The Birth of Our Bright, Glorious World

Zayan Zameen Ahrary entered our family on the evening of January 31, 2011 and I thought to share the story of his beginnings:

Summer woke up early Monday morning shouting, "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" from bed. He reluctantly responded, as it was 5:50am. When he went in there, they began their normal morning chat about the day's activities. Ramis asked, "Summer, what do you want to do today?" Summer, for the first time ever, responded with (for the first time ever), "Meet baby brother." Premonitions: maybe? Ramis was taken aback, but we went on with our day.

Several minutes later, I got up and went to the bathroom only to find some blood. Although my placenta previa had cleared 6 weeks prior, this still scared me and led me to call Labor and Delivery just in case. They told me to come in, just in case. So, Ramis called in sick and we loaded all 3 of us in the car.

Once we arrived at Labor and Delivery, they could clearly see I wasn't in labor or having regular contractions, but I was dilated. So, it was likely what they call a "Bloody Show", something I had heard of, but was totally unfamiliar with. We were hanging around in L&D, as Summer calls "Doctor's Set" (where they have tools like in her doctor's set), and I asked her if she knew who was going to come see her, assuming she was going to say Ami Zoo or Grandma or Bebe. No, she didn't say that, she thought Baby Brother was going to come see her. Premonitions: maybe?

We had an appointment anyway with my regular OB in the same facility within 30 minutes of being released, so Summer went home with my parents to take a nap and Ramis and I went to our regularly scheduled appointment. My doctor confirmed that I was 3cm dilated and 50% effaced, but he was at a -2 position (he was still floating up high, head was not engaged). My doctor asked me if I wanted her to strip my membranes (which is what started my labor with Summer). I reluctantly agreed, mostly because I knew I would be back in L&D later that day. But, of course I went ahead.

Lo and behold, within the hour I was having regular strong contractions. By 1pm, I was timing my contractions at between 10 and 7 minutes apart. By 3:30pm, we had arrived back at L&D with contractions 4 minutes apart. The doctors found that I was 4.5 cm dilated and 80% effaced, but he was still floating at a -2 station. The doctor asked my plans for pain control, I told her that I have no plans for pain control. 4 hours of hard labor later, I was *only* 6 cm dilated and 80% effaced and still floating at -2 station.

At 8pm, the doctor offered me 3 choices: 1) let it be, 2) break my bag of waters, which will bring the baby down from floating and contractions will get faster and stronger, 3) give me medication to speed up contractions and let the water break when it may. The least painful options were #1 and #3. I chose #2, because I'm not a fan of medications related to childbirth or elongating pain.

She popped my bag of waters at 8:00pm. They immediately started prepping for the birth, which I found a little weird. But, the contactions were strong and I was definitely screaming. Next thing you know, I felt the urge to push, but was told I was only 9cm dilated, so the nurse attempted to massage my cervix during a contraction to fully dilate me, but it hurt too bad to not push. It's like your body completely takes over everything.

The doctor got in position, about 4 people grabbed my legs and told me to push. In just 1 push, our kid's head was halfway out! I apparently was faster than they anticipated, because all the instruments were on the other side of the room. After fixing the umbilical cord that was dragging the placenta with the baby, they cut the cord by his head so as not to drag it. With 1 more extended push, he was out and laying on my belly!

So, essentially, within 27 minutes of popping my bag of waters, I went from 6 cm to 10 cm dilated and then pushed the 9.5 pounder out... with no tearing and no medications! Phew! Fast and furious is how he entered this world (and he's got the bruises to prove it!).

Zayan Zameen is an amazing baby. He is, as his name proves, down to earth and completely grounded. He is so comfortable and will be the perfect sibling to his shining older sister. She is already in love with sharing things with him and became instantly comfortable with him sharing our home. We are so looking forward to our journey together as a family of 4 with the brand new addition of our splendid baby boy.