Jesse, Brittney, Zachie, and Olivia: June 2010

We have made it through the first month marathon..woo hooo!!! So this first month has been interesting. I would like to say it has been fun but really, it has been exhausting. Thankfully, it has gotten easier. We are all sleeping a bit longer and have developed a routine for each day. So, here are a few fun things that we have experienced our first month together...

-Zach is really strong. He lifts his head up whenever he gets the chance; he loves to look around. He has gotten better at putting his head back down. At first, his head tended to slam back down without control (Yikes!) but now he has control of that too.

-He loves ceiling fans! He will twist and turn any which way until he can get a good long stair at any ceiling fan.

-We have come to think his best friends are the couch and wall clock. If given the chance he will sit and talk to them for at least 20 minutes (which I think is an achievement for a baby).

-He eats constantly. If given the chance he would eat every hour! Mommy is quite exhausted and doesn't get a chance to do much throughout the day. He also won't sleep unless he is touching one of us, which is terribly cute but wears down the back.

-oh and the giggles. I love the giggles. He has been talking and smiling from the beginning.

-Zach has the funniest facial expressions. His eyebrows and lips can do things I never thought my kid would do. I think his favorite expression is his serious face which tends to come out the most when Gramma is around. Jesses favorite is the monkey face.

-Something Jesse got to experience first was the unexpected pee attacks (at least it wasn't poop). This kid is skilled. He can pee on any unsuspecting victim (Jesse, Brittney, the bed, the couch) with a diaper on and somehow the diaper won’t be wet.

The first month took some getting used to but I think we are more prepared for the second, Zach may even be out of newborn diapers...that would be great! Here are just a few of our favorite pictures from the last few weeks...

   You may or may not want to know what happened the night you were born but it was a pretty amazing time for Mommy and Daddy. We grew and changed a lot in those few days so that when you were finally here we were ready for you. All the excitement started around 6:00 Thursday morning. The night before I had taken castor oil mixed in Jesse's favorite mint moose tracks ice cream...ewww. By the third dose, I was gagging with every spoon full. The next morning we woke up to contractions, we were really excited. We thought finally today was the day we would meet Zach. We called our midwife, Tracy, and she said we should come in as soon as we were all packed and ready to go. The next few days were a blur. There are no clocks in Andaluz and our phones were turned off the majority of the time, this resulted in us being quite unaware of the time or day. While labor was still in the early stage, we walked around the building, up and down the stairs and tried to relax and sleep as much as we could. Sadly, we did not fully appreciate this time for its calmness and somewhat rest-filled hours. To bring labor along we used a breast pump for about 30-40 minutes every once in a while and I was taking some herbal stuff that tasted just like dirt!
   I think it was the second day there and things were still moving nice and slow, so we decided it was time to break my water. Zach was still hanging out quite high and not putting enough pressure on my water to break it. Once we did this the contractions really started coming. Zach hadn't come down in that perfect position so instead of getting good old normal contractions I got to experience back labor, which is definitely a pain that cannot be ignored!!! I did a myriad of things to get through labor and onto the pushing stage. I found various places to sit and lean back, the peanut shaped yoga ball was bounced upon, I tried to relax in the tub, which did not seem to have the same results as it previously had on early labor contractions but still helped a little. My favorite place was in the shower with the extra hot water hitting my lower back. I think I stayed in the shower for hours at a time, whenever I got out I just wanted to get back in. Jesse was there for it all. He followed me from one place to another trying to ease the pain any way he could...he was exhausted! Through all my moving antics, the midwives found me every twenty minutes on the dot to check Zach with the doppler. I Hated The DOPPLER!!It was fine at first but eventually it was a dreaded time for me, the blue goo that was smeared over my belly and the pressure at just the wrong place ... ugh I couldn't stand it in the end. Yes, it seems a strange thing to hate from labor but that is what I hated.
   Early Saturday morning the pushing contractions finally came. I was so relieved. These felt so much better and every push made me feel better. I pushed standing up, sitting down, lying down, upside down (not really but it seemed to fit in the list). For the final few hours, I was on the birth stool pushing as hard as I could. Jesse was behind me holding me up, Jessica and Amber were holding my legs up and Tracy was trying to lead Zach down. With every push, I thought he would be here, but no he was stuck above my pelvic bone unable to get past.
   That night it seemed like Zach had finally had enough, with one big push we heard his heart rate slow. Within seconds, the ambulance was called and everyone but I were rushing around doing who knows what. About ten men showed up to take me away, I was so confused why we needed so many of them and how we were all going to fit back in the ambulance. When we made it outside, I got my answers. Not only had an ambulance showed up but also a fire truck, van and pickup truck... apparently they were prepared for anything! Within minutes, we were off to Legacy Emanuel Hospital.
   Once we got there, we knew we had to do a cesarean section. We were both exhausted by now and Jesse broke down. We both had a plan for the birth we wanted and a cesarean was not part of that, but more than anything we wanted Zach safe and with us. We told the doctors that we wanted this and they told us they would have tried to talk us into it anyway. Within the next hour, we had Zach in our arms. He is such a beautiful boy.
   He was born May 29, 2010 at 10:59 pm, 19 ½ inches long, weighing 7 lbs 6 oz.