On Wednesday, May 14th I woke up and had no contractions so I was really bummed and thought, "Well, I guess I better go to work then." At this point I already had had a sub covering my class for the last few days just in case I didn't come in to work. At work the day before, I was just doing a little bit of this and that so I planned on doing that again today (Wednesday).
I was at work grading papers at my desk around 9:30 when my contractions started. I actually didn't know what they were, I just knew they hurt really bad and that they came in waves. I began texting my mom and sister asking them if they knew what they were. They believed them to be contractions so I started timing them on my phone app. They were already approximately 4 and a half minutes apart and about a minute long each. They were already getting pretty strong and I just couldn't work through them any more. I packed up my things and told the front office I had to go home.
The drive home was only like 7 minutes. I had to pull over because I was having a contraction that hurt incredibly bad and I really couldn't focus on the road at that moment. When it subsided, I continued home.
As soon as I got home, I called Jordan and told him the situation. He was at work too so he had to wrap some things up and come home. Meanwhile, I was in contact with my mom and sister via text conversations and phone calls. I tried to work through a contraction or 2 on my stability ball because my sister said that might help. All of a sudden, my breakfast was coming up and I barely made it to the bathroom in time. That really made me nervous-I'm not sure why.
Jordan got home lickety-split and was in serious mode. He gathered all our things and we headed to the hospital. We got to triage where they checked me pretty quick. I knew I had to be at least 4 or 4 1/2 centimeters dilated because that is what my doctor had said that Monday, the 12th. When they said I was at 8 centimeters I blurted out, "serious?!" I was definitely surprised especially because I have heard numerous times that your first baby is typically a longer labor.
Jordan took a photo of me in triage...you can tell I was NOT a happy camper...and pretty huge! |
They wheeled me down to the delivery room and got me an epidural right away. I was really nervous about that because I had seen it performed on YouTube and it looked scary! Plus, I heard a story of someone's sister having really bad headaches after getting her epidural. I made Jordan hold my hands and that made everything okay magically! :)
After that it was literally just a waiting game. I laid there for a couple hours comfortably and watched some tv. My doctor's office was just down the street so they called the doctor over around 3:30 pm and that's when Lincoln made his appearance. The doctor almost didn't make it in time. The nurses called someone else in and my doctor came in right before I delivered. I'm talking, within a couple minutes!
I was sure I would cry when Lincoln was born but I was just in total shock I think. It was just so strange to see a baby on the other side of me, and the fact that I had grown him. It was really just so amazing!!! He hardly cried when he was born. They had to rub his body quite a bit to make him cry.
We did skin-to-skin right away afterward and it was so unreal! I felt like I was having an out of body experience. It was this amazing happiness and joy I've never felt before.
So from start to finish my labor was 8 hours. Lincoln was 6 pounds, 6 ounces, 19 inches long...and I tore. It is so sad that a baby that small could make me tear. I'm not sure how bad, but I felt the stitches go in. Let me just tell you, it hurt! My epidural didn't cover that I guess. My doctor gave me some local anesthetic and it still hurt. I'm just glad it's over with now. I am betting I could've labored without an epidural but I'm SO glad I got it anyway. It made the experience so much more tolerable I guess you could say.
We stayed in the hospital for a total of 2 days. It was nice to be able to continually call the nurses when I wasn't sure about something or when I didn't feel good. They were so nice and helpful. I would definitely have my baby in a hospital next time too. I highly recommend Banner Gateway also. Everyone there was great!
Those first couple nights were SO tiring because I had to figure out how to feed Lincoln and do it every 2 hours. Long story short-Lincoln was so worth it. So worth the 5-ish months of sleepless nights, backaches, nausea, weight gain, everything! I love my new family SO much!
I just received my epidural here. I was feeling SO much better! |
Lincoln's official weight! |
The new proud daddy!!! |
Adoring my new baby. |
A little skin to skin time. |
Our first family photo! |
Lincoln all bundled up and waiting to go home. |
Lincoln's first time in the bassinet! (Yes, I know his outfit is too big). I didn't anticipate him being so incredibly small! |
II'mm so happy! I've been waiting for this too! :) I love the story and the cute new family. Now all that's left is a visit from Auntie Sarah to meet Linc!! ;)
ReplyDeleteI LOVE birth stories! Thanks for sharing! I'm glad someone else threw up in labor as well. Most of my friends didn't but I did like 7 times. He is just gorgeous and absolutely perfect! Great job! You'll be a fabulous mom!
ReplyDeleteWarmest congrats! The hardest job in the world but worth EVERYTHING!
ReplyDeleteOh Camille, he is so precious! Congrats to you and yours!
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