Due to my job, I'm required to work every 3rd weekend. Well wouldn't you know that my weekend happened to be right before my due date. So I scheduled myself to work the thurs/fri/sat before my due date which was that sunday. Truly doing this just caused me more anxiety than anything because I was so scared of working all 3 days then getting home and going into labor without being able to sleep. But this didn't happen, so all that anxiety for nothing.
I worked all 3 night in the nursery. I feel so lucky to have a job where I could take it a little easier so close to my due date where I was growing more and more uncomfortable and more and more swollen. I remember feeling so thankful to be able to put my feet up and enjoy taking care of newborns right before I'd be able to take care of my own. I really do enjoy my job :)
After working those three nights I came home and slept most of the day. For some reason this time I was more and more anxious about going into labor, it practically consumed me. We went to church that sunday night at 5:30 and I broke down and cried multiple times finally just surrendering to God's will. Ironically enough it was during the song "I surrender". I truly felt like God was talking to me, to trust him and surrender to his will and trust what he had in store for our little family. I love when God speaks to you that way!! :)
Well monday morning my contractions started around 6:30am shortly after Adam left for work. I finally called him around 7:30/8 and told him I'd been having contractions that were 6 minutes apart for about an hr. He called me back about 20 minutes later to tell me he was coming home. I had a normal scheduled doctor appointment that day at 11 so the 3 of us (Lincoln too) went to my doctor appointment.
At my doctor appointment I was a whopping 1cm and to top it off my contractions had stopped about a half hr before the doctor's appointment. She told me I was probably having some false labor and to just relax, put my feet up and enjoy Lincoln for a little longer. She also told me she was on-call that night (so in my mind I was determined to have the baby that night). But she also told me that if I was still pregnant on Wednesday she wanted to see me again and possibly induce me if I was still pregnant. I was nervous about this because I really didn't want pitocin, so she told me she would probably just give me some cytotec to help just push me into labor. This made me feel better.
So the 3 of us came home, Lincoln was exhausted so I put him down for a nap, and Adam and I laid down too. Adam and I slept for 3 hrs and Lincoln for 4 before my contractions started again. They were about 8 minutes apart at this time. I was supposed to work Monday night so I decided it would be best to call in due to my contractions in case they picked up because it would have been hard to work with contractions. So Adam and I called my parents and all of us went out for none other than Mexican food :) At dinner my contractions were every 6 minutes. Also at dinner Adam and I decided to have my parents keep Lincoln over night in case we had to leave for the hospital during the night. This was an extremely challenging and heartbreaking decision for me, because the next day was Lincoln's birthday!!! It still makes me cry to think that he woke up on his birthday without me being able to say happy birthday to him!!! I made my dad promise to sing happy birthday to him when he woke up that day...I have no idea if he actually did this or not, but i tried.
After dinner Adam and I went back to my parents house for a little to spend some time with Lincoln, mom and I went for a walk and my contractions were still about every 6 minutes. However by the time we got home around 8:30 they stopped. I had to ice the cupcakes I had made for Lincoln's birthday the day before, so we did that and then Lincoln just laid with me on the floor of my parents house for 45 minutes. He laid under the blanket I had just holding me...seriously I was flabergasted. He'd never done that before!!! He must have known I needed to love on him a little more!!
After that Adam and I went home, I cried on the way home frustrated that once again my contractions had stopped. But Adam tried his best to reassure me that it would happen soon and to just try to relax.
We got ready for bed and my contractions started again around 10:30 but they were only about every 20 minutes and mildly painful. So I was able to rest between them. When Adam woke up that morning he decided to go to work but I would just update him through the day. About 8:00am they increased to about every 8 minutes. However they were strange because I'd have them about every 8 minutes for about a half hr then I wouldn't have one for almost 20 minutes. They were getting more and more painful and were lasting longer, almost 2 minutes.
I called Adam several times through the morning just wanting to hear his voice. It was weird being home alone, and going through labor. I felt great between contractions but during them I felt defeated and sad that I was alone. Finally around 11 he decided to come home. At that same time my dad called and in a way guilted me into calling my doctor to update them on my status. His phrase of "don't you want to make sure the baby isn't in distress" really got to me. I was at this point exhausted and extremely emotional. I was emotional because I was feeling extremely defeated because these contractions weren't regular and it was KILLING me not to be able to spend the day with Lincoln since it was his birthday!!
I called my doctor and they told me they wanted me to come in. So I called Adam to tell him and he almost acted mad saying "why did you call the doctor???" I simply stated through tears "because everyone told me to and I'm exhausted and tired and just want to be done" He didn't argue and said he'd be home soon. When he walked through the door he asked how close my contractions were and I told him every 2 minutes. It was almost as if as soon as I called the doctor it set things in motion and I went into hard labor. The contractions came more frequently and lasted almost 2 minutes.
The car ride to the doctor was better than I remember but still painful. It's funny how when you are in hard labor how every bump and every stop and start you feel with extreme intensity. When the doctor came in to check me I was having a contraction and he said "well it looks like someone is in labor". This doctor is extremely funny and that made me laugh. Then he checked me and said "well you're doing really well, you're about 6 cm" I swear I could have kissed him at that time, it was such a relief to know that I was in fact in labor and that this baby was finally coming!!! He said he wanted to admit me and so Adam and I headed over to the hospital. I decided to just walk instead of getting in and out of the car (my doctors office is attached to the hospital).
When we finally got to our labor room it oddly enough was the same room that I was in when I delivered Lincoln :)
They started my IV and gave me my dose of penicillin that I needed due to being GBBS+ Ensuring that I got this medication was extremely important to me because I know there are an increased risk of complications for baby if untreated. The medication took about 30 minutes to go in, and the nurse checked me again, I was about 8-9cm at this point.
My contractions increased in frequency, during the contractions Adam would rub my shoulders and head, while my mom rubbed my lower back (I was having a lot more back labor this time, but having adam rub my shoulders and head was a great distraction from it). In between contractions I was able to sit on the labor ball and just talk with everyone. It was quite a different experience this time. I really focused on my breathing and trying to remain relaxed and I feel like this really helped labor go smoother and faster.
During my contractions my nurse kept saying that she didn't trust me, meaning she didn't think this was going to take very long. So they set up the table and got everything ready for my delivery. They let me labor for about another hour before Dr. Myers came in to check me. When he checked me I was 9 cm. It was rather painful when he checked me (then again this doctor is not known for being gentle) so he wanted to do some sort of pain block, but I wanted to think about it. So he left the room. Adam, my nurse and I talked it over and I decided against it. I had a few (2 or 3) contractions and then I felt the baby drop! It was a TON of pressure all at once. I started screaming, it went from a pain level of about a 5 during contractions to 10 in a matter of seconds! OUCH!!
What happened next is sort of a blur. My nurse left to get the doctor (and apparently a few other nurses) while I tried to lay back in bed. They got my legs in the stirrups and Adam said at that point the babys head was right "there". They had me push a few times (it was way more painful this time) and I remember thinking there is NO WAY I can do this for a long period of time. This hurts more than anything I've EVER been through. Finally I heard Adam say that the baby's head is almost out (this was a shock to me, because I didn't know the baby was that close, I was thinking this was going to be like with Lincoln where I had to push for hours). Finally the baby's head came out and they wanted me to push again but I felt like I didn't have it in me. I think this was because I wasn't having a contraction, but once that contraction came I pushed out the baby and I here Adam practically scream "IT'S A BOY". I feel like I was so exhausted and sort of out of it but I was so relieved at the same time!
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| working hard to get him out! |
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| IT'S A BOY!! |
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| He's really here!! |
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| holding my baby for the first time! |
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| with Dr. Myers...surprisingly wasn't too bad :) |
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| Landon Richard Kalvin |
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| I was a little overwhelmed to say the least to have both my babies with me. |
After he was born my dad and Lincoln came to the hospital. I just lost it when I saw Lincoln. I think all of the emotions I'd been feeling about not being able to see him for his birthday and having a healthy beautiful baby just hit me. Adam's brother and his wife and baby girl came shortly after. And then adam's parents came shortly after that. They barely had enough time to leave and get up here in the time we gave him (oops, Landon just came too fast). We also had some close friends come to meet our little one.
We all sang Lincoln happy birthday with the cupcakes I made :) it really brings a smile to my face when I think about how blessed we are. What a wonderful day it was.
I'm so thankful this labor was smoother, yet harder and more painful than Lincoln's. It was easier in a lot of ways because it was shorter (from the time I got admitted to his birth was 2 hrs and 15min) but the pain during that time was a lot more than I remember. But I have a beautifully healthy baby boy that I feel so blessed to have. I'm not sure why God has blessed me with my two blessings but I am forever grateful.
Love you Landon Richard Kalvin, more than you'll ever know!!
Love you Landon Richard Kalvin, more than you'll ever know!!
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