The Zenk Family

Claire Elizabeth Zenk

May 8, 2012

6lbs 14oz

20 1/2 inches

We are finally getting caught up on blog posts so here is Claire's birth story.

I started noticing regular contractions at 6am. Since I didn't get contractions when my water broke with Paul, I wasn't sure if it was really the start of labor or not. When Willie left for work that morning he said that today would be a perfect day in his work schedule to have the baby. I decided not to tell him just yet that I was having regular contractions. I didn't want him to feel like he should stay home. At 9am they were still regular and the pain was starting to go into my back. I remembered that my mom had pain like that so I called her. She started getting ready to come right away. Since we moved to Iowa she is only 3.5 hours away! At about noon I decided it would be alright to fill Willie in on the details:) Although I told him not to come home because I was just fine.

By the time my mom and Willie arrived the contractions were a lot more painful, but with their help I was able to handle them just fine. At my last appointment the doctor reminded me that I needed to go to the hospital when the contractions were every 3-5 mins for an hour or I couldn't breathe through them. We timed them until about 6:30 and they were never exactly 3-5 mins for an hour. It was getting quite painful by this point and Paul was getting concerned because I wasn't able to hide my pain completely anymore. So we decided to go in.

When I was in labor with Paul I was only dilated to a 3 for about 24 hours so I was really nervous it was going to be the same way. When the nurse checked me she said I an 8! She immediately got me to a room and about 5 other nurses came in to get me checked in as fast as possible and put me on IV antibiotics because I tested positive for GBS. It was a good thing Paul was getting concerned because I would have just waited it out at home until it was too late.

Not long after I got into my room the doctor came in and broke my water so I could start pushing. Let's see, how to even describe the next hour or so.....PAIN. Since I didn't know the doctor very well and had never set foot in that hospital until I was about to have the baby I didn't know what to expect. I was laying flat on my back which hurt so bad but I didn't know if they would let me sit up and I wasn't in the frame of mind to ask. The pain was constant so I could tell when contractions were coming so I didn't know when to push. There were, I'm sure, a million people in there all telling me to do things and then not helping me to do any of them. I was so confused and irritated. The only person I wasn't mad at was Willie. He told me he didn't even understand what they were telling me to do. Thank goodness it didn't take very long for her to come out. She was born at 8:30pm. I was so happy. I thought I had made it and that I would be able to rest...not so. I had postpartum hemorrhaging...which I figured out on my own because no one bothered to let me know. The doctor had to push so hard to get my uterus to contract down that my stomach had bruises from his fingers. I have never had a stab wound before but I swear it must feel just like that. The also put me on Pitocin which I didn't know about until I mentioned that the contracting was hurting really bad.

When everything was all said and done I was so irritated with myself for wanting to have a natural birth. I told Willie, "what am I trying to prove? That I'm some tough girl who can take the pain? Of course I can take the pain so the only thing I proved was that I was a stupid tough girl because I chose to take the pain." I decided that an epidural was the way to go......but now that it's been a month I am convinced that it couldn't have been that bad or that the next time will be better and that I will do it naturally again......yeah, I never learn:)