The Matusek Family: 06/25/2011 Special Delivery

I will tell you now, I put a few pics on here that are not "modest" in the sense that I view the word, but I did not put anything that would embarrass either myself or you...

With that said, I guess I'll just share our Labor and Delivery story for our 3rd son, Zachary Abram Matusek.

It all started at midnight on June 25th, contractions started coming regularly at 10 minutes apart. At 4:00 in the morning they were 7 minutes apart, and that is when I decided to call my midwife. She told me to keep trying to rest in between as long as I could. So I did, I stayed in bed til 5:00, and then decided to take a shower. I ate a hearty breakfast (I knew I would need the energy!!) and then decided that I had better wake my hubby up. My midwife called me back and told me to meet her at the office at 8:00, so we did. She checked my cervix, which was dilated to a 4 and fully effaced... we knew that we were having a baby, and soon:) We left the office, and went home. We had decided to labor some more in the comfort of our home and then meet Julie, our midwife at the hospital at 11:00. Contractions started picking up as we walked around the backyard. My husband and a tree trunk became my lifeline back there:)

I was exhausted by 10:15, so I sat on the couch, with my husband beside me, tennis ball in hand. I would doze in between contractions, and I would cue him in when another contraction came and he would massage my lower back with the ball... which was another lifeline during labor. The funny thing is, in between contractions when I was dozing off, Mike had to make sure he kept a firm grip on the hem of my shirt, so I didn't fall forward off the couch... that gave us a good laugh afterward!

We headed to the hospital at 11:00 to meet Julie. We got right into our room, and the nurses got me into a "back door wide open" hospital gown... I loathe those things. Because I was group B strep positive I had to have an IV placed with antibiotics. The hospital also is required to have at least 20 minutes of continual fetal monitoring. For these two reasons I was in bed for the first forty five minutes. As soon as the last drip of antibiotic was in me, I wanted out of that bed!! My contractions had slowed down, and that was the last thing I wanted. I needed the contractions to get longer, more powerful, and to speed up so I could get Zach here.

Once out of bed, I was on the birthing ball while the jetted tub filled up. That was my first experience on the birthing ball and I will never labor again without it... loved it! Mike was by my side the whole time, getting me ice, rubbing my back, encouraging me through the whole ordeal, and most importantly he stayed silent (he learned this in our first labor with Kimball). How grateful I am for a husband that is there for me every step of the way, he makes me stronger that I am alone. My mother was in the room as well, she took the role of photographer, witness to a miracle, and silent support.

The birthing ball

Mike helping me to the jetted tub

As soon as I knew the tub was filled, I wanted to be in it. Let me tell you, that is another thing that I will not labor without after this experience! It sped up my contractions, it was soothing, and the stress relief oil that we put in the water was SUPER calming and relaxing. Julie and Mike were there with me. Julie listened to the babies heartbeat to make sure he was doing alright. At about 1:30 Julie thought she saw fine hairs in the water, and that made her think that my water might have broken. So she had me get out to check. My water had not broke, but I was dilated to a 9. We decided that on the next contraction she would break my water.

As soon as she broke my water my pain jumped from a 7 to a 10 on a 10 point scale. YAY, the baby was finally coming!!! I turned to my side, with Mike's help and my mom's help and on the next contraction it was time to push. Once I got the head out, it was discovered that the cord was wrapped around his neck twice. That is when his shoulders got stuck. I told my husband that I couldn't push anymore, but he and my mother told me that I had to... and I knew I had to find it in me. It took 4 contractions total to get Zachary here, about 12-15 minutes. He was born at 1:44. Zachary stayed in my arms for one hour, and I cherish that time. Mike was right by me adoring our new born son. We were emotional, and overjoyed at the experience. It was amazing to say the least.

There is a reason why his shoulders got stuck, he was a BIG boy! 9 lbs and 8 oz, 21 1/2 inches long and a head circumference of 14 in. Mike and I had guessed that he would be in the 8 lb range, not the 9 lb range... so much for guessing:)