My water "broke" at about 1:45am Sunday morning. I woke Matt up but still wasn't entirely sure that I was in labor. By about 2am I was sure I was having contractions but they were hard to keep track of. We decided to try to rest as long as we could. Around 5am we had contacted our doctor and our doula, Karen. Karen joined us at our house until we were ready to head to the hospital. We were in the hospital room by 7:30am and I was at 7cm! We were very excited about the progress that we had already made and we (at this point) were hopeful that it would all be over before too long. We jokingly thought that we might even get to see a glimpse of the Super Bowl (not that we really cared).
The rest of the day went on... in and out of the labor tub (we were planning a water birth), every position under the sun, suggestions from all the nurses and labor experts around, we were willing to try everything! I think that I was able to resist the urge for the pain meds because I kept thinking "this has got to almost be over and I've made it this far... I can go a little longer", but little did I know the end was still some hours off. At about 6:30pm they felt like I was dilated enough to start pushing. Back and forth from the tub and I quickly realized that the water birth was not going to help me give birth to this baby. I ended up pushing for another 7 hours after that! With help from a great team of nurses, Karen, Dr. Larkin and of course Matt we all finally welcomed Ocsar Thomas Zabel into the world. The last few hours were frightening, emotional, and still a bit of a blur... but we all made it through and we are all happy and healthy. He tips the scale at a whopping 10 lbs 8 oz, 22 inches long and a 14-1/2" head circumference! If anyone would have had any clue how huge our "little" baby was I think we all would have had a different plan.
Everyone keeps commenting on how strong I was to go through all that sans-pain meds. But honestly, I felt like my body was doing what it needed to do. Women have been giving birth forever, our bodies are made to handle this job (for the most part) and with the knowledge that modern medicine was right there to help with the challenging parts, I had no doubt that I could do it. I was in a zone, I gave into the pain, I focused on the in between times, I knew it couldn't last forever and I knew that the reward that I would get at the end would be greater than anything I could ever imagine. Matt and I getting to hold our baby after all these months of pregnancy and hours of labor was wonderful... and the best part was even with the exhaustion we were all fully aware and present and able to take it all in and appreciate the amazing moment unfolding in front of us. It was an experience that Matt and I will never forget and never want to. Even though none of it went according to our "birth plan" we know that it went the way that it needed to. We are so thankful for everyone that was there and helped. We are thankful for our wonderful family that waited anxiously out side our door all day into the night awaiting the arrival of Oscar as well.
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