A baby story

If you don't like birth stories then skip this post...

We have had lots of family events lately. We had a niece who got baptized June 30th, my sister got married July 4th, my brother came home from the Marines, and my sister-in-law is getting married July 20th. I really wanted to have the baby in time that I could be able to go to these events, especially my sisters wedding. Heavenly Father and I were not on the same page unfortunately. I'm okay with it now cuz I have a beautiful baby to love on but I'm still sad I missed the wedding.

The weekend before (baptism weekend) my sister called me and said they were in town cuz David went skydiving (it was a wedding gift from my brother) and they wanted to go to dinner. We planned the place and time. We went to Texas Roadhouse. When we got there my brother was with them! It was a super awesome surprise and it was fun to have dinner with all 3 of us siblings, plus a few. It's been a while since we've all been together. That helped me with the whole fact that I had to miss the wedding.

Needless to say we still had no baby! On the 4th of July we didn't really have any plans because we didn't know when the baby was coming. We had talked about going to the fireworks at the speedway but that was about it. I woke up about 6 am that morning feeling so sick. I was throwing up and had diarrhea. I was a little mad cuz it was a holiday and Josh was off and I was excited to spend time with him and enjoy the holiday. Who wants to be sick on a holiday! I lounged around all morning. Throwing up every hour or so. I was laying on the couch and about 11:30 am my water broke! We debated whether we should go to the hospital or wait around for a bit. We headed to the hospital and got there around noon.

We got checked in and my contractions were about 6 min apart. Nothing too painful yet and when they checked me I was at a 3. I hadn't showered yet for the day because I was feeling sick and didn't have the energy. After they got me checked I hopped in the shower and they were getting the jacuzzi ready for me. I hopped in there for about 40 min. It was so nice and makes me really want my own. :)
After that I had to get my IV in so that I was able to get the fluids in me I had to have in order to get my epidural. Josh and I just watched TV (which was a luxury to watch cable since all we have is locals) and relaxed while we could. After I got my fluids in I got the epidural. Josh hadn't eaten all day and his mom was just getting to the hospital with some food for him so I made him leave the room while they did my epidural so he didn't faint. :) The anesthesiologist who did my epidural was Lisa. She was AMAZING! The easiest best epidural I have ever had (out of my 3). She was quick and it wasn't very painful either. Just the little poke.

After this it was about 4:30 and we just hung out and chatted with his mom for a bit. I was at a 7 at this point and so we figured things would get going soon. I said between 5 and 6 he would be born but Lincoln thought otherwise. We really wanted to deliver while our nurse, Amanda, was still there. She was such an AWESOME nurse! Shift change was at 7 so we were getting short on time. They gave me pitocin cuz my contractions were still far enough apart that we wanted to get this show done. And I wanted to be done because I was STARVING and wanted to eat. The doctor (Lisa Minge) came in about 6:30pm and checked me. We were ready to go! She got gowned up and they called NICU in (I had meconium in my water) and we got started.

The nurse and Josh had to hold my legs. I was so numb I couldn't control them AT ALL! I had been having some pain on my right side and it didn't seem to matter how I was laying it wouldn't go away so they gave me some extra type of meds and I didn't feel ANYTHING. Josh's mom was at my head. I started pushing at 6:40 pm and I pushed 3 or 4 times and he was here at 6:53 pm. He pretty much slid out on his own. The doc turned to grab something off the cart and when she turned back around she said oh my gosh this kid is sliding out all on his own.  Which made it easier for me. :)

 Our first pic together.

Baby Lincoln being all checked out. He weighed 8 lbs 3 oz (our biggest baby yet) was 21 3/4 in and has a TON of dark hair and we are in LOVE with it.

The kids got to come see Lincoln about 30 min after he was born. Hunter loved him! McKenna wasn't so fond of him. She glared at him and pushed him away. Before they left for the night she warmed up and held him and was okay with it all.

 Don't mind the ice cream on the face. They came from McDonald's with Aunt Krystal and didn't care about getting cleaned up they just wanted to see their brother. :)

 Check out that glare! (this could someday be used for black mail) :)

 She was still a little nervous about it but was much better.

After delivery they changed shifts. I was so glad we had Amanda for our delivery cuz the next nurse, Nancy wasn't our favorite. She seems kinda grouchy and was in a hurry, not very friendly. We did find out she was in a hurry cuz she had a transport coming that she had to take care of. She got Lincoln all bathed and ready to go to our new room. We got all settled into our room and Josh ran home to get his pj's since we didn't think about grabbing his stuff before we left. He got back and we settled in to bed. We sent Lincoln with the nurse for the night so we could sleep. (Yes, I send my kids away at the hospital)

Thursday morning my doc came in and checked me and asked if I wanted to go home. Well, DUH! Who wants to stay in the hospital if they don't have to. I wanted to sleep in my own bed! She said okay, you can go home as long as the pediatrician says it's okay. The peds doc came in and suggested we stay another day cuz he needs a newborn check done the next day (Fri) and his circumcision done. Our pediatrician doesn't have rights at St. Al's so he said if we could get an appt for Fri. with her then he would let us go as long as Lincoln passed his bili check at 25 hours old. We called and got an appt for 10:30 Fri morning. We did his bili check at 8:00 pm and by 8:30 pm we were on our way home. It was the shortest stay we've ever had with our kids at the hospital but that was fine by me! We came home and the kids were anxiously waiting for us on the front step. They were so excited to have their brother and mom home.

Our first family photo with all 5 of us

My fears of delivering at St. Al's were all for nothing. We had an AMAZING experience and loved all of the staff, even the grouchy one, and decided that we liked it better than St. Luke's. If I could have my old OB and deliver at St. Al's it would be the ultimate dream delivery next time. :)