Feeling a little nostalgic...

Two years ago today was the last day that Derek and I were a family of two. Lately I've been thinking about what our life was like before Lincoln and Amelia - Lincoln's second birthday is really doing a number on me! It's kind strange because before you have kids, you don't really get any kind of a trial run to see how things really are, what you love about having kids, what you don't love about having kids, or anything like that. You're simply just thrown into it and just hope to do the very best that you can.

I've always treasured my pregnancy, labor, delivery, and the first couple of months of Lincoln's life, well, I guess I've treasured his entire existence, but I've always had a special place in my heart for that specific time in my life. It was so amazing to be pregnant for the first time and have nothing else to focus my life on than the life that was growing inside me. Since it was such a special time, I wanted to write down some of my experiences because even though I remember them so well now, I know that the details will fade with time. I'm not sure how interesting this will be for anyone else so I guess this is just a little heads up - read on only if you like hearing labor and delivery stories! :)

So, what got me going on this in the first place is remembering two years ago today. I had finished work at the beginning of June and had spent the first couple of weeks of the month anticipating Lincoln's arrival. I was soooo anxious that I couldn't stand it. I did all of the things that people say - jumped on a trampoline, went on walks, climbed the stairs repeatedly, and even bought some castor oil. I talked to my doctor before I ended up taking the castor oil and she strongly recommended that I not take it. I was becoming more and more impatient and couldn't wait to see our little guy so I had the doctor strip my membranes on June 21st. I'll never know if that's what got my labor going, but I'd like to think so.

Anyway, it was a friday and I was looking forward to Derek being home for the weekend. Since I wasn't working, I had just cleaned the house (which I had done about every other day since I wanted my house to be totally clean when I went into labor) and Derek had spent the evening mowing the lawn. I can still remember that we had grilled chicken and rice pilaf for dinner. If I remember right, we spent a couple of hours watching television and just relaxing. We ended up going to bed around 10:30 and I think we even teased about how lame we were for going to bed so early on a weekend night. It's a good thing we did since we weren't going to be getting much sleep in the next couple of days.

At about 12:15 a.m. I woke up to go to the bathroom and realized that something might be going on. I didn't want to wake up Derek in case nothing was happening, so I called my sister-in-law Mindi to see what she thought. We came to the conclusion that I had most likely lost my mucus plug. As I sat there in the bathroom, a confused Derek came in to find me on the toilet and on the phone. I figured if I was going into labor, I wanted to shower real quick. I started having pains in my stomach fairly quickly and wasn't out of the shower for long before I had to lay down on my bed and focus on getting through the pains. Derek started timing the pains and they were quickly getting closer with each one - 10 min., 8 min., 5 min., Oh crap, we better be on our way to the hospital!

We left for the hospital around 2, I think. I'll never forget how anxious I was to get there, and then we came to a 'road closed sign' and had to take a detour! *Sigh*
As we finally pulled into the hospital parking lot, I wasn't feeling so swell. We parked, I hopped out of the car and suddenly realized I was going to throw up... but where? Well, it was a parking lot at 2 a.m. so I just let it go. Maybe that's why I remeber that we had rice pilaf for dinner. Gross, I know.

We walked into the hospital and up to the nurses desk. I was having some pretty significant pains by now and the nurse didn't even look up. I can remember feeling like I wanted to jump over the counter and grab her by the collar to let her know I was there. She finally acknowledged us with "How can I help you?" and my response was "I think I'm going to have a baby tonight."

I had to fill out some paperwork before going back to an observation room. Can I just say that that is the craziest thing to me. "Here lady, I know you're in labor, but can you please fill out this pile of paperwork and sign your life away. Thank you!" Couldn't we have done that beforehand?!

In the observation room I was informed that I was dilated to a 4. I was hoping for a 9, but I guess a 4 would do. As I had gotten closer to my due date, I thought I was having contractions but I was never certain. As I laid there in the hospital having contractions, I knew that I had not been. When you have them, you know it. At least I did. It was the most insane feeling I've ever experieced. It's very true when people say that it feels like you're going to split in half.

After the nurses saw that I was, in fact, in labor, I was moved to a delivery room. I can remember walking down the hallway and thinking to myself "I can't believe this is happening!" All of my time anticipating, hoping, waiting, and I was FINALLY here!

It wasn't long after that and the contractions started getting very strong. My body was shaking uncontrollably and I turned into a monster and told everyone in the room to be quiet. Every noise was magnified by 100. I decided I wanted an epidural and couldn't wait for it to get there!
After the doctor had given me the epidural he mentioned that he was on his way to help a man that had been hurt by a horse and that he was going on 24 hours in his shift or something like that. I said "Thanks for telling me that after you stuck a needle in my spine." Either way, he did it right and it was marvelous. I became a lot more relaxed and was able to enjoy the company of everyone that had come up to the hospital in the meantime.

Within an hour or so I think I had dilated to a 9 and then it wasn't much longer before they had me pushing. I laid there pushing with all I had for what seemed like forever! Derek was at my side and behind him was my dad and his dad. Also there was Derek's mom, my step mom, and my sisters. We had a pretty full room and the doctor even commented on the "paparazzi" behind her. I'm so grateful now for all of the pictures and video of Lincoln.

At 7:16 a.m. little Lincoln was finally born. I looked over at Derek to see tears coming from his eyes - it was the first time I had ever seen him cry.
The doctor said that Lincoln had had the cord wrapped around his arm and that was why it had been so difficult to push him out. Luckily, he ended up being alright. He was the cutest little alien looking baby that I had ever seen!

We spent that hole day enjoying him and all of our friends and family that came to see him. It was one of the best days of my life. I'll never forget holding him as he was wrapped up in a soft blue striped blanket. He was beautiful.

So, here we are two years later and he is growing and learning like crazy. He makes us laugh every day with the new things that he does. I'm so grateful that I had such a great pregnancy and delivery with him, and I'm even more grateful that he was such an amazing little baby. I'll always remember holding his little 5 lb. 14 ounce body... tears running down my cheeks because I was finally a mommy.