Women in the world say that being in labor and delivering a child is one of the most difficult, yet rewarding experiences they have experienced. I am here to tell you they were right.
Our little boy's (we did not have a name for him picked out at this time) due date was November 21. In theory, it was the perfect due date. Dan had the whole week off due to Thanksgiving break, and my mother-in-law, Patti, was flying out that week to help when the little guy was born. I figured I would be a couple days late giving birth because I usually follow the example of my mother, and she was late on almost every baby! When Nov. 21 rolled around I didn't expect to have a baby, but hoped for the next day. I was definitely tested with patience as 7 days rolled by before our son decided to show up.
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| Side view of the belly |
Thanksgiving was different, but incredibly fun this year! Because many of my friends in Texas live away from family, we all decided to have a "friends-giving." We were each given different food assignments, and came together and had a wonderful night filled with laughter and conversation! I was 6 days overdue by this time, and hardly had room to fit any of the turkey dinner, but it was wonderful. I am blessed to have such good friends here. We got home late, and eventually got into bed. I specifically remember looking at my phone right before bed, and it said 11:47 p.m. I was thinking I would have a wonderful night of rest after that turkey dinner (ha!)
12:22 a.m
I woke up feeling something wet on the sheets. Dan had wet the bed... just kidding! My water had finally broken! I woke Dan up and told him my water had broken, and he basically stumbled/jumped out of bed. He immediately woke my M-I-L up and she helped grab my hospital bag that I had had packed for weeks. I remember feeling surprisingly calm as I gathered everything and got into the car. The only thing I was really concerned about was making sure I didn't get any water in the car. We packed a few blankets on the seat and headed off toward the hospital. Contractions had started but weren't bad enough that I couldn't speak.
Because it was the middle of the night we had to enter through the Emergency area. The medical assistants asked if I could walk myself to the Labor and Delivery unit, and I basically just laughed because I had wet through every towel/blanket that we had brought. Unless they wanted a puddle-trail, I told them I would rather be in a wheelchair. (background info: the ER was on the opposite side of the hospital then the Labor and Delivery unit. It would not have been a short walk).
Luckily, I had taken a tour of the Labor and Delivery unit a month earlier, and had already filled out most of the paperwork. I was taken into a room where the nurses did a couple tests on me to make sure I was really going into labor. After waiting a couple hours for the tests to return (they tested positive), I was taken into a delivery room. My contractions at this point hurt very badly, and were coming every couple minutes. However, it wasn't the worst pain I've experienced. Once wheeled into the delivery room, my nurse told me that the anesthesiologist was on the floor for another women in labor and asked if I'd like my epidural right then. I was only dilated one and a half cm but she said the anesthesiologist wouldn't be back for a couple more hours so it was now- or never- basically. Obviously, I chose now.
The epidural wasn't too bad, and in about 20 minutes the pain of my contractions went away. Props to those mothers that can go naturally, but I loved the epidural. I was also given a catheter so I didn't have to get up to go to the restroom.
The next 16 hours were mostly a blur. In about 13 hours I had only dilated to a 4. I was put on Pitocin to help things along. The epidural did wonderful things, but there were a few hours I will never forget. I started getting a searing pain in my bladder area. It felt like I needed to go to the bathroom-but couldn't- and a million times worse. It was one of the worst pains I've ever felt in my life. The nurses and doctors were confused that I was feeling pain "down there", since my epidural was still working and I couldn't feel my contractions. I was put on some extreme pain meds (which had to be re-given or else the extreme pain came back every 30 minutes) and it took the searing pain away. To this day, I don't know what I was experiencing but I am just thankful for medicine! Dan and Patti were the best support team I could've asked for! They were always making sure I was comfortable, and were willing to do anything for me. I owe them both.
After I was put on Pitocin, it only took a few more hours for me to dilate to a 10. I remember talking to my mom on the phone (she was flying into Texas 5 days later) and all of a sudden feeling like I needed to push! I explained to her what I was feeling and she was like "yup, its time! Call the doctor!"
I was very lucky, and only had to push for 7 minutes! Seeing my little boy for the first time brought out the flood gates. I just started crying, and the first thing I said when they handed him to me was,
"he's beautiful."
Arrow was the name that came to my mind, and after asking Dan what he thought (we had discussed it previously), he said it fit the baby perfectly.
Arrow Daniel Zimmerman
Born at 4:07, Nov. 28
8 lbs 4 oz
22 inches long
Arrow was the most perfect thing I've ever laid my eyes on. To this day, I feel like I have separation anxiety when he's not with me, and I love him more and more each day. My heart is full, and now I share all of my heart with my two boys that I love: Daniel, my husband, and Arrow, my son.
