Zoe Makes Her Grand And Painful Entrance!

UPDATE: More pictures at "Zoe Pictures" link.

Hello all! Just wanted to make a entry in my blog. Things are crazy, of course, and I know I have a lot of phone calls to return. Mike, Zoe, and I are doing good. Here's a recap of what happened May 10th. I'll add more posts with more pictures after getting a couple of days rest. Thanks for all your support! Love Mel.

Timeline:

12:10 am – Water Breaks: I awake to a popping sensation and wonder what is going on. I make a slight movement and “gush!”, I realize my water broke as I turn our mattress into a water bed. I wake up Mike (after several attempts) and tell him the news. We scramble out of bed and call the doctor before heading for the hospital.

12:45 am – Arrive at Hospital: We pull up to the hospital and Mike quickly parks the car and we zoom up to Labor and Delivery on the 3rd floor.

2:00 am – Epidural is Administered: By coincidence, a doctor who was in our church ward while we lived here 2 years ago is our anesthesiologist. We look at each other with a “hey I know you” look. I am sooo nervous about the epidural. I shake like wind-up teeth. The doctor shows Mike his “tools of trade” and Mike almost collapses looking at the “drill” that was to go into my spine. (ewww, still gives me chills). I almost pass out while the doctor is doing his handy work. Mike breaks out his mp3 player and starts blaring Rocky’s “Eye of the Tiger” like the scene from the movie Say Anything. I make it through the ordeal.

3:00 am – I look like a home stereo with wires coming out of me from all ends. My contractions slow to standstill and Zoe’s heartbeat is not staying at a satisfactory base line. My blood pressure increases and my temperature swings wildly from 98 to 102.

3:15 am – I am rolled over to one side to try and increase movement from Zoe. Suddenly my blood pressure drops drastically and Zoe’s heartbeat goes near flat line. A “code blue” is called and several other nurses swarm into the room. They grab me and start tossing me side to side to get Zoe’s heartbeat back and to prevent me from passing out. After doing some flip-flopping we both get back on track and I’m given an oxygen mask for the rest of my labor.

4:00 am – My mom and sister Lisa arrive after driving over three hours from Cameron, TX. My contractions are very few and far in between. They do not follow a pattern, and I’m 4 cm dilated.

7:00 am – I’m 5-6 cm dilated. My contractions start happening more often and more regular. They become much more painful. Wait a minute, I’m not supposed to be feeling them with my epidural! Well, even though my body parts were numb, I felt every contraction in my back and abdomen. The pain gradually becomes excruciating. They ask me on a scale of 1 to 10 what is my pain level. I’m at 10.

9:50 am – I’m very close to start pushing. I’m 10 cm dilated, and my contractions have hit pain level 11. I’m shaking like crazy from the pain, and the side effects of the drugs in me. The anesthesiologist pumps me full of drugs to combat the pain of the contractions; however, after 10-15 minutes the drugs wear off and the pain comes back even stronger. I feel like I’m going to pass out. The pain was beyond tears, and like the Southwest Airlines commercial, I just wanted to get away. Mike is a good coach and tells me I can do it. I scream back “No I can’t!”. He says,“You’re doing great”. I scream back “No, I’m not!”. The nurses have moved me into all kinds of weird positions to try and get Zoe to turn and come down. My favorite is the swim team position. I look like I’m permanently sliding into home plate. The baby has to be positioned correctly to get through the birth canal, but she just isn’t turning!

10:00 am – I can finally start pushing. Mike is called into action by the nurse. He sucks it up and grabs my foot grunting, “Let’s do this.” Mike was my hero that day. He helped me prop my leg when it came time to push and didn’t let the bad breath I spewed into his face bother him—although, he did make sure not to look anywhere below the equator. He counted and gave shouts of encouragement.

11:00 am – An hour of hard core pushing and Zoe is not budging. Her head is wedged into my pubic bone and she won’t rotate. I try pushing from different angles. A high school student interested in a career in medicine has been watching my labor. It’s weird that I kick my mom and Lisa out of the room, yet I let this total stranger stay. Oh well, I’ll never see her again, and hopefully she’ll become a great doctor because of ME! But I wouldn’t be surprised if she changes her mind and never wants to have kids. Mike said she looked even more queasy than him.

12:00 pm – After two hours of straight pushing, my doctor and nurse come to the conclusion that Zoe is not going to turn and my pushing is not getting her down. Zoe’s head has become very swollen from banging against my bone. If you were to constantly bang your head against a wall for an hour, you’ll get a bump. Well, with such a soft melon, a baby’s head will get really swollen. So my doctor informs me that we’re doing a cesarean section. I completely trust him and tell him, “let’s do it.”

12:50 pm – I’m prepped for surgery in my room. I will then be wheeled to the OR and Mike will come in once I’m on the table. Mike gets dressed in hospital garb (he looked cool.) I get pumped full of drugs. Even though I’ll be awake, I’ll only feel pressure on guts.

1:15 pm – I’m wheeled into the OR and Mike follows. I’m on the table like a beached whale, and Mike sits by my head and talks to me. A room full of nurses and doctors go to work on me. There was so much pushing and pulling and pressure, that it made me nauseous. A sheet divided my head from the doctors and I’m glad I couldn’t see.

1:30 pm – As they get closer to getting to Zoe, the anticipation and anxiety is just overwhelming. A nurse comes to stand by my head and tells us it’s almost time.

1:33 pm – The nurse tells Mike to look over the sheet. Mike peers over and sees what he describes as the most disturbing and amazing image he had ever seen. He saw my guts..but out of me! Literally, he saw my intestines and guts that they had to pull out to get to Zoe! Luckily before he could react, he saw them pull Zoe out and a look of shock fell on his face. “Hooooooooly Crap!” he stammered. “She’s out! It’s an alien! There really was something in there!” They put Zoe on a table and started cleaning her off and immediately examining her. Mike and I just looked at each other and I started crying. I could hear Zoe crying and before I even saw her out of the corner of my eye, I felt a rush of emotions. Mike went over and took a couple of pictures. The doctors went to work on patching me up.

1:40 pm – Zoe is taken to the nursery to get her official weigh-in at 5 lbs 9 oz. Mike goes with her and the doctors finish up my surgery. I’m told that the umbilical chord and placenta are extremely short which help explain Zoe’s small size. They’re sent off for testing. My mom and Lisa see Zoe through the glass and start making a few phone calls to immediate family.

2:00 pm – I meet Mike back in the labor room that I was initially in. I’m shaking so bad from the hormones/emotions/drugs/pain that my jaw becomes too sore to even talk above a chattering mumble.

2:20 pm – Zoe is wheeled in and Mike and I spend some time alone with her. Even though I was in so much pain, it was a great moment!

2:30 pm – Family starts coming in to see us and Zoe.

More to come including more pictures.

CHECK OUT THE LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3Mzlx6AbKE