At about 8:00 the next morning, the nurse came by and checked on me. I was starting to feel some pain/pressure but I wasn't worried about being ready to go yet. From what I heard from everyone, when it's time to push, you have the undeniable urge to push...I could feel the pressure but I didn't feel like I HAD to push. Anyway, I still figured the nurse would check me just in case.
In fact, she told me the doctor was due in anytime in the next hour and to prevent more chance of spread of infection, we should wait to have me checked until she got there. If she hadn't shown up in an hour, though, the nurse would go ahead and check me.
It sounded like a reasonable plan. But I must admit, when I heard it could be another hour before they even checked me, I did have a mini-panic attack in my head.
That should have been my first clue.
About 20 minutes later, I woke Stephen up and told him to go get the nurse because I was really feeling uncomfortable. Again, I didn't feel like I absolutely HAD to push, but the thought of waiting for the doctor also sounded unbearable. So, the nurse came in and sure enough, I was +3 and fully dilated.
Here we go!
I believe at that time it was around 8:45. The nurse went to page the doctor to tell her I was ready to rock and roll. We then prepped me for the pushing process. It was weird because I couldn't really feel my legs. I could feel when people touched them, but...I don't know, it's hard to explain. I certainly couldn't lift them on my own. So, Stephen took one leg and the nurse took the other and we did several rounds of pushing.
Now let me say this: this was probably the one part of the whole experience where I was definitely glad to have gone to a birthing class. I knew exactly how to push and bear down...how to round my back into a 'C' and push like I was going to the bathroom. I also knew I didn't HAVE to count to 10...just hold it until I couldn't anymore, then calmly let out and pull in to do another push. We went like this for about 20 minutes or so...me letting both Stephen and the nurse know when I felt the urge to push and going through a round. Soon enough, the doctor showed up and we got down to business.
It only took me until 9:24. The nurses all said it was one of the fastest deliveries they've seen with a first born. I remember thinking, thank goodness it wasn't any longer! It wasn't that it HURT, but at one point I remember feeling her head halfway out and thinking...'oh this baby better come out NOW.'. They had warned me that some first-time moms take up to 3 hours of pushing...ummm...no. We weren't doing that.
And out she came! Stephen did cut the cord...although I think he was somewhat wary. Dr. Tyler convinced him to do it, though and I think he's glad he did. They placed her on my chest immediately and I'm not quite sure I can describe how I felt at that moment. Definitely relief that it was over and she was here. I think there was some disbelief mixed in there as well. Like, how could this little thing have been in my tummy?
The next few hours were a blur. They did all the normal things, weight, length, anti-bacterial eye goop, warm her up in the warmer, Apgar scores (she was an 8 and a 9...nice and healthy). Someone thankfully reminded Stephen to take pictures...otherwise we might not have! I think he was as stunned as I was! They had me nurse her and she got her first bath...Stephen taking mental notes all along as we had missed our parenting class, if you recall. Truth is, we didn't really need it...they went through everything at the hospital. The one thing I WISH I had done was go to a breastfeeding class beforehand, but we'll get to those difficulties later...
We moved rooms. We really just moved to another birthing suite, but they wanted to be able to clean everything up in our room so it was just easier to give us a fresh room. I had to wait several hours until I could walk again...one of my legs took particularly long getting over the epidural so I had to be helped to and from the bathroom. Oh! The other thing the birthing class was great for was informing me how much you bleed after the fact. It makes sense, but I had never heard it before and was very thankful for being prepared. The nurse in our birthing class described it very well...you don't have a flow for 9 months and then it feels like you have all of those you missed in one cycle.
But little Miss Zoe. I really think that day was just such a blur. I didn't really GET that our daughter had been born until later, after I had a nap and Stephen was off getting lunch. I was holding her and I just started crying. Here she was! This perfect little bundle that we were responsible for. Amazing.
We spent the rest of the day recuperating and enjoying our new family. We were left alone, for the most part (although I wish I had forced the issue with breastfeeding difficulties earlier. Again...more on that later) and other than a few visitors (my boss and a coworker, my brothers, and a good friend of my mom's...playing the role of surrogate grandma as my parents were still in Houston) we really got to spend most of the day to ourselves.
I am sorry to anyone who texted/called/what-have-you to no avail. We were just a little preoccupied with our little Zoe-Bug!
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