Hudson Wilford Zaugg was born Saturday October 8th at 4:27am. He weighed 7 lbs 7 oz & measured 21 inches long. We are so in love with our cute little boy.
38 weeks pregnant and we had just returned home to Moab (Thursday October 6th) from Jake's parents house up north. I had my once a month Radiologic Science classes and I also wanted to take my limited license exam while we were up there too, I figured it would be easier to take it before Hudson arrived ... but I had been having contractions on and off for the last two weeks (about one every hour to two hours--nothing painful, but enough to notice they were happening.) So as you can imagine it was hard to concentrate not only on the class discussion, but especially on my timed 3 hours test where I had to scan my hand to go to the bathroom and then scan it again when I came back to make sure I really was Karlie Zaugg.
Along comes Friday night and I tune into a live Q&A about breastfeeding on Facebook. Just as I started to watch I began to have "real" contractions. They were definitely more intense than the ones I had previously experienced the weeks prior. But, I wasn't convinced that this was the real thing, because I had heard EVERYWHERE that first time mom's usually go past their due date--so expect to go well into your 41st or 42nd week to deliver-- and that labor and delivery for first timers also takes a lot longer-- so expect to be in labor for hours. Anyway, I called my mom about 7:45pm because the contractions had gotten noticeably stronger and I was becoming more reliant on my deep breathing to get through them. Brittany was over at my parent's house and they both agreed that I was probably in labor. I still wasn't 100% convinced though. Jake was driving the tour boat for the Sound and Light show and got home around 9pm. I heard the door open and close right as a contraction had finished and I went over to the stairs where he would be walking down to greet me ... instead the silly boy thought it would be funny to scare me and jump out from behind the wall, I wasn't scared though ;) As soon as I told him I thought our son was coming he immediately apologized for "scaring" me and he went into his "take charge" mode. Asking me every 10 minutes or so if we should leave for the hospital yet. My response each time was "No, let's just wait a little longer to make sure this is real." I was focused with each contraction, calling out for Jake to stop doing the dishes and come apply counter pressure whenever I felt another contraction coming on. There were lots of "Jake, I NEED YOU." during that time. They were coming every 4 minutes now and I felt like we needed to go to the hospital, we waited until just after one finished before racing to the car. It was 10:30pm when we arrived at the emergency room to check into labor and delivery. All I could do was sway back and forth and focus on my breathing. They took us back to the labor and delivery room and contacted the nurse that was on call for that night. It ended up being Sister Lewis from the ward! Her personality was perfect for me while I was laboring, I couldn't have been more pleased. As soon as she arrived she checked my cervix and I was 5 cm dilated and 100% effaced. Quickly it jumped to 7 cm and I had Jake run out to the car to grab our bags since we knew we weren't going to be leaving. Of course Jake got locked out for 10 minutes trying to figure out a way to get back to me. During this time I asked the nurse when a good time would be to get an epidural if I decided on one, she gave me a sweet look and said that I was just moving too quickly and by the time the anesthesiologist arrived I might be pushing the baby out. This gave me hope that I really could do this all naturally without medication. I had been prepping myself for an un-medicated birth experience with Hypnobirthing tracks ... basically deep relaxation. Jake finally made it back in just as I was hopping into the bath tub to see if that would help me get through contractions a little easier. It helped, a ton. Jake sat by my side the whole time. After about an hour or so in the bath I felt that I couldn't do it any longer, she had me get out and I was at 8 cm. The amniotic sac still not broken. I knelt on the bed and rested my head against my arms during the next set of contractions until I was at 10 cm and they told me to start pushing if I felt the urge to push. Dr. Williams arrived shortly after that and broke my "bag of waters". I pushed for an hour to an hour and a half, laying on my side while Jake supported the weight of my leg. When I felt the burning sensation of pushing I knew his head was close to being out, Dr. Williams had me bring my hand down and feel the top of his little head to give me an extra boost of confidence. I was so excited to be done and meet this little boy already, a couple more pushes and he was out. They quickly gave him to me on my chest and I was so happy. Completely at peace and so in love ... with Jake and our Baby Hudson. I felt amazing, I was on some sort of birth high. I got to hold Hudson uninterrupted for the next four hours before they weighed and measured him. I am so grateful I got that time with him. It was a sacred experience for me, I felt so full of our Heavenly Father's love for each of us and especially the love he has for me and for my little family.
My mom asked Jake to take a picture of me when we got all checked into the hospital.
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