heather, marc, wren & z mroz

I finally am posting my birth story.  I wrote this a week after z was born and there are some gory details… so if you don't think you can handle it – don't read!!……….

Saturday, November 13th we woke up and decided to go out for breakfast.  We went to Pancake Cafe which is one of our favorite breakfast places.  We had a groupon and even though it wasn't due to expire until April, marc convinced me that we should use it before the baby came since it would be easier to go out :).  I have a feeling this will now be a tradition every November 13th…

While we were at the restaurant I had a few contractions.  I had been having braxton hicks contractions all throughout my pregnancy so I wasn't quite sure if I should think anything of them.  They were a bit stronger, but not too painful and I could walk and talk through them.  I had huevos rancheros hoping that the spicy food would put me in labor :).  When we got home I thought that maybe my water had broken or was leaking… I wasn't sure, but I knew it wasn't normal. 

My contractions started picking up right away… probably about 5-7 minutes apart and were more painful.  I had another tiny bit of fluid leak so I was starting to be pretty confident that I was going into labor.  I could still walk and talk through the contractions though and they were really not bad at all.  Since I was group B strep positive the midwife told us to come to the hospital when my contractions were 5 minutes apart or if my water had broken so we could be sure that I got all of the antibiotics before the baby came.  I timed a few more contractions and they were all at most 5 minutes apart so we started calling people.  We dropped Wren off at my friend Joan's house and marc's mom started driving here from chicago.  We got to the hospital around 11:30am and went to triage.  They ran some test and confirmed that my water had broken and they said they for sure were not sending us home (which I really didn't think was a possibility… I was pretty confident that I was in labor).  The midwife saw me and ordered my antibiotics.  She didn't want to check my cervix until at least the first dose of antibiotics were given which takes 2 hours!  I never was checked at any of my appointments so I had no idea what I was in for.  I made a comment to her that I was probably just in early labor still and she said she thought so too since I was still smiling :).  It seemed like forever for the antibiotics to come and for us to get a room, but the IV went in easily first try and we eventually got our room.

I'm referring to marc's notes on the website for details of the rest since it's all kind of blurry to me.  Around 3:40 Melissa (our midwife) checked me and I was 4cm dilated, 90% effaced and z was at a -1 station.  She told me that meant I was now in 'active labor' most likely, which I guess was supposed to be good news, but I felt like I had already been in active labor for an hour or so… 2 hours later I was 6cm dilated and 100% effaced.  I thought I would have been further by now, mainly just because of how much pain I was in.  I think it was about now that I started asking about an epidural… just mentioning it.  When I was in the tub I asked our awesome nurse Jen to talk me out of it.  She kind of laughed and then was talking about how I could walk after and I wouldn't have to be in a bed… both of which were NOT important to me at that point!!!  She told me about the iv pain meds they could give which were kind of a middle ground, but I wasn't interested in those at all.  Everyone (Marc, Jen and Melissa) kept telling me how good I was doing and how I was great at coping with the contractions… I just kept saying that I didn't care and it hurt really really really really bad and I didn't want to do it anymore.  (I was really kind of a brat).  I remember commenting that I was still only in 'active labor' and it wasn't even transition yet… I knew that transition was when you felt like you couldn't do it anymore and if I already felt like that I didn't want to know what this transition would feel like.  Melissa said it 'could' be my transition and it's different for everyone.  I wasn't convinced.  I think also in the back of my mind I thought it would take a lot longer still… with wren I got to the hospital at 6cm dilated and it was still over 24 hours before she was born.  I finally thought I talked them into letting me have an epi, but Jen said she wanted to have Melissa check me one more time to make sure I wasn't ready to deliver already and even though I knew I could do whatever I want (pain med – wise) I still felt like I had to apologize to the midwife.. she was so nice and told me I wasn't allowed to say sorry ever and that I had nothing to be sorry about.  I couldn't even stand for a contraction anymore…. my legs wouldn't hold me it was so painful.  I would definitely say they were more painful than with wren… even the pitocin contractions with wren.  Anyway… SOooo….. she checked me and I was 9cm!  It was only an hour from when I was 6 (which originally was stretchy 5 and then she was feeling around and decided it was 6).  I of course said ok… I can do it… and it just kept getting more intense.  She told me to get on all 4s with the birth ball and that it would be more painful at first but to stick with it for at least 2 contractions.  I think by the 2nd or 3rd I just started pushing… I told her I felt like I had to and she said to listen to my body and do what I needed to do.  After 3 or 4 pushing contractions it started feeling better and far less painful (I LOVE the pushing part!).  I heard them getting stuff ready for the baby and she got a bowl of water to give me warm compresses.  That definitely gave me more of a rush and I knew our baby was coming soon.  Jen asked Melissa if I was officially complete and I think she said yes?  it was kind of weird.  Marc told me later that Melissa told Jen that the baby was still at a 1 station which I guess meant that he was still pretty far up?  I don't know… but she obviously didn't want me to know that since she said it softly enough that I didn't hear it.  It was only about a half hour of pushing (as opposed to my 3hr 47min of pushing with wren!).  It was painful when his head came out, but not too bad at all.  It was pretty crazy to see his head sticking out of me (sorry tmi).  She told me to give a good push to get the shoulders out and I remembered that part being easy.  She told me to push again and again and I thought maybe I wasn't pushing hard enough???  The next thing we knew there was another nurse there and they told marc to step aside and they were moving one knee/leg/hip up and the other down and pushing on my stomach.  His shoulder got stuck which is called shoulder dystocia.  It all happened (the shoulder part) in less than a minute and by the time we realized what was happening it was over.  It could have been more scary, but he was here before we knew it.  Marc announced that it was a boy and we were surprised once again (we were certain it was a girl).  It was so surreal.  I still  can't believe that a week ago today I was pregnant with this little boy moving around like crazy and now I'm holding him.  He is so precious and I love him so much.  He started nursing right away before they even finished stitching me up.  I had a second degree tear like last time, but I'm in far less pain and feel like I'm going to recover a lot faster.

A lot of people have asked about his name.  Z Olund Rook Mroz.  First of all, his initials spell ZORM which is our last name backwards.  A lot of Mroz's over the years have used zorm as code-names for things and when we decided on his first name it just made sense to use it for his name.  Marc picked the name Z.  I was originally trying to get him to agree to a longer name with the nickname of z, but he has never been a fan of nicknames… if you want the kid to be called z that is what you name him.  I finally agreed to it after I had some terrible vision of marc dying while I was pregnant (with wren) and decided that if the baby was a boy I would name him z since that is what marc wanted.  Marc of couse said something to the effect of 'so I have to die to get the name I want'.  We then agreed on the first name and it has definitely grown on me and I love it now.  Olund is my maiden name and Rook is a kind of bird (like wren).  It was important to me for him to have two middle names to choose from when he gets older in case he despised us for giving him a one letter name. 

my brother did two commercials for the doritos and pepsi max crash the super bowl contest. check em out. he’ll find out jan 3rd if he makes it to the next round or not.

hit skip on the intro thing after you click the links:
Lost – Pepsi Max
Chores – Doritos

z is 2 weeks old today. he was able to enjoy some time on his stomach today.

thanksgiving at my parent's house. it was great to see all the people who live out of state. we haven't all (most) of us been together in quite some time.

In the bathroom!

having fun with grandma sue and getting ready for thanksgiving tomorrow! 

I love it when z lays contently on the ground…looking around and soaking it all in.

wren and heather made some delicious banana muffins this morning. wren was a great helper!

there was a 40% off everything sale at the gap today, including the clearance and sale items. we found this clearance baby romper, that was almost like what heather wanted. should we keep it or return it?

heather thinks it might be too sweatery and too much grandpa babyish for her liking (which is really crazy to hear coming from heather because she loves sweaters and grandpas).

wren and i made paper air planes and paper helicopters this morning while heather and z slept. it was quite fun. the helicopters worked good when you dropped them from our balcony.

we went back to the doctor today and z made it back to his birth weight (minus an ounce or 2), so he is doing great and getting the food he needs.

wren loves helping with z, she is a great big sister!

4 days old!