Lincoln Has Arrived

On Saturday night ... well Sunday morning I got in bed around 12:24 AM ... not even around ... it was exactly 12:24 AM when I took a sip of water and laid down ... I noticed the time because I thought to myself, "Well I'll have to get in bed earlier tomorrow night because I can't have anything after midnight the night before my C-section" ...

Around 2:45 AM I awoke and was about to get up to pee when I just started gushing ... I hopped out of bed so fast but I was too late ... the bed was drenched ... there was a puddle on the floor and a trail to the bathroom ... I sat there thinking, "Really ... you are scheduled for Monday and you are coming today?" ...

David was still up ... I went to the top of the stairs and said, "Hey honey ... my water broke" ... I called the service and the doctor called me back in a few minutes ... I told her my water broke and she told me to head to the hospital ... I asked if I could take a shower first and she told me to hurry ...

See in my mind I kinda thought she was going to tell me I could still come Monday ... with Schuyler I know I was induced but my water broke on its own on Friday afternoon and I didn't have her for 24 more hours ... I mean after my water broke it was still like 12ish hours before they moved me to Labor & Delivery and another 12ish hours before I was dilated enough to start pushing ...

So I took a shower ... realized I had never finished getting my stuff together because that was what I was going to do on Sunday ... still hadn't gotten anything together for Schuyler ... called my parents and told them we were on our way ... woke up a terribly cranky 2.5 year old and herded her to the car and we were on our way ...

By the time we got to the car I was already soaked and realized I needed to start timing my contractions ... they were getting much stronger than I had realized ... as we pulled out of the driveway they were 4 minutes apart and strong ... as we were leaving my parents house they were 3 minutes apart ... and as we were pulling into the hospital they were at 2.5 minutes ... and getting stronger each time ...

David dropped me at the door and went to park the car ... the security guard was a bit freaked out and when I looked down I realized why ... my pants were completely drenched and a puddle was forming ... he told me to go on up and would send my husband up after me ... it was 3:30 in the morning so he knew the next guy through would be my husband ...

I headed up to the 3rd floor to check in ... and the contractions were getting much stronger ... and I was starting having trouble talking ... thank goodness my doctors office had basically registered me cause there wasn't much I had to do ... but sit on the wheelchair and go to L&D ...

I couldn't believe how much water there was ... it was just crazy ... but I got in a hospital gown and found a way to get into the bed ... the contractions were coming around a minute a part ... and I was really in pain ... then my stomach started pushing on its own ...

The doc still wasn't there ... the nurse checked me and I was 5 cm dilated ... I couldn't believe it ... that happened in an hour and a half  ... it took me 1/2 the day last time to go that far ...

The nurse said ... "You know you have dilated pretty quick and your contractions are showing pretty strong ... are you sure you don't want to have this baby by pushing?" ... I actually squeaked out a giggle and said, "Hell no ... my daughter was 8.8 pounds ... I pushed for 5 hours ... got no where and they would have had to break her shoulder to get her out ... this kid is even bigger."

At this point I was in terrible pain ... worse than my contractions with pictocin ... and I thought those were supposed to be so bad ... they started to feel like they were one on top of the other and I kept asking where my epidural was ... they were waiting for the doctor to get there ... then my stomach started pushing on its own more often ... it was weird ... I couldn't stop it during the contractions ... the nurse checked me again and now I was at 6cm ... it had only been a little while and she asked again if I wanted to have him vaginally ... again my answer was hell no ...

Finally the doctor arrived ... unfortunately it again wasn't my doctor that I love so much but it was the same doctor who delivered Skye ... when she walked in she said, "Well you didn't sound like this on the phone ... sure is progressing fast huh?" ... She checked me and said, "Alright get the anesthesiologist we need to go soon ... she is between 6 and 7" ...

When the anesthesiologist arrived they started wheeling me to the operating room ... I will admit I was having a terribly hard time with the contractions ... I felt like there wasn't a break between them ... and they were so strong my stomach was pushing hard but the doc kept saying he was up high still so not to worry ...

We got into the operating room and they got me sitting up on the operating table ... they were giving me a spinal and had me stick my back out ... and then held me in a sort of head lock to keep me still ... as they were cleaning my back I had a contraction and thought, "Thank goodness that will be the last one before the medicine kicks in" ... yea no not the case ... they stuck the first needle in as another contraction hit and I had to be still ... had to stay in the headlock ... and nothing to squeeze or preferable push on ... it was rough ... so I thought, "well at least that is it before the sweet medicine kicks in." (I was still thinking I was getting an epi not a spinal) ... ah ha wrong again ... the next needle corresponded with a violent contraction where my stomach was pushing and it was all I could do to stay still ... while I was still having the contraction they were rushing me to lay down ... and kinda freaking out about it in my opinion ... getting me to move and adjust and I just couldn't understand what the rush was all about ...

Until I realized I felt nothing from the rib cage down ... not a single thing ... well some pushing on my tummy but they got me into position just in time ... the sheet was up in no time and David was in sitting beside me ...

Now that I was drugged up I kept saying, "You guys are all so wonderful. Thank you so much. I am so happy now." ... When I saw the anesthesiologist I said, "Everyone must be in love with you." ... they were all laughing at me ... but I meant every word of it ... I was a happy mommy at that moment ...

I had NO idea they had even started until we heard the entire operating room go, "woooooooooo" ... I looked at David and asked him what was wrong ... he said he didn't know and then the doctor said, "That is a big baby." ... The nurse who kept asking me if I wanted to push him out came to the other side of the curtain and said, "Yea there was no way you were pushing him out ... he weighs 10 pounds 15.4 ounces ... that is a big baby." ...

He started crying right away and they cleaned him up and handed him off to David ... I was smart this time and wore my glasses into the operating room so I could see him ... and he looked so happy being held by his daddy ...

This time we got to go right back to the L&D room ... (with Skye I was in recovery for like 6 hours or something) ... we got all situated and David hung out with Lincoln ... waiting for the nurse to come in and take care of Lincoln ...

I was of course still feeling no pain ... and couldn't even move my legs if I wanted to ... but since I wasn't able to sit up well I wasn't able to hold him yet ... but I did get to give him a kiss ...

The nurse informed us that he had to go to NICU ... his blood sugar was very low ... he had a bit of a heart murmur that they felt would correct itself ... and that he tended to breath like he didn't realize it would happen involuntarily ... so David went down and saw Lincoln when he got all situated in the NICU ... then it was time for us to nap ... David hadn't slept in over a day ... and we were just wiped out ...

All in all it was a quick process ... but a lot more pain and hard work that I had thought would happen ... glad to know my boy already knows how to do the things he wants to do when he wants to do them ... and so happy he is here to help complete our family ...