39 Weeks!

Zoey!

  

Well this week started out exactly where last week ended...I was still having contractions regularly but they were not progressing.  For 3 days I was having contractions 4-8 minutes apart but they were still not painful just annoying enough to keep me awake most of the night & cause a decreased appetite.  For those 3 days we tried everything to progress labor.  I was seriously walking 8-10 miles a day, eating spicy food, swimming & anything else they said could speed up labor.  On the 3rd day (Wednesday 6/27)  I was exhausted & honestly a little discouraged that nothing was changing.  I had not slept or eaten much in the 3 days so I decided to call the doctor to see what they said.  Luckily Dr. J was on call that day so she had me come in so that they could check if there had been any progress.

So daddy & I headed to the hospital while Grandma stayed at the house with Hallee & Kingston.  I have to admit I was extremely nervous that nothing would have changed & they would just send me home.  We headed into the labor & delivery monitoring room where our nurse, Pam, strapped me up to a monitor & blood pressure cuff.  She was actually the same nurse that had admitted us to the hospital when I was in labor with Hallee.  That made things a little more comfortable since I remember how sweet she was then.  

Sure enough I had not changed since my doctors appointment on Monday I was still 3 centimeters dilated.  Pam told me that Dr. J had contacted her & said lets find a way to keep her since she is so exhausted & dehydrated.  That put me at ease that they would be able to get things going somehow.  They had me walk the halls for an hour & then they had my doctor come in & check me.  Whatever she did worked because after that they admitted me & were going to administer my epidural & break my water.  We were so relieved!!  The great part is that it was shift change & a friend of ours is an L&D nurse so they were able to assign Erin to be our deliver nurse.  

After we to to our birthing room the anaesthesiologist came in & administered my epidural & I was able to  relax.  At this point it was 8pm & we were just waiting for Dr J to come in and break my water to get this show on the road.  Unfortunately she got stuck in a C-section for 3 hours & was not able to make it in until 11pm.  The good thing was my epidural was working so I was able to nap for the time waiting. I assumed once she broke my water I would progress since that is how it was with my labor with Hallee.  They came in an hour after my water broke 4 hours after my epidural & I was still barely 3 1/5 centimeters!!  So the doctor decided to give me some potocin to hopefully speed things up.  They came back & check me an hour later & I was only a 4.  

At this point your dad & my mom were in the room & our good friend Alissa was there to take pictures.   We decided that it cold be hours before I was ready to push & it was 1am so we told Alissa to go home & get some rest.  The nurse was coming in every 30 minutes or so to have me roll from one side to the other hoping that would move you to a place where you would want to get out.  At about 3am your heart rate dropped so they had to turn my potocin off & give me some oxygen.  Erin decided to check me after they got your heart rate back to where they wanted it to be.  It was almost 4am & I was finally 7cm.  

I made sure to text Alissa so that she would know it really could be anytime depending how quickly you moved.  She decided to start heading back to the hospital just in case.  Sure enough not 10 minutes later I was feeling some pressure so Erin checked me again & I was 9cm!  They called the doctor just to give her a heads up & started getting ready for the production.  At about 4:25am I was ready to push & they were just getting me ready to a "practice" push when Alissa arrived...perfect timing!  They had me start my "practice" push & stopped me & said nope we are calling the doctor.  Dr. J got there & I pushed for 5 minutes thru 4 contractions & you arrived.  We joke that you basically fell out because I went from a 7cm to having you in my arms in 40 minutes.  

When you arrived the umbilical cord was wrapped slightly around your neck, which I didn't know until later.  Luckily Dr. J took care of it right away & proceeded as if nothing had happened.  Your daddy got to cut the umbilical cord & they put you straight in my arms.  We snuggled for a few minutes while the nursery nurse poked at you to get you crying & testing out those new lungs.  They then took you over to what I call the baby station.  They cleaned you off, measured & weighed you all while daddy talked to his new little girl.  We were all in shock when they told us that you weighed 8 pounds 5 ounces!!  That was exactly 1 pound more then your sister, I am glad that you did not stay in there until your due date you would have weighed 9 pounds!!

Grandma & Alissa both took turns meeting you & we were so blessed to have them share this moment with us.  We spent the next few hours with just the 3 of us bonding.  I was able to nurse you & daddy was able to rock you to sleep.  You were precious & we immediately fell deeper in love with our little Zoey Ryan!

Zoey Ryan Book 

8lbs 5oz 20inches

Born 4:39am