Brody Steven Zimmer

So I was wrong. I guessed Carissa would have her baby on December 1st. Yes it was a long shot due to her track record after having Grayson. But Brynna was born on the 1st and what an easy way to remember how many months apart Brynna and baby Zimmer would be. Even though we thought Carissa would deliver early, the birth was still quite shocking. On Friday November 22nd Carissa and Andrew snuck in one last date night before baby. Carissa felt some contractions but they weren’t necessarily painful and chalked them up to braxton hicks since they went away. She felt great on Saturday and even into late Sunday. The thought crossed my mind that delivery could be near since sometimes you get the “calm before the storm”. However the events of Sunday night no one could have planned for. The Zimmers joined us for supper and all seemed normal. The kids got a bath and off went the Zimmers to put Grayson to bed. We got our kids laid down for the night and started to relax on the couch. I barely got my seat warm and a call comes from Carissa at 8:07 saying that she pretty much peed her pants while reading Grayson a bedtime story and thought it was best to bring Grayson over to sleep at our house just in case something happened that night. At 8:30 all three of them walked through the door and I could tell right away that contractions had started. Little did Carissa know her water had actually broke. This would have been a clear sign that things were going to go much faster than any of us would anticipate. Grayson was settled into bed quickly and off the three of us went to the hospital. Once registered we made our way up to the room and noticed the clock read a little after 9:00.

In walks Carissa’s nurse and immediately all of us were comforted. Oddly enough the room was where Grayson, Cohen, and Brynna were born. This was the same nurse that helped deliver all three of them. Another thing that all these births had in common…quick deliveries! This nurse recognized us right away and without hesitation started to call the doctor to make his way to the hospital. In hindsight the doctor needed exactly that amount of time to make the birth. The nurse then checked Carissa and she was dilated to 5cm. Half way there! And you could certainly tell Carissa was progressing as her pain level was quickly increasing.

She was a champ working through the contractions. Then talk of pain medicine happened. It took me off guard since this talk happens during transition and transition means the end is very near. But this couldn’t be right, she’d been in labor for only an hour. The moment passed and she regained her focus on dealing with the pain. Brody was struggling to keep up with the fast labor and his heart rate would dip during contractions. So Carissa got back into bed and was then dilated to 7 cm. She tried lying on one side and then the other and then on all fours to help with Brody’s heart rate. Next we were all surprised when Carissa uttered, “I’m ready to push.” The nurse checked her and sure enough she was ready. The doctor walked in just as the contractions were helping to push out Brody. He quickly got on one glove to help guide out his head and the nurse helped slap another glove on him while the contraction helped push the rest of him out. At 9:36pm on November 24th, Brody Steven Zimmer was born. It was a shock to everyone how quickly he entered the world.

No time was needed to realize this little guy is loved to the moon and back. What a blessing he is and what a great time we’ll all have getting to watch him grow up.

Side note: Brody’s birth will forever be remembered by his daddy as the game his dear Bronco’s lost after being up 24-0. Now Brody’s quick entrance into the world was shocking but I think Andrew tuning into the game after his birth and finding out they were now down 24-28 almost sent him into shock.