So, I haven't posted for a very long time. But a friend mentioned to me that maybe I should post some pictures of our newest family member. So here's a pic of Zachary Laine born on July 15, 2015.
This picture was taken by Zachary's sister on her new iPod.
Here is Zachary's birth story:
At about 34 weeks I started having what I thought were contractions. Our doctor ran some tests and decided I was very dehydrated. After two weeks of receiving IV fluids I was basically confined to the indoors with air conditioning and drinking a gallon a day to try to stave off the contractions and stay hydrated. It was also about this time that the doctor ordered weekly biophysical non-stress tests. These were to make sure that Zachary was doing ok inside. The weekend before Zachary came I stayed home from church not feeling well having back cramps and just not feeling right. On that Monday I had my weekly biophysical test and told the doctor that I just wasn't feeling well. He tried to encourage me that we just needed to keep baby inside as long as possible and that the longer baby was inside the better off he would be. Tuesday morning came and I went to the grocery store. When I got back I told The Farmer I would not be going to the grocery store again until baby was born because it just was too much. After taking the afternoon to rest and recuperate I went to bed early that night but I just couldn't settle down and go to sleep. About 12:30 a.m. I started having a cramp in my side and I got up to try to walk it out. The more I walked the more intense the cramping became and it was then that I decided this wasn't regular cramping. I went and woke up the Farmer and told him I thought I was in labor. After a short period of time he could see that I was seriously uncomfortable and agreed to call the hospital. We got the boys up and took them over to grandmas house (Abigail was already staying there with her cousin). I was pretty uncomfortable driving into the hospital but even at that neither the Farmer nor I really truly believe we would be having a baby that day. Once at the hospital they put me on the monitor and verified that I was having contractions every 2 to 3 minutes. I wasn't very dilated but I was definitely showing signs of something happening. Unfortunately the signs were not clear that I was progressing in active labor. They tried to start an IV but were having difficulties because once again I was dehydrated. At about three in the morning they decided to send me to Hastings Nebraska. Even as they loaded me into the ambulance neither the Farmer or I truly believed that we would be having a baby. We thought they would give me IVs, monitor me for a while, and send me home with an overactive uterus. However once at Hastings as they were moving me over from the ambulance gurney to the triage bed I felt a small trickle of fluid. I mentioned it to the nurse and she checked me. After a bit of discussion between two of the nurses and the doctor it was confirmed that my water had definitely broke and we would be having a baby that morning! The Farmer and I were in shock but we barely had time to breathe before the room was filled with people and I was swept off to the operating room for a C-section. We had arrived at the Hastings Mary Lanning hospital at 6 AM and by 8:05 Zachary Laine was born! He weighed 6 lbs. 11 oz. and was 19 1/4 inches long. He did have a little bit of problem breathing as is custom for a boy baby born at 36 1/2 weeks but by the end of the day he was off oxygen and doing really well. We did have to stay in the hospital for six days (a little longer than normal) but we were very thankful that it was not longer. Since then he has had a little problem gaining weight but at two weeks old he was back up to birthweight. We will still have weekly weigh ins for a while just to make sure he is still gaining appropriately.
I won't make promises to post more or to go back and post any previous pictures but at least I did manage to get this post on.
I guess I should mention that as part of Zachary's story, he decided to arrive just as the Smith County fair was starting and his older siblings were very occupied with exhibits and animals. This made it a bit more difficult for the Farmer but with lots of help from Cousin Sheila and Grandma, they made it through. He also arrived the day before Abi's 11th birthday!
