Birthday and V-day

Well all three of my boys were sick on my birthday, so my day consisted of sitting on the love sac, catching up on shows, letting Jeremy and Beckett nap, and feeding the baby (what else do I do, right?).  Jeremy left and went to play his soccer game.  He came back, we dropped the kids off at my parents, and then went to dinner.  All the while I was mostly concerned because Lincoln was only three weeks old, and seemed to be coming down with a cold, which freaked me out a little.  When we got back to my parents I was surprised by a sweet party with tons of good food, friends, and family!  I wished I could have spent more time with them, but we wanted to get Lincoln to the children's urgent care before it closed because he felt warm and was acting very listless and not himself.  We said goodbye, and got to urgent care just in time.  They did the usual routine, which included taking his temperature.  He was 101, which is really high for a newborn. They immediately sent us down to the ER at the Rady Children's Hospital.  We were taken back into a room right away, and blood and urine samples were taken as well as a spinal tap.  They gave Lincoln an IV, and we waited to be admitted to the Hospital.  They kept Lincoln for 48 hours for observation.  For newborns, it is standard to give them medication whether they are found to have infection or not.  He was given antibiotics thru his IV the whole time we were there.  Jeremy and I squeezed onto the pull-out chair to sleep on for both nights (I've never missed my bed more).  I fed Lincoln like normal, but it was not so fun trying to position him with the IV in his arm.  They checked his cultures every 12 hours, and they continued to come back negative, so they finally let us leave on Monday night.  He has been doing great the last two days...a little congested sometimes, but hasn't had a fever since then.  I am so grateful for the insurance we are able to have that allowed us such great care without the worry of what it will cost us.  Also, I'm grateful for the priesthood and the blessing that Lincoln received in the hospital from his dad and papa.  Having babies is scary at times, especially when everyone around us, including ourselves, is getting sick with all these weather changes.

So Valentine's Day was pretty much, let's nap and do a million loads of laundry, and just recover from our hospital stay.  Not much fun for these holidays, but I can't tell you how thankful I will be when our little family is all healthy again...they are all on the mend as of now.  Here are a few pictures that are much more fun than my story... (I definitely copied the second one from pinterest.)

The Arrival

After a 27 hour labor with Beckett, the majority of which being spent walking the hospital halls in a painful effort to increase dilation, I was bound and determined to have a much less tiring labor this time around. I also wanted to be able to bring our new baby home before Jeremy had to start his last semester of school. My doctor was sympathetic to my wishes, and allowed me to schedule my induction for the week before my due date. We checked in at the hospital at 9 pm on Thursday the 19th. At the time, I was dilated to a 1.5 and 50% effaced.

After filling out some paperwork and getting my IV, my doctor came and inserted a suppository of cervix-thinning medicine at about 10 pm. We slept that night in the hospital, and the nurse came in at 5:30 am to remove the suppository and start the pitocin. My body responded right away, and regular contractions began. My doctor was supposed to be in some time before 8 am to break my water. With Beckett, things moved really fast once my water was broken, so I requested to get my epidural as soon as the doctor broke my water. Well, he came in at about 8:30 am, but was heading in to do a c-section, and would be taking the anesthesiologist with him. He could break my water right then, but I would have to wait another hour for my epidural. I opted to wait the hour or so for them both to come out of surgery before he broke my water. He checked me before he went into surgery, and I was at 2.5 cm and 70% effaced.  My doctor came back at 9:30 am and broke my water as planned. I was now at 3 cm. The anesthesiologist came in right after, got things prepped, and gave me my epidural at 10 am.

Now we just had to wait it out. The nurse came in an hour later to see where I was at, and I had progressed to a 5. Half an hour later at 11:30 she came back in to check me because she noticed the baby's heart rate drop during contractions. She suspected that I was moving along quickly and that the baby was making its way into the birth canal. He was doing just that, and I was dilated to a 7, so she started to prep the room because she thought the baby would come soon. Once she had things ready it was noon, so she checked me again to give a report to my doctor. At that point I was 9 cm. My doctor wanted me to let the baby labor down on his own rather than have me start pushing right when I was a 10. He had another c-section scheduled at 1:30, so I knew I had quite the wait ahead of me if I wanted him to be there for the delivery.

(As a side note: I am O+ and Jeremy is A-.  My blood carries antibodies for types A, B, and AB blood, so when I have a baby born with type A blood like Beckett was, there is always a chance that the antibodies in my blood will attack the baby's blood if our bloods mix. This makes the baby Coombs positive...the typical result being an early onset of Jaundice. Beckett was A-, Coombs positive, and spent a day and a half in the NICU with dangerous Jaundice levels. I knew the odds were that this baby would be type A as well, and my best chance at avoiding blood mixing would be to have an episiotomy rather than tear, which means...wait for the doctor.)

At 1 pm I started to shake uncontrollably and feel a lot of pressure through contractions, so I called the nurse in. She checked me again, and said I was fully dilated and effaced and the head was right there. She wanted to see if the baby moved down during the contractions. We waited for the next one, and the baby started to move down...almost to the point of crowning without me pushing. The nurse promptly closed my legs, and went to have my doctor told what was going on. He was just heading into surgery again, so we would have to wait until 2:30 for him to be out. At this point, I knew that I could just let things happen on their own and have the nurse deliver the baby, but I had no problem waiting for my doctor as long as the baby wasn't in any kind of distress. We waited until the doctor came in, and started pushing at 2:40. After one contraction of pushing, the baby was crowning and I was stretched to my max. My doctor worked to stretch me as far as I would go, and then cut me just before my next contraction (not even half the amount he had to with Beckett, probably because Lincoln has a smaller head). I gave one more small push, and at 2:43 pm our sweet Lincoln was here!

I really could not have asked for a smoother labor and delivery. The nurses throughout our whole hospital stay were amazing, as well as the attending pediatrician. Lincoln was A +, and Coombs positive. My blood attacking him did not affect him though, so we were lucky not to have him end up in the NICU. He is a very mellow and happy baby who rarely cries (mostly just grunts), and we could not be happier. Two kids is definitely an adjustment, but I know that in another month or so when I get a bit more sleep at night, things will be a little easier. Beckett has been a good boy for the most part (only slight potty regression, and one meltdown). He is very loving towards his brother, and has shown more interest in him than I expected. I'm so excited for them to grow up together and be great friends like I was with my sisters.