April 17, 2013

(3 days old)

Welcome to the world, Zoe Faith Dishman! You came into the world 4 days past your due date, on April 17th, 2013 at 4:43am. You weighed 8lbs. 10oz and were 20 3/4 inches. I went into labor at 1am, dreaming of contractions. Your dad was up watching a movie because he couldn't sleep. When he came to bed at 1am, I awoke and realized the contractions weren't a dream, they were real! I timed them for an hour at 9-13 minutes apart. I was scared to move because the past few days when I had contractions and moved, they went away. I was ready for you to come and did not want these contractions to go away before you made your big appearance! After an hour, I got out of bed and the contractions not only stuck around, but they got a bit closer together and stronger! A little bit before 3am, I told Ty that this was the real deal and he should get out of bed. We called our friend, Angie Merriman, who was going to come watch your siblings, and asked her to make her way to our house. As we finished packing the last few items we needed, my contractions became even stronger and faster. We were warned that you could arrive very quickly, so we phoned our next door neighbor to come over until Angie arrived. We hopped in the truck and were on our way! 

(4 days old)

Here is the paragraph you may want to skip if you don't want any details... Our midwife, Vicki, was already at the Austin Area Birthing Center (south location) with a first time mom who had been there laboring for quite a while.  Vicki, the same midwife who had delivered Tatum, had set us up in the music room, the same room where Tatum was born and my favorite room at the center. Vicky checked me and I was at 9cm!! Yay! It wouldn't be long. (I had been dilated to 3-4 cm for 2 weeks already). As I was laboring, Ty was trying to hunt down some coffee. This was super annoying to me because I wanted him to help me by counterpressuring the pain I had in my back. (Not the same intensity as the back labor I'd had for Colt and Levi who were posterior facing, but still an annoying, sharp pain).  I had about 8 more contractions and then felt ready to push. Vicky rushed in and I tried to push on my hands and knees which is how I had been for my previous contractions, so Ty could push on my back to relieve the back pain. Anyway, that didn't feel good anymore, so I flipped over to a traditional position. I had forgotten how to effectively push through the first 2 or 3, so gladly welcomed some suggestions from Vicki. After that, you started descending quickly! It was neat because I could feel you coming, more so than the other kids, because it was happening so quickly. I had visualized my least favorite part of the birth process (the crowning of the head) many times in preparation and felt that really helped me to not stress out about it and took away most of the pain I had experienced with previous labors. Anyway, after 30 minutes or so of pushing, you came out! 

(4 days old)

As they (the midwife and her assistant) pulled you out, they put you immediately on my chest. When I was pushing we had said that Ty would get to announce to me if you were a boy or girl. As it turned out, he was up by my head holding one of my knees and he couldn't see your parts :(  When they lifted you up, I could see you were a girl and immediately squealed, "It's a girl!!" The whole pregnancy I had wanted another girl, but began to worry that if we had a boy, he would be able to feel my disappointment when he arrived. I had been praying that God would change my heart and feelings, which he did. In fact, I was expecting a boy and had told Ty that I thought you'd be a boy on our drive to the birthing center that morning. I was beyond thrilled that God chose to make you a girl and gave us the honor of raising YOU! 

I have had low blood platelets during this pregnancy that they were monitoring. I had blood drawn at my appointment that Monday, so when we arrived at the center that morning to deliver you, Vicki informed me my levels were in the 120s which was lower than previous tests. She said they would keep a very close eye on me after the delivery as the risk of low blood platelets is that I could lose more blood than is safe. As the placenta delivered, they were very diligent in watching for this, but all was fine. In fact, with Tatum, they had to give me pitocin to slow the bleeding and didn't have to give me anything this time around. Anyway, Ty got to cut the umbilical cord which was a healthy looking cord. Before we discharged, they brought the whole placenta over to the bed and showed me the whole thing which was totally fascinating. I'd never been showed this in any of the previous births and really learned alot from seeing this before they disposed of it. For those of you who think I am a total hippie... there are many people who eat their placenta after birth or plant it with a tree or make a soup broth with it. We chose to dispose ours with the medical waste. At least we didn't eat it - we do have our limits!! :) 

14 days old

I held you for a while, then Daddy held you while the midwives worked with me a bit. One thing we've LOVED about the birthing center is that they are in no hurry to weigh or bathe the baby. They are definitely inspecting and monitoring the baby while we are holding them, but there is no separation from mom/baby as there is in the hospital when they take them across the room to bathe them and weigh them before you get to snuggle with your newborn. We called your siblings to tell them of your arrival. They were dancing and shouting when they found out they had a new sister! After I showered and Ty ran out to grab us some breakfast (and we took a nap!), Nana and Bang Bang arrived to meet their granddaughter. We were discharged around 11am and went home (another thing we love about the birthing center - no overnight stay!!). Aunt Chez, Uncle Cody, Eliza and Hazel came over to meet you, then Colt, Levi and Tatum returned home to meet you! Later that day, Granny Rae arrived from Arkansas. It was a great day of celebration!!

Levi loves to hold you. He asks numerous times each day and loves to smother you with kisses. He will come up to you throughout the day and speak soft, sweet words to you. "You are so beautiful. I love you so much. You are a cute baby. You are so adorable!" It melts my heart to watch this!! 

Big Brothers!! 

I guess I should say something about Colt :) He has never been a "baby person." He definitely loves his sister but spends about 10 seconds a day actually interacting with her. While he really doesn't care to hold her much, he is my #1 helper and is eager to do things for Zoe. He shows his love through actions and we love that about him! 

Tatum also loves to hold her sister. From the moment she wakes up till the moment she goes to bed, she wants to know where her sister is and wants to hold her. The first week and a half, while family was here, Tatum seemed to be adjusting fine. But, once everyone went home, she started acting out. She's wetting her pants again even though she's been potty trained and has asked me several times to put Zoe down so I can hold her instead. She's reentered the terrible twos :( Hopefully all the fit throwing and disobedience will end quickly!! Ty took the boys camping this past weekend and we had some quality girl's time together, so hopefully that'll help her feel valued and fill up her love tank! 

Trying to spend time with 3 kids as they are adjusting to a new baby definitely has its challenges. Our friends have been bringing meals which helps free up some extra time to give extra loving to the bigger 3. Thanks, friends!

The girls. 

Levi enjoys counting the number of girls and boys in our family. He's glad there are equal numbers, unless you count Molly the dog, then the girls dominate :) 

Sweet sisters! 

My Dad saying hi after giving Zoe a bath. 

Tatum is trying to fill my Dad's (running) shoes. Those are some big shoes to fill!!

Aunt Ashley came to meet Zoe and rent an apartment for when she moves to Austin this summer! We are excited she'll be here for 2 years as she goes to grad school at UT! 

Tatum is reading a book to Zoe. 

She asks us to put Zoe in her bed every night/nap. It's too cute!! 

On our girl's night when the boys went camping, we painted fingernails and baked chocolate chip cookies! The next day we went to the farmer's market and her friend Abbie's house! 

Well, this is what we've been up to the last 2 and a half weeks. Zoe seems like a laid back baby at this point and is sleeping well for a 2 week old. She's only had 3 nights early on were she was awake in the middle of the night, so we'll take that! Otherwise she just wakes to eat and goes back to sleep. Getting out of the house is definitely taking us MUCH longer, even if both Ty and I are home and helping. I guess we'll get a new routine down eventually :) Guess that's about it for now... or at least as much as this sleep-deprived brain can rummage up today.