Lincoln's Birth Story

 Well almost four weeks later, I am finally getting around to sharing Lincoln's birth story. Between a busy bee toddler and a baby that loves to be held, free time had been sparse lately ;-)

For those of you who followed along with my bumpdates, you probably noticed that our little guy arrived a bit early. I had a gut feeling from day one I wouldn't quite go full term. I am sure part of that was due to going 4 weeks early with Jackson (read his birth story here) but ultimately, I feel like a mama just knows her body.

A few days before his arrival, I had a work training about an hour out of town. I committed last minute, and definitely felt anxious that I may be pushing it. Ironically, I got there and the darn training had been canceled (despite them continuing to send me confirmation emails a mere 36 hours before, insert eye roll emoji). So, I basically got in the car and went back to work. And, about one hour after getting back I went to the bathroom and...blood. Not a lot, but enough that I got a big old nervous knot in my stomach. I called the nurse, who essentially told me it didn't warrant coming in, but to continue to watch everything. So I did. And had sporadic light bleeding over the next 24 hours. By the time Wednesday night rolled around, it wasn't much, but I did have pretty consistent what I thought were Braxton Hicks contractions. I even started timing them, but they never really got closer together, and they never became painful. Still, my gut said something was up, so that night I showered and curled my hair before going to bed. Priorities, right? ;-) 

I woke up the next morning feeling fine, the contractions hasn't progressed over night, but still I threw our hospital bags in the car and dropped off Jackson's overnight bag when I brought him to my parents before work. And, I went into work early, to get in as many of my hours for the week as possible, just in case.

About an hour into the work day, I went to the bathroom and saw more blood, and much more red than it had been, so I called the nurse again. My 38 week appointment was scheduled for 10am, but I was really hoping that being I work across the street they would squeeze me in sooner. After what seemed like forever, the nurse called back and told me that based on my symptoms, I was to forego my clinic appointment and go straight to the hospital. I really fought to just keep my appointment as I knew this would throw off my work day. I was two hours shy of meeting my hours for the week and darn it, I was not having a baby until I got there. Still, I obeyed Doctor orders and hopped in the car for the hospital. 

Once I got in the car, I called Mike to tell him what was up. He works out of town, and has about a 90 minute commute..so basically if he leaves to come home..he is done for the day. Again, we were focused on work and totally not mentally prepared for labor! We decided we would let me get through triage and decide if he needed to come home after that. I called my mom after that, and she left Jackson with my dad so she could come and keep me company at the hospital.

I got to the hospital, and my biggest grievance was not being able to find a parking spot. I finally found one, and walked myself and my laptop up to family birthing. People were probably rolling their eyes at me; I was wearing a black dress, carrying my work computer, and was in no pain..clearly I was in labor ;-) Another lady came into triage minutes before me, so I sat there for a solid half hour before a nurse even came in to see me. So, I sat there and replied to outstanding emails, and had some time to really wrap up all those little work details I wasn't able to take care of my last pregnancy. Eventually they got me hooked up to the monitors, where I sat for another chunk of time. Eventually a nurse did show up, and I was contracting but nothing super consistent. My bigger question was whether or not I needed to tell my husband to come home for crying out loud! The doctor working was called into a delivery, so I was forced to wait even more. FINALLY, the nurse went ahead and checked me. And...I was 6 cm dilated with a bulging amniotic sac. Her reaction was, "Yeah, I would tell your husband to come home now!" So I made that call, said 'get in your car now', and Mike left work immediately. It was baby day!

My mom arrived and we got admitted, and they told me they wanted to break my water. I knew this would probably speed things up, but Mike had cut his hair into a ridiculous mullet the week before, and true story, I told him he wasn't allowed in any family photos if he showed up with the mullet still in tact (yes, it was that bad). He was going home to fix the hair and shower, so I kept pushing off having my water broken until he was close. At that point, my contractions were about 2 minutes apart, but I really wasn't feeling them. Once I knew Mike was within 20-30 minutes of arriving, I went ahead and asked for my epidural. I felt silly getting it before I was even in pain, but I also knew from my last experience that if I had the opportunity to not suffer contractions, I was taking it! Mike arrived, I got the epidural, and shortly after the resident came in to break my water. She kind of struggled, and I was happy I had he epidural because that would not have been a comfortable experience otherwise! I was still at a 6, so I settled in with some Popsicles and just hangout.

About an hour or so after my water broke, I definitely started feeling pressure with each contraction. After a few, I called the nurse to let her know how I was feeling. She checked me, and I was at a 10! Time to push, and it was a good thing I didn't wait any longer to call. The urge to push was so strong I really don't think I could have waited any longer. 

The doctor arrived, I started pushing at 6:02pm, and Lincoln made his grand arrival at 6:10pm.

We rounded out the show with a bunch of amniotic fluid hat had been blocked behind Lincoln literally projecting straight out onto the doctor. Mike said it looked like a movie, picture the projectile vomiting in the Exorcist...poor doctor, but a funny way to end the experience! With that, my sweet boy came in for cuddles immediately, perfect as can be.

The rest of our stay went very smooth, and I am not ignorant to the fact that we have had two very easy, healthy labor experiences. We are blessed!