Lincoln's Birth Story

Here's the approximate timeline to Lincoln's birth.  I was a bit anxious the last few weeks before I had him b/c I wasn't sure if I was going to have a ssimilar experience to Brynlee's.  Brynlee was born super fast and we never made it to the hospital...she was born at home on our bed!  I definitely didn't want that to happen again and was worried that I wouldn't recognize labor till it was too late.  I wanted to be induced, just in case, and was scheduled to be induced on Friday, January 14th.  Lincoln decided he wanted to be born on the 13th, instead, and here is how it all went down. 

January 12th, 7pm:  I went to a girl's Bunco party and wasn't having a great time!  I actually was having contractions every 15-30mins that were mildly uncomfortable, but didn't think much of it.  All the other girls were excited about my contractions, but I didn't want to get my hopes up.  Plus, I only had to wait one more day to be induced.

10pm:  Came home from Bunco and was still having contractions.  I laid down and watched TV for an hour and had Dan time the contractions.  They were only about every 12-15mins apart and not too bad, but were getting a bit more painful. 

11pm: I finally decided to call my doctor and just ask him what he thought about my contractions.  He was super nice and said I better come in and get checked, just in case.  After all, we don't want another baby born on the bed!

January 13th, 12am: It took a bit to get our babysitter over and ready for us to go to the hospital.  I was still skeptical at this point that my contractions were anything real.  They were getting fairly painful though and made me hope that something was actually happening. 

12:30am: got hooked up to the fetal monitor and everything and was dilated to a 3.  I was only dilated to a 1 last time i was checked at the doctors, so something was happening.  Then we just hung out for a few hours to see if the contractions were doing any good. 

3am: Pain was starting to get really bad, but I wasn't dilating very much, I think I was maybe a 4.  The nurse asked my doctor what to do and he agreed I could stay.  Got my IV, sent off bloodwork, and waited for anesthesia to give me an epidural.

3:30am: The contractions were getting super painful now.  The anesthesiologist came in, and after a few attempts, put in my epidural.  It started working and I was so much more happy!  I rested/slept for the next couple hours.

5:30am: checked again, but not much progress.  IV pitocin started to help things out.

5:45am: Doctor Ng came in to break my water. He said that I would start feeling pressure soon after. 

6am: Feeling lots of pressure and LOTS of pain!  My epidural had been working so good, but now seemed to be doing nothing...dang it!!  Dan went to let the doctor know that I was having a lot of pain.

6:05am: Doctor came in and said I was just about ready to push!  Everyone got everything ready in the room for the arrival of the baby.  I started pushing and was in SO MUCH PAIN!!!  I was really hoping for more pain relief than when I didn't have an epidural at all, but the last 30mins were just as painful as when I had Brynlee!! 

6:19am: Baby Lincoln was born!!!  He looked great!  There was a complete knot in his umbilical cord!  Dan cut the cord and they put him on my belly.  He was adorable!!!

My AWESOME nurse and doctor, Lisa and Dr. Ng.