We have finally reached the end of my pregnancy and embarked on the next leg of our journey of parenthood. We were beginning to think this day would never arrive! On February 10th, after 41 weeks and 5 days, we welcomed the newest addition to our family, Lincoln Hawke Strosser. Up until the moment he arrived, we thought he was Heidi Claire Strosser.
We made the decision to induce labor, since I was almost 42 weeks and had on and off contractions for 3 weeks and was only about 2 cm dilated, soft and had all the signs of labor, including excruciating back pain. The contractions would be strong and regular for a few hours and then just stop. It was so frustrating. I was so tired and not feeling well at all, but I chalked it up to just being antsy about being overdue and having "almost labor" for almost a month. I checked into the same hospital where I delivered Colton on Thursday night with no contractions for more than a day and was told I would receive 3 doses of ripener. Then, if nothing happened by 10am, they'd let me eat and shower and then they'd start the pitocin. They gave me the first dose of the ripener (I can't remember the name, but it is an alternative to Cervadil) at 11pm. At 3am, they gave me the second dose. By 4 am, my contractions had started on their own. By 5, the contractions were strong and they gave me Fentanyl to manage the pain. Side note: I don't think I'll take that again-I was LOOPY! It's an opiate and I was completely out of it for a while-NO likey! That worked for about an hour. The baby started having trouble with my contractions-pulse dropping and generally experiencing distress. I had to lay on my side and that seemed to help some, but he was still having trouble with the strong ones. Colton had this problem too-even without the Fentanyl, so I wasn't too worried. By 730, I was in transition and they gave me the epidural by 745am. From there, it was a mad dash to delivery. Everything progressed so much faster than any of us expected, the midwife and nurses included. I'm pretty sure they had decided that since (s)he was so high when I checked in, nothing would happen on its own before the pitocin the next day. Obviously, (s)he dropped-quickly. By 9, I was pushing. The midwife told me to keep pushing, regardless of contractions. After the 3rd push, at 9:07am, I had an 8 pound baby. It was amazing, considering I pushed for 2 hours with my first son, after laboring down for the 3 hours before. At the time, I had no idea what kind of distress the baby was in. Afterward, the Nurse Midwife told me they did not wait for contractions to have me push because (s)he was in trouble. My placenta had already started to disintegrate and separate from the uterine wall. There was no fluid to speak of anymore either. When they threaded the epidural, the midwife broke the sac-nothing came out. After birth, they gave him to me to hold for about 30 seconds and then whisked him away to clean him up and empty him of all the blood he'd taken in (mine, not his). This was a disappointment because I was able to nurse my first son and held him for an hour or more before I had to release him to get him cleaned up. I'm so glad they didn't tell me about all the issues with Lincoln until after they determined he was fine. I would have been a basketcase during labor. I'm also glad we didn't wait any longer than we did to induce labor.
On a less serious note, when he came out, my mother said, "Omigosh, it's a boy!" I thought she was joking, and told her that wasn't funny. Clinton replied with, "She's not joking!" My first thought, as I struggled to sit up and see for myself, was, 'well, I hope he likes pink!' As it turns out, the sonogram tech that did my gender analysis had mis-identified 5 other babies in the month-we were number 6, according to the nurses in the room. Interesting, considering that ultrasound was the most expensive of all the ones that we had done. During that ultrasound, we asked her to describe WHY it was a girl, and she went into detail about what she saw that showed her it was a girl-it wasn't just the lack of visible evidence of a boy. Now, I'm not sure what we were looking at, but it obviously wasn't what she said we were looking at. We had about 6 ultrasounds during my pregnancy, but no one caught it or said anything. In the others' defense, the other ultrasounds were not looking for gender, but still, you'd think someone would have seen something fishy. Nope. Not one. After it warms up, I can use Colton's clothes for him, but since he was born in July, I didn't have any tiny cold-weather clothes. Thankfully, our friends and family have graciously helped us clothe our boy like a boy, so he didn't have to go home in a pink onesie with a frilly pink hat.
With a different gender, we had to come up with a new name. With Colton, Clinton picked his first name, and I picked his middle name. With Lincoln, it was reversed. I picked Lincoln, and Clinton's contribution was Hawke. It's quite a name for a tiny little boy. Hopefully, he'll appreciate it as he gets older. With any luck, he'll grow into it well. :)
Lincoln has certainly kept us on our toes. He had a minor blood sugar issue the first day, so they had me supplementing my nursing feedings with formula. After 3 good blood glucose readings with that method, they let me drop the formula. That was a blessing and also a curse. After I dropped the formula, they made me feed him every 2 hours-no more sleeping for me! Now, though, he's doing fine. He eats about every 2 hours during the day, and I've stretched it to 3-4 hours during the night for the last 2 nights, and it seems to be good for us both. I have finally slept more than 30 minutes in a stretch, and I feel great. He's responding normally and has finally started having BM's on a regular basis*. *(funny story on that later) On that same vein, I feel wonderful after this birth. With my first, I was saddle sore and swollen enough to have trouble sitting for over a week. I had 8 stitches and could hardly get up out of the bed for several days. This time, I had virtually no swelling (with the exception of my feet), and only 2 stitches. I am barely sore at all and have almost no significant bleeding. That's good too, considering they told me I was borderline anemic when I left the hospital. A week later, I feel normal, if a little squishy around the middle. I am also not the emotional wreck I was after Colton. I feel like I have a much better handle on this baby thing than the first time. Nursing is going well. It's been a week and the pain is receding and my supply is mostly regulated. That's also a blessing. Those first few days are ROUGH!
Colton has been an absolute angel with Lincoln. He hands the baby his toys and is eager to help fetch things for the baby and me. He told me last night when I was tucking him in, "Mama, what's that? (pointing to my belly). I told him, "That's my belly." He said, "It's big." I replied, telling him it's smaller than it was. He thought about it for a sec and said, "Baby Heidi didn't come. Baby Lincoln came out your belly instead." HALLELUJAH, HE GETS IT! :) Now, he talks constantly about his "baby brudder". It's so cute! Clinton has been an angel as well. He is very solicitous and helpful and has virtually taken over care of Colton so that I can rest between feedings of the baby. It's been wonderful! He told me yesterday he was so proud of me and what a good mom I am, and that I deserved a medal every day for it. I almost cried! True or not, it was just what an overtired dairy cow needed to hear! :)
Lincoln is such a happy baby-just like Colton. He very rarely cries, and is easily consoled when he does. Food and a clean diaper are all he really needs. He sleeps well as long as he is touching me. We'll work on sleeping in the crib later. We've got time. :) I plan to enjoy this baby more than I did Colton's early days. I didn't understand how sweet it is and how fast it is gone. I do now. Every day is a blessing with each of my children. I love both their hugs and kisses and cherish the conversations I have with each-even if one can't respond with words yet.
* Funny poop story (do not read if queasy):
We went to the pediatrician on Tuesday and decided to stop for coffee/breakfast at McDonald's on the way home. During the course of our meal, Lincoln had his first BM since before leaving the hospital on Sunday. I decided since we were going to Clint's work afterward to get his check, to change the diaper at McD's as they have changing tables in their bathrooms, in case anyone would want to see the baby. I should have just left it till we got home. It was awful-green/black, sticky and everywhere! I did not bring an extra outfit because I had forgotten this aspect of infant-dom. I will not forget again. The under-onsie caught the mess that left the diaper, so the outside layer was still "clean" and, therefore, reusable. Thank God for small miracles. However, when I took the onsie off, it dragged the mess all the way up his body. There were no paper towels in the bathroom at all. I ended up sacrificing the under-onsie to finish cleaning up the mess on the changing table after I bathed him in the sink (Did I mention we were at a food-service establishment??). Of course, he screeched the entire time. I'm sure people thought I was doing something awful in there. I swear it took about half an hour. I have now officially been "that mother." Sheesh.
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