First off, I will give the basics...
He was born November 10th, (my actual due date), at 7:45am. He weighed in at 7 lbs 13 oz and was 20 inches long. Lincoln was a name Tyler had been keeping secret from me for months because he was afraid I would turn it down like I did another name he liked for Dominic. He told me it a couple weeks before and I said it was a maybe. We decided on it pretty quickly once we saw him. His middle name is James, which is my Dad's Mom's maiden name.
He came out screaming! Which, I'm convinced is a good thing since he has been such a good boy since and Dominic came out silent and has sure made up for it since...
OK, here is the long story... Feel free to skip as much as you want, there are lots of pictures further down. I wish I would have document Dominic's delivery better so I am determined to do better this time around. Also, I know some people like reading these stories!
It all started Friday morning when I went to my doctors appointment. I was determined to have him strip my membranes so I could have the baby that weekend. My in-laws were coming into town and I really wanted them to meet him. And of course, I really wanted this baby out of me! Well, once I got to the appointment the doctor was not so kind. He pretty much told me he didn't believe stripping membranes worked and that he had pretty much done it anyway by checking me. (Ummm, I'm pretty sure checking to see how much I'm dilated is not even close to stripping my membranes!) He, also, told me that it was so strange that I had been dilated to a 3 for three weeks, had my first child eight days early, and I hadn't had this baby yet. I told him I had my first early because my doctor stripped my membranes even though I was only dilated to a 2 and wasn't due for over a week. :)
Anyway, later that evening I had contractions for hours, but nothing consistent and nothing terribly strong. I was so worried about getting to the hospital because it was about 20 minutes away and my labor with Dominic was so short for a first time mom. I didn't want to be delivery this baby on the side of the road or make it to the hospital too late for an epidural! At about 10pm I finally gave up and headed for bed...but then I got distracted by the computer and did a quick blog update and didn't go to bed till after midnight :/.
I woke up about two hours later with stronger contractions and laid there watching the clock for about 45 minutes. Finally, I woke Tyler up to tell him my contractions were consistently 5 mins apart and getting stronger. So, we got up, got dressed, packed everything together, and headed out the door just after 3am. I hate contractions. I don't know if I have a low pain tolerance or if my contractions get super strong super fast, because my labors are fast. Either way, they hurt and I hate them. Anyway, Tyler drove nice and fast for me so I could get that epidural asap!
Once we got to the emergency room at the hospital I had to wait there for a nurse to take us to labor and delivery. Once we got to labor and delivery we had to wait to get into a triage room so they could check and make sure I was really in labor. The lady at the front desk at labor and delivery was super rude, too. After getting mad at me for how I filled out the paper work she sent us to the waiting room while she called a nurse to come get us. We waited through several contractions until I made Tyler tell her I was about to puke, (which was true, I threw up several times during labor with Dominic.) When he went and told her that she was like oh OK I'll call the nurse now. She hadn't even called the nurse yet! Anyway, after the urine sample and dressing down they finally checked me and I was dilated to a 7 and my contractions were 3 mins apart. Finally, they started moving things along!
The nurse asked how I wanted to deal with the pain and I told her I wanted an epidural and the sooner the better. I wish I would have said that with Dominic, but I tried to tough it out with him...not worth it! So, they called the anesthesiologist right away, put in an IV, filled me with liquids, and gave me some anti-nausea medicine, which was super nice of them! It didn't take long before the anesthesiologist showed up and while he was prepping the nurses gave me some kind of drug through my IV to dull the pain so it would be easier for all of us the get the epidural done. It was pretty awesome actually. It made it really easy for me to be still during my contractions.
After the epidural was done my mom was able to come into the room while we waited for delivery time. With my mom and sisters their epidurals slow down their labor drastically, but not me! After only about an hour and a half I was feeling the urge to push, which I thought was weird since I had an epidural. (In the past, when I heard people say they felt the need to push I didn't understand exactly what they meant. With Dominic I was so numb from the epidural I didn't feel a thing! Now I know...) I called the nurses in and they said they wanted me to feel the pressure. I, also, felt like my water had broken. They checked me and my water still hadn't broken all the way even though I was dilated to a 9. So, they didn't call the doctor. Not too much time had passed when I could really feel my contractions again even though I had been pushing the button for more drugs and I was really needing to push. Finally, the nurses checked me again and I was at a 10 so they called in the doctor. They also called the anesthesiologist since I was feeling a lot of pain again. The anesthesiologist did something with my epidural and said I should feel fine in about ten minutes. When the doctor showed up he checked me and said my water hadn't completely broken yet so he broke it for me. Then he started prepping for my delivery while the nurses let me start pushing, not that I could stop it anyway. Well, after only pushing through my second contraction, (and feeling it all), the baby started crowning and the nurses and doctor all yelled, "STOP!", because the doctor wasn't ready yet. So, the nurses held the babies head in while I tried to stop pushing, but it was really difficult and extremely uncomfortable! I didn't push through a whole contraction and then on the next one the doctor was ready and so was the baby because he came right out as soon as I started pushing again! It was the fastest delivery ever! Which was surprising, because I pushed for over an hour with Dominic before they had to use forceps.
Anyway, that is pretty much the whole story in detail. I was really happy with everything for the most part...not so happy about how long it took me to get into a room and then the epidural not fully working...but everything else was great! The nurses during my postpartum stay were all really great, too. We had a couple not so good nurses with Dominic :/.
OK, now for the pictures....
Just born and not happy about the quick ride. He still has a huge bump on the top of his head from it!
Tyler hates this picture because of his five o'clock mustache, but it is the only one we have of him holding his new baby boy.
My mom, who was actually there for the delivery and everything.
I wish we would have noticed Lincoln's crazy hat! Ha ha!
Lincoln has crazy toes! They are so long and he always has them separated like that.
The poor boy was all bruised up! The delivery was rough on him.
The first time Dominic came to visit in the hospital he was so clingy with me, which is very unusual for him. It makes me feel loved though. :)
Dominic LOVES giving Lincoln kisses, ever since day one.
Looking a little tired, but so happy to have such a good baby!
What a cutie!
He didn't like the car seat so much at the beginning.
Heading home! Yay!
Lincoln has been such a good baby the last three weeks! We are so thankful for that because Dominic is still a wild one! Ha ha! We are just thankful the pregnancy, delivery, and recovery for me all went well.
