Life Changing Experiences

Zayne Garold Johnston was born On May 7, 2012 at 5:02 AM. He weighed in at 7lbs 2oz and was 19 3/4 long. He came a surprising 15 days early but was as healthy as could be :) I believe he came early for a reason, which I will share at the end of the post.

Owen needed to make a very last minute and very quick trip to Boise for the weekend. I was debating back and forth whether it would be safe for me to go or not (my friends and family can attest to this) Friday morning came and I made the decision to just go. I figured if I was with Owen that was all that mattered (that was Jenny's advice :) and it made sense. So we got on the road. I had been having contractions off and on during the week, but nothing serious. We made it down safe and sound. We stayed the night in Boise with my parents Friday night and then headed to Oregon to stay the night with Owen's parents on Saturday night. That's when it all started. After everyone went to bed on Saturday night around 11:15 PM, I went to the bathroom because every time my bladder was full I would experience contractions. So I was kind of going a lot. Anyway, to spare too much information - I lost something very important to pregnancy and I knew I was in trouble. The same thing had happened when I was pregnant with Evie, but I didn't have her until 2 days later.  I had a feeling this little guy wasn't going to stay in much longer! I experienced contractions through the night and in turn slept hardly at all.

 Once morning came I told Owen and my mother in law what was going on and they both thought it would be best to leave immediately. Evie so badly wanted to go to church so we went  just to sacrament meeting at 10 and then headed home right after. I had contractions the whole way home. No pattern...............some were really painful and others were just little. It was a long five hour drive back to Moses Lake! We made it home around 4:30 pm. I had a sudden urge to nest...........I did all the laundry and cleaned all of my bathrooms. The contractions started to get really bad and around 7:30 PM I decided to start timing them. I timed them for just over 2 hours. They ranged anywhere from 5 minutes apart to 11 minutes apart. All the while I am texting my friends and sisters and talking on the phone to my mom trying to figure out of this was false labor or the real thing. I had already arranged a place for Evie to stay in case we had to go in in the middle of the night. 

I tried to lay down with Evie to get her to go to sleep..........that was about 10 PM. I was in so much pain I couldn't lay by her. I was crying it hurt so bad. So I told Owen it was time to go to the hospital and get checked.....the worst thing they could do was send me home, right? So we got our shoes on and headed to the hospital. Once I checked into Labor and Delivery I told the nurse...."please don't send me home. please don't make me go back home." She checked me and said "yep, you are at a good 4 cm dilated" That felt so good to hear. I didn't think it was all in my head!

 My friend met Owen and Evie downstairs and took her with her for the night. The nurse made me walk around for 40 minutes so that when she checked me again it would be an hour since the last time. She told me I could do lunges or walk stairs.........I thought she was crazy. But you know what?! I did it! I did lunges all the way across the hospital waiting room and back probably 10 times and walked the stairs 5 times (stopping of course when a contraction came because it was all my body could do to handle them). I was NOT going home!!! I was going to have this baby tonight! Once I got back from walking I was dilated to a 5. Apparently I was making good progress! She got me all hooked up and ready for labor. She ordered up my epidural and I got it at about 12:30 AM. Talk about heaven. I seriously love the invention of the epidural and have no shame in admitting that :) After the epidural it was all just a waiting game. 

The doctor on call had just performed an emergency c-section and was anxious to get my delivery done. He broke my water when I was at 7.5 cm to get things going. An hour later I was at a 9..............kind of hanging on to the 9, the doctor decided to give me some Pitocin to quickly get me to a 10 and so pushing would be easier. You see, the whole time my contractions never became regular - like coming every 2 minutes...they were kind of random and sporadic. My nurse told me that some of my contractions were crazy long...like 4 minutes long. I don't think I could have handled that with no medication! Anyway, the Pitocin worked like a charm and I pushed for 10 minutes and out he came!!! I just remember the feeling of pressure off of my ribs and lungs. "I can breathe!" I said. Of course he was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, well, him and Evie both!

 Poor little guy had to have an IV in his sweet little hand. They think he swallowed a lot of amniotic fluid because he kept spitting stuff up and then choking on it. He would turn blue because he wasn't breathing. It was really scary. They wanted him to stay 48 hours instead of 24 hours to monitor his situation. His pediatrician came to see him Tuesday night and checked him out and said he looked really good and sounded really good and asked me if we wanted to go home. "YES!"  I said. So he ended up only having to stay for 24 hours.

 Don't judge.......I just had a baby! AND when Evie came to the hospital with no shirt on under her dress, I wasn't very happy. I asked her "where is your shirt, Miss Evie?" and Owen looked at me and said "Don't ask." Anyway, for the record, I don't let Evie run around in spaghetti straps!

 I LOVE this picture of Miss Evie and Zayne :)

 He's so little :)

 My parents came up to help with Zayne and what a help they have been!!!

 I love this picture of him. He has the cutest little face! And his hair is dark and there is kind of a lot of it AND it appears to be straight. So weird!

Evie looks so big next to this little guy! She loves being a big sister and doesn't seem jealous at all! She kind of acts like he has always been around :)

So the reason for our last minute trip to Boise was for Owen to have a sudden and last minute job interview. On Monday morning, after they took me to my recovery room, Owen received a call with a job offer back in the Boise, ID area. They made us a deal we could not refuse. Owen will finally be getting paid what he is worth and the potential with this company is 10 fold over what it would be where he is currently. PLUS, we will be close to our families. Everything happened so fast. We will be moving back NEXT weekend! Imagine yourself just giving birth and then realizing you have to move all of your belongings out of state. Can you say stressed?! My parents have been great and have helped us pack up half of the house. Owen's mom will be coming up on Sunday and will help me all week. When I broke the news to my friends when they came to visit me in the hospital we all just cried. Every time I let myself think about it, I get emotional. I NEVER thought I would see the day where I would be sad to leave this place. It truly is bittersweet. I have made close friendships here that I felt were indeed a blessing by the hand of God in my life. I was meant to meet all of these people and learn from them. I believe Heavenly Father has a plan for me and my family and that He wants me to happy. I don't know why situations like these have to tug at our heart strings so much. I guess it is a growing experience, something that just happens in mortality.  One thing I have learned is that no matter where you live - home is where YOU make it :)