make two pans of lasagna, one for dinner and one for the freezer for post delivery days, and wait for baby to make his move. Zinni went down for an early nap (at 11), she was cranky. Jared and I spent some quality time together, then I opted for a walk, no position was comfortable anymore for sitting, laying, standing. On my walk I had several contractions, this was totally normal to me by this point but something was different. My emotions and mental state of mind were all over the place. I remember thinking "if this is the start of labor I'm already spent, I don't wanna do it." I came home and just started crying to Jared about being so done with pregnancy and being so tired. I asked for a Priesthood blessing. It comforted me and somehow let my mind get back in the right state. The contractions from the walk continued and I was pretty sure it was the real deal but didn't want to get my hopes up.

Jared left for church at 1:00, Zinni was just about to wake up, and I began to pack my bag and Zinni's overnight bag. I was contracting every 5 to 7 minutes and was slowly realizing that this could be real. By 3 o'clock I was packed and put on a show for Zinni so that I could shower. The shower was lovely. When Jared got home at 4 I instructed him to change and gather anything he would want at the hospital (snacks, entertainment) he decided a pillow and blanket were the best idea, thinking back to Zinni's birth. Then I told him we were going to making lasagna (yes, my nesting was still going strong). With contractions now about 3 minutes apart I instructed Jared to chop the onions, mince the garlic, brown the meat. I then did the layering myself (am I a bit of a control freak? Maybe). By the time we sprinkled the last of the cheese on top, Jared's brother and family had arrived (we had invited them for dinner the day before) and my contractions were about 2 and 1/2 minutes and getting stronger. I retreated to the basement were it was cool and dark. My sister came and picked up Zinni and soon my mother-in-law and sister-in-law joined me. They rubbed my back and held the heating pad in place, which was wonderful. Jared was in and out, checking on me, getting last minute things, and eating dinner. My mother came and by now the contractions were 1 and 1/2 to 2 mins apart, I decided it was time to head to the hospital.

We arrived at the hospital at 7:15 pm, got checked in the triage room and was declared 6 to 7 cm! I was happy to be this far along, it had taken almost 24 hours of labor with Zinni to get to this point. We moved to the labor and delivery room and by the time I got there with my Mom and SIL (Erika) Jared had prepared his "bed" for the evening. The nurses put the bands on me to monitor baby for 20 minutes, this is routine and required but I would have preferred to skip it. They also got a hep-lock needle in me just in case of an emergency. After the required 20 mins I got in the shower and let it fill the tub, which I then soaked down in. It was GLORIOUS!! I loved the tub so very much. I actually was worried that the pain wasn't that bad so I thought I wasn't progressing. In fact, throughout labor I remember thinking "yeah, that hurts but it's manageable and it'll only get harder so just deal." After being in the tub maybe 30 mins (my sense of time might be totally skewed) my midwife checked me, A NINE!!! Holy crap, are you serious?? This was easy! But wait, the hardest part is yet to come, pull it together! With the next contraction I sprung a leak in my bag of waters and this is where "easy" went to very, extremely, weirdly hard. The leak sprung and with it the intense urge to push that everyone talks about. I could not catch my breath and manage the contraction. My midwife came back in the bathroom, said "we're getting out, now" and began pulling me out, during this contraction. I wasn't sure how she expected me to move. I wouldn't, I couldn't, people are supposed to leave me alone during contractions, right? Wrong. She was in charge at this point and I'm glad she was. With her on one arm and Jared on the other they half dragged me to the bed and dried me off. I now understood why some women say "I'm going to pass out" because I sure felt like I was going to. I could not control my breathing, I was totally hyperventilating.

The urge to push was undeniable, there was no getting around it, or controlling it. I got a really long break in between this pushing contraction and Paula (my midwife) told me to slow my breathing and asked me if I remembered how to push. I told her maybe but man when the time came it wasn't really about knowing how my body just told me what to do. She told everyone that this was the time to be quiet and peaceful and to dim the lights. Jared counted to 10 for me to hold my breath and push but I was hardly aware of him or anyone. I was in my own little world and I could feel my baby's little (didn't feel so little) body coming. I think people were saying "push" but I only noticed when Paula said to stop, the cord was around his neck (just like Zinni) and I knew it. Then my mom said his shoulders are out and I thought "praise the Lord, it's almost over." They placed his warm wet little body on my chest and I was at peace. The pain had stopped and here was my little boy born at 9:39 pm! Less than 10 hours of labor and about 10 minuted of pushing, WOW! I know for some that would be long, for me it felt like a blink. My Mother got to cut the cord, Jared had no desire. My sister, Marni was there taking pictures and Erika and my MIL were there basking in the joy along with me. Jared announced our son's name, Zandon Abraham. He weighed in at 8 lbs 1 oz and 20 inches long. It was a blissful moment.

Post labor was actually more painful and uncomfortable than all of labor and pushing. I got the shakes really bad for over an hour, I think I had about 8 warm blankets and my heating pad on me. I hemorrhaged more than double the "normal" amount of blood. Those nurses and my midwife mashed on my belly so much it's still hard to think about (talk about torture). I had to get a shot in the leg to stop the bleeding and my midwife thought I could have ripped my cervix (didn't know that could happen) or that something was left behind in my uterus. So up she went with all sorts of tools to where no instruments should ever be. After about what felt like a life time nothing was found and by the end of the search the bleeding had stopped. I had to be monitored for the next couple of hours and didn't sleep until 6 am. Zandon was NOT a good eater for the first 5 days or so. Each feeding took anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes just to get him to latch, heaven forbid he unlatch and we have to start over again! But luckily for both of us he has figured it out.

The Grandmothers

Aunt Erika

I didn't get one pic of Marni so here is Uncle Paul (Marni's husband) he came in not long after delivery, during the shakes. I hope he isn't scarred about having children!

 The details are already foggy in my mind but I don't think I could have picked a better labor and delivery (aside from post delivery). If you couldn't tell, I love birth stories, that's probably why this has turned into a novel but I want to try to remember the details. Mom, Erika, Marni, if you remember any good details I forgot please leave a comment.