Yellow Lives

Our little man has arrived! And he is so cute!! I had been on bed rest the whole week before due to high blood pressure. We had a false alarm the weekend before so the doctor was being really careful. I had an appointment on Friday (Friday the 13^th, a day before by due date) and because of my high blood pressure, they did an ultra sound to check my amniotic fluid. It needed to be above 5cm and it was 14 cm. Then they hooked me up to a machine that monitored Lincoln’s heart beat and made sure it didn’t dip or go too high with a movement or a contraction. They also checked my blood pressure (which was the reason I was on bed rest to begin with). It was about 148/96 when I got there but after sitting for about 20 minutes it went down to about 130/80, which made the doctor happy. It was still a concern so the doctor decided that if he had not come by Sunday night they would have me go to Labor and Delivery 6:30 Sunday night for something to soften my cervices, keep it in for 12 hours, and then come back Monday to be induced. Lael was deciding whether to come down at all, seeing that she couldn’t stay for Monday if he didn’t come on his own. She had already made the trip last weekend for our false alarm and didn’t want to do it again. She had to work Saturday afternoon and so she called me after work to see if I was contracting or anything. Nothing promising had happened but I convinced her to come down anyway, praying all the while that Lincoln would be accommodating and come when Lael could be there.

Seth, Lacey, and the kids were coming over to the parentals Saturday afternoon so Dave and I decided to go party with them and Lael. We had dinner and then made Gingerbread houses with the kids. I really like that holiday tradition =) I kept praying that Lincoln would come, but still no consistent contractions. We left the parentals Saturday night a little disappointed.

At 3 am I went to the bathroom. I don’t turn on any lights at night when I go to the bathroom, so when I got back into bed and felt a little moisture on my garments, I just thought it was normal pregnancy discharge and was too tired to check. At 4 am I woke up because it felt like I had a tampon that was leaking. I went to the bathroom to check and sure enough, I was leaking pink liquid. My water had broken! I still didn’t feel any contractions so I calmly put in my contacts and put up my hair. I then quietly woke David up and told him we needed to go to the hospital. I knew I could not eat anything once I got my epidural so we ate breakfast, gathered up our hospital bag, got dressed and headed to the hospital. Dave was silently freaking out on the inside =)

We got to the hospital a bit before 5 am Sunday morning. They checked to make sure it actually was amniotic fluid, admitted me and took us to our room. Very nice room by the way. Since we knew that we were for sure staying, we let mom know at about 6:15 am. She said to let her know once I was 4cm dilated (I was only at a one). They started me on Pitocin at about 7:00 am. My contractions started getting stronger so I decided to get my epidural. They sent for the anesthesiologist and while we waited, Dad came to the hospital to assist in a blessing at about 8:30. Dad anointed and Dave sealed. I honestly can’t remember what was said in the blessing but the spirit was strong.

I got my epidural at 8:45 and was quickly on cloud nine. It didn’t even hurt to get that thing shoved in my back. Actually, out of the whole experience, getting the IV was by far the worst pain. The nurse who started the IV tried on my left hand and could not get a good vein. The “needle” was bending and I got a bit nauseous. She tried my right hand and was successful, but still hurt equally as much.

The nurse would come in every hour and rotate my from side to side. She would also check to see how dilated I was. At 10:20 am I was still dilated only 1 cm. At 2 pm I was close to 4cm. This whole time I would just sleep in between nurse visits. My contractions were not very uniform, which we were informed, sometimes mean that the baby’s head might be too big to fit through the pelvic bone. That proved not to be the case but at about 3:30, Lincoln’s heartbeat would lower with each contraction. He was having a bit of stress so they lowered the Pitocin and started putting fluid back into my uterus. They thought with my lack of amniotic fluid, there might be pressure on the umbilical cord without the added cushion. Dave decided to call Mom and have her and Lael come down, just in case a c-section was required. At about 4pm I was at a 4 and Mom and Lael arrive. Between then and 5:30 I dilated to 9+ cm. The doctor decided to let me “rest and descend” which means to let the contractions and gravity push Lincoln down before I actually start pushing. At 6:40 the nurse had me start pushing and I pushed until 8:50pm. Mom, Lael, and Dave took turns feeding me ice, counting, and holding my legs or head with each contraction. I was exhausted when I started pushing so I don’t know how effective my pushing was, but it must have been doing something because at 8:50, Dr. Young arrived and they got the room ready for Lincoln’s arrival. They put a mirror up so I could watch and at 9:29pm, Lincoln was born. Lael cut the umbilical cord (Dave didn’t want to) and they promptly started cleaning him off (which didn’t take too long because he was already really clean). He weighed 7 lb 5 oz and was 20 in long. His first apgar score was 8 due to lack of color but after a minute it went up to 9. Between 9:30-10pm I delivered the placenta and they stitched me up and cleaned up the room. While this was going on I got to hold Lincoln for the first time. They placed him on my chest and really the only thing I could see was his cone head and these big, beautiful blue eyes looking at me. He was the most perfect baby I had ever seen and yes, I shed a few tears.

Mom and Dad Nelson, Trevor and Emily, and Dad were out in the waiting room and were let in to see me around 10 pm. Lincoln was very chill and calm during the visit. I love having family near by!

This experience has been a tender mercy. From allowing Lael to be there for the delivery, to holding my boy for the first time, it has let me know how much the Lord loves me and has brought me closer to my Savior. And I’m sure that will only grow as I have more experiences as a mother.