Note: I find birth stories fun to read so I typed out the complete birth story at the end of this post for anyone interested :) otherwise you can just skip that detailed part!
It was finally time for this baby to come!! Contractions started around midnight!
My sister Krissy came to stay with Georgia and Zach and I were off to the hospital...
Checking in... the labor & delivery part of this hospital is not even 1 year old so this place was deserted.
In my super sexy hospital gown:
Please don't stare too long at my swollen feet. Your eyes might fall out.
Or go into shut down mode like my husband about 5 minutes into our hospital stay:
And halfway across the world, my mom & dad were celebrating which chocolate cake in Taiwan.
Jealous I was!
After about 7 hours at 9:33am, making his debut:
I love this picture! Can you see the tears rolling down? Such an amazing experience.
He weighed in at 6 lbs 8 oz and 20 inches long - such a little babe!
We decided his name would be Boston Zachary Winger.
It's funny how your newborn changes hour by hour right before your eyes in the very beginning!
Looking a little squishy after such a speedy delivery:
He looked so Asian! Haha
And just a little bit later:
I love that dark hair!
Settling in:
That afternoon, Nana & Papa came to see Boston and to bring Big Sister!
This makes her a Nana of 43 grandchildren!
Georgia meets Boston:
I had one request for Zach - that when Georgia meets her little brother, she not come looking homeless haha! I told him to make sure she had on a decent outfit since he would be dressing her and loves to throw on the first thing lying in the dirty laundry pile. And my my!! She came in her church shoes and dress!! Haha I love it, she's such a cutie. I didn't know what it would be like for her to meet Boston or how she would react. At first she just pointed, totally straight faced. Then I had her sit with me while Zach brought him to us. She just looked and smiled and gave him kisses:
Then the moment was over and she was playing peekaboo in the hospital curtain and playing with all the equipment!
Treats from wonderful friends:
Bonding with Baby B:
Such a peaceful time... long hours, crappy hospital food, sweet nurses, and even sweeter drugs :) ...
The Complete Birth Story:
Friday I spent the whole afternoon in the sun with Georgia.
We played in the mini pool in our backyard and then went over to a friend’s
house and played with her kids in their yard – they have every toy ever so
Georgia always has fun! We ate otter pops and ran through the sprinklers. It
was so hot outside! Finally I went home and got cleaned up. We were going out
to dinner that night with Emily & Jason to Texas Roadhouse. I wanted a
steak! And shrimp. And their ceasar salad. And I even got a huge frozen lemonade
that was SO good! It was delicious. A little crazy with our kids who were being
a tad demanding, but what’s new? After dinner, the weather was still great so
we headed to a nearby park so the kids could run around. They were in heaven! It
was so nice to relax in the cool weather and chat with friends and take Georgia
on the slides…
On our way home, we stopped by Slurp to get the best sugar
cookies ever and then we tucked Georgia into bed and started a movie. During
the movie, I had some hard contractions that pinched a little but didn’t want
to get my hopes up and they were fairly far apart. Georgia also woke up crying
so I went to calm her and put her back down and I had a really painful one
then! By the end of the movie, I got more excited at having 3 big contractions
about 10 minutes apart. Zach was down for the count and went to bed, but there
was no way I could sleep now! Just in case tonight was THE night, I got to cleaning the house! I put all the toys
away, did the dishes, and cleaned my kitchen, bathrooms, and the baby room. Then
I straightened up my room and put all my clothes away. I was so tired and still
having lots of contractions that pinched but was still unsure at that point. So
I decided to hop in the shower. I decided to do as much as I could until the contractions
either got stronger or faded out. By the end of the shower I was pretty sure I was
going into real labor and that baby was going to come soon! It was 1:30am when
I called Krissy and asked her to come stay at the house with Georgia because it was time! I took my time and blow dried my hair, curled it, and put
my make up on. This time around, I didn’t want to be rushed, I wanted to be
ready!! I packed my bags with everything I’d need and cleared both our phones
so we had lots of room to take pictures. Meanwhile, Zach was passed out probably from complaining that
he was SO tired and needed sleep and could I not go into labor for at least a few hours?? I finally made him wake up at 2 because it
was time to go to the hospital!!! I even remembered to ask Krissy to take some
pictures of us before we left. The only thing I forgot, was to say goodbye to
my sweet baby Georgia. I had planned to sneak into her room and say goodbye and
kiss her before we had our next baby, but the labor pain distracted me and I
was sad when I realized that I forgot. I felt like somehow she knew too, when she woke up crying and then all during the time I was getting ready to leave, I could
hear her in her room moaning and stirring. Later Krissy told me she woke up at
6am! She never wakes up that early.
By the time we got to the hospital, it was about 2:15am and
I was ready to go! The contractions were really starting to hurt. The nurses
were really kind and the room was private, spacious, and very nice! The
hospital was pretty new, the emergency unit being about 5 years old and Labor
& Delivery not even a year old. It seemed empty and quiet. I was surprised
and a little disappointed to hear that I was only dilated to a 2 when they
checked me the first time. Two days ago I was at a 2 at my last OB check up.
They said they’d monitor me for an hour and see if I progressed any before
they’d admit me. Over that next hour, the contractions got stronger and
stronger. I was really having to breathe through them! Funny how I didn’t
remember being in that much pain with Georgia… Zach gave me a blessing that I
would be able to bear the pain and everything would go smoothly as this baby
made his way into the world. But I was REALLY disappointed when they checked me
again and said I hadn’t really progressed so they were going to send me home
with some pain meds. I was in so much pain and I didn’t feel like this baby
could wait much longer. I was on the verge of tears. Then the nurse said that I
could wait another hour before they admit me and see if I progress again. I
accepted but I didn’t know how I was going to make it through another hour of
waiting, these contractions hurt so so bad! What didn’t make it any better:
Zach’s reply to everything - “I know, me too babe, me too.” I finally asked him
to stop saying that!! He laughed and said it was habit. What also didn’t help:
Zach video taping my contractions. Thanks for that. About 10 minutes later, the nurse
came back in and said they were going to go ahead and admit me! The last 3
contractions were really big ones and the baby’s heart took a tiny dip. At any
rate, they did not feel comfortable sending me home and thought this baby was
on its way here. So they called my OB to let her know and gave me some oxygen to make sure he was getting enough. Then they checked me again and I had
progressed to a 3/4 so they called the anesthesiologist to get ready to give me
an epidural! At that point, I was really breathing through each contraction
hard. They seemed to last forever and hurt SO bad that a few tears were squeezing out. I was in a super uncomfortable position lying on my side, head smashed
against the bed rail and holding onto that rail for dear life but I couldn’t
find the power to move. I felt so sick, I had the worst heart burn – I was
really regretting that large steak dinner! I thought I was going to throw up a
few times. Everything was so different this time around. I am positive that the
contractions I had with Georgia never reached that level and definitely didn’t
squeeze any tears out of me. My epidural was also a new experience - given to me as I was sitting
completely straight up – I was laying down last time (which they said was how the old guys do it). I was much more aware of
the shots and needles, though none of it really hurt compared to the
contractions I was enduring. I had to grip the table in front of me and really
breathe hard!! Each time I would think, this is it, my last contraction, I can
get through this until I have the medicine - and then I’d get another one! I was
dying to get that needle in me. It was hard to stay still with the
contractions and the labor shakes that come on, but I did my best. Finally the
medicine was in and slowly I began to relax. It took longer than I remember and
my contractions still stung for awhile but I could feel it start to work. I
think I was dilated to about a 4/5 by the time I had the medicine in. Finally I
could relax. The nurse had made a bed for Zach on the couch so of course he
passed out as soon as possible. I think I got maybe one hour of sleep before I
woke up from discomfort and being sweaty. I forgot how much I hate the feeling
of being numb from the waist down!! I finally sat up and began rubbing my legs
and feet. The nurse said I was awfully mobile for someone with an epidural in.
But I had to rub my legs, I hate feeling like they are dead! Something about my limbs feeling so numb almost sends me into panic mode.
They never broke my water. The nurses said that usually the
water will break on its own when they check you throughout the process and mine
never did so they just left it since it’s a protective barrier for the baby.
Towards the end, they went a good amount of time without checking me and I
could feel the contractions again considerably (compared to last time) I was
wondering if my epidural dose was low because I could feel so much. I felt like
I was close. Finally around 8:30am or so, I turned to Zach and told him that I
was complete. I could feel it in my body. I knew the baby was ready to come and
the labor shakes came back so I just knew. I felt like the nurse was kind of
avoiding me and told me that she didn’t want me to have too much epidural meds
because they wanted me to be able to feel the pressure so I knew when to push.
I was definitely aware of the pressure! Finally my OB came in and got things
rolling. My nurse told me later that she knew I was ready so there was no point
in checking me because my water would just break and she wanted my OB to do
that. She wasn't avoiding me :) just trying to keep everything smooth. They kept saying my water was like a balloon it was so full and they
couldn’t believe it hadn’t broken.
Finally it was time to start pushing. I could feel the
contractions fairly well but I just forgot what this was like so the first
couple of pushes were more like practice until I got it down again. I pushed through maybe 3 or 4 more contractions in all but the experience was so unique
this time around. I was so much more aware of everything going on. The
reflection in the glass light fixture directly above me probably didn’t help. I
had opted out of a mirror but there was practically one built in and I had to
stop myself from looking!! I could feel everything as it was happening though
not in a painful way, so I knew when he was moving through me and making his
way into the world - such a neat experience especially because it was fairly
quick and I wasn’t completely exhausted, unlike my experience with Georgia
where I felt nothing and was so exhausted and in more pain at the end. I
remember Zach saying “He has dark hair!!” and I thought to myself “I know he
does.” I knew he would look like me this time. I just felt it. I am not really
one to think like that and usually am just left wondering (I certainly never
thought Georgia would be fair skinned with auburn hair!) but this time I just
knew for a long time that he would look like me. Right away, they placed him on
my chest and tears came instantly as I heard him cry and felt him moving. This
overwhelming deep love just swept over me and I remember thinking, you are SO
amazing and I love you SO much (just don’t touch my hair)!! They let me hold
him while they cleaned out his nose and mouth, then we just rested while the
doctor did her thing. This too was a new experience for me and I cherish it so
much. I wish it had been this way the first time around! With Georgia I was so
exhausted and they didn’t let me hold her right away. They took her and cleaned
her and then gave her to me later – which wasn’t a bad experience, but this
time around was so much more emotional for me. I remember thinking he is SO
tiny and dark and being shocked by the first sight of his weewee for like .25
seconds – my heart skipped a beat – and then it was all love and cuddles again
haha. I held him and looked at him and Zach asked me what we should name him
and I just remember thinking, it doesn’t matter really. What do you like?
What’s his name? And he said Boston and it was just right.
So Boston Zachary Winger was born May 3rd, 2014 @
9:33am – 6 lbs 8 oz and 20 inches with plenty of dark hair to cover his teeny
perfectly shaped head.
My OB explained that I barely needed any stitches and did
wonderfully. She was so thoughtful, even showing me all the afterbirth things
and where my little baby had lived and grown for the last 9 months. Again, I
was so much more alert and intrigued and was grateful that she was so sweet and
made everything so interesting and beautiful. I was so grateful to know my OB this time around and feel comfortable with the nurses and surroundings. What a relief. And what a beautiful morning May 3rd was...
