Carmody's Birth Story

My due date was August 26, which came and went with no baby. This was expected because Eli was 2 and 1/2 weeks late. I was a bit more anxious to have this baby, maybe because I was chasing a crazy 2 y/o around!

On Thursday, September 3, I was having lots of contraction in the evening. Not painful, but consistently 7-10 minutes apart. These lasted til about 5am on Friday. Then they stopped. I was very disappointed! I had an appointment with my OB that morning followed by a non-stress test because I was past my due date. They wanted to make sure Carmody was still doing well. All was normal and nothing was happening.

I was stressed out however because I wanted to have a baby. It seemed everyone else got to have their babies! There were announcements posted on signs in town and on facebook. I cried when I read them! On Friday evening I reluctantly went to Panera Bread with the women from church and was asked numerous times why I was there! Apparently I should have had a baby! While driving there I began to once again have consistent, but unpainful contractions. These continued for hours. I ate delicious food and chatted with some wonderful ladies, then drove home to go to bed, still pregnant!

At 2 am on Saturday, I woke up still having contractions. I could not sleep through these anymore, so I got up. I flipped through TV channels, checked facebook, and read about pregnancy, labor, and birth. At 5:30 I woke Andy up and told him we needed a plan because I was pretty sure I was having a baby. He got up, dressed, and put our stuff in the car. When Eli woke up about 6:30 we got him ready and decided to go to Branson Landing and walk.

My contractions were still 7 or 8 minutes apart and we didn't want to call anyone so early in the morning on Saturday. The Landing is right next to the hospital, so it was a great place to be. Upon arrival at the Landing we discovered a 5K about to begin and we saw many people we knew. I don't think most of the people believed that I was in labor because I was so happy. I was excited to be having a baby! After walking down and back my contractions were 3 or 4 minutes apart.

Andy decided we had to leave. It was about 8:15 am and we call our friends Ryan and Adrian to ask if they would pick up Eli at the hospital. At 8:45 we were upstairs in Labor and Delivery. It was a busy morning and the three labor/delivery/recovery rooms were occupied. We waited in an NST room for some moving and cleaning to take place.

Once again, I don't think the L&D staff believed I was really in labor, because I was so happy, but when the nurse check me I was dilated to a 6, almost 7 centimeters. We moved rooms and settled in to have a baby. Both Andy and I thought it would be fast, because when I got to that point with Eli it was only an hour or so till I had a baby. It took longer this time! This was probably good because the staff was busy delivering another baby and performing an emergency c-section on a preterm baby. I hadn't progressed much and the doctor tried to break my water, but Carmody's head was blocking the way and just a bit of the waters leaked out.

My parents got in to town about 1:30 pm and that is when I stopped being happy. During "transition", going from 8 to 10 centimeters, I was in horrendous pain. I used the birthing ball some. I was also given oxygen because I was hyperventilating. I wanted to quit, but that is not possible! This birth was 'all natural' with no pitocin or pain medication. At 2:45 I was able to push and I did, but not effectivly at first. I was given instructions and tried again.

At 2:59 pm on September 5, 2009, Carmody Lynn Zsiga was born. She weighed 7 pounds 12 ounces and was 20 inches long. She was beautiful and crying! Andy was able to cut the cord, which he wasn't able to with Eli because Eli wasn't breathing right away.