Introducing Lincoln Douglas Hansen

*Disclaimer-This post is all for me! It's very long and pretty detailed, so it's there for you to read if you wish, but if you get bored halfway through....I don't blame you :)* 

 Yes, It's true, Lincoln is here. He's been here since June 8th at 3:01 am. Yes, he came 6 weeks early. He was just ready to come I guess :). I was totally not expecting to go early...and especially not 6 weeks early! I definitely wanted to record his birth story much sooner, but due to his time in the NICU this is the first chance I have gotten. So here's the story. 

 Wednesday June 6th I was working on getting the nursery all prepared to be put together. We had finished painting the cubbies, but still needed to seal them. I had sewn 3 of the 5 lines of letters on my alphabet wall hanging, almost finished the crib set, and still hadn't gone through any baby clothes because I had a shower coming up on Saturday. But my sister was flying in for the weekend just to help me make the nursery awesome. So I was doing my best to get things as done as possible.

 I didn't get to bed super early and I didn't sleep very well. I just chalked it up to the anticipation of my sister coming. When I got up for my 5 am potty break, I noticed I felt like I had peed my pants a little. As I laid back down I continued to feel that sensation and realized I couldn't control it. That's when I figured out that I wasn't peeing my pants, but I was leaking amniotic fluid. It was just a tiny leak but continuous.

 I woke Doug up and told him what I thought was going on. He said, "Well lets call the doctor right now if youre worried.". But the doctor office didn't open till 8 am and I knew there wouldn't be much we could do at that point. Plus I didn't feel any sense of urgency or fear. I knew there could be a small tear in the outside membrane and nothing too big, or it could be a big problem. Because I felt ok about it, I didn't worry too much about it. I called the doctors office right at 8 and they told me to come on in. Doug decided to stay home rather than go to Idaho Falls with me. My sisters flight was due to arrive at 8:45 am. So it worked out perfectly! I would pick up Briitany at the airport then swing by the drs. office. Of course Logan wanted to go to pick up Brittany so I stopped to pick him up then we headed out.

 We got Britt and they dropped me off at the Dr. I told them to go to breakfast while I waited to see the Dr. on call (mine had left on Monday for vacation). So I'm sitting in the waiting area with about 4 other pregnant ladies. And as I'm waiting I have the tiniest cramp and then...a gush all down my legs soaking my pants. I'm sure the look of shock on my face was way better than the lady sitting across from me. So I stood up and walked right back through the door to the nurses station just as reality hits me and the tears start to come. "I need to be seen right now! My water just completely broke.". That's all I had to say to get priority service from the nurses :). The Doctor checked me and proceeded to tell my my membranes were completely ruptured and that I needed to go to the hospital right away. All I could think was, "I need to call my husband." 

 So I called Doug while the nurses found some old scrubs to bring to me to put on (as my pants were completely soaked). I told Doug something like, " We are having a baby today, my water completely broke and the Dr. wants me to go to the hospital right now.". All he could say was "Are you serious?". :). Then we continued to talk about getting a bag of stuff together, dropping burley off etc. My next call was to my little brother. I informed him that my water had broke and he needed to take me to the hospital. I'm sure they were so shocked and not expecting to be part of Lincoln's birth at all! So they took me to the hospital, where I got all checked in and comfortable :). At this point I still hadn't had a single contraction so the nurse started talking to me about an IV and pitocin....I just wanted to wait until Doug got there to make any decisions. So he finally showed up and we proceeded with the pitocin. Little did I know I was in for a contraction every 2-3 minutes, Yipee! 

 I had wonderful nurses who respected my desire to use hypnobabies techniques to relax. As things progressed I had wonderful results that allowed my body to really relax. I wouldn't say that hypnosis made it easy or pain free, but my body ws really able to respond naturally to the contractions and stay tense free. Honestly, the hypnobabies was the most mentally exhausting thing I have ever done, but soo worth it. If you ask my husband or brother and sister (who came back to bring Doug dinner and a few things for me) how I looked....haha they actually thought that I was sleeping. HA! I had actually been talking myself through contraction after contraction as they sat there and ate. 

 Fastforward to 11:30 pm. I had been on the pitocin since 10 am and both Doug and I had continuously used the scripts and CDs provided by hypnobabies. We were both so tired and I needed to know where I was at and how much longer I might need to talk myself through more contractions. The nurse didn't act like I should expect to be dilated very far at all, but to her surprise I was at a 4 and completely effaced! It still meant that I could have 5 or 6 hours to go so she offered me my medication options saying an IV med would be very minimally invasive and lasts for 2 hours so I could make my decision on what to do next rather than just jumping to the epidural. So I thought, yeah I just need a little time to relax, rest and regain my focus.

 If you ever think you just want to take the edge off and then get back to laboring....DON'T get the IV meds! That is the worst thing I've ever done! All it did was make my head crazy hyped up on drugs! It did nothing for the pain. It just made me crazy enough that there was no way I would be able to focus through contractions like I had so beautifully been doing. Argh! I wish the nurse would have told me what the medication would really do. So at this point I couldn't relax one bit through contractions and my brain was in la la land between each one. So I just made the best decision for me at the time, which was to get an epidural. Not my first choice....but then again I never expected to be induced 6 weeks early due to my water breaking. Had I not been on pitocin I know things would have been very different. So around midnight the epidural was in, I'll have to dedicate another post to my crazy memories from being on the IV meds :). 

 Just about 2:30 I woke up feeling much more alert and very different, not physically but more like deep down I knew it was time. The epidural had cut off all feeling to the point that I only knew I had contractions by looking at the monitor. I woke Doug up and asked him to say a prayer with me, I just felt different and like it was time. The nurse finally came in and checked me really not expecting too much change. Boy was she surprised again, because she was like, "Call the Doctor NOW". They wheeled us back into the OR around 2:40 and we waited for the Dr. to get there for about 5 or so minutes. 

 By 3:01 am Lincoln was born! I can't imagine trying to push a bigger baby than him out! It would have taken forever but this went so quick! He came out with a beautiful head of hair and looked so beautifully perfect! Even if he was only 4lbs 10 oz. Doug cut the cord just moments after he was born then he was whisked away. It was the hardest thing to be wheeled back to my room to wait until the epidural wore off enough for me to get into a chair. But it was just about an hour and a half and I was holding him in my arms again, taking in his beautiful eyes, his perfect little face counting fingers and toes and even being able to nurse him. Even with all of the probes and wires he was simply perfect! 

 We were so incredibly blessed with such a miracle baby who was so strong from the beginning! His lungs were perfect! No need for respiratory assistance. He established a great latch and had already mastered the suck, swallow, breathe coordination so many preemies have a hard time with. Heck he even was doing well with his temperature regulating. I felt so so blessed and grateful to have him doing well. For coming 6 weeks early Lincoln could not have had a better start! 

 Things don't always go the way you plan or even want them to. I have always wanted to have a natural birthing experience. I had always imagined holding and cherishing my little one during the first hours of his life. I had always thought we would come home happy and healthy just a few days after his birth. None of these things happened, and yet it was still wonderful, empowering, and life changing. Yes it has been the hardest thing I have ever done...Actually, dealing with the NICU stay was the hardest thing I've ever done. It has been worth every moment! I'll post about his NICU stay soon:)