Zoe's Story

Zoe is here! She came into this world in surprising way that still has us a bit in shock. I will tell that story in a minute, but I wanted to start by saying that we are so over the moon happy to add Zoe to our family. However, we are also a bit overwhelmed by pretty much everything at the moment! Life will never be the same!

So Zoe's birth. Everything started last Thursday afternoon...

Thursday, November 13th: I had an appointment to see my doctor for a checkup to make sure everything was still looking ok with the baby and me. It was a good appointment. The doctor told me that Zoe was head down and ready to go, but that I was not dilated at all at that point. Although I was ready (physically) to be done with the pregnancy, I was not surprised to hear that I was not dilated as I was still 11 days away from her due date. Cole and I left the appointment and made plans for the following week to get this and that done before she arrived. Later that evening, I started having contractions that were 5-7 minutes apart. They were not very intense, but they were real and lasted for hours. I was up most of the night timing them and getting anxious that Zoe would be coming soon. I sent my mom a text to let her know what was going on...she had a plane ticket to come on the 18th because we thought that would give us plenty of time before the baby came. Anyways, I let her know what was going on around 3:30 am our time (9:30 pm her time) so that she could be prepared to jump on a plane if needed.

Friday, November 14th: By 5:30 am on the 14th, the contractions had increased in intensity, but become very inconsistent in frequency. I was a little discouraged and didn't know what to make of the whole night before, but Cole and I decided that this was probably still the beginning of labor and that we would ask my mom to change her ticket and come immediately. Cole called my dad in the morning and, by the afternoon, my mom had a new ticket to leave that day and arrive the next day to help us out. I can't thank both of my parents enough for dropping everything immediately and making plans to come help us. We also had some friends on standby here just in case something happened before my mom could get here. The contractions came and went throughout the day on Friday and continued to increase in intensity, but not frequency throughout the evening. By the time I went to bed, they were every 20 minutes or so.

Saturday, November 15th: My mom arrived on Saturday morning around 10:00 and immediately jumped in to help with the boys and anything else that we needed. I spent a good portion of the day in bed trying to relax, but in reality, just laid there very anxious. The contractions were painful at this point, as in, stop what I was doing and breathe through it, but still only coming about every 20 minutes. We were confused and I started to think that I was crazy and had forgotten what real contractions felt like. We didn't know what to do, but we did know that they would send me home if I went to the hospital with contractions only every 20 minutes. I tried walking around the house, changing positions, etc., but nothing seemed to make the contractions really kick into gear and come at a more frequent pace. Around 6:00 pm, I decided to take a shower to try to relax. I took a nice long, hot shower and noticed that the contractions started to become more frequent. As soon as I got out of the shower, the contractions immediately began to come every 2-3 minutes and were the worst contractions that I have ever felt...up to that point. I told Cole that we needed to get ready to go to the hospital because this was for sure the real deal. Despite having had contractions for so long already, we only had our bags semi packed (what were we thinking??), so we needed to get everything together and down to the car. We also wanted to make sure the boys were ready with what they needed. Of course my mom was a lifesaver!! She immediately took over bath time and made it possible for me to leave without feeling too guilty. An hour later, we were in the car heading to the hospital. I don't know if I can even describe the car ride to the hospital...there were so many emotions going on inside of me, but more than that, every bump, jolt, curve, or move made me want to die as the contractions came and went. Poor Cole...I was begging him to hurry, but not too fast, but to get there NOW, but without getting near any bumps in the road. He was a champ and got us there ASAP. We arrived at the hospital at 8:30 pm. He grabbed a wheel chair, which you have to pay for like a cart at a grocery store, threw me and the bags on it, and went inside as quickly as possible. We passed by the ER, told them we were having a baby, and, after seeing the urgency in my face, quickly showed us to the maternity floor. The midwife on duty took us to a room and hooked me up to monitors to watch my contractions and Zoe's heart rate during the contractions. She told me that she wanted to monitor me for 30 minutes before checking my progress. I started to panic a bit because I was in a lot of pain and did not want to have to lay down for 30 more minutes of contractions. For me, it's torture to just lay still on my back through a contraction. Thankfully, after the second contraction while hooked up the the monitor, my water broke. We called for the midwife and she said she would go ahead and check me right away for my progress. She told me that I was almost 6 cm dilated at the moment, but waited for another contraction and told me I was 7 cm after that contraction. She told me I was going to have the baby in the next 10 minutes and that she would call the doctor to immediately prepare for delivery. I was in shock and a little delirious at that point. Cole wanted to get something from the car before the baby came, so he decided to quickly go get it. The midwife told him to RUN, so run he did. He was back in the room about five minutes later, sweating profusely, just in front of the doctor who came in the room in her street clothes. She literally walked in the room, threw on a small gown, and told me to get ready to push. I pushed two times and before I knew it, Zoe was laying on my chest. She was born at 9:03 pm, just 33 minutes after we got out of the car in the hospital parking lot.

First time in my arms!

Ten minutes after she was born, Cole and I were completely alone in a quiet room with Zoe...we just stared at each other and Zoe for a while, not really knowing what to say. Finally Cole said that he felt like we just went to the grocery store, got a baby, and that it was time to go home. I agreed that it was crazy and could not believe what had just happened.

After an hour of alone time, the midwives came back to weigh and measure Zoe. 

As a side note, I have always wanted to have a baby completely naturally...without an epidural or any pain medicine. I couldn't with Cameron and Harrison for various reasons, but really wanted to try with this pregnancy. I knew my best shot of having a natural delivery would be to labor at home as long as possible. I guess God heard the desires of my heart because there was absolutely no time for anything other than good ole fashioned pushing the baby out once we were at the hospital. Even though it was an extremely painful experience, I would not trade her story for anything. I'm actually very thankful for how things went down. I feel like the delivery fits with the pregnancy and the little girl I imagined I would meet when she was born. 

We spent a lot of time trying to decide what to name this baby girl. We wanted to give her a name that would give a nod to the fact that she was born in Belgium, but we didn't want to make it difficult for when we return home (spelling, pronunciation, etc.). I looked and looked for something that felt right and Zoe jumped out at me. First of all, do you remember that Cameron wanted to name her "Joey the seal?" Well, Zoe is pretty close! Second, it just seemed to fit. When we asked the boys what they thought of the name, they immediately started calling her Zoe. It quickly went from Zoe to Zo bug, and before we knew it, that was her name. There was no turning back. The boys would give Zo bug nightly hugs and kisses and talk to her often. It didn't seem like we would be able to change the name after that. We all just felt like it was right. Even though Zoe is not a Flemish name, it is a relatively popular name used in Belgium. We chose to spell it "Zoe" because, with the exception of the dots over the "ë," that is the spelling used here in Belgium vs the more common spelling in the U.S., "Zoey." We decided not to add the dots to her name because the Americans wouldn't know what to do with that once we got home (I had to look up how to put the dots on for this post). So Zoe it is and we love it!

Zoe is very different from our boys. First of all, she is very quiet. Those of you who know Cameron and Harrison (and Cole), know that they are anything but quiet. They are loud, rambunctious, wild, and pretty much always moving. And I love that about them. But Zoe is not. She barely made a peep when she was born and still, unless her belly is hurting or she's really hungry, really doesn't make a sound. She just looks at you or slowly around the room with these sweet, innocent eyes. And she loves to snuggle and sleep. I've been trying to savor these snuggles as much as possible while she still wants to be in my arms. She is also different from the boys in that she's very petite. While the boys were both average size when they were born (7 lb. 1 oz, and 7 lb. 10 oz), they ate like monsters from the moment they were born and never actually lost weight. Zoe, however, was small to begin with, 6 lb. 12 oz, and lost 7 % of her birth weight before we left the hospital. I'm not accustomed to small babies, so I was a little worried at first, but she is doing much better now and gaining that weight back quickly. She has such a sweet spirit. I am so in love. 

We were able to come home from the hospital after two nights and have all been enjoying getting to know this new little life. We're also trying to figure out how to fit her into our lives.

More on my experience giving birth in Belgium, our hospital stay, the first week home, and the boys meeting their little sister for the first time at a later date. For now, more snuggles with my little girl!