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Zachary Kyle Lee Thomson

After 8 years of fertility treatments and trying, trying, trying, I became pregnant in January of 1997. My husband and I were both in shock but definitely thrilled!

I had read every book and article I could find on everything about childbirth and labor and what to expect. However, nothing can quite prepare you for the wonderful change that your body goes through during pregnancy.

My husband, James and I were estatic about becoming parents. He was the "perfect" husband during my pregancy. I ate healthy, exercised and did everything I was supposed to do.

I had the most wonderful OB/GYN.(Dr. Patrick Duff) I was hesistant about going to a "teaching" hospital (SHANDS @UF), however during my stay there, all my fears were put to rest.

My water broke at exactly 6:00am on October 28, 1997. I previously had my whole day planned out. I had a doctor's appointment at 8:00am and was planning on Dr. Duff "doing something". My due date was October 27th, but I was HUGE! I am only 5'3" and Zachary had grown very large!

I called out to my husband who proceeded to call "everyone". This was a very exciting time in our family! I showered and got ready to go. James was the typical "nervous" father. I was not in any pain until around 7:00pm. My contractions started then, but I was handling them well. However, my husband was driving like a wild man! I kept telling him to "slow down" because I needed to relax. He was just so excited!

We arrived at the hospital around 7:30am. I was met at the emergency room door by a police officer who helped me into a wheelchair. My husband had to park, so I was left in the emergency room waiting for someone from OB/GYN to come get me.

I was finally retrieved and taken to the Maternity floor. I was told to go to the bathroom(for the last time) and slip into my gown. I was then put in bed and hooked up to a monitor. I didn't like that because I wanted to walk around. They told me I couldn't because of the risk of an infection. After that everything went "sour". I was hurting real bad! My contractions were coming about every 2 minutes, but they couldn't monitor me or the baby very well.

Dr. Duff was not "on call" that day but came up to check on me since I missed my appointment. We had talked in general during my visits about Cesarean, and I had expressed to him that I surely didn't want one of those. However, since they couldn't get a good reading on the baby (they kept losing his heart beat on the monitor and I was still only 1 cm after 7 hours), they had to do one. I was clearly upset. However, Dr. Duff and the nurses reassured me and kept me calm.

A catheter was put in, (I was still in heavy labor, not fun) and my stomach was shaved (again, no fun). Then I was given a shot to stop labor. This was a great thing! I was then wheeled to the operating room. Everything was done very thoroughly although you could tell everyone was hurrying a bit, since they were trying to get Zachary out quickly and safely. After just a few minutes, my husband was at my side and they were lifting Zachary out. He was beautiful and healthy! 9lbs, 3 oz, 21" long! Big baby! No complications!

I was kept in recovery for 4 hours due to my low blood pressure, but Zachary was brought in and I was allowed to hold him and nurse him for the first time. All I really remember about recovery is being "freezing" and "shaking" and dying of thirst!

I was taken to my room around 9pm. I kept Zachary in the room with me and my husband also stayed. It was such a sweet, precious time for us.

I stayed in the hospital for 4 days and after my staples were removed, I was released. I was unable to do anything for about a week after that but after those first 2 weeks, I felt great!

Zachary will be a year old on October 28 and we are now looking forward to baby #2! I hope it doesn't take 8 years!

Sandy Thomson