I just nursed Baby Lincoln and put him down for a nap. I was seriously debating whether or not I should finally write up my birth story or take a nap with him. Let me tell you, nothing is more precious than sleep right now! Maybe he’ll sleep long enough for me to write this and get a little shut-eye too!
I have a hard time pin-pointing exactly when labor started. I had regular contractions all day and night Friday May 30th. My mom even drove through the night because we all thought I was in labor! Well, it was a false alarm. When I woke up Saturday morning, the contractions were gone. The same thing happen all day Saturday. On Sunday we went to church. I was pretty discouraged. It was now my due date and I felt like I had “almost” been in labor forever. The contractions were now a bit more painful, but I wasn’t getting my hopes up.
That night, Miles surprised me with a “new mother” gift. He bought me the wedding band we couldn’t afford when we got married! I cried! It was so wonderful and thoughtful!
After that, we had a bit of euphoria. Miles and I were literally dancing in our living room together—something we wouldn’t normally do with company around.
I was still having a few contractions about every 7-10 min or so. Then, it happened. I was just sitting in the recliner and it hit me. No more messing around. I looked at Miles and wanted to tell him to just STOP lip syncing to the music, but I couldn’t do anything but breath. “Oh boy, that one hurt” I exclaimed. Right after, at 12:15am Monday morning, my water broke. My mom grabbed her camera.
I was totally surprised. I didn’t expect my water to break before we got to the hospital. Miles called Labor and Delivery, and they told us to take our time because my contractions were still pretty far apart. They told us to be at the hospital in 2 hours, and because there was the possible risk of infection they wanted the baby born within 24 hours. We now knew he would be born on Miles’ birthday. After the second gush of water, I ate a little breakfast for some energy and labored for 2 hours at home. From this point on, time went into hyperspeed.
We got to the hospital at 2:30am. I was already tired. The midwife checked me and I was only at 2 cm and 80% effaced. Not much progress from my doctor’s appointment. They wanted to put me on petocin right away, but I chose to labor for awhile, hoping my body would progress on it’s own. I didn’t want petocin unless I had the epidural, and I wasn’t ready for the epidural yet. Labor hurt pretty bad. We labored for about 5 hours in the hospital, walking the halls and such. Miles was such a good support. I hung on to him through every contraction.
My contractions were now coming about ever 3-5 minutes. We had some good progress! When the midwife came back in, I was ready for the epidural. Can I just tell you that the epidural was a piece of cake! I was really nervous about it, but the anesthesiologist did a wonderful job! Though I hated being strapped to the bed with all sorts of IVs, monitors and such, I was so happy for the relief.
The nurse checked me again, and I had progressed to 4 cm on my own. I was happy with this. Especially because I’ve been told contractions are so much stronger after your water breaks. Both Miles and I slept for a couple hours.
At about 1:00 in the afternoon, the nurse came in and notified me I was already at 8 cm! I couldn’t believe it. About 30 min after that, she said I was ready to push. I remember her saying, “your baby will be here soon. We’ll push for about 15 min okay?” Hah! So we started pushing. I’m so happy that I could feel the urge to push even through the epidural. We pushed with my legs in the stirrups, then on my side, then sitting up. I was exhausted. We did this for 2 hours. I was beginning to feel discouraged. Then the midwife came in and asked me “How do you feel about a c-section?” Are you kidding me? After all this work? No way. I want a vaginal birth. She said there was a “slight” possibility that I could deliver this baby if I pushed another hour. I asked the nurse if my husband could give me a blessing. He did, and there was no more doubt. I said let’s do it! I think I opened my eyes to look at Miles twice during the next hour and 15 minutes. I have never focused so hard on something in my life. I had Miles counting in my ear and holding my hand the entire time. My mom was on one leg, and the nurse was holding the other. They were all so helpful and encouraging. I really couldn’t have done it without them. I was so happy when they brought a mirror over and I could see the baby’s head. I pushed harder—which I didn’t think was possible. When the midwife returned, she was surprised I had progressed so much. I was given a small episiotomy and a few minutes later I was reaching down for my son.
I have never felt so much emotion in all my life when they placed my boy on my chest. Relief, love, happiness, pride, accomplishment, and joy, just to name a few. My baby was so beautiful! I can’t even write about it without crying. I had never worked so hard in my life, and the a reward was so amazing. I just held him and Miles and I sobbed. My mom says we were moaning with joy. The baby was then placed on my bare chest. Baby Lincoln was so alert gazing up at me.
The nurse helped me put him to the breast and he latched on right away. We spent about 45 minutes like this until the nurses took him to be cleaned up. He was 7 lbs 3 oz, and 20 1/4″ long. What a perfect size. He was so healthy and robust with a beautiful color.
The next part of the day is so vague to me. I know we were waiting to be taken to our post-partum room. My mom says we were there for more than 3 hours. I don’t remember it. I do remember the nurses helping try to get up for the first time to go the the bathroom. I couldn’t walk and I almost passed out. They gave me juice and waved ammonia under my nose. Finally they got me into the wheelchair, and I carried the baby to our new room.
Recovery in the hospital was brutal. I had torn past my episiotomy and ended up with a 3rd degree laceration (meaning I tore a bit into the rectal muscle). The most frustrating part was that I now had to take care of this new baby, and I could barely move and take care of myself.
The baby roomed in with us the first night and was up nearly ever hour. After not getting any sleep the night before and feeling like I was hit by a semi, this was really difficult. Miles took care of him most of that first night.
Everyday has gotten better since, but it’s still hard! He is so wonderful, but I’m not gonna lie—I’ve had those “what was I thinking” moments. I’ve learned more in the past 10 days than I ever could have imagined. I’ve learned that motherhood is hard work, I’ve never loved and appreciated my husband more, and it is impossible to be a good parent without the Lord’s help. We are so grateful for our baby boy. We’re so proud of him. He has such a special spirit and has added so much to our little family!
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