Matthew and Nicole Zinger, an American couple braved more than just to have a snowstorm to welcome their first child into the world after a short pregnancy. The mother to be wanted her delivery to be as natural as possible. She just never expected what the consequences of that choice would be.
Nicole got some great news. In September 2017, she was pregnant with her first child. She had been trying to conceive for a while, so she was especially relieved when her test showed a positive result. It was a very special moment and she burst into tears. She couldn’t wait to share this wonderful news with the love of her life, her husband, Mad.
Nicole thought this news was too special to just casually drop over dinner. This would change their lives completely. This little miracle deserved to be announced in a special way.
Nicole couldn’t wait to give Matt a surprise gift. She wanted to share the big news by taking her husband to the park where they’d had their very first date. She conjured up a carefully wrapped gift box decorated with a bow and all. Mad had a hard time with surprises and spent the entire drive trying to figure out why Nicole wanted to go to this place. He got the answer in the form of a T-shirt printed World’s Greatest Father.
Matt didn’t know what to say. He stared at Nicole with his eyes wide as he stood there for a while. Nicole started to cry and gave him a big hug. Meanwhile, Matt’s cheeks were wet from his happy tears. They were over the moon.
They didn’t know what surprises awaited them. The couple discovered the pregnancy quite late. After visiting an obstetrician, the couple found out that they only had a few months left before they would be welcoming their son or daughter. The due date was January 30, 2018. The parents to be only had five months to make all the necessary preparations.
There was still a lot to do, so their world was turned upside down. When they discovered the pregnancy, they couldn’t think about anything but the future birth of their little one. Everything revolved around the upcoming birth. But even if they could think about other things, they could never have predicted what would happen on the day of delivery. A few months passed and the holidays arrived and there was a baby on the way enough to celebrate.
Just a few more weeks and the couple would become parents. They bought a crib, cute baby clothes, stuffed animals, reading books and much more. They were all set to meet their little one. It was time to start working on the birth plan. Matt and Nicole wanted to do as much as possible themselves without the help of doctors and hospitals.
Instead, they wanted to have a natural birth in their own home. They enlisted a midwife to guide them and help them with a delivery. This midwife had no idea what awaited her either. It was around Christmas when Nicole suddenly began to feel ill. She had the flu and ate very badly.
She couldn’t sleep and was very worried. In addition to the flu symptoms, she also had a lot of stomach pain. Her huge belly felt like an overinflated balloon. Nicole was worried about her baby because her stomach hurt so much, but because she wanted her pregnancy and delivery to be as natural as possible, she decided not to call a doctor. She would do this on her own.
Matt doubted whether this was a good choice. Nicole felt worse and worse as her situation worsened. She also became increasingly concerned and anxious. One day she woke up in the middle of the night. She dreamed that she was on vacation and had taken a dip in the sea there.
When she woke up and realized she wasn’t really on a tropical island, she was disappointed at first until she became aware of the wet spot she was lying in. Her water broke at half past midnight on Friday, December 29 because Nicole was only due on January 30. This happened four and a half weeks early. The couple immediately called the midwife and urged her to come to the house as soon as possible. Matt forgot everything he’d learned in the past five months and paced the room frantically.
What this night would eventually lead to would surprise anyone. The pain of the last few days turned out to not just be the flu. Nicole’s waters had broken and she was having contractions. The midwife advised the couple to go to the hospital quickly. The baby was premature and it was not safe to deliver him at home.
Mad and Nicole had to hurry. The hospital was a long drive away. They never expected the baby to come. Now, of course, you don’t always have control over your body. They also found out that it doesn’t matter how much you’ve read, watched, or heard about the theory behind childbirth.
You can’t be fully prepared for the real thing. The couple jumped in the car and drove to Gerber Memorial Hospital in Vermont. This hospital was 2 hours away. They were known for handling versus naturally as possible, a perfect choice for Matt and Nicole. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate.
It was a snowstorm, a big one that night. First they had to dig the car out because there were 20 CM of snow in the driveway. Then they had to brave the brutal weather on the way to the hospital. Total madness. Matt later called this trip.
They don’t have a choice because Nicole’s contractions were getting worse. At 04:00 A.m., they arrived in Vermont. The journey to the hospital had been quite a challenge, but the couple was warmly welcomed there. It turned out that Raymond, Nicole’s brother, was on duty that night. Her brother was a doctor and worked in several hospitals in the area.
What a coincidence that he was working in Vermont. That same night, Raymond assigned the best nurses to accompany the couple. Raymond had to get back to work, so he wished Nicole the best of luck. He took Matt aside for a moment and requested Matt to call him as soon as the baby was born. Matt noted Nicole’s brother’s contact information and promised to comply with his request.
Raymond gave him a big hug of joy and walked away. I’m going to be an uncle, he announced as he passed a group of nurses. The Gruber Memorial Hospital turned out to be a nice place. The nurses who assisted Nicole reassured her and provided her with all the care she needed. As the hours passed, the contractions got worse and Nicole slowly began to dilate.
Matt stayed by her side the whole time. It was very hard for Nicole. She hadn’t had very much rest for four days because she’d been suffering so much from the flu, and she was also now in enormous pain because she’d been in labor for hours. Nicole was very firm in her decision to do everything naturally, but after 30 painful hours, she chose to take some pain medication and an epidural, hoping the labor would go faster. During the delivery, the medical experts did everything they could to make it as natural as possible.
This included no scans or tests to check the baby’s health, but when she gave in to the medication and epidural, she decided to have an ultrasound as well. After all, she’d been busy for tens of hours. The ultrasound showed a perfectly healthy baby. Everything they could see on the screen seemed fine. The little one was fine and the delivery went well.
It wouldn’t be long before Nicole could hold her baby in her arms. Matt had a smile from ear to ear and held his wife’s hand. Nicole agreed to have an epidural so she could endure the contractions and associated pain. This went against her beliefs, but she’d never experienced childbirth before and decided to not make it any harder on herself than it already was. Nicole pushed for another two and a half hours, but then the baby started showing signs of stress.
That was the last thing she wanted. Now Nicole was exhausted and couldn’t take it anymore. She had been fighting for tens of hours. She wanted nothing more for her baby to be born as soon as possible. Since Nicole was losing her strength, the doctor decided to intervene drastically.
He used a vacuum to deliver the baby as soon as possible. The couple had already been through a lot. Nicole’s waters broke a month earlier than expected. Then they had to brave an unexpected snowstorm to reach the hospital, leaving Nicole to endure a seemingly neverending delivery. Fortunately, measures have now been taken to relieve the misery.
They had no idea what was yet to come. They thought they’d had it all by now, but they could never have predicted what else would happen that night. The medical staff was also completely surprised by the unexpected turn of the birth. Nicole and Mad had arrived at the hospital on Friday night. Their very first child was born on Saturday, December 30, 2017, at ten.
06:00 p.m. After giving birth for 48 hours, the couple named their beautiful baby Blakely Faith Zomer. The weight of the little one did worry the Obstetrician. She weighed 1999 grams, about half the size of an average newborn. Was this because she was born a month early?
Nicole began to worry but was soon reassured by the nurses. Her baby was very healthy. Both the medical staff and the new parents had no idea what to expect. Mad and Nicole were overjoyed with their very first child. The girl was beautiful and they soon got into a discussion about whose eyes the little one inherited.
Mad was extremely proud of his wife, who had endured an unbelievably long delivery. He kept his promise to Nicole’s brother and quickly texted Raymond. The couple was happy that this wild adventure had finally come to an end. They both noticed they were incredibly tired. They had had quite a few setbacks in the past few days, but the finally proud parents of Blakely Faith were happy.
Nicole was just about to relax in her hospital bed when the Obstetrician examined her again. It turned out that this rest would be short-lived. The delivery was over. Nicole would just have to have a few more stitches and she’d be all done. At least that’s what she thought.
When the Obstetrician started working on the placenta, she realized that something had happened that should be completely impossible. She’d never experienced this before. The Obstetrician took another look and called in another expert. What happened here was a minor miracle. Matt sensed the confusion among the medical staff and became restless himself.
The nurses initially refused to tell him what they discovered. He really had to try hard to get through to them before they told him something he wasn’t prepared for. The Obstetrician had made an incredible discovery. During her examination, she’d seen another head. The couple had become parents that day, not to one, but two children.
What a surprise. Matt and Nicole thought they were being tricked. The Obstetrician assured them she would never joke about this. She took her job seriously. During the entire pregnancy, the couple had been under the impression they’d welcome one child into this world.
Now it turned out to be two. How could this have happened? Why hadn’t the nurses noticed this sooner? Wasn’t there an ultrasound? Matt and Nicole had little time to ponder these questions as the labor was not over yet.
The medical team prepared for the second delivery. The couple’s family, who had been called by Mad after the arrival of the first baby, waited outside the delivery room and had no idea that a miracle was taking place behind closed doors. Raymond, Nicole’s doctor, and brother was also nervously waiting for the new parents. It was taking a very long time. The family had no idea what was happening, so they started to worry.
