The story :)

Well, if you've read the second entry, you know how this story started...we did not have a scheduled c-section. Now that we're home, I'm glad I don't have that kind of recovery...it would have been so much more difficult on everyone. This way, I can still move around and attend to Zoe, but I'm so much less limited in what I can do. I'm not pushing it...if you come to the house any time soon, don't expect the most put together house on the street. I know we weren't perfect before, but this is going to be even less! Plus, who cares about a messy house when you have a perfect angel like Zoe.

Well, we had our doctor's appointment on 2/7 so that the doctor could check my blood pressure, and then see where I was in the realm of things for a natural birth. This was the only appointment that Noah missed, as he needed to be at work as much as possible knowing that we were really working on an unknown at this point. He did, of course, confuse the heck out of his co-workers who didn't know what happened! Anyway, at the drs appointment, my BP was back into the normal range. The dr who examined me wanted to schedule an induction. I just wanted her to be there, so I didn't really question it or push it. She said that if I didn't go on my own over the weekend, then I would need to schedule another drs appointment for Tuesday or Wednesday, and then go into the hospital Wednesday night to begin an induction, for delivery most likely on Thursday. Little did I realize that it was Valentine's Day!!

We went through the weekend, thinking that every twinge and thing I experienced COULD have been labor, but it wasn't...Noah and I went to the drs appointment on Wednesday, and the dr did determine that I needed to be in the hospital that night to begin the induction. I went home, made dinner, talked to some people to let them know what was going on, emailed others, and made dinner, while Noah finished things up at work and came home. We ate and went on our way!

At the hospital, we were settled into a room in Labor and Delivery, and then I was given an IV of saline and the medication to begin labor, Cervadil. It's meant to get the body ready for the rest of the labor experience. It kicked some regular contractions into gear and I didn't get a lot of sleep that night. The next morning, at 6am, I got the Pitocin to really get things going. Those contractions were VERY hard. They gave me an epidural when I was a cm smaller than they normally do, so I could rest before I had to force Zoe into this world. :) I was able to sleep for two hours, and when I woke up, Zoe was ready to come into this world. With about 20 minutes of pushing, she made her grand entrance in FINE fashion!

As all parents do, the first noise they want to hear is the baby's cry when they're born. Zoe had literally JUST been born when she started crying. It was an amazing experience, one that is so hard to put into words. Suddenly, everything that I had gone through physically in the last few months hardly seemed worth anything other than this little girl. The dr put her on a towel on my belly, and immediately, she peed on her mama. I counted her fingers, counted her toes, and just fell in love with the slimy, wiggly, loud little baby that I could now call my DAUGHTER. Noah was crying, I was in awe, and we just didn't know what to do with ourselves. The nurse told Noah to snap some pictures, and he did. Then she took the baby over to clean her up. Watching Noah with her, I instantly knew the real reason why I fell in love with him...it was watching him with her and how in love he fell with her, cared for her, and would not leave her. It was a beautiful moment.

This was also where we learned that our "little" girl was 8lbs 3oz (we found out she was 20 inches long after the trip to the nursery). We also noticed how BIG her feet were!

There were many comical moments and things said. Maybe one of us will post them in a separate entray another time. :) This is not that time!

After everything was cleaned up and the room was put back together, Noah was just standing there with the baby, and the nurse went to let everyone into the room. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, who was there fell in love instantly. Everyone was just taken by how beautiful, alert, and cute she is. She was so alert, moving her big blue eyes around to take in all of the details of the moment. Pictures were taken, people talked, laughed, oohed, and awed. Phone calls were made, and tears were shed.

It was a very eventful day. The stay at the hospital was eventful, with all the people from the hospital who needed to see us, from the nurses to the drs, to the social workers and financial office people. Everyone who met us was more than gracious, congratulatory, and friendly. Noah and I were so impressed with everyone who helped us with making our first baby's birth a very enjoyable experience! The staff at Lawrence General Hospital were great. The nurses kept commenting on how good Zoe was for them when they would take her, she would be the one who would wasn't crying when there was a group of babies to be examined, and how well she did on all of her tests and procedures. That's our Zoe, perfect in every way.

Since coming home, it's been an adjustment to doing it in a hospital with the doctors, nurses, and lactation consultants, to doing it at home with just Noah and me and Zoe. She has her nights and days a bit confused, but we're going to get that straightened out.

I would like to thank EVERYONE for the help that they've given, the food they've brought, and the support they've offered. It's been great, and we all appreciate it. I would also like to thank Noah for all of the support and help he's been for me. In the hospital, he made sure that I always had water whenever I needed it, I didn't get up and move around needlessly, and that anytime Zoe needed her diaper changed, he did it. He also paged for nurses or a lactation consultant when we needed it, was so calm during everything, and made sure that both Zoe's and my needs were met at any time. He worked so hard, he was aching at the end of the day! It made me fall in love with him all over again. Then, watching Noah with Zoe, in their private times--well, let's just say I'm going to have to watch that they don't gang up on me later!! She's got her daddy wrapped around her little finger already!