The Arrival of Zoe Christine

The last few weeks of pregnancy were busy and exhausting. I got several ultrasounds, promising a beautiful baby girl on the way. I spent quite a bit of time preparing my classroom, and putting the final touches on my sub lesson plans. I also had another beautiful shower at Southern Oaks Church of Christ in Chickasha.

Andrew and I went to the hospital around 12:00 on December 7th. By 8am, I was feeling some pretty strong contractions, was dilated to a 6, and decided to give-in and get the epidural. The epidural worked its magic until about 5pm when it started to wear off. I was starting to get very tired, and the new dosage of epidural made me so sleepy, that I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open. There was another problem too...Zoe wouldn't turn the right way (she was sideways). We began pushing around 6:30 pm, while the Doctor attempted to turn her. She would not budge, and ended up getting stuck. Around 7:30, we made the decision to have a c-section.



They did not let Andrew into the OR until they had me completely prepped. The wait was a bit scary for both of us. They were already cutting when they let him in. I was so tired that I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open, but he helped to keep me awake.

Zoe Christine was born Friday, December 7th at 7:42 pm by C-Section. The sound of her first wail made me cry with relief and sheer joy. I was not able to hold her immediately like I had planned, so Andrew went to where they were cleaning her off. I could barely see her, but couldn't take my eyes away. Andrew soon brought her to me, but I couldn't hold her, and could only look at her and touch her face. They finally wheeled me back to my room where I FINALLY got to hold and meet my daughter (terrible picture to the left!).



The evening and night passed in a blur. I was sick from lack of food and medication, as well as extremely tired. More than once, I fell asleep in mid-sentence. Andrew and the nurses were amazing though, and we managed to get some rest.

We were released on Sunday, and have been enjoying our time at home. We have decided that I will stay with Zoe, and not be returning to work for now...something that I have always dreamed of doing. I will be continuing to occasionally blog about Zoe, with the intention on turning it into a scrapbook of sorts for her!