Two Months of Blessings

Zechariah is now two months old and he’s doing great! Last time we visited the pediatrician, Zechariah weighed in at 8.5 lbs. He’s gaining weight, becoming more and more alert, and of course…his lungs seem to be developing quite well (evidenced by his ability to cry at a high volume). Over the last few days it’s become pretty obvious that he’s going through some sort of growth spurt. That’s a good thing! The other day I (Jeremy) came home for lunch and did a double take when I saw Z sitting in his bouncer in the living room. He looked like he had grown a ton in just a few short hours! It is such an old saying, but time seriously does fly (especially when your awareness of the current date and time are occasionally altered by a lack of sleep).

As we think back on the past two months since Zechariah’s birth, we see many ways that God has blessed our family. First of all, we are grateful for the simple (yet profound) fact that we were able to have another baby. We were so excited to find out that April was pregnant and that we would be able to expand our family. Right from the beginning, we recognized Zechariah as a testimony to God’s faithfulness and love in our lives. We are also really fortunate that Z was born without any major complications or health issues. We know that we are not promised an easy, pain-free life on earth, so we are grateful that Zechariah is a healthy little boy. In addition, we were well taken care of by our family and friends before and after Z was born. I seriously can’t count the number of meals we received! People took the time to bless us despite how busy or stressful their own lives were. Our family and friends also helped us out in a huge way by watching Lincoln when we unexpectedly had to make trips to the hospital with pre-term contractions.

Then, of course…there are the many blessings we are firsthand witnesses to each day. Each time we hear Zechariah’s cry (aka scream at some points during the day/night), we can stop and remember that this little boy was handcrafted by God, the Creator of the universe, and chosen to be placed into our family. As we slowly rock him to soothe him or help him fall asleep, we know that we are not alone in this parenting adventure. We are so blessed that God (our Father) is with us each moment of the day/night, leading us and teaching us how to be the parents He designed us to be.
Recently, Zechariah has begun to smile. Different than the usual baby-gas-smile, he has begun to smile in response to things we say or do. This is a great blessing! It’s fun to see evidence of the bond that we have already developed with Zechariah, and it’s fun to think about how our relationship with him will grow over the many coming years.

Last but not least, we have been truly blessed to watch Lincoln and Zechariah interact. It is such a sweet thing to see how much Lincoln loves and cares for his baby brother. Lincoln is always right there to make sure Zechariah is ok. In return, Zechariah often turns his head and becomes intensely focused on Lincoln whenever he gets close.

As if you can’t already tell, we are incredibly happy to have another little one in our family! We are excited to see how Zechariah will grow over the coming month…and we’ll definitely keep you posted with pics and more memories!

Here is a pic of Zechariah's 1-month cake that never made it to the blog

Labor & Delivery

Emergency C-section! What happened?!?

I get that question a lot these days. I think most (women) love a good labor & delivery story. Mine has a little more drama to it than I'd like... but it does make for a good story ;-). Plus a good friend and wonderful photographer captured it beautifully. So here is the story of our labor and delivery...

 My pregnancy began as "high risk" since I unexpectedly delivered our first son at 30 weeks. In hopes of keeping this pregnancy until full-term, I received weekly injections of progesterone. When I reached 26 weeks, I began having regular contractions (3-5 minutes apart). I checked into the hospital a few times over the next two months to monitor contractions as they increased in strength. The contractions never went away. They would be stronger at times and more mild at others, but they kept coming. In hopes of holding my body off from delivering, I was put on bed rest. For 9 weeks I hung out at home, rested as much as possible, and let my amazing friends and family take care of me. 

  

At 35 weeks and 2 days, my water broke at home. Since it was 9:30 pm, we called my mom to come stay at our house with our sleeping son. We made a few phone calls and sent out some texts, and we headed to the hospital to see if this was the day. Ironically, I had marked on our calendar that next day as my guess of when he would arrive! Jeremy and I checked in to Labor & Delivery at 11 pm... and it looked like my guess would be the day!

My sister, Emily, and a good friend, Giana (photographer), met us there. We all settled in for what we assumed would be a long night. I should have known that after 9 weeks of practice contractions, my body would move much faster than that!

Contractions became stronger and stronger.

About 12:30 am, my OB came in to quickly check the baby. I was concerned the baby was not yet in position for delivery... and unfortunately I was correct. That sweet little head that had been causing so much pain in my ribs with each contraction over the last few weeks was in the same place. Since baby was breach, we switched gears from thinking natural delivery and accepted the fact that a C-section was safer for both me and the baby.

I was disappointed, nervous, and yet relieved that soon the intense pain from contractions would be eased and then we would get to meet our baby boy. The OB said I would go to the operating room about an hour later. 

Things changed quickly. My contractions became strong. Very strong. My pain level intensified. In just a few moments, I went from a 4 to fully dilated. My body took over and I couldn't stop it. The C-section they were preparing for was still half an hour away... and it became clear to the staff that it couldn't wait. 

A rush of nurses entered the room. They unhooked me from the monitors. And off we went. On the run down the hallway they explained that I would be put under general anesthesia and would not be conscious for the birth. My husband would have to wait in the hall. All they needed was 10 minutes and baby would be born.

After a quick check in the NICU, they brought our baby out to meet daddy in the hallway. He stood there with our beautiful boy... I was in the OR just behind the double doors.

Daddy was able to go with baby to the nursery to be evaluated, weighed, and bathed. He stayed there for hours while I was in recovery. He knew I would not want him to leave that baby's side. He knew I would tell him I was fine... if I had been awake.

After about 3 or 4 hours, I woke up enough to finally meet my new little man. He was precious. He was perfect. He was worth every ache and pain. He was here, and we were both safe. I snuggled that sweet little one for hours.