Wow. This has been one of the most amazing weeks of my (Zak’s) life. It’s been fun, sad, scary, hectic, exciting, thrilling, and every other possible emotion that there is at one point or another. I’ve been thinking about how to write this first post-birth update, and I guess the best way to do it is to just take you through day-by-day as much as I can, so here we go!
Monday 8:00PM
Molly and I had finished dinner and caught up with a bit of Tivo (mostly Good Eats I think) and I was settled into the couch to watch the Packers – Vikings monday night game while she sat in the chair playing Sudoku on her computer, Emma. I fell asleep midway through the game, and she woke me up around 10 to tell me she was going to bed. That woke me up a bit, so I grabbed a chocolate chip cookie and glass of milk and got back to watching the game. Unfortunatly, the Packers ended up losing by a field goal with no time left on the clock, so about 11:15 I brushed my teeth and headed up to bed. I must have fell asleep pretty quickly because the next thing I heard was Molly saying “Zak, Zak, Zak, Zak, Zak” in a panicked voice. My first thought (I’m not sure why was that someone had broken into our house, but after about 30 seconds or so she finally got out “I think my water broke” and she ran off to the bathroom. So I followed her, and sure enough, there was no question, Zoe was on her way. I went to grab the cameras and a change of clothes for myself (getting dressed in the process). Then I grabbed the phone and called my parents then handed it off to her to call hers while I finished packing. At some point in the process I looked at a clock and saw it was 11:51 so I had only been asleep for less than half an hour (I could have sworn it was 3:00 in the morning). Finally, we walked out to the car and headed to the hospital. Even though there were no trains and we hit just about every light green that trip never felt so long. We pulled into the emergency room parking lot and walked in to tell them that Molly was ready for her C-section. They told us they woud escort us up to the materity unit, then they realized that they should get Molly a wheel chair. Before leaving though, they changed their minds and decided that they should wheel her up in a bed instead.
Ok, that’s getting to be a pretty long paragraph, I guess I better hit the enter key or you all won’t really read everything will you?
By about 12:15 we were in the hospital room, and Molly and I were thrilled knowing we were about to become parents. (picture of Molly 12:15 Tuesday morning, and Zak). The nurse came to explain to us what was going to be happening, and informed us that there was another C-section ahead of ours so we could expect to was an hour or so. We hung around the room and talked and waited. It took a little longer than expected, but about 2:40 (AM mind you, thanks a lot Zoe) they came and told Molly they were ready to do her epidural. They took her away and moved me to the recovory room where I waited until 3:20 or so, and they came to bring me into the operating room. When I got there she had already been cut open (she asked when they were going to start, and was surprised to learn that they already had). I got to watch the whole thing which was pretty cool, while I sat next to her and held her hand. At 3:32 AM on 11/22/05, Zoe was officially born! Because she was born by C-section her lungs didn’t get squeezed out and the had to give her some oxygen to help get her APGAR score up (She got a 6 after 1 minute and an 8 after 5 minutes). The doctor decided that she should spend some time in intensive care to make sure she was breathing alright and that her lungs were cleared out. So she was in good shape, but of course we didn’t really know that and were still nervous about her. The doctors and nurses kept reassuring us that everything was fine with her as we waited in the recovery room. At around 5:00 they decided Molly was in good enough shape for her to bed moved to a regular postpartum room, and on the way there they brought us by the nursery to see her. I had held her for a couple minutes in the operating room as they prepared to move her, but it was the first time Molly had really gotten to see her. She looked good and seemed to be breathing fine (she was off oxygen), so we moved on to our room when we were told that she would be able to join us soon. In the room we started calling our families and friends. I don’t want to embaress anyone, but I know this replay has been lacking my usual humor so I think this is a great story to share. When I called her Uncle Nic to tell him he started squealing and I think trying to talk, but I’m not at all sure what he said. In fact, he told me later that it took everything he had not to drive off the road, so that was probably my favorite reaction! Actually, while I was on the phone with him, around 6:30, Zoe came in to join us for the first time!
From then on much of the week is a blur, but I’ll do my best to cover some of the highlights. Molly, Zoe, and I spent the morning hanging out and getting to know each other. Zoe got to eat for the 2nd time (she had low blood sugar when she was born, so they gave her some formula in the NICU). Molly and I took turns passing her back and forth (most of which she slept through). About 11:45 Grandma and Grandpa Paris arrived, followed shortly after by Grandma and Grandpa Knott, and they all took turns passing her around. By early afternoon she was awake and ready to pose for a picture. That evening Great-Grandpa Harry came by as well as Uncle Mike. I’ll add all of the pictures to the photo album, but here is our first family picture.
Alright, I need to take a break from typing for a while, but I promise I will post more about the rest of this week, and hopefully even catch up to the present soon.
