I know I will never forgive myself if I don't sit down and record Lincoln's birth story. I've neglected this blog for so long I almost forgot how to post! I've missed having an outlet. My goal is to catch-up this year. You know, since my previous post was written in Dec 2013! No big deal. :) Anyway, we welcomed Baby Boy #5 in November! Here's his story:
Since Lincoln's due date was three days before Thanksgiving (Nov 23rd) I requested to be induced. My doctor was totally on board, but the induction list was pretty long. I was originally scheduled for Nov 17th, but my doctor was able to get me bumped up to Monday the 16th. When the hospital called, they told me that I wouldn't be called in until the afternoon, so I had planned on getting caught up on a couple things while we waited for the call. My mom was planning on heading in a little before noon, because she lives about half an hour away from us. I ended up getting a call around 9:40, and we were all a little surprised! I quickly called my mom and she headed in as quickly as she could. We made it to the hospital about an hour later, and after checking in, was given a room.
I swear we waited a good half hour before anyone came in to talk to me. A nurse finally came in, and was about to start getting everything ready for the induction, when they realized the computer in my room wasn't working. They brought in some of the other nurses, trying to figure out what to do. One option was to move me to a different room, which I wasn't too thrilled about. Luckily, one of the nurses remembered that there was an extra computer out in the hallway so they traded them out, and started to get everything going. After all of the questions, and getting me hooked up to the monitors, they didn't start my pitocin until about 12:00. I was still only at a 3 and about 70% effaced. Even though I knew that I tend to go fast, I was still worried I was going to be in labor for a long time. My doctor came in to break my water, and things picked up after that.
I normally wait until I absolutely cannot handle the pain before I get an epidural, and it was the same this time around. I finally go to the point where I was in tears, and asked the nurse to get the anesthesiologist. They were getting ready to deliver twins in another room, so the anesthesiologist told me that he may have to leave at some point in the middle of the process. He was just about to numb my back when a nurse had to come in and grab him. I almost started to cry because I was so worried he would be gone for awhile and I would have to wait even longer for the epidural. He was only gone for a couple minutes, and quickly did the epidural. I was feeling a little relief, but I was still feeling some of the contractions. I only had a small amount of time to rest, because not too long after the epidural kicked in, I started feeling more pressure. The nurse checked, and I was at a 10 and 90%. She quickly started to get things ready, and paged my doctor for me. At this point, all I wanted to do was get the baby out of me, but I could still feel more than I wanted to. I had stopped at one point because it was just too hard. You always forget about how hard labor and delivery is, until you're right in the middle of it again. Then it seems like every delivery you've ever had just comes rushing back. A part of me worried that I couldn't do it, but I had Manuel, my doctor, and multiple nurses telling me that I could, and that he was almost out. Although it felt like an eternity to me, I pushed for maybe 5 minutes and he was here; born at 3:18 pm.
Our sweet baby boy was finally with us. This pregnancy was hard.
Emotionally, physically, and everything in-between.
I am so grateful for this little miracle.
I love some of the new things they have added to the labor and delivery process. One was skin to skin and "The Sacred Hour," where we were able to stay in the delivery room (supposedly uninterrupted, but there sure was a lot of pushing-on-my-uterus going on) and just hold the baby on my chest while he adjusted. He nursed for a good amount of time before they weighed him and wrapped him up.
Lincoln Charles
November 16, 2015
3:18 pm
6 lbs 8 oz
20 inches
I said multiple prayers during that time. I was so scared that we were going to lose him. I was bitter that all I had to hold was my pillow and a pile of other things as they wheeled me to my room. I just wanted my baby with me. I was exhausted, starving, and a crazy hormonal mess. Manuel had helped get me into the room, then I asked him to go back with the baby. He ended up running into a coworker who had also had a baby that day, but it had been a really scary experience. His baby was also in the NICU, but was in a more frightening situation than Lincoln. I realized that things could have been worse for us, and was so grateful to know that Lincoln would be okay. Manuel came back to my room around 6:30 to let me know that Lincoln was doing well, and that he would be back in my room soon.
My parents brought the boys to see us about 7:30, and they were so bummed that Lincoln wasn't in my room yet. They were so happy when the nurse brought him in a little later! Watching them meet him for the first time was the best.
