Charles Gill Zurcher III
Our son.
Born 10/18/13 at 2:11 am. I am in awe of God's creation every time I look at him. He is so beautiful. He has both his parents' dimples, his daddy's eyes, and a little dent in his right ear cartilage just like me.
I need to write down his birth story for myself. Details are already starting to blur. The last month has felt like a dream. I hate how fast time is going.
It was a normal Wednesday night on October 16th. I had just finished a four day fall break. Wednesday I returned to school, thankful I hadn't gone into labor yet because my classroom was being painted and I was relocated for the day. It was the first day of second quarter. I had all my lesson plans done for the next two and a half weeks. I was praying that he would be a little early so I didn't have to write more sub plans. And I was feeling the effects of being 9 months pregnant-sore back, hot flashes, short of breath. God couldn't have answered my prayers more perfectly.
Around 8pm I started noticing very mild stomach cramps. Around 8:15 I noticed they were coming and going. I started eying the clock, and they were pretty consistent every 7-8 minutes. I wasn't sure what contractions were supposed to feel like but I was sure they had to hurt more than this. For the next two hours I incessantly Googled "labor", "false labor", and timed contractions. By 11 pm I was convinced I was in false labor and decided to go to bed. Still, I texted my substitute teacher just in case.
The stomach cramps woke me up around 1am. They were a bit stronger but still mild. I timed them about 5 minutes apart. I went to the living room and sat in the rocker for a few hours (thank goodness we had put the rocker together just two days before!). I couldn't sleep and called the doctor around 3am. He said he thought I was in labor (!) and it was up to me if I went into the hospital yet. I opted to wait and texted my sub. Being the OCD teacher that I am, I spent about an hour sending emails to finish up last minute work tasks. (Yes, the whole staff got an email from me at 3 am about a field trip).
At 9am the next morning I called the doctor again. The contractions were getting somewhat inconsistent and I again felt like I was making this all up. He told me to give it a couple more hours and call back. In the meantime Chaz and I went to Panera Bread and walked around the apartments. When I walked they picked up to about 3 minutes apart, when I sat down they were as far apart as 8 minutes. I called the doctor back at 11 and he told me to go in to the hospital and get checked.
We dawdled around the apartment for a bit-I cleaned and Chaz made a frozen pizza. I walked into St. Elizabeth's around noon imagining the embarrassment of getting sent home for an early overreaction. I didn't feel or look like a girl in labor. I practically apologized to the nurse as she got me settled in a room. To my surprise, when she checked me a big smile came over her face. "Honey-give your husband a hug because you're between 4 and 5 cm," she said.
My doctor came in around 1 and told me that Charlie's head was so low things should have been moving a lot quicker. The reason they weren't was because his head was turned to the side. There were some positions I could try to get his head to move, but we had to wait it out. Around 4pm things hadn't progressed so Dr. McNeely broke my water. Immediately after that contractions picked up very hard. They were intense and right on top of each other. I felt no relief and couldn't relax. It was the most pain I have ever felt in my life! Around 7pm, still only at 5 cm, I decided to get an epidural. Unfortunately both anesthesiologists were in surgery, so we had to wait for the on-call doctor. It took almost an hour to get the epidural (the longest hour of my life!) and when I finally did it felt like a little piece of heaven. From then on it was the waiting game. Thankfully Chaz and I were both able to rest.
Around midnight the nurse told me it was time to push. The room immediately filled with people. Filled with adrenaline, I pushed for two hours and little Charlie was born at 2:11am. Along with marrying my husband, it was the happiest moment of my life.
Born 10/18/13 at 2:11 am. I am in awe of God's creation every time I look at him. He is so beautiful. He has both his parents' dimples, his daddy's eyes, and a little dent in his right ear cartilage just like me.
Around 8pm I started noticing very mild stomach cramps. Around 8:15 I noticed they were coming and going. I started eying the clock, and they were pretty consistent every 7-8 minutes. I wasn't sure what contractions were supposed to feel like but I was sure they had to hurt more than this. For the next two hours I incessantly Googled "labor", "false labor", and timed contractions. By 11 pm I was convinced I was in false labor and decided to go to bed. Still, I texted my substitute teacher just in case.
The stomach cramps woke me up around 1am. They were a bit stronger but still mild. I timed them about 5 minutes apart. I went to the living room and sat in the rocker for a few hours (thank goodness we had put the rocker together just two days before!). I couldn't sleep and called the doctor around 3am. He said he thought I was in labor (!) and it was up to me if I went into the hospital yet. I opted to wait and texted my sub. Being the OCD teacher that I am, I spent about an hour sending emails to finish up last minute work tasks. (Yes, the whole staff got an email from me at 3 am about a field trip).
At 9am the next morning I called the doctor again. The contractions were getting somewhat inconsistent and I again felt like I was making this all up. He told me to give it a couple more hours and call back. In the meantime Chaz and I went to Panera Bread and walked around the apartments. When I walked they picked up to about 3 minutes apart, when I sat down they were as far apart as 8 minutes. I called the doctor back at 11 and he told me to go in to the hospital and get checked.
We dawdled around the apartment for a bit-I cleaned and Chaz made a frozen pizza. I walked into St. Elizabeth's around noon imagining the embarrassment of getting sent home for an early overreaction. I didn't feel or look like a girl in labor. I practically apologized to the nurse as she got me settled in a room. To my surprise, when she checked me a big smile came over her face. "Honey-give your husband a hug because you're between 4 and 5 cm," she said.
My doctor came in around 1 and told me that Charlie's head was so low things should have been moving a lot quicker. The reason they weren't was because his head was turned to the side. There were some positions I could try to get his head to move, but we had to wait it out. Around 4pm things hadn't progressed so Dr. McNeely broke my water. Immediately after that contractions picked up very hard. They were intense and right on top of each other. I felt no relief and couldn't relax. It was the most pain I have ever felt in my life! Around 7pm, still only at 5 cm, I decided to get an epidural. Unfortunately both anesthesiologists were in surgery, so we had to wait for the on-call doctor. It took almost an hour to get the epidural (the longest hour of my life!) and when I finally did it felt like a little piece of heaven. From then on it was the waiting game. Thankfully Chaz and I were both able to rest.
Around midnight the nurse told me it was time to push. The room immediately filled with people. Filled with adrenaline, I pushed for two hours and little Charlie was born at 2:11am. Along with marrying my husband, it was the happiest moment of my life.
I'm a little devastated the only picture of the three of us turned out like this. :(
Dr. McNeely with Charlie
My boys
I will never forget the ten seconds of silence when he first appeared as
he looked around the room with the widest eyes. I immediately said,
"his eyes!". Then as he opened his mouth for the first little cry the
nurse exclaimed, "his dimples!" It was then that we saw my favorite
feature of his-the crater like dimples in his little cheeks. My
faithful family waited at the hospital the entire time and was able to
meet him around 3am. The next two days were joyful and filled with
visitors.
Proud Memere
First time grandma with great-grandma
Cousins
Uncle Nick-Charlie's Godfather
We left the hospital on Saturday the 19th for our cozy little apartment.
Going to Mass for the first time-just two days old!
We kept the family tradition alive-hangin' with dad at the Pumpkin Patch. (One week old)
Meeting Aunt Shannon, his Godmother, at two weeks old
Baptized in Christ, November 3rd
Charlie and his Godparents
4 weeks old
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