HAPPY BIRTHDAY Z-O-E-DOT-DOT!!!
We have survived. I did have to remind them about three times after 11 that Daniel’s bedroom and Zoë’s parents were right above their heads. I also threatened that if they woke him up they would be changing his poopy diaper which got the appropriate 13-14 y/o response of “EWWWWWWW!!!!!!!”
So now we have two teenagers living in our house. There is a song from the nineties written by Wayne Watson titled Teenager in the House. He wrote it in honor of his son who became (natch) a teen and how he (WW) felt about it all. My favorite line is in the chorus….”This is why we pray a whole lot more!” Bill played it over and over and over again on Holly’s thirteenth birthday and it took her about a week to forgive him for that. I imagine he will dig it up at some point today….heh-hehe

Zoë Has lived up to her name’s meaning (life) from the moment I felt her move inside of me. I felt her at 13 weeks gestation which shocked me because I didn’t feel her sister, Holly kick until I was 19 weeks along. Zoë was like a jumping bean and was in constant motion throughout the pregnancy. She was great. Mom, on the other hand was dying. I had hyperemesis gravidarum up until the 29th week of my pregnancy. I had lost 14 pounds and needed frequent IV rehydration. In spite of all of that, the OB plotted Zoë’s growth as LGA at week 23. I told him she must be a parasite. I know he was trying to tell me all was well in spite of ,my being sick but I wasn’t a happy, glowing pregnant camper until I stopped throwing up. :Þ
Zoë was due March 15 which was controversial in our extended family. Why March was the comments we got when we announced our happy news. There are a total of 8 March birthdays in our families, mine included. Bill just reminded all of them of the infertility workups we went through before getting pregnant and at this point we were just thrilled. That seemed to quiet them down.
The second controversy was her name. I always was very particular about naming our children and Bill went along for the ride. I see a lot of, a-hem, “interesting” names in my line of work and frankly I think ther should be a name police to stop some of them from happening.(tongue in cheek here). I also see what is trendy and can predict THE name of half the first grade class of 2012 based on what parents are naming their babies. For me, my child’s name has to have a specific meaning that mirrors our life at that moment. Bill suggested “Zoë” to me because it is Greek for life. It seemed appropriate given the years of trying to conceive. Her middle name is Elizabeth which is Hebrew in origin meaning consecrated to God. We chose that because we had several friends who understand our nervousness about my ability to carry this pregnancy (I had several losses prior) and they committed to us that they would pray daily for this baby until she was safely here. So Zoë Elizabeth it was.
The family was not too thrilled. It was suggested that it was a made up name that sounded silly. One relative stated she would refer to her as Beth. Another refused to believe that it meant life telling me that her Greek friends told her it was a nasty expletive…..we have a great family! But we held firm that this was our baby’s name. It grew on them like I knew it would.
Zoë was my 90 minute labor and delivery child. Now don’t be impressed or jealous. It was fast and furious. It was hell. At my 37 week exam, my doctor found I was 4 centimeters dilated and yet I was not contracting.. He scratched his head and said labor should start soon and maybe he would see me soon. The rest of the day I ran around like crazy running errands at the post office, the drug store, the grocery store, the hardware store (?)…can you say nesting? I knew you could.
That evening I was tired and crampy but not contracting. Bill suggested a long walk. That didn’t seem to do much of anything. An hour later the cramps were getting worse but not really worth timing because they were so irregular…one long, the next very short and so on. Bill called my doc anyway who suggested I come in to L & D to run a strip. So off we go. I get all settled into my lovely birthing suite and hooked to the monitor and……nothing! Zip!, ZILCH! Still my doc admitted me for the night and suggested some walking of the halls and such as he imagined my cramping would start up again and progress very fast. So walk I did. Actually I spent most of the nigh socilizing with pals from work. I also got to enjoy the whirlpool and even managed a couple hours sleep until just after 7 when I woke up to PAIN!!!! OMG, that was not a cramp!! As I rang for my nurse the next one came even worse and so it went. My doc was on the floor making rounds so in he came to see that yup, I was in labor. He said I was at 5 and it looked like he would be hanging around. He tells my nurse that my first baby was a fairly quick labor so he would just grab a quick shower and come back to check my progress. I really don’t remember much of anything else after that except two things:
Me crying to Bill, “Where’s my cleansing breath?!”
Bill turning off the tv and after the nurse telling him he didn’t have to him looking at me and saying , “Oh yes I do.”
The next thing I know my doctor is running in with wet hair rushing to get gowned and gloved to catch the baby. I learned later he was being paged stat when he had just got out of the shower. It’s a good thing he got there so fast because one push, two push out came Zoë’s head. With the third push she was here!
At 8:58 am, weighing 7lbs 6oz and 19½ inches long, Zoë Elizabeth arrived!
I should have known then what a wild, exciting ride we were in for with this one. She is truly a live wire….lively, energetic, sometimes frenetic, silly and so smart it is kind of scary. She is a Zoë, what more can I say?
Happy birthday Zo-Zo. I love you oodles and gobs and kibbles and bits and bits and baby bits!
Love,
Mommie-Dearest