I'm a little late to get this all down but I had some notes from the day she was born. Hopefully I can remember the rest to document this. I'd like to be able to share this story with her and everything else in this blog when she is older.
I guess I'll start with... she's here... Zoey Kathleen Rojek arrived in this world on Saturday Dec 21st 2019 at 2:08pm. She weighed 7 pounds exactly and was measured at 20.5 inches. I had to have an emergency c-section after starting the induction the previous night.
Backing up a little... how did we get here? She was supposed to arrive the following week? I had an OBGYN follow up with an Ultrasound on Friday the 20th. Chris and I went and met up with my Mother-in-law, I figured everyone would like to see the last ultrasound before my induction the following weekend. Well... she didn't perform up to par on the Ultrasound and after consulting with the midwife on call... they decided I should repeat some tests over at the hospital in labor and delivery. I was informed it could be likely that I would start induction today. I didn't even have my hospital bag packed! Since we lived so close to the clinic, we drove home so Chris could take a super quick shower, take the dogs out and I could pack things up. I would have loved a shower too but they didn't want me to spend longer than a quick home stop before heading over.
Fast forward to the hospital and after some monitoring, they decided they were going to start the induction that night. They started it with a cervical softening drug called Cryotec, I'm not sure the time but I did document that they gave me my 3rd dose of it around 4:30am on Saturday morning. After that, they broke my water and checked me around 6:30am... I was 3 cm dilated and 80% effaced. This is when contractions started progressing steadily and hurt pretty bad. I started crying for an epidural which was delayed a bit. After about an hour of enduring those contractions, they came and gave me the epidural. As much as I hated the contractions, I have to say that the pressure they place in your spine was awful... it wasn't painful but the pressure... something about it made me nauseous.
After I got the epidural, there was a great relief. Unfortunately, this caused my blood pressure to drop a bit and because of this... baby didn't like that. They tried to get me into multiple positions and gave me medicine to increase my blood pressure. They also gave me tribudaline to stop the labor and give me a break. Thankfully, this worked because they were considering a c section if it didn't (clearly, this is something that ended up happening anyways). After that, I got fluids which added to the sac (since they had already broken my water). They also added an internal monitor for the babies heart and contractions so they could monitor it.
I rested and waited... but little baby Zoey wasn't having it. She kept showing signs of distress. They moved me around to different positions (as well as possible). Luckily, I had some feeling and movement in my legs so I could position myself. However, none of this was working and I was told that it would be best to do an emergency c section. It was the best thing for little Zoey and the safest. I was TERRIFIED and cried quite a bit. It wasn't the fact that I had to have a c section... it was the thought of being cut open while awake (that's a huge fear of mine). The nurses were wonderful and calmed me down and my doctor came in and talked to me about it and made me feel a little better. Chris and his mother also helped calm me down. The reality was... it had to happen.
Fast forward... I get brought into this very white room with bright lights and tons of people all around me. They prep me and give me more medicine to numb me completely down there. They test it multiple times and reassure me that I won't feel a thing. They place a giant sheet by my face/chest and I can't see anything going on down there. Chris gets scrubbed in and sits by me. I am scared but I squeeze his hand. Chris is allowed to watch and take pictures. It honestly happened all so fast and suddenly this pressure in my abdomen and then they tell me shes out. I start crying, I am so happy. I hear her cry... it makes me so happy. Chris says that it's honestly the best moment and that all his fears about having a kid went completely away. They take her to measure her, Chris cuts the cord and they wrap her and hand her to him. He brings her close to me and she's amazing. It fills my heart even thinking about that moment now. They ask if I want to hold her but I say I will once I get back to the room, I don't feel comfortable lying like this and worry I would drop her.
Once I get back to the room, I get to hold her. It's the most amazing feeling in the world. I can't believe she is here. It's a feeling that is undeniable but also nothing I have ever known.
After all of this, she tested for low blood sugar. So after being with her for the first few hours... they had to bring her to the NICU to get treatment. That was heartbreaking. It was super hard for Chris, he didn't like seeing her hooked up to all those monitors with the IVs. I ended up going to the NICU to visit her quite often which added to my recovery. Not only did the doctor do an amazing job stitching me up but her being far away... got me up and moving around more than would be normal after a c section. She was released from NICU after a day and that debacle was another story that I'd rather forget. She is here and is healthy. I've attached quite a few pictures below and I'll write another update to get you caught up on where we are now - she's a month old!
I guess I'll start with... she's here... Zoey Kathleen Rojek arrived in this world on Saturday Dec 21st 2019 at 2:08pm. She weighed 7 pounds exactly and was measured at 20.5 inches. I had to have an emergency c-section after starting the induction the previous night.
Backing up a little... how did we get here? She was supposed to arrive the following week? I had an OBGYN follow up with an Ultrasound on Friday the 20th. Chris and I went and met up with my Mother-in-law, I figured everyone would like to see the last ultrasound before my induction the following weekend. Well... she didn't perform up to par on the Ultrasound and after consulting with the midwife on call... they decided I should repeat some tests over at the hospital in labor and delivery. I was informed it could be likely that I would start induction today. I didn't even have my hospital bag packed! Since we lived so close to the clinic, we drove home so Chris could take a super quick shower, take the dogs out and I could pack things up. I would have loved a shower too but they didn't want me to spend longer than a quick home stop before heading over.
Fast forward to the hospital and after some monitoring, they decided they were going to start the induction that night. They started it with a cervical softening drug called Cryotec, I'm not sure the time but I did document that they gave me my 3rd dose of it around 4:30am on Saturday morning. After that, they broke my water and checked me around 6:30am... I was 3 cm dilated and 80% effaced. This is when contractions started progressing steadily and hurt pretty bad. I started crying for an epidural which was delayed a bit. After about an hour of enduring those contractions, they came and gave me the epidural. As much as I hated the contractions, I have to say that the pressure they place in your spine was awful... it wasn't painful but the pressure... something about it made me nauseous.
After I got the epidural, there was a great relief. Unfortunately, this caused my blood pressure to drop a bit and because of this... baby didn't like that. They tried to get me into multiple positions and gave me medicine to increase my blood pressure. They also gave me tribudaline to stop the labor and give me a break. Thankfully, this worked because they were considering a c section if it didn't (clearly, this is something that ended up happening anyways). After that, I got fluids which added to the sac (since they had already broken my water). They also added an internal monitor for the babies heart and contractions so they could monitor it.
I rested and waited... but little baby Zoey wasn't having it. She kept showing signs of distress. They moved me around to different positions (as well as possible). Luckily, I had some feeling and movement in my legs so I could position myself. However, none of this was working and I was told that it would be best to do an emergency c section. It was the best thing for little Zoey and the safest. I was TERRIFIED and cried quite a bit. It wasn't the fact that I had to have a c section... it was the thought of being cut open while awake (that's a huge fear of mine). The nurses were wonderful and calmed me down and my doctor came in and talked to me about it and made me feel a little better. Chris and his mother also helped calm me down. The reality was... it had to happen.
Fast forward... I get brought into this very white room with bright lights and tons of people all around me. They prep me and give me more medicine to numb me completely down there. They test it multiple times and reassure me that I won't feel a thing. They place a giant sheet by my face/chest and I can't see anything going on down there. Chris gets scrubbed in and sits by me. I am scared but I squeeze his hand. Chris is allowed to watch and take pictures. It honestly happened all so fast and suddenly this pressure in my abdomen and then they tell me shes out. I start crying, I am so happy. I hear her cry... it makes me so happy. Chris says that it's honestly the best moment and that all his fears about having a kid went completely away. They take her to measure her, Chris cuts the cord and they wrap her and hand her to him. He brings her close to me and she's amazing. It fills my heart even thinking about that moment now. They ask if I want to hold her but I say I will once I get back to the room, I don't feel comfortable lying like this and worry I would drop her.
Once I get back to the room, I get to hold her. It's the most amazing feeling in the world. I can't believe she is here. It's a feeling that is undeniable but also nothing I have ever known.
After all of this, she tested for low blood sugar. So after being with her for the first few hours... they had to bring her to the NICU to get treatment. That was heartbreaking. It was super hard for Chris, he didn't like seeing her hooked up to all those monitors with the IVs. I ended up going to the NICU to visit her quite often which added to my recovery. Not only did the doctor do an amazing job stitching me up but her being far away... got me up and moving around more than would be normal after a c section. She was released from NICU after a day and that debacle was another story that I'd rather forget. She is here and is healthy. I've attached quite a few pictures below and I'll write another update to get you caught up on where we are now - she's a month old!
Wow!
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