Introducing Zaiden Alexander!

We have a baby!! All that worry about inducing and interventions turned out to be needless. Here's our story...

After our doctor's appointment on the 14th,  Eric and I were determined to do everything we could to have our baby naturally. We went ahead and scheduled our non-stress test and amniotic fluid check for Monday, April 18 at 9 a.m. and figured we'd deal with any induction talk after, like we agreed with our doctor. In the meantime, we tried every thing to get Little Z out. We had eggplant parmesean, ate super spicy food at Nanima's house and walked for miles and miles. I even asked Julie to pick up the famous labor-inducing lemon drop cupcakes from Charlottesville! On Sunday, I ate 2 lemon drop cupcakes, walked 4 miles and Eric and I went our for Thai to celebrate my birthday a bit early with my parents. Around 7 pm, I started getting mild contractions - nothing worth timing and I could easily walk/talk through them. That evening, the contractions slowed down and I was a bit disappointed. I was really hoping not to make it to our appointment on Monday. However, no such luck. Sooo, I had a lemon drop cupcake and Eric and I started off my birthday with a trip to the doctor's/hospital for tests. We packed our toiletries and added them to the hospital bag

At the tests, they said that everything looked good. It did take some time though because they were concerned about the baby's heartrate and wanted to make sure they got a good reading. They were able to pick up on my contractions and noted that they were anywhere from 4-7 mins apart. We then called my doctor and they said to call back when contractions were more regular. We figured we'd go home, eat, and labor there for a while before going in. I said I wanted to wait until contractions were 3 mins apart lasting 1 minute each and were consistent for 1 hr. Well, we got home around noon and my contractions started coming on strong: 2 -3 mins apart, lasting 1.5-2 mins. I ate 1 small piece of banana bread while Eric tried to eat something more substanital for lunch.  After about 30 mins, we called the doctor and they told us to go to labor and delivery.  By the time we finished loading up the last things we needed and got to the hospital it was 1:00. We checked in and were taken to triage. They hooked me up to the monitors and asked if I had thought about whether or not I wanted an epidural. We told them we wanted to go natural and that was the last time anyone mentioned pain meds. Seeing as how I didn't want any meds, I asked to be allowed to labor outside the bed. I really didn't feel like walking, but laboring on my hands and knees was really the most comfortable position for me at this point.They were super accomodating and added extra straps so that the monitors would stay on in that position and they could get a good read. After the initial reading, they checked me and I was already at a 6!

I then moved from triage to a full out L&D room. They re-hooked me up to the monitors and I continued to labor out of the bed for the next hour or so. Things started to get more uncomfortable and I moved to the bed on my side. I was definitely more vocal as well, but I concentrated on deep breathing and I think I sounded pretty primal as I groaned through the contractions. Somehow it helped create an outlet for the pain. An hour later, my doctor came in to check me and I was already an 8. I knew I was close and the hard part was about to start, but I had no idea exactly what I was in store for.

The next two hours were really hard. My contractions were really close together without any real breaks. The pain would peak, go down, but then remain constant until it peaked again. I thought I was super loud (and I know Eric did too), but at one point our nurses came in and asked how I was doing because they hadn't heard me in a while! 2 hours after I had been checked, the doctor checked me again and I was still and 8, with a bulging bag of water. The doctor told me I could continue to labor and let my bag break naturally or they could rupture my membranes. Before I was in labor, I had wanted my bag to rupture on its own, but Eric and I talked it over and decided to let the doctor break my bag. We thought it would help get me to dialate faster. I knew once they broke my water, the contractions would be more intense, but I had no idea what that really meant. The first 2 after my water broke weren't so bad...maybe a slight increase in pain, but not a drastic increase. The ones after that though, were on a whole different level. I think I must have said "I can't do this" and/or "I'm going to die" about a hundred times in the next 30 mins. Eric and my nurses were incredible though - telling me that I was doing it.  About 15 minutes after they broke my water, I started bearing down slightly whenever I had contractions and that helped get me through them a bit. About 15 minutes after that, I told the nurse that I felt like pushing a bit.

The doctor checked me and told me I was a 9 and that I could bear down during contractions if I wanted and that it would help me to get that last bit of cervix out of the way. The nurse was really fabulous and helped me to concentrate all the energy from my contractions into pushing. I think she and the doctor were both really suprised and how effectively I was pushing. I really have zero concept of how long things took, but according to Eric, I was really only pushing for 20-40 mins total. Pushing was a really interesting experience and it was kind of hard. It provided an incredible relief from the contractions, but it took a lot of work and there is absolutely no way for me to describe the sensation of pushing out our baby. It was exhilirating and amazing and scary and painful all at the same time.

Giving birth without any interventions or medication was one of the hardest things I've ever done, but also one of the best and the one that I am most proud of. I'm so glad that I was able to feel every second of it - yes, parts were really painful, but it was so worth it.  It is probably the only reason I didn't really tear (just one tiny stitch is all i needed)...I could feel my contractions and I could feel when to push and when to stop. I could feel every inch of him as he came out and it was truly an exhilirating experience. And I swear I forgot how much it all hurt the second he was placed on my belly. Eric said that my change in demenor was instantaneous - one minute I was focused, like an athelete and the next I was back to my old self, asking the nurse to take pictures and ready to walk myself to recovery (which they wouldn't allow because of hospital policies).

So far recovery has been fabulous. I was honestly ready to leave the hospital by noon on the 19th. Every couple of hours they come in to check on your pain level...I felt bad because my pain level was non-existant. I did take the motrin they offered because Eric wanted to make sure I didn't have any issues with swelling or the like, but since we've been home I've been feeling great! Eric has been trying to make me relax and take it slow. I've been dying to get a killer workout in since about a month ago, so Eric agreed that if I took it easy, we could go for a short walk this weekend and see how things went. I'm hoping that I can start walking again for real next week. I'm sure the gym will have to wait a while until we can get Zaiden into a regular schedule. for now, we're just going by his cues - feeding when he feels like feeding, and sleeping when he feels like. So far, it's been working out well:)

Being a parent is seriously one of the best jobs ever! Everyday we fall more in love with him and with each other. For now, here's a little video from Zaiden's first day home...

Zaiden's First Day Home