Zoe Jane

Our sweet baby girl is here! She was born Tuesday September 6th, 2011. For me, going into labor on my own instead of being induced (like I was with Zander) was SO MUCH BETTER. I started having contractions on Sunday night around 10pm while I was working. Luckily, they weren’t painful…I could just feel the tightening. Around 3am I decided to go get checked in labor and delivery because I was GBS positive this time and needed antibiotics prior to delivery. I was afraid that I was going to wait too long and that there wouldn’t be enough time to get the antibiotics before she was born. The midwife got me all hooked up to the monitors and I was definitely contracting about every 5 minutes. She checked me and I was only dilated to 1cm. She had me go walk around the hospital for a while and then checked me 2 hours later. I hadn’t dilated more and my contractions had pretty much stopped, so she sent me home. I was feeling a little bummed because I had completely worn myself out by being up all night and doing all of the walking and knew that I still had to go home and watch Zander all day. Adam left for work like usual but came home an hour later. He hadn’t realized that his work was closed for Labor Day. I was so happy that he was home and that I would be able to get some rest. Unfortunately, I had trouble sleeping for very long so I decided to get up and do some laundry. Our washer and dryer is in the basement and I was carrying our comforter downstairs to be washed. My feet somehow slipped out from under me, and I fell down the last 6 or 7 stairs. I hit my tailbone first and then slid the rest of the way down on my back. I landed at the bottom on the concrete floor. I was in such shock all I could do was sit there. Luckily, Adam heard me fall and came running. If he hadn’t been home to help me up, I don’t think I would have been able to get off of the floor on my own. It was awful! I drank some juice and lied down on the couch afterwards because I wanted to be sure that I felt Zoe moving enough to know that she was alright. She was moving plenty so I decided not to go and get checked out in labor and delivery. I took some Tylenol, put an icepack on my tailbone and tried not to wonder how in the world I was going to have a baby in the next few days. I really hurt, bad! When I went to bed that night, I realized that I hadn’t felt Zoe move in at least an hour. I drank some more juice and waited to feel her move. But, there was nothing. Adam and I talked to her and I changed positions but still nothing. By this point I was feeling panicked and was regretting that I hadn’t gone into Labor and Delivery to be checked out after I fell. We called someone to stay at the house with Zander, while he slept, and we hurried to labor and delivery. It was about 10pm by this time and I started having frequent contractions just as I had the night before. As soon as they hooked me up to the monitor, Zoe started moving. Little stinker! I was just so relieved that she was alright! Since I had fallen and was now contracting, the hospital wanted me to stay overnight to be monitored. My contractions stopped around 3 or 4am, and I was able to get a little sleep. I felt like I would for sure be getting released that morning, so I sent Adam home around 6:30 so he could get ready and go to work. Around 8am I started having contractions again, and this time they were somewhat painful. I was in complete denial that I wouldn’t be going home again until we were discharged from the hospital with our new baby. I hadn’t finished packing my bag yet. I called Adam around 9 to tell him that the contractions were really starting to hurt and that I needed him there for support. He left work and stopped at home to get my bag and the rest of my things. In the meantime, the midwife came to check me. I was dilated to a three and as she was checking me, my water broke. My nurse started my IV and antibiotics and moved me to a different room. There wasn’t a room with a bathtub available at that time, but they said that as soon as one became available, they would move me. This was great because I was planning on having an unmedicated labor and delivery and thought the tub would help keep me more comfortable. I was hoping that the midwife that I had been seeing throughout my pregnancy would be able to deliver me, but I knew that Tuesday was her only day in the clinic seeing patients, and that she wouldn’t be available. She had been out of town for the weekend and so I had been telling myself that Zoe just had to wait to come until Wednesday. Silly me…I should have known that Zoe had her own agenda. We went over our plans for the labor and delivery with our nurse and then with the midwife that would be delivering me. Her name was Celeste and she was great! During this time, I was so focused on communicating my wishes for the labor and delivery, that I didn’t really feel that uncomfortable even though I was having contractions every 2 minutes. Earlier that morning, I had been given a clear liquid diet for breakfast. I was feeling really worried about not having had anything but a glass of apple juice in over 16 hours. I had no idea how I was going to have enough energy to deliver a baby if I hadn’t had anything to eat. The midwife totally read my mind and when she found out what I had had to eat, she ordered me a real breakfast. Luckily, my IV antibiotics finished just as the contractions started to get really painful. The nurse was able to saline lock my IV and everything was looking great with Zoe, so they disconnected the monitors so that I could get up and move around. The midwife left to check on some other patients and let me labor for a while. Things got pretty intense very quickly. I remember saying to Adam that I thought a natural labor was supposed to be less painful than labor with pitocin. I was really hurting. I kept having to go to the bathroom as well. I would hurry into the bathroom after a contraction was over and just finish using the bathroom as the next contraction was starting. This went on for about 10 minutes, and I kept thinking about how awful it would be to deliver a baby accidentally in the toilet. I called my nurse and she and my midwife came. I explained to them what was happening and the midwife tried to calm my nerves about the likelihood of delivering a baby in the toilet. She said that she could check me to give me some reassurance as to how far along I was in the labor process. To our surprise, I was dilated to 9 1/2cm. They quickly got the room ready for delivery. I couldn’t believe how fast everything was happening and that Zoe would be there soon. I’m not exactly sure how long I pushed for, but it was definitely no more than 30 minutes, even though at the time it seemed like an eternity. I remember thinking that I just wanted her to be delivered and that I never wanted to do this again. At 12:55pm, after not even 5 hours of labor, Zoe Jane Jensen, was born. It was the perfect delivery. It was so completely opposite of how everything went when Zander was born. It was just the midwife, the nurse, and Adam and I. I never once felt scared or worried or that everything was out of my control. I never once felt like the pain was too much or that I wouldn’t be able to do it. The midwife was very capable and I trusted her completely even though I had just met her. It was exactly the type of labor and delivery that I needed to get over the disappointment I felt after my first labor and delivery. I had such an incredible feeling of accomplishment afterwards. Zoe was beautiful and so alert. We are so grateful to have this sweet little girl in our family. She is an angel and we love her very much.

Cousins

A couple of weeks ago we drove up to Logan to visit Zander's cousins Kiley, Karter, and Kaytlind. They are such cute kids! Zander is going to have so much fun playing with them as he gets older.





Kiley and Zander



This is Zander and his other cousin Hayden about a week after he was born. They were born 7 weeks apart. It'll be so much fun to have a boy cousin his same age.



A couple of weeks later...they are almost the same size



Cute boys!

Bath Time

Zander peed all over himself before his cord fell off so we had no choice but to give him a bath. He spent his first bath screaming his head off so I hurried and didn't get any pictures. I think it must have been too cold in the bathroom because that is the only bathtime that he has ever cried. When my family was here at Christmas, I had my mom take some pictures of Zander getting his bath to make up for the earlier missed photo opportunity. Here are some of my favorites.



My mom doesn't like this one because of the toilet, but I think it's cute so I had to include it.

Zander's First Road Trip

A week after Zander was born we traveled down to St. George to visit Adam's grandparents and have Zander's newborn pictures taken. Zander is an awesome traveler. He slept the entire way there and back. I don't know how we got so lucky! We had a nice visit with Grandpa and Grandma Jensen and the pictures turned out amazing. I will treasure them forever!


Zander with his greatgrandparents

Some of my favorites

Can You Say Talented???

So I absolutely had to post this picture of Adam and Zander. It seriously cracks me up. This is why I have no reservation about leaving Zander when I go to work. Adam can handle it all!

On a more serious note, I just have to say how grateful I am for Adam. I knew he was good with kids when we were dating, but I honestly had no idea that he would be as involved with taking care of Zander as he has been. He has been so supportive and so much help these past couple of months. I absolutely love watching him play and interact with Zander. I am one lucky girl!

Zander's First Christmas

For Christmas this year my mom, grandma, and little brother came out to spend the week with us. The night of the 23rd, I went back to work and also worked on Christmas Eve and Christmas night. I was so nervous about going back to work and how I would do leaving Zander for a 12-hour shift. But, I knew he was in good hands with his dad and that Adam would have plenty of help with my family being there as well. My family watched Zander during the day so that I could sleep, and my mom cooked my birthday dinner and Christmas dinner. The food was so good! Zander turned 6 weeks old on my birthday. Time is flying by and he is growing so fast! Overall, it was a great birthday and Christmas...one that I will never forget. Thanks everyone for making the long drive out. We loved getting to spend time with you! I can't even begin to imagine how much fun Christmas will be in the future...as Zander gets older and can understand what's going on.

Zander's Birth Day

Disclaimer: This post is really long and probably way more information than most people reading this will care to know. I mostly am writing this for myself. So, feel free to skip ahead to the pictures at the bottom if you get bored.



Zander Adam Jensen. Born November 12th, 2009 at 9:40 pm.


We are so happy that this sweet little guy is finally here. It was definitely a hard labor and delivery, but so completely worth it. I should have guessed that it would be less than great, considering my pregnancy was so easy. I learned an important lesson though….things don’t always go how you had hoped or planned. Zander’s due date was Friday November 6th. He wasn’t ready to make his debut though. I wasn’t uncomfortable being pregnant towards the end…I just was dying of anticipation to meet him. A couple of days before my due date, my doctor scheduled an induction for Wednesday the 11th, just in case he didn’t come on his own. But, I really wanted to go into labor on my own and have the least amount of intervention possible. On Monday the 9th, I called the doctor to see if I could cancel the induction and schedule it for a few days later. When he called back, he gave the bad news that labor and delivery was completely booked until the following Wednesday. So, I could keep the existing appointment or reschedule for a week later…I would be 2 days short of being 42 weeks pregnant. I was afraid that I was going to end up with a 10 pound baby if I waited that long. Plus, my mom and grandma were here visiting and would be heading back to Illinois on Monday. I really wanted him to be born while they were here so that they could see him. So, feeling totally caught between a rock and a hard place, I opted for the induction on the night of Wednesday the 11th. When we called labor and delivery that night to find out what time to come in, they were completely full. They said to call back a couple of hours later. When I did, they were still full. So, we got to stay at home and get a good nights sleep, which I was extremely grateful for. We went in on Thursday the 12th. I was 2 centimeters dilated at that point. They started the pitocin around 9am. I still really wanted to try to have a birth without pain medication or an epidural. I was scared though, having heard that pitocin makes the contractions really intense. They turned the pitocin up gradually so that I would be able to tolerate it. After turning the pitocin up quite a bit, I could feel the contractions, but they weren’t really uncomfortable and I wasn’t making much progress. So, at 5pm, they broke my water. Zander didn’t tolerate that at all and had a huge deceleration (decrease in heart rate). In about 30 seconds, my doctor, his nurse practitioner, my nurse, the charge nurse, and a resident were all in the room. They placed a fetal scalp monitor in his head, which monitors his heart rate more accurately than the external monitors. They were able to get his heart rate up again…much to my relief. Just a minor scare, in the whole scheme of things. Just a couple of minutes later, I started really feeling the contractions. I was ok with that though because I knew that would help me progress faster so that Zander could be born. Adam was such an amazing husband during the whole thing. He did everything he could to keep me comfortable. I couldn’t have gotten through it without him. The pitocin was turned up to a 17 at this time and it seemed like the contractions were coming one right on top of the other. I didn’t have any time to recover from one before another one would start. It was awful to say the least. Just about the time the contractions started getting really bad (right before shift change, of course) my nurse checked me to see if I had dilated more. I was only dilated to a 4. Talk about frustrating. I didn’t have too much time to think about it though, because right then Zander had another large deceleration. All of a sudden, there were a bunch of people in the room again. They completely shut off the pitocin and gave me a shot of medicine that was supposed to make my uterus relax. They placed another internal monitor that would more accurately measure the strength of the contractions. They decided to do an amnio infusion to give Zander back fluid in the hopes that he would bring his heart rate back up. Luckily, all of this worked. But, the medication that they gave me made me so shaky. I just wanted to curl up in the fetal position and disappear. But, with all of the monitors that I was connected to and Zander’s frequent decelerations, I felt like I couldn’t move from the exact spot I was in. The plan was to leave the pitocin shut off to give Zander and I both a break for about 30 minutes and then start it up again, increasing it slowly. The whole time the pitocin was shut off I kept contracting. I was terrified to restart the pitocin. I was seriously considering asking for a c-section. I just wanted Zander to be alright. I was scared that he would end up in the NICU, where I work. The contractions were so intense and so close together that I really started thinking I wasn’t going to be able to go on without something for the pain. I kept thinking of how little progress I had made in 10 hours and that it was going to be a very long night. I was exhausted to say the least. So, I decided to get the epidural. I felt like a failure getting it, but little did I know, that was the best decision I could have made. I have seen a lot of epidurals placed during nursing school and it isn’t a very nice experience. Most anesthesiologists are really rough with the needle, don’t care if you are having a contraction or not, and are just plain rude. The anesthesiologist that did my epidural was great. I seriously didn’t feel a thing and it was all over really quickly, and the next day my back wasn’t even sore. Right after that I started feeling a lot of pressure. So, the nurse decided to check me. It took 4 different people checking me to come to the concensus that I was fully dilated. No wonder I hurt so badly before. They started setting up the room for the delivery. I couldn’t believe that my baby boy was about to be born. I was a little worried that having just barely gotten the epidural, I would be too numb and unable to push well. Luckily though, the epidural took the edge off, but I was still able to move my legs. I even was able to get up and walk to the bathroom within an hour of giving birth. They had me start pushing. Zander’s heart would dip every time I pushed with a contraction. So, afterwards I would turn onto my right side so that his heart rate would come back up. My doctor got there and rather than letting me continue on, he wanted to get the baby out right away. So, they ended up using a vacuum and giving me an episiotomy. I was so grateful for the epidural the whole time that they were doing the repair. Needless to say, the doctor isn’t my favorite person anymore. I think I will definitely find a new one for my next pregnancy and birth. I am thankful that Zander was alright, but I think the doctor was way more aggressive than he needed to be and totally jumped the gun. Zander came out crying and they handed him right to me. What an amazing experience! I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. Even though I ended up having way more medical intervention than I had hoped for, it was all worth it in the end. Adam and I are completely in love with our little guy. I never imagined that becoming a parent would be so great or that you could love someone so much. He weighed 7 pounds 10 ounces and was 20 inches long. He is a great baby. He eats well, sleeps in 4 hour stretches at night, and hardly ever cries. We love him so much!!!

The last prego belly shot. I am so happy Zander is here, but I kind of miss being pregnant. Call me crazy, I know.

Zander weighed 7 pounds 10 ounces and was 20 inches long.

I look absolutely horrendous in this picture, but it is our first picture as a family so I had to include it.

Our little man.