Welcome to the World, Zach!

He is here!!! Horay! I was in labor for 6 hours and here is how it went...
Zach decided he didn't want to wait around until Tuesday to be born. Thank heavens. Thursday night I was having some light contractions, but not anything that I got too excited about. Jacob and I went on one last date to Planet of the Apes to pass the time. I woke up Friday morning with some more contractions, but just about the same intensity as Thursday night. So, I sat there, yelling at my contractions in my head, "MAKE ME CRY! MAKE ME CRY!" Just as I was pretty sure Friday wouldn't be the day, I felt a huge pop in my stomach, kind of like a back cracking. I sat up thinking that wasn't normal and then I was wet. So we made way to the hospital and we got there right around 8:00 a.m.

I had originally decided that I was not going to get an epidural, but the contractions were coming on strong and fast and I was only dilated to a 3. We were not at the hospital 5 minutes before I was begging for an epidural. Literally begging. Every time the nurses made me move I had a contraction. My body just just kept shaking and I couldn't stop. Around 10:00 the epidural started kicking in, but getting in position for the epidural was the worst part of the whole labor. The anesthesiologist was wearing a black hat with fruit designs, and thinking about it now, I probably should have been more nervous about him sticking a huge needle in my back. Anyways, getting into position for the epidural is when I started to cry. But soon after that I was in heaven, watching The View and I could not feel a thing at all. The nurse told me I was dilated to a 7! In 2 hours! No wonder I cried. The contractions apparently weren't as intense anymore, but I couldn't feel a thing anyways. I was in heaven. My shakes hadn't stopped but the nurses gave me a big heated blanket and it helped a little bit. I just kept talking about how amazing the epidural was.

When the nurse saw that I was at a 7, she started setting up the room, but she left for a long time and when she checked me again at 12:40 she said it was time to have a baby! The doctor came in right away and seemed pretty relaxed. I went through my first set of pushes and he just sat sideways on the bed next to my feet. Then he got serious. Apparently I am pretty good at pushing. Three or 4 more nurses rushed in and the doctor stood up to get read to catch. I still couldn't feel anything but a little pressure that didn't hurt. I just pushed when they told me to. To be honest, I couldn't even tell if I was pushing hard, I just kept doing it as hard as I thought I could when ever they told me to. 15 minutes later at 12:55 on November 11, Zach was laying on my belly, not in my belly! He was 9 lbs 3.4 oz and 20 3/4 inches long.

We got home from the hospital 5 minutes before the Boise State game started. A disappointing game... But Zach was decked out in Boise State gear. Thanks to my friend Cari for the Bronco onesie!We love him and he is absolutely perfect! I am so glad he is mine. People say you forget about the pain right away and I can't say that I have forgotten about my pre-epidural labor, but he was completely worth it.