Obstacles

There were many obstacles along the way of the birth of my wonderful little fighter! He inherited that name rather quickly in the first few critical hours of his arrival. I went in on Thursday evening to be induced. I had extremely high blood pressure that led to me wearing that awful cuff on my arm for over 12 hours!! I seriously cringe when I see that cuff or hear the words high blood pressure. I received my Epidural at 5 am on Friday morning. The dear and strikingly handsome Anesthesiologist did a wonderful job! I progressed quickly to 8 cm, but seemed to abruptly stop there. As they were setting up the room, my mom and Dave were getting excited. Dave had asked my mom if she wanted to cut the cord! She was nervous, but excited! I was elated to have her there and be a part of Lincoln's birth!

Around 2pm is when things started to look not normal! Dr. Warner, who was not a part of the practice that I had been going to, came in to check me. She had concern on her face. Lincoln's heart rate was dropping significantly with every contraction. I still had not begun to panic, I thought everything would be fine! I am not sure why I wasn't freaking out, it's not typical for me to be calm in these types of situations. I began to get nervous when I saw Dave pacing the floor behind the doctor. Once she had checked me she didn't seem happy. The cord was coming first! What!?!?! Now, I am in full panic. You see, I had done some reading throughout my pregnancies, plus I watch A Baby Story! Dr. Warner tried to turn Lincoln, which worked somewhat. The cord moved to the side of his head, still not happy Dr. Warner made the decision to get the OR ready! What?!?!? This is when I began to cry. Dave was still pacing. Mom was crying! I can not explain the fear that I felt in that moment. It seemed like 10 people rushed to my room as they were frantically shoving my bed out the door. I remember shutting my eyes so that I coudn't see everyone's face. They all looked terrified! Once in the OR, I remember a lot of yelling and bright lights before I slipped away. The last thing I heard was my nurse Melissa say she would be right there the whole time and that she would see me when I woke up.
I did wake up, but it had been several hours. I woke up in a tiny room with Melissa on one side and my mom on the other! Apparently I was completely out of it and couldn't speak right away. I had a tube in my throat during the surgery! What?!?!? The story in the OR was that Lincoln came out very blue and not breathing. He had to be intubated. He was not responding very well. They were running tests and putting in IV's, all the while making plans to transport him to a different hospital. On the other side of the room, I was bleeding ALOT! It took a lot of extra time to stop the bleeding and put me back together! Guess I know how Humpty felt! I briefly saw Dave in recovery before he sprinted back to be with Lincoln. He brought the camera so that I could see him! Holy Crap! I still hadn't seen my baby! This was all such a nightmare!

3 hours after I had Lincoln pulled from my body, I was being sent back to my room! ALONE! Everyone was down at the NICU checking on Lincoln. I stared at the walls thinking, WHY can't I see my baby!?!?!? A nurse came in and informed me that it would be awhile before I could go and see him. WHAT?!?!?! With my head in my hands and tears flowing, two nurses came in with a wheel chair. They asked, "Do you want to go see your baby?" WHAT?!?!? I don't really remember this part, but later I was told that I leaped from the bed and walked to my wheelchair. The nurses were shocked that I could even move, much less stand on my feet. But NOTHING was going to keep me from seeing my precious boy! Once I was in the NICU and saw his small precious body with so many IV's and cords going every which way, I was able to breath! He was here! He made it through! I sat and listened to the nurses and Dave tell me what all he had been through in such a short amount of time! What a little fighter! Remember me telling you about that awesome Anthesiologist? He came in to see how we were doing! I later learned that he was the one to intubate Lincoln!

I can not say enough about the staff at Mercy Gilbert Medical Center! Lincoln and I received the best care! We were both in the hospital for 5 days! They could not believe after what all Lincoln went through, that he was ready to go home! I knew! God knew! I will thank God everyday for allowing me to be Lincoln's mother, and for giving us a miracle!

It's been a rough two weeks for Lincoln and I. We've both had more obstacles to overcome. But we both are pushing through them together! God has given us both strength!

I want to thank all of our family, friends, nurses, and doctors for seeing us through this! Your thoughts and prayers are what got us through this obstacle! I have to give a special thanks to my mom for being here! I swear I do not know how I would have made it through! Thank you mom for getting basically no sleep for 2 days on that most uncomfortable couch! Thank you for waking up every time the nurses came in to check my vitals! Thank you for making fun of Dave with me while he slept through most nights on that awful hard floor! Thank you for being here for Carlee and Peyton! You have been AMAZINGLY strong for us! We love you more than anything! Thank you Dave for being a wonderful Daddy! You were with Lincoln when he needed us the most! I am so thankful that you were excited over the little things! The pride on your face and in your voice makes me smile everyday! I love you!