My water broke at 5:30 AM on May 22, 2013. That was certainly a first time for me to experience and very unexpected since it happened right after I went to the bathroom. The funny thing is I knew right away what exactly happened to me (it felt like a balloon popped inside of me). Luckily, I had most of my hospital bags packed and ready to go (just had to put in a few last minute things). I called my doctor (Dr. Saunders) and he instructed me to head over to the hospital! John, girls, and I were at the hospital around 6:00 AM. I started feeling mild contractions while getting admitted. Then after they gave me some pitocin via iv to speed up the labor along, I felt some intense painful contractions that literally took my breath away. My baby's heart rate dropped during my contractions too(from 150 to 80). So they put an oxygen mask on me to help calm Zach down, which helped a bit. To my surprise, the pre labor pain was nothing to compared to waves of discomfort that I felt from true labor, ack! I made sure I got on the waiting list as soon as possible to get my epidural(I was second in line that morning thankfully). The epidural gave me relief after a few minutes! At 11:00 AM they checked my cervix and I was a ten ready to push! They called Dr. Saunders and he was there in a few minutes(his office is a half a block away)! After three big pushes, Zach finally made his arrival to the world at 11:17 AM. To our surprise, he was 1,170 baby born at the hospital this year! He weighed 6 pounds 12 ounces and was 18 1/2 inches long.
After giving birth to my son, my blood pressure dropped dangerously low and I passed out. Apparently I lost a lot of blood too. My sister in-law Chiaki was coming in the room at that moment and saw me turning blue... They gave me oxygen and I was fine a few minutes later. I also had low blood sugar too and they gave me juice to bring it back up to normal. Poor Savannah (little sister) witnessed the whole labor and delivery. I feared it was too much for Savannah to see the birth of her brother, but she was brave though it all watching all the bloody details. She seems okay now not too traumatized! Audrey (big sister) was a pro with the camera and didn't get grossed out at all from the gore. It was hopefully a beautiful experience for my girls to be apart of Zach's birth! I loved Zach the moment he was placed on my chest. He is a handsome little guy! I am overwhelmed with gratitude and thank my Heavenly Father for blessing me with the beautiful miracle of being a mother to my three precious children.
Zachary is almost perfect! He has some strange lesions on top of his head and one testicle that has not descended yet, which the doctors are going to watch that closely and may need to see an urologist later. We did a circumcision when he was a few weeks old. Around the same time, Zach was diagnosed with a hernia that needs surgery later when he is bigger (his testicle is in the middle of the abdominal/bowel mass). He had three ultrasounds and saw a pediatric surgeon. As for the lesions on Zach's head, at first they thought the sores were like bedsores (pressure on his head from resting on my pelvis bone for several weeks). Since the sores are near the mid-line of his skull, the doctor determined he has aplasia cutis congenita. They believe his brain didn't completely form/close properly and it has been slowly healing on it's own. When Zach was one day old, he had an ultrasound at the hospital, which confirmed that he has a normal brain/etc. He passed every test for the doctor and he doesn't suspect anything else wrong with him... We are thinking the spots on his head could be similar to some red bald spots that John has on his head, which he also had at birth. If that is the case, this issue is defiantly genetic and not a big deal at all... The sores are healing very well with vaseline and we need to follow up with a dermatologist in July at Primary Children's Hospital. I am not sure what they would want us to do. At this point, they are not very noticeable and almost completely healed.
Zach had many vistors come to see him at the hospital. Karen and Adam Smith, Chiaki and Matt Free, Marilee and Holly Nelson, the Merrik family, and Justin and Keli Silva.
I am truly grateful for the privilege to be Zach's mother! I have always wanted a son and John is very excited to spoil him (take him fishing, hunting, play sports, etc). It was worth the long pregnancy, pain, wait, etc. He is a great blessing in our family and we look forward to watching him grow up into a wonderful gentleman! XOXOX
