Zachery's Birth Story

Our second child, and first born son, Zachery Jayden, was born January 15th, 2014. He weighed 7lbs 2oz and was 19.5 inches long. He was born naturally at 10:28am at a private hospital in Bangkok, Thailand!

Zachery arrived only 2 days past his due date and thankfully without any medical intervention (you can read HERE about my concerns for premature inducement). Contractions began on the 14th but were so irregular and painless that I wasn't sure if it was just a bout of braxton hicks. Around 4am on the 15th I woke up to go pee and began having regular contractions starting at 10 minutes apart, not really painful but definitely uncomfortable. 

I nodded in and out of sleep till about 6am when things seemed to be speeding up faster than I was prepared for. By 7am my contractions were 4 minutes apart, the pain that came with them was manageable but enough to stop me from what I was doing. The timing seemed weird for me because by the time I was 4 minutes apart with Rylee I was in so much pain and begging to go to the hospital. This time around I felt like I still had a long way to go before I could even begin thinking about pushing this lil'guy out. Regardless we figured we should go to the hospital to get checked out, playing the better safe then sorry card.

We arrived at the hospital around 7:45am, got checked in, and were placed in a labour room. I was put on an I/V and they put on me a fetal heart rate monitor as well as checked my blood pressure every 15 minutes. Once settled a nurse came in to check me and to my disappointment I was only 3cm dilated! I began to get nervous that this labour was going to be long and exhausting as contractions were now more painful and so close together. 

It wasn't long before the Dr. showed up, after reexamining me (now 4cm), he thought it best to break my waters. This was not the most comfortable experience, one because I didn't know if it was fully necessary, and two because it just was (just imagine a super skinny crochet hook poking around in your down unders...)! 

After this things definitely began to speed up, at least in the pain department! Around 9am I was 6cm dilated and moved into the delivery room. Sevio (with Rylee) was told to wait in the labor room (which was not what we planned for at all!). So I was in a room full of strangers, about 6 nurses and 1 doctor, all of which spoke minimal English, at first I was like "I can do this" and just focused on getting through each contraction. But, after about an hour of doing it on my own I had enough and requested they bring Sevio in, thankfully they listened! I couldn't imagine going through such an excruciating experience without him, and wasn't willing to let him miss out on the amazingness of his son being born!

At this point I have no idea how dilated I was, but I was fully aware I was in worst stage of delivery, the "transition phase". Having gone though this before it was a little bizzaar to recognize my self doubt and actually be encouraged by it... knowing the end was near. With Sevio with me now I was more comfortable knowing I had my support and someone I could communicate with, he helped me count through contractions and encouraged me through this awful stage. 

Going into this birth I had been so nervous that the hospital staff were going to intervene any way possible making it a less than natural delivery, and so far they had with putting me on an I/V (which i later learned had oxytocin in it), and the breaking of my waters... both of which may have been necessary and probably helped make for a quicker delivery but I just don't like not knowing that information or really having a say in the matter.

So now that things had progressed and we were near the end I was even more thankful Sevio was in the room, he could tell me what was going on around me, and even stepped in when it seemed the Doc was getting ready to do some carving in my area (aka an episiotomy, my worst nightmare)! It was around 10:20am when I was ready to push and boy, oh boy did I push! Its all a blur but I know with one prolonged contraction I bared down like no other, it was only when I heard a nurse yell "slow down" that I gained a little control and eased up. The pressure was so intense but at the end of it I felt a release and Sevio informed me the head was out, "Hallelujah!" were my exact words at that moment! This is also when I opened my eyes for a moment and saw Rylee in Sevio's arms with a look on her face that was none other than "What the heck is happening!?", and then with one more contraction I saw our little Zachery dangling upside down in the Dr's hands!

The worst was over and our little boy was here! Rylee was the first to hold him (with Sevio's help of course!). After a few minutes I briefly got to hold him before they took him up to the nursery, Rylee and Sevio followed while I got cleaned up and moved back into the labour room to rest.

It was very much a different experience than the birth of Rylee where we had a much more personal experience with a midwife and surrounded by family and friends sharing in our excitement. For the first four hours of Zachery's life he was in the nursery, and half of that time I was alone in the labour room (Sevio & Rylee were up with Zach, although only Rylee was allowed in to see him). All of this I wish I could change, I wish those precious hours we could have been all together as a family but regardless of this I am just happy he alive and healthy!

As standard procedure here in Thailand, Zachery and I spent 3 days, 2 nights in the hospital. This was a first for me, I've never spent more than a few hours in a hospital, or even eaten hospital food. And as much as I wanted to get back to the comfort of our own home, I'm actually thankful for this time to rest and be taken care of. We had a great big room all to ourselves, t.v., wifi, and best of all I didn't have to worry about meals, or cleaning house, or anything!

If you want to read about Rylee's birth story, click HERE.

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