My due date was 3/26/04. The day before Zoe was born was a Sunday, sunny and I was a cleaning maniac at my Dad's. I was wearing the only pair of sweatpants that fit me and a red and white softball shirt that had my last name on it. I was nesting - even thought I didn't need to since I knew I wouldn't be able to bring my baby home.
I went to my boyfriend's house (not Zoe's birth dad) and I went to the restroom around midnight and thought my water may have broke. I called my Dad, told him to bring my hospital bag and meet me at the hospital. They ran some tests and sure enough, it was my water indeed. I called my Mom at 2 in the morning and she came over from an hour away to be with me. We played cards in the middle of the night, I walked around a lot - waiting for my baby's arrival. I wasn't having contractions, so by 6am the doctor's hooked me up to Pitocin. I was told by my current doctor that Pitocin is pretty brutal- but I didn't have anything to compare Zoe's birth to, so I thought it was normal to have it. A few hours later I had an epidural and continued to wait. My Mom was my birth coach - she will say she may not have done the best job, but she had C-sections with me and my brother, so this was new to her too :)
I don't remember how long I pushed, but I felt so many emotions the moment Zoe was born. 5 pounds, 15 ounces, 19" long, born at 2:42pm on Monday, March 22, 2004. Numbers I will never forget. When I heard her first cry, I felt excited, overwhelmed, happy, scared, anxious, sad - all rolled up into a 1/2 second. My Mom cut the umbilical cord. What a beautiful moment.
After I had her, the nurse's took her right away to clean her up. My Dad had left to get me a Perkins chocolate chip muffin right before I delivered, and when he came back into the delivery room he was the first person to see Zoe cleaned up and unfortunately, he caught a glimpse of the doctor stitching me up - I have never seen my Dad that pale in my life.
After a while, I was transported to a different room and settled in for the day. I was on cloud 9. Nothing could bring me down. I didn't mention adoption once. I needed this. I needed as much time as I could possibly have with my daughter. I had a lot of visitors. I like to think most of them were my friends- but a lot of them came to see a baby, and not necessarily to support me. However, there was a handful of friends who did come to support me and I will forever be grateful for that. The majority of my family came and we took a lot of pictures. Looking back, I wish I didn't allow as many visitors as I did - I wish I spent more alone time with Zoe. But there would never be enough time in the universe with her. Day 2 in the hospital reminded me of that.
More to come later this week :)
me and Zoe day she was born
No comments:
Post a Comment