For the nine days before Ziggy was born, I was having fairly strong,
though painless and irregular, on and off contractions during which I finished
every possible preparation that could be done, celebrated our 18th anniversary at
the Wayside Inn, went to the zoo, the Science museum, got a massage, played in
the birthing tub with Ella twice a day, began reading a new novel, and just
spent time with Seth and Ella. I was beginning to feel like the baby would
never come--like the contractions would just come and then go again
forever, even though I knew that each
contraction was going to make the labor easier.
On Sunday,
the contractions seemed to be getting more consistent. At night I made Ziggy’s
birthday cake and went to bed around 9:30. Around 1 or 1:30 I got up because I
was having contractions and between them Ziggy was moving a lot. I knew then
that the baby was coming, so I made the raspberry whipped cream for the cake
and frosted it in between strong, but short contractions which I belly danced
through (something we did in my prenatal yoga class!).
At 3am I got lonely and woke Seth up. At 4am we heard Ella through
the baby monitor say “Can I nu-nu?” (meaning she wants to nurse) so I ran in
and laid down beside her to nurse her. While I was laying down with her the
contractions seemed further apart, but stronger. By the third contraction, I
could no longer stay still and I had to pull away from her and sit up. She woke
up and I told her that Ziggy was going to be born that day. She got up with us
and went to the living room to play with Seth. That was 4:30am.
From there, the contractions became really intense--close
together, maybe 4 or 5 minutes and lasting a minute or more. Seth called the
midwife and my parents. At about 5:00 or so my water broke. My parents arrived
just after. My dad and Seth were playing with Ella and my mom kept me
company--rubbing my back during contractions.
Our primary midwife, Deborah, arrived at about 5:15. Contractions were
really intense by then with basically no breaks. Seth cradled my head through
them and encouraged me. Deborah asked if I wanted to get in the tub, so I did. Soon
after I got in the tub, maybe after only 1 contraction, I started to push. Ella
would come check on me between contractions, but I was making a lot of noise
during the contractions. Laurie, our second midwife, arrived at about 5:50am. It was so fast and so intense that I started to protest--”I can’t do it!” i think I said! And 5 minutes later, after only 4 or 5 intense pushing contractions, the head came
out. Deborah told me not to push, just to breathe him out. So I
breathed through one contraction and then she told me to sit back and catch
him. So I squatted and reached down and breathed him out. I pulled him out
of the water with Seth. He came out quiet and beautiful and healthy.
We still didn’t have any boy’s names, but Ella said “maybe we
could call him Alex”—which is
also Seth’s middle name—and it stuck. (Much better than her earlier suggestion: “Pantsy.”) We do still sometimes call him Ziggy, though.
Last time, as many of you know, this was the point when I
hemorrhaged. This time, there was very little blood and my placenta came out
with no problem. My recovery so far has been amazingly comfortable and quick.
Alex is a very happy baby and sleeps a ton! We’re surprisingly well-rested and
feeling great.
Ella has been an absolutely incredible big sister. She's super gentle with him and adjusting to this huge change in our life remarkably well. We couldn't be happier.
Here are some pics from Ziggy's first day:
Just out
Ella embracing her big-sisterhood
(She wanted to hold him right away!)
(And often!)
Who's the BIG SISTER!?
Snoozin' with Mom
... and Dad
Yaaaaawwn.
