Genevieve's Story

Let's start this story with the week my mom arrived.  I had been dilated 1 cm for a couple of weeks. At my checkup right before my mom came, my cervix was very soft, and I had been having irregular contractions all week.  My midwife told me that day that she wouldn't be at all surprised if I went into labor that night and would be surprised if the baby hadn't arrived by the end of the weekend.  So!  I went home and stuck my feet in the air, determined to not go into labor until my mom was here to help.  

I guess I convinced baby girl a little too well that she should stay put, because things REALLY slowed down after that.  

My mom came, and mission "get Annie to go into labor" began immediately.  We went on walks, went swimming, and slowly added every old-wives-tale way of inducing labor.  I'm going to list some of these so you can really understand how desperately I wanted to meet my baby and be done with pregnancy.  We tried: pineapple, evening primrose oil, eggplant Parmesan, TONS of raspberry leaf tea (although I did know before trying this that it is more of a "help labor move along once it starts" rather than a way of inducing labor, but it should just be noted that I drank a lot of it), Taco Bell (yes, it came to that), spicy food, rubbing of various oils on my abdomen, feet and ankles...really the list goes on and on.  If I heard that someone did something and went into labor the next day, I was trying it.

My mom and I on a walk at city park a week and half before actually going into labor.

My due date came...and went, and things started getting really frustrating.  And while we're on the subject, why do they give due dates?  Why not just say, you're baby will come sometime between this week and 3 or 4 weeks later, like a "due month".  On September 9th, I couldn't walk past the calendar or see the date somewhere without nearly falling to pieces.  We continued doing all we could to get things going, but I was losing steam and facing the fact that this baby would come whenever she was ready and there wasn't a single thing I could do about it.

On Monday, September 12th, I started having contractions in the middle of the night.  I was so excited when I started timing them and they were consistent.  I didn't dare wake up Brandon and my mom until I knew for sure, so I told myself that as soon as I'd made it through an hour of regular contractions, I would announce that I was officially in labor and the celebration could begin.  But no.  Just shy of one hour, the contractions stopped.  I would watch the clock waiting to have one again, but they were gone.  This happened again the following night.  I was becoming a wreck--the false hope was killing me!  Wednesday night, right after we went to bed, I had a contraction.  Brandon helped me breathe through it, and we agreed not to get our hopes up.  I had another one a few minutes later, but I still didn't dare hope that this could be it.  I checked the time, waited for a third...and nothing happened.  I decided to get up, move around, and try not to think about the night ahead of irregular contractions and false hope. As soon as I stood up...water, water, everywhere!

I called Kathy (my midwife) who told me that because there was meconium in the water, I needed to get to the hospital within the hour.  I was sad about this because I had really wanted to do the majority of labor from home, but oh well...the baby's health was way more important.  So Brandon and mom finished putting together the hospital bag, brought me vanilla pudding with raspberries to eat while I waited (Brandon had just made it that night and it was SO good), and away we went.

My contractions still weren't regular, so Kathy had them give me an Ambien when I arrived in hopes that I would get some sleep and be ready and energized for active labor when she arrived in the morning.  Great plan--unfortunately it just didn't work out that way.  The Ambien made me really groggy, and minutes after taking it and getting hooked up to all of the monitors, my contractions picked up and became regular.  So my mom stayed up with me during the night, helping me get through my contractions so that Brandon could sleep.  Sometime early the next morning, the nurse checked and I was dilated to a 5 or 6, so they called Kathy in.  Around the same time, Rita and Tricia showed up with all sorts of reinforcements, including extra pillows, massage lotion (which was used to rub my feet...awesome), candy, and I'm not sure what else, but it was wonderful having them there.

Kathy filled the birthing tub, and the rest of the day was a bit of a blur, if I'm totally honest.  I would sit in the tub for a few contractions, then walk for a couple, then go back to bed for a few more, then get back in the tub.  It was great being able to move around, and I had amazing support through it all.  The labor was primarily in my back, which I hadn't known was possible and was incredibly painful, but the water and constant change of position seemed to really help.

By around noon I was dilated to 9 cm, and they decided that, because of the meconium, I couldn't deliver in the water.  So they hooked me back up to the monitors and started the IV again, and we waited until it was time to push.  Rita and Tricia were told to wait in the waiting room because standing in the hall was a fire hazard...apparently they lasted about 15 minutes and then made their way back to the hall where they stayed until the baby came.

I pushed for 2 hours.  In my mind, it was a very different experience than what Brandon and my mom observed.  My mind: I would push a few times, then black out, ask for drugs and then push again, scream, ask for water (which I only got about every other time I asked for it), pass out, push again, beg someone to please finish for me, I couldn't do it anymore, ask for water, scream some more...longest 2 hours of my life.  What really happened: I didn't scream, I only asked for drugs once, and only asked for water a few times (and got it immediately upon request).  It was a relief to find out that I hadn't actually been vocalizing what I wanted and that everyone hadn't just been ignoring me.

At the end of 2 hours, the nurse told me to stop pushing (I didn't really like the nurse), and for the first time I had that feeling that I had read about: that I couldn't do anything but push.  And then...after a few more pushes, at 3:24, she finally came!  I heard her cry, and then they placed her on my chest, and she stopped crying.  Then her eyes opened, and I was in love.  I couldn't see much because my eyes were so swollen and because I had popped a few blood vessels in my eyes during the pushing, but I could see my baby and all the pain of the previous 16 hours (and 9 months) were totally worth it.

Brandon was amazing through the whole experience and was an enormous strength to me.  During the pushing, I would come out of my daze as another contraction was beginning and just look for his face and listen for my mom's encouraging words.  Brandon was a very active participant during the labor and delivery.  He even helped deliver her!  It was really neat seeing that side of him.

Genevieve was 7 lbs, 8 oz and 20 inches long.  Here are a few pictures.

 Proud new dad!

 Cutest cry ever (although, it has gained strength since that day at the hospital, but still...so sweet)!

They kept us at the hospital for 48 hours to make sure the baby didn't get any of the meconium in her lungs during labor.  She didn't, and we were finally released on Saturday afternoon.  Ordinarily, I thought, staying an extra day at the hospital might be nice.  As it turns out, they have a nurse for every body part, and those nurses were coming into our room to poke and prod one of us almost constantly.  We were very happy to go home!

Hiccups

When I get hiccups, the world knows about it.  They are violent, loud, and really quite painful.  The first time I got hiccups in front of the twins, I thought I had scarred them for life.  They both stopped playing and looked at me like they weren't sure if they should laugh or cry.  They both stared at me with those big adorable eyes until the next one came out and then Owen erupted...in laughter (which I guess convinced Elsie that she didn't need to cry and she went back to her activity).  The problem in this situation was that Owen's laugh is the most adorable, contagious sound in the world, so I started to laugh, which made my hiccups even louder.  Then he would try to imitate the hiccup and we were both in this cycle of hiccups and the kind of laughing that makes it hard to breath.  Can you tell I miss those kids?  Anyway, Owen's reaction was the best I've ever had from anyone.  People always made fun of them when I was growing up and no one ever seemed to understand just how painful they can be.  

When you're pregnant, you hope and pray that the little child you are preparing to meet will come out with only your best qualities and that the ones that tormented you in youth can be left behind.  Well, baby girl Zeller got hiccups the other day and Brandon's response was "she's definitely yours".  I've never seen my stomach move so much.  So now I have this sweet baby inside who seems to start everyday with a violent round of hiccups.  It's quite uncomfortable if I'm completely honest, but I can't really feel bad for myself in those moments when it's my fault AND I know how much more uncomfortable they are, and will be, for her.  So, to my unborn child, let's hope the horrible hiccups are the worst thing I've passed on to you. 

A little about us...

Brandon and I met in September of 2008.  I had just moved into an apartment on Cambridge Street that happened to be a couple of blocks from the house Brandon had just moved into.  We had had A LOT of help moving in and were making dinner for everyone who had helped, and I was in charge of the turkey.  I googled how to cook a turkey and felt pretty well prepared, but when I tried to pre-heat the oven, it didn't work (google had not prepared me for this).  I became slightly hysterical trying to figure out other options for dinner, but there just weren't any, so I bit the bullet and called Brandon's roommates.  None of them were home, but one of them thought his new roommate (Brandon, in case that wasn't clear) might be home and gave me his number.  So a few minutes later, I showed up on Brandon's doorstep with a massive raw turkey and thus began our story.  It became apparent quite quickly that I had NO clue what I was doing, and as it turned out, Brandon loves to cook...especially turkeys.  He pulled out what can only be described as a tool kit, and taught me how to cook my first turkey.  We had a good time talking and hanging out that day.  The rest is history.  We had a slow start...went out and became friends through the fall and by November were finally dating.

In January he took me to visit his family in North Carolina, which was a lot of fun, even if it was a little overwhelming after only dating for a couple of months!

 Things only picked up from there and we were engaged on February 18th...

and married in the Idaho Falls temple on May 16th.

We spent our first summer together in North Carolina where Brandon interned for the Attorney General.  We had a really fun summer, spending a couple of weekends at the beach with the Zeller family and getting very well acquainted with the heat and humidity of North Carolina.

In the fall, we returned to Boston for Brandon's 2nd year of law school.  By October we were in need of a break from the city, so we drove up to Vermont for a day and went apple picking.  We had an amazing time driving around, going on walks and enjoying the beautiful New England fall colors.

Our first Christmas was spent with my family in Idaho, but we decided we needed to do our own small Christmas in Boston first.  We didn't want to spend the money to get a real tree since we wouldn't be around on Christmas day...so we decorated our case of toilet paper.

The next summer, Brandon interned with a firm in Salt Lake City.  I taught swimming lessons, which kept me busy, but was exhausting.  Apart from our jobs, we had a really fun summer.  Brandon grilled every chance he got and we took advantage of the mountains close by and went hiking on a regular basis.

We returned to Boston for Brandon's last year of law school and we tried to take advantage of our final year there.  Here are a few pictures of our favorite places around Boston and of some of our adventures:

 Memorial Hall on Harvard campus.  Besides being generally beautiful, it has some great gargoyles and the admirable motto "Humanitas Virtus Pietas."

 Harvard Yard.

Beacon Hill...ahh, I love this place.  Brandon and I loved to walk down Charles St. and window shop.  It is lined with very expensive, but fun boutiques, chocolate shops, restaurants, markets...

The public garden...another favorite of ours.

And of course, Fenway Park, I deeply love and miss this place.

Last fall we went to the Harvard/Yale football game.  It was very cold and the benches were slabs of concrete, so we didn't stay for the whole game, but it was an experience we felt like we needed to have.

Eating lunch at the Top of the Hub, this was our first date since being pregnant.  I couldn't go anywhere near restaurants or movie theaters for the first 15 weeks of pregnancy and we weren't sure how this would go, but it was a lot of fun and the food was amazing!  And of course the view wasn't too bad either.

View from the Top of the Hub.

Spring break in New Hampshire.  Because the pregnancy had been so challenging, we decided to stay close to home for spring break and ended up at a bed and breakfast in the White Mountains.  We weren't expecting the snow and we not at all prepared for the cold weather, but we still had a lot of fun and were happy to be out of the city.

I have a strange love for covered bridges, I just think they are really fun and was thrilled when we found this one.

Brandon in front of Austin Hall on HLS Campus.  The inscription on the top of the building quotes Exodus 18:20- "And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do."

During the month of May we were basically homeless while we waited for Brandon's graduation, so we went camping for a few days in the White Mountains with the Lloyds.  It was a little cold at night, but other than that it was so much fun.  It was hard being in the mountains and 6 months pregnant though because I wanted to do a lot more hiking than the pregnancy really allowed.  Regardless, we had a great time with great friends.

The Lloyds and us at graduation, can't believe that day finally came...and went (I cried).  It seemed forever away and now it feels like it was so long ago.

After graduation, and by "after" I mean immediately following graduation, we (and by "we" I mean Brandon, his parents, and my mom) loaded up the Uhaul and left Boston.  It usually takes about 15 minutes to get outside of the city.  I knew I was going to cry, but figured that once I couldn't see the city anymore I would get control of my emotions and I'd be done.  What I didn't realize is that we would be driving out of the city on the day of Harvard graduation, at rush hour.  It took 2 hours.  And yes, I cried almost the entire time.  It didn't help that I had had to say goodbye to the twins and Andrea for a second time that morning (they were like family to me and so hard to say goodbye to).  Boston had been my home though, for 4+ years and I loved it, still do, I made amazing friends while living there, found and married my husband, fell in love with the Red Sox...Boston will always be another home to me, so I feel like crying while driving away from such a home is completely justified (especially while pregnant)!

And now here we are, in New Orleans and about to have a baby. 

I've never fully understood why people want to see pregnancy pictures, but people do and keep asking me to post one on facebook...which will never happen.  So to those who want to see me with a massive belly, here you go.  We are now at 36 weeks and anxiously awaiting the arrival of our baby girl, but not so anxious that we want her to come before my mom gets here on September 1st.  I keep telling her to just wait until September 2nd, but she's getting quite cramped in there and I don't know if she'll be willing to wait that long.  Brandon and I were talking the other night and he rested his head on my belly.  It took her about 30 seconds to shift positions and start kicking him in the head...she does not like to share her space.  She does the same thing if I hold another baby, within a few seconds she'll get her feet in position and kick until the baby is gone.  It's funny, but also kind of painful, so I try to give in to her demands.  Brandon constructed her co-sleeper (which had terrible instructions) in less than 30 minutes.  Andrea had warned us about the instructions and how complicated it could be to put together, so I was really proud of him for doing it so quickly.

Brandon finished the bar at the end of July and is now working full time which he enjoys, but it has been a big adjustment for both of us.  The bar was awful and we're so glad it's over, Brandon handled the stress of it all very well and we're happy to have survived it.  Despite the challenges that his new schedule has brought, it is a welcomed change that our evenings and weekends don't revolve around his study schedule and that when he comes home from work, he's home and we can spend time together and have dinner together.   Also, it should be noted that Brandon has decided that most things needing to be chopped, should be done with the meat cleaver...including watermelon.  

I think he thought he had proved a point by showing me, but I still use a regular knife to cut our fruits and vegetables, and I think it works just fine.  

So there it is.  Our "somewhat" brief history and how we got to where we are now...starting a family in New Orleans.

The time has come.

I'm terrible at keeping a journal.  Every once in awhile I'll get motivated and I'll stick to it for several weeks, maybe even months, and then I get lazy and stop writing in it completely.  So I started an online journal and had some success with that, but eventually it shared the same fate as the half-finished journals sitting on my shelf and it has once again been several weeks/months since I've logged into it.  I follow a couple of friends' blogs and love them and while my creativity is seriously lacking, I've been inspired to give blogging a try.