While not ideal, my amniotic fluid levels kept dropping & the doctor really felt like I should be induced early. After talking to Scott & praying about it, the concerns of waiting any longer outweighed my desire to let my body go into labor on its own.
My lovely sister-in-law, Kristal, comes over to watch the kiddos. They send us off in a flurry of hugs and kisses. I adore those kids of mine. I can't wait to add another to the family.
Show up at the hospital, hop into a lovely gown, get checked (2 cm), & start the IV of petocin. I'm feeling good at this point. Nervous, bored, tired, but good.
We bust out Hulu to pass the time. Watch a bunch of random shows. Incrementally they continue to turn up the petocin. Begin feeling contractions.
We opt for a nap. Neither of us slept well the night before. We stayed up too late cleaning and getting ready, then once we hopped in bed we were both too excited to sleep & ended up talking/planning late into the night.
Pitocin is turned all the way up sometime during my nap. I'm feeling the contractions now & they are coming about 2 minutes apart.
1:30 PM
The lovely Esther comes to the rescue & brings Scott some food. The boy refused to leave me even to go feed himself at the cafeteria just down the hall. She not only brings him food, but stays to rub my back & encourages me along.
Contractions are getting strong. I like sitting on the doctors swively stool or standing up rather than laying in bed. Laying in bed sucks. Still two minutes apart.
The doctor comes & breaks my water. There is a trickle, supporting our intuition not wait & get induced.
3:30 PM
They can check me (4 cm) suddenly my blood pressure drops extremely low. They give me something in my IV to bring it back up. Baby is suddenly having long dips to its heart rate.
Put in an internal monitor on the baby because its heart rate is slowing down & not picking back up. I'm really starting to worry which is making me feel the pain way more than I was before. Scott, my rock, holds my hand.
I'm a basket-case about my blood pressure & hearing the babies heart rate keep dipping & the stress is making the hold I had on the pain unbearable. I decide to get the epidural.
4:40 PM
The anesthesiologist comes. I'm skeptical of his greasy hair & pooka shell necklace but decide to let him poke a hole in my spine anyway. It's a perfect epidural, just enough to help with the pain but not so much that I can't move my legs & still feel the contractions.
5:30 PM
I'm fully dilated, fully effaced but it's right when the doctors and the nurses shift changes. The nurse lays me on my side and jokingly says "Don't sneeze or the doctor won't get here in time". I laugh knowing she's teasing but I hold my breath anyway. They get the whole room ready, just waiting for the doctor.
6:00 PM
The doctor comes & finishes prepping, getting me ready, chatting with Scott & I. It's good he took a while to get there, I think the babies head had time to descend to a point where I didn't need to push for long.
I start pushing. 3 sets of 3 pushes and the baby is ready to come out. The doc says, "Come over here daddy so you can announce what the baby is!"
It's a boy! 7 lbs 8 oz of baby boy! The nurses "oooo" and "ahhh" over his big feet and his pretty blonde hair. I get to hold him & I am immediately struck by the knowledge that he's supposed to be in our specific family at this exact time.
Syd & Rob meet their baby brother. Having them there with Scott & I and this new baby, life is complete.
And so begins my journey as of a mother of 3.
19 comments:
Yeah! So excited for you and your family. I love reading your blog and keeping up with your family. Your such a fun and amazing mom! Life with three is crazy but so fun and exciting.
This is so sweet! Reading it made me a little choked up. The miracle of life, the love in your little family, your enthusiasm for motherhood and how much your adore your kids and husband.... It's wonderful. Congratulations again! xoxo
love the last picture of you and your minions.
what a beautiful family---and a beautiful story---as i sit here with tears streaming down my cheeks! love the name.
I sure do love you guys! We are so happy to Lincoln as part of the family. I can't wait to see how he grows up.
Yay!!
Thanks for sharing, Olivia! You're so good at documenting things in pictures. You looked great for being in labor/just having a baby!
Yay, Olivia! I'm so happy for you guys! He's so gorgeous! Sorry it was so scary for a while, but so glad that he's healthy and safe! :)
Beautiful story! Great job on all the hard work getting him here!
Yipee! Glad Lincoln is here safe and sound! Hope he is treating you well....and you're getting some sleep. Congratulations!
hurray for birth stories! Love it! i'm so happy for you guys!
You are a rockstar.. he looks amazing.. and I adore his name!!
My son was 7,8 too. Perfect size!
Love it. I love how you documented it, by time if day. He really is perfect- that shot of him JUST after being born. Perfect.
A great addition to your perfect little family!
Love your pictures and timeline. Thanks for sharing Liv. I feel bad that I can't be there, but happy that I can share your joy thru your pix. Take care. Love you guys. Aunt Susie
Yay for your birth story! Love all the pictures! So glad everything went so smoothly! :) Again I don't know where I've been so off the map but it is fun to read this now when I'm getting cranky about my super uncomfortable body and want to have this baby! Thanks for sharing!
Yep! That was me with Nolan... a trickle when the water broke. I remember telling the doctor, "Isn't it usually a gushof fluid?" and he said, "everyones different"... he did not want to worry me! Haha!
CONGRATS on such a beautiful boy and a happy family of 3!
Oh, that was me , Audra, who did the last comment and I meant to put family of 3 KIDS! Haha! Family of 5 :)
Way to document it all!
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