And Then There Were 3

Zachary William Madsen has finally arrived!  He was born on Labor Day, September 3, 2007 at 5:29 pm.  He weighed 6lbs 8.9 oz, and was 19 1/4 inches long.  He is absolutely perfect!!  I think it is funny that he decided to come on his original due date!  I guess the doctor shouldn’t have changed it after all. 

I woke up on Labor Day at 6:21am with a very strong contraction.  That was still one of the stronger ones that I had, for some reason.  My contractions started at around 12 minutes apart.  My doctor had said that I could wait until they were 5 minutes apart to go to the hospital since this was my first baby.  I kept timing my contractions and around noon they got to 5 min apart, so I called my doctor, and we finally made it to the hospital around 2pm.  I was 3cm dilated at that time, and the contractions were starting to come much stronger and faster.  So, they gave me an epidural right away, and I started progressing pretty quickly.

The nurse checked me the last time, and I was at 9cm, and she said I was almost there.  Within a minute of her leaving the room, I had a very strong contraction that just would not go away.  It was starting to make Zach’s heartrate drop a whole lot.  So, the next thing I know, the doctor and several nurses are rushing into the room telling me they are going to have to get him out very soon.  I will spare everyone the details, but I was able to push him out in about 5-10 minutes, with the help of the doctor.  That was very fast for a first time mommy, but it had to be because Zach just did not like being inside me one minute longer!  He was very purple when he first came out, and it took them a minute to get him breathing.  But, as soon as he did, he was perfect!!  If anyone is interested, his apgar scores were 8/9, which is just about as close to perfect that you can get for a newborn!

We got to come home the following Wednesday.  I am recovering well, better than I expected.  And Zach is doing great!  He is such a happy baby.  He doesn’t cry much at all.  But, his facial expressions are so cute when he does cry.  His face all scruntches up, and he looks so pitiful.  He has gone 4 1/2 hours between feedings on one night!  LOL, not sure if that will continue or not.  He is just so content all the time, he loves to be awake and look around at his new surroundings, and he sleeps very well.  His daddy and I love him so much!

It is very true what they say that you can’t imagine loving something this much until they are here.  Sometimes when we are alone, I just look at him, and tears come to my eyes because of the overwhelming love that I feel for him.  I have already cried about when I will have to go back to work and leave him in the care of someone else.  Thankfully, I have a little over 6 more weeks with him at home!  And his daddy and him are so cute together.  He has definitely made our lives more complete and whole!  He truely is a blessing from God.

Ok, now here some pictures!  I have also added a bunch more to my Flicker account.  There is a link to that in the margin on the right hand side.  Email me if you want any originals!