Zachary's Birth Story

(It's 3.5 months overdue but I've been meaning to get this written down for a long time.) :)

On the night of May 17 I was as nervous as could be. I was told that the hospital would be calling me between the hours of 4-6am to let me know when we could go the hospital for my scheduled induction. I went to bed that night but woke up at 2am and couldn't fall back asleep. At 4 my eyes never left my phone and I kept asking Jeff what was taking them so long in calling. At 5 I called them to see if they knew yet. The lady said she was going down her list and had to wait until a room opened up. I decided to get a bowl of cereal because I knew it was the last thing I would be eating. Finally at 5:30 we got the call to be at the hospital at 8. I didn't even bother trying to sleep anymore because I knew I wouldn't, so I got in the shower and got ready. The entire time I was nauseas.
We got everything ready to go and left at 7:15. The whole way there I had several things running through my mind. I couldn't believe this was finally happening and I was so excited but so nervous! I kept looking at Jeff knowing that it would be the last time we were a family of two. I could barely talk because if I did I would start to cry. The drive wasn't long and before I knew it we were there. We parked the van and made our way to the labor and delivery floor.
We got checked in and we made our way to our room. When we got inside, I was hooked up to an IV and changed into my gown. Around 8:30 the nurse came in to start the pitocin. And then we waited. And waited. I went in at 3cm dilated and 50% and I went in thinking it was going to be a quick process but man was it taking long to deliver this baby. :) For most of the day I pretty much slept as much as I could, watched tv, or was online. I had really nice nurses who would come in and check up on me very frequently. It made the whole experience comfortable. Around 4 I decided to get the epidural. I could've waited longer but what the heck, I wasn't doing anything else. Haha!
A couple hours after the epidural I had dilated to 4 and around 7 that night they broke my water and I quickly dilated to 5 with 80% effacement. The breaking of the water I felt a little bit but Jeff said there was a huge gush of water. TMI, maybe, but I want to remember all details. :) A couple hours later I dilated to 7 and 90% effaced. I was starting to feel more pressure as the baby moved down more. Around 10:30 I told Jeff that I was starting to feel the contractions and the need to push. He called the nurse in and she said they would check again. At that time I was finally a 10 and 100%.
By 11:30 I was told I could start pushing. I was sooo ready! Jeff held one leg and a nurse the other. Everyone was encouraging me to push and even when I felt like I couldn't anymore I knew there was the strength in me to do it. I was also determined to have my baby on May 18 because it was my due date and I have a thing about even numbers. :) A couple minutes before midnight I was telling myself to keep going and felt that the next one would be it. Nope.
I gave a couple more pushes and my doctor said to look up and watch my baby come out. By 12:15am on May 19 I heard Jeff say "It's a boy!!!!!!" We also couldn't believe he had hair! I was so so happy and so so relieved. I would've been happy with a boy or girl but I was really hoping for a boy. I got my wish. Zachary Michael had arrived! We both started crying and I was so tired from pushing that I didn't even hear his first cries. The nurses immediately took him to be cleaned, weighed, and measured. He weighed 8lbs 9oz and measured 21 1/2 inches long. I told Jeff to go over and look at his son while the doctors were working on delivering the placenta (which hurt sooo bad and no one ever told me). ;)
Finally an hour later I was able to hold my baby boy for the first time and I just stared. He was beautiful. Completely 100% and perfect. I was in love from the moment we made eye contact. I was exhausted but couldn't sleep because I was running on adrenaline. A couple hours later we were moved over to recovery. It was all a surreal feeling of being a mom and finally having this baby that I had carried and dreamed about for the last 9 months. But it was real. And I was loving it.
The next couple of days included many visitors and very little sleep. I was so glad to go home but very nervous (again) to be by ourselves without any help. I mean, we didn't know what we were doing! But it went very well for a first night. I've gotten used to the lack of sleep and Zach is growing like a weed. Tall like his daddy and cute like his mommy...right?! :)
From there up until now we have learned sooo much and are still learning. Being a mom is the best job in the world and I catch myself thinking about him several times a day. Zachary is a great baby and we are spoiled. I love being his mom and hope that we can always provide a safe and loving environment for him to grow up in. May he never forget that he is loved by us and many others. Our prayer is to raise him up to be a wonderful man of God who knows the Lord at an early age and continues to walk with Him for the rest of his life. Of course we'll we can't do it all ourselves and count on the help of our family and friends.
Praise God from Whom ALL blessings flow.