Baby Zoey's Birthday
May 5th 2017
7.00am
From the minute I woke up I could tell something was different. I had been having some pretty intense contractions for a couple weeks but they were so sporadic that it didn't really make us too excited just yet. At my last appointment on the 2nd I was only dilated to like a half centimeter so we knew it could be a while away yet. I had the nursery ready to go, the hospital bags all packed and the house spic and span so really we were just playing the waiting game at this stage. I had decided that to take my mind off my discomfort and anxiety of waiting I would spend the days just hanging out with Allira and enjoying the last few opportunities we would get to spend time just the two of us. I took her to playgrounds, the kids museum, on countless walks, to playdates, spent hours in her playroom just playing.. On this particular day I had decided to take her to an indoor playground called Dizzy Castle which is probably her most favourite place of all and who can blame her because that place is freaking awesome.
12.30pm
We had been at dizzy castle for a couple hours and I guess it was the crazy slides and crawling through tunnels (yeah i was 9 months pregnant and playing on a playground haha) that got my contractions really going. I texted Alex to let him know, trying not to get my hopes up just in case. When we got home and Allira was down for her nap I decided to try take one too because dang I was tired from all that playing! So I curled up on the couch only to get hit by contraction after contraction, and they were getting pretty painful! I called my mum to let her know because she was planning on driving up from Medford (5 hours drive) when I went into labor. She said she would finish up at work and go home and pack if they kept going.
4.15pm
Alex got home from work and because it was cinco de mayo we decided to go out to our favourite mexican restaurant. Contractions were still present, getting worse but I didn't want to sit at home anymore, time was just dragging by! So off we went for what would be my last meal for over 24 hours. we had started timing my contractions and they were anywhere from 5-12 minutes apart lasting for about 30 seconds. We called the nurse who said to head to the hospital when they were 5 minutes apart, lasting for a minute consistently for an hour.
6.00pm
Sitting in the restaurant and decided it was time to call my mum. This baby was definitely on its way! We were going to go out for ice cream and walk around home depot for a bit but i was in no position to be strolling around anywhere in public at this stage! So we headed home to wait for the contractions to come closer together. I passed the next couple hours bouncing on my exercise ball, climbing stairs and sitting in the bath while Alex watched parks and rec haha it's tough being a guy! :P
We tried to get a nice 40 week pregnancy photo but the contractions had other plans!
9.00pm
We dropped Allira off at some friends of ours from church and headed to the hospital.
9.45pm
Arrived at the hospital and was admitted to the triage only to find out I was only dilated to 2cm! The nurse said they were pretty busy that night and if things didn't progress in an hour she would have to send me home with some pain medication until I was further along. So I put on that lovely hospital gown and for an hour I just walked around the hospital, stopping every 5 minutes to get through a contraction, it was no fun! Mum arrived at the hospital around 11pm, grabbed our car keys and went to pick up Allira for the night.
11pm
The nurse came back to check on me, I was still only at a 2 but she was able to manually stretch me to a 4 which was the minimum that would allow me to stay. Seriously such a relief!! I did not want to go home again! We walked down the hall to a labor and delivery room, Alex went to get our bags from the car and we made ourselves comfy :)
May 6th 2017
Honestly the rest of the night is kind of a blur to me.. I remember the nurses had trouble finding my veins to set me up on the IV. I had 3 different nurses try and I'm not exaggerating when I say they stabbed me with needles over 15 times in 4 different places before they finally had to put it in my hand. My bruising in one spot only just went away and this was weeks ago! So that part was no fun.. We had two amazing nurses that were taking care of us, one was training but they were both so encouraging and amazing and helpful!
2am
It was around 2am when I finally caved and got an epidural. I was only dilated to a 5 and there was no way I could do it anymore! The contractions were coming in pairs and the fact that they were hardly doing anything to get my body ready for labor was just too much. Once the epidural kicked in I was back in my happy place and ready for anything. I tried to nap here an there but its kinda hard when you have nurses coming in to check your blood pressure and temperature every 5 seconds. Zoey's heart rate would also drop occasionally which was so scary but once I had an oxygen mask on it went back to normal.
4.30am
Finally dilated to an 8!
6.00am
Dilated to a 9! And Alex was sleeping through this whole thing haha lucky guy!
9.00am
Still dilated to a 9, and when the doctor was checking she realized Zoey was face up and when they tried to rotate her to face down her heart rate dropped really low. They decided to give it another hour and just have me turn from my left to my right side and back again every 15 minutes or so in the hopes that Zoey would turn herself. They also warned me that I may need another C-section and that I should start preparing myself just in case. The doctor said she thought I had a small pelvis and that the baby could be 8lbs so I would have a hard time getting her out by myself, that was not something I wanted to hear! By this stage I was in tears. It was turning out exactly like Allira's birth which was not a pleasant experience for me! I just wanted Zoey out safe and healthy and all of this was just stressing me out :(
11.00am
The doctor didn't come back for 2 hours and I was starting to get pretty emotional and over the whole labor-thing. I was almost to the point where I just wanted to go ahead and do a C-section just to have this over with! The doctor had left so the nurses both checked and decided I was almost at a 10 and it looked like Zoey had actually turned! They left me alone for another hour, which felt like the longest hour of my life! Alex kept me occupied by getting me grape flavored icy poles, the legend :) it was all I was allowed to eat which is stupid :( I was sooooo hungry!
12.15pm
The nurses came back and when they checked me I was at a full 10! Then they said it was time to start pushing! (They told me that I could be pushing for up to 4 hours which I was so not ready to hear! Why does no one tell you that you could be pushing that long?? I had no idea!) The two nurses and Alex helped and encouraged me through the whole thing. They offered me a mirror so I could see but yeah I didn't want to watch that.. pretty sure it would have just freaked me out haha but maybe next time! The doctor came in at about 1.15pm, right for the big entrance, and like 3 other nurses to help assist once baby Zoey came. I though I would feel weird about all these people seeing me in all my glory but at this stage all I was thinking about was getting this baby out!
1.24pm
Baby Zoey finally appeared! She also had a cone-head like her big sister, weighing in at 7lbs 8oz, 19 3/4 inches long. Daddy got to cut the cord which was special since he didn't get to do that with Allira. Or he didn't want to.. I cant remember haha but they gave her to me straight away for skin-to-skin.
I'll be honest that by this stage I was so exhausted and emotionally overwhelmed (and HUNGRY!) that I physically couldn't hold her for more than a couple minutes. The nurses took her to weigh and clean and do whatever else they do while I got my awesome 3rd degree tear stitched up. Maybe I fell asleep or blacked out I don't know but next thing I knew she was back in my arms and I was able to nurse her for the first time and really take in how beautiful and perfect she was!
I'm not a photogenic person to begin with but I swear giving birth makes you age like 40 years in post-birth photos!
A couple hours later grandma bought Allira in to meet her new baby sister and we all just enjoyed cuddling with our new little princess.
I loved catching him every 5 minutes admiring his baby girl :)
So here she is!! Zoey Layla Cope, our perfect precious little May baby! We love her (and her red hair) so much!
We were discharged from the hospital the next day right after Zoey had her 24 hour check up with the pediatrician. Once they said she was all good we were out of there! (I mean the nurses were so lovely but who wants to stay around a hospital and eat that awful food for longer than they have to???)
Allira has taken a while to adjust to our new addition. The first week or so she was scared of her! Every time we asked her if she wanted to cuddle baby Zoey or give her a kiss she would like run the other direction! The best we got was a few 'so so soft' tummy strokes and head rubs but that was it. This past week though she has really warmed up to her and loves holding her, gives her so many kisses and loves laying next to her, each time telling us what a good big sister she is haha
This was us trying to get a nice photo of them in their matching Sunday dresses, but you know, one is a two year old so.....
I've missed these milk-drunk moments!
Zoey is seriously an angel baby, she like never cries, only wakes up like twice a night for a feeding and loves loves loves to be snuggled! There have been so many precious and heartwarming moments in this house the past couple weeks as we all get used to each other, its been amazing. I don't want my babies to grow up! :(
