I'm so proud to announce the birth of my beautiful son, Ezekiel Jonah Lewis. He was born on December 18, 2012 at 2:57 pm. Weighing 9 lbs, 3 oz and 21 1/4 inches long. He is a big boy!
So, here's the whole story. I was due on Wednesday, December 12th and not much happened that day. Not much happened for the next 5 days. Finally, on Monday I had a Doctor's appointment. I was more than ready to be done but unfortunately he told me they don't like to induce labor until you are 41 weeks. I was 40 weeks and 5 days. But he said we could go ahead and schedule it for the next day since I was so close. He was a sweet man and John and I both liked him a lot. He also told us he was the Doctor on call that day, so we knew he'd be the one to deliver our son. Which we were cool with. To help me along, he stripped my membrane again. He said I could expect a call around 6 am and they would tell me when to come in and have the baby. That night I had random contractions and got very little sleep. At 5:39 am I got the call. We quickly got ready and headed over to the hospital. We checked in and settled into the birthing room. I immediately liked my nurse! She was super encouraging and comforting and kind. I was at 4 and started the pitocin around 7 am. The contractions began almost immediately and going about every 4 minutes. In half an hour they were about every 2 minutes. After an hour I was up to a 6. I got my epidural around 9 am. I was feeling strong and that I could go longer without it but my nurse convinced me to go ahead and do it sooner than later. Why suffer right? I was progressing so fast that I think she was nervous I would wait too long then not be able to get one. I'm glad I got it when I did, it was a lot nicer being numbed! Shortly after the epidural my water broke. They checked me again and I was at a 7. It was about 10 am now. An hour later I was at a 9 1/2 and they said I should be able to start pushing soon. Like I said, I was moving fast. I basically went from a 4 to a 10 in about 5 hours. I was feeling pretty lucky and confident for how well it was going. I thought for sure he'd just pop right out. However, that did not happen. I started pushing but was so numb that I didn't really know where or how to push. I couldn't even hold up my right leg because it was completely numb. I had some feeling in my left leg but for about an hour I couldn't feel anything so they turned off my epidural to help me get some feeling back. It worked a little. I had been pushing for about an hour and a half and not progressing. The baby was not making his way down and they started talking about what would happen if he never came down. After 2 hours they started talking C-section. They typically don't let women push more than 2 hours because it exhausts them so much and usually the baby's heart beat starts dropping. I was not happy to hear that because here I was after 2 hours of pushing and the thought of being cut open after all that work was killing me. It actually gave me the courage to keep going. The doctor said I could keep pushing as long as I had the energy and the baby's heartbeat was doing well. Thankfully it was. My little champ had a perfect heart beat the whole time! My nurse said that he was what was saving me from having to get a C-section. I knew he was strong! She then had me lay on my side and push from another angle, thinking that would move me along. It was helping a little. He was finally coming down but still not as far as they wanted. The Doctor came back and asked me if I was ok having forceps used. At this point, 3 hours of pushing, I gladly agreed. Anything to help him get out. My baby was also turned up so the Doctor used the forceps to pull him down as well as turn him. He didn't want to try to turn him too much in case of lapsing the chord. So I felt a big difference once his head had been brought down and I pushed my very hardest after that to get him out and be done! I felt the head come out and my husband looked at me and confirmed that I was almost done, just one more big push was all I had left to muster. I gave it my all and felt his shoulders come out and the rest of him slide out easy. I had done it! I looked at my husband, who was pushing back some tears, and knew a little miracle had just happened. The moment was priceless! (plus I have never seen John cry) Everyone started commenting on how big the baby appeared to be. The Doctor stated that the baby had a true knot in his chord too. This kid had so many things going against him but he remained strong and got through it. They took the baby over to the little table and did his Apgar test and wiped him up, weighed him, and all that stuff then finally brought him to me. He was big and I just looked at him in awe, I couldn't believe this was really happening. They didn't let me have him long because he had some slight irregular breathing and needed to take him to the NICU. He was doing fine but really grunting. They explained that some of the air pockets in his lungs were most likely just not opening as much as they should so they would need to give him oxygen for an hour or two and then all should be fine. John went with him and I layed there while the Doc cleaned me up and stitched me. It was taking a while and finally they told me I had an episiotomy as well as a big tear. I figured I did because he was such a big baby. So they finally got me moved to the recovery room and John was in and out checking on our son and then reporting back to me. It took about 4 and a half hours before they brought him to me. Once they did however, I was overwhelmed with emotion. They put him on my chest for skin to skin time and I just cried and cried. He felt so wonderful and warm. The next few hours are sorta a blur with all the holding him, feeding him, trying to sleep, eat, everything was sorta smushed together. The next day was better, although I was so exhausted that night that I didn't really sleep at all. All my muscles ached from pushing. But I got up a few times that day, showered, took a nap, hung out with baby and some family and just recovered. The day flew by. I slept better that night and woke the next day shocked that I'd be going home in a few hours. I wanted to stay longer. It's nice having your meals brought to you and to have other people do just about everything for you. But by the time we had to go, I was ready to be home. The time is still flying by and I'm learning a little bit better every day just how to take care of this little life. It's exhausting but I totally love it! I mean, look at this little guy, how can you not love him?
So, here's the whole story. I was due on Wednesday, December 12th and not much happened that day. Not much happened for the next 5 days. Finally, on Monday I had a Doctor's appointment. I was more than ready to be done but unfortunately he told me they don't like to induce labor until you are 41 weeks. I was 40 weeks and 5 days. But he said we could go ahead and schedule it for the next day since I was so close. He was a sweet man and John and I both liked him a lot. He also told us he was the Doctor on call that day, so we knew he'd be the one to deliver our son. Which we were cool with. To help me along, he stripped my membrane again. He said I could expect a call around 6 am and they would tell me when to come in and have the baby. That night I had random contractions and got very little sleep. At 5:39 am I got the call. We quickly got ready and headed over to the hospital. We checked in and settled into the birthing room. I immediately liked my nurse! She was super encouraging and comforting and kind. I was at 4 and started the pitocin around 7 am. The contractions began almost immediately and going about every 4 minutes. In half an hour they were about every 2 minutes. After an hour I was up to a 6. I got my epidural around 9 am. I was feeling strong and that I could go longer without it but my nurse convinced me to go ahead and do it sooner than later. Why suffer right? I was progressing so fast that I think she was nervous I would wait too long then not be able to get one. I'm glad I got it when I did, it was a lot nicer being numbed! Shortly after the epidural my water broke. They checked me again and I was at a 7. It was about 10 am now. An hour later I was at a 9 1/2 and they said I should be able to start pushing soon. Like I said, I was moving fast. I basically went from a 4 to a 10 in about 5 hours. I was feeling pretty lucky and confident for how well it was going. I thought for sure he'd just pop right out. However, that did not happen. I started pushing but was so numb that I didn't really know where or how to push. I couldn't even hold up my right leg because it was completely numb. I had some feeling in my left leg but for about an hour I couldn't feel anything so they turned off my epidural to help me get some feeling back. It worked a little. I had been pushing for about an hour and a half and not progressing. The baby was not making his way down and they started talking about what would happen if he never came down. After 2 hours they started talking C-section. They typically don't let women push more than 2 hours because it exhausts them so much and usually the baby's heart beat starts dropping. I was not happy to hear that because here I was after 2 hours of pushing and the thought of being cut open after all that work was killing me. It actually gave me the courage to keep going. The doctor said I could keep pushing as long as I had the energy and the baby's heartbeat was doing well. Thankfully it was. My little champ had a perfect heart beat the whole time! My nurse said that he was what was saving me from having to get a C-section. I knew he was strong! She then had me lay on my side and push from another angle, thinking that would move me along. It was helping a little. He was finally coming down but still not as far as they wanted. The Doctor came back and asked me if I was ok having forceps used. At this point, 3 hours of pushing, I gladly agreed. Anything to help him get out. My baby was also turned up so the Doctor used the forceps to pull him down as well as turn him. He didn't want to try to turn him too much in case of lapsing the chord. So I felt a big difference once his head had been brought down and I pushed my very hardest after that to get him out and be done! I felt the head come out and my husband looked at me and confirmed that I was almost done, just one more big push was all I had left to muster. I gave it my all and felt his shoulders come out and the rest of him slide out easy. I had done it! I looked at my husband, who was pushing back some tears, and knew a little miracle had just happened. The moment was priceless! (plus I have never seen John cry) Everyone started commenting on how big the baby appeared to be. The Doctor stated that the baby had a true knot in his chord too. This kid had so many things going against him but he remained strong and got through it. They took the baby over to the little table and did his Apgar test and wiped him up, weighed him, and all that stuff then finally brought him to me. He was big and I just looked at him in awe, I couldn't believe this was really happening. They didn't let me have him long because he had some slight irregular breathing and needed to take him to the NICU. He was doing fine but really grunting. They explained that some of the air pockets in his lungs were most likely just not opening as much as they should so they would need to give him oxygen for an hour or two and then all should be fine. John went with him and I layed there while the Doc cleaned me up and stitched me. It was taking a while and finally they told me I had an episiotomy as well as a big tear. I figured I did because he was such a big baby. So they finally got me moved to the recovery room and John was in and out checking on our son and then reporting back to me. It took about 4 and a half hours before they brought him to me. Once they did however, I was overwhelmed with emotion. They put him on my chest for skin to skin time and I just cried and cried. He felt so wonderful and warm. The next few hours are sorta a blur with all the holding him, feeding him, trying to sleep, eat, everything was sorta smushed together. The next day was better, although I was so exhausted that night that I didn't really sleep at all. All my muscles ached from pushing. But I got up a few times that day, showered, took a nap, hung out with baby and some family and just recovered. The day flew by. I slept better that night and woke the next day shocked that I'd be going home in a few hours. I wanted to stay longer. It's nice having your meals brought to you and to have other people do just about everything for you. But by the time we had to go, I was ready to be home. The time is still flying by and I'm learning a little bit better every day just how to take care of this little life. It's exhausting but I totally love it! I mean, look at this little guy, how can you not love him?
