I have never cared for pregnancy. I was always very sick the first few months, exhausted and nauseated every day. With Lincoln I had a terrible cold almost the entire nine months and would cough and then gag and throw up. Doesn't sound like much fun does it? I am blessed that Martin and Emily behaved so well most of the time. I was able to rest and me and Emi would cuddle most days while Martin was at school. Dustin had gotten transferred to Tulsa for work during my 3rd or 4th month of pregnancy. The move was horrible on my back. I remember the week of our move, Lincoln was sitting right on a nerve in my back and Dustin took a couple days off to help me finish packing and then he got food poisoning and was no help at all. With both of us nauseated we were completely stressed! But we got moved with the help of friends and family and i went from being sick in our spacious little house in Tahlequah, to being sick in our tiny but cozy little apartment in Tulsa.
The months seemed to fly by. I took regular pictures of my growing belly- and cropped out my growing thighs! I went from 145lbs to 175lbs on delivery day. The acid re-flux was unbearable at times, but thank you Lord I did not have heart burn. Towards the end of my pregnancy I was driving every week to Tahlequah for my check ups. i was notoriously late every single time! Finally at 37 weeks we got our c section date. JUNE 10th 2013! If only- If only Lincoln would choose to come early! i was so tired of being pregnant and it was getting hotter and hotter not that summer was setting in. Even tho i contracted regularly- every week they checked- i was completely closed and no change! So back to delivery day...
Monday, June 10th, 2013, Dustin and I rolled out of bed at 4:30am. We had to be checked into labor and delivery by 6:00am, and it was an hour and a half drive. I cant even tell you what we talked about as we drove that morning. All I knew is I was exhausted and I had a long day ahead of me. My plan was to nap while we were waiting to be taken back to surgery, but when we arrived at the hospital they had no paper work showing we were even scheduled to deliver that day! I hoped and prayed it would all get worked out. After about an hour of waiting the nurse finally came in and said "We are good to go!" and she started getting me ready for surgery. Hospital gown, IV, a little make up... and we waited. It always seems like bad timing, but they came in with a wheel chair for me just as Dustin had decided to take the kids down to the hospital play ground. He had to hurry back up as they wheeled me into what I called the prepping station. Dustin got dressed in his surgery get up and they gave me a hair net. I was scared! I could feel the emotions going up and down inside of me and I choked back the tears. All the staff was amazing though and they all were so kind and helped me stay calm. They wheeled me in to the operating room. It wasn't as cold as the last time I remembered. I climbed up onto the operating table and everything else just went very quickly. They gave me my spinal block. OUCH! But just for a second- and then all the warmness took over. they covered me with hot blankets and i slowly began to not feel my body. There is nothing weirder then not being able to lift your leg or arms. Dustin came in shortly after- Oh that reminds me- I had to say good bye to him about 30 minutes before hand back in the prepping room. So Dustin came in and took my hand. SIGH- it was all gonna be OK. My worries slowly just dissipated and i realized, I'm gonna have a new baby boy in minutes! I couldn't feel anything or see anything. The doctor and staff were carrying on a conversation about his recent vacation and it was calming to listen to. I was very sleepy! My 3 hrs of sleep from the night before were catching up to me and all I wanted to do was close my eyes!
It was about ten minutes after Dustin had come into the room that Lincoln James was born. I remember a pulling and tugging and then a sweet little new born cry. The Doctor said "Oop he's peeing all over the place" and it seems like I could almost here the pee hitting clothing. I heard the nurses make the comment, while giggling, "He is holding his breath!" and he was- between every little cry he would hold his breath and then squall again. I had wondered the whole pregnancy if he would have lots of hair like Emi did- or be bald like Martin was. So I kept asking Dustin "Does he have hair?" He Did! They brought him over to us and i was able to give him a little kiss- then off He and Dustin went to be bathed and all that jazz. They started to stitch me up and I wasn't feeling the greatest. I asked the anesthesiologist if everything was ok, that I felt sick and dizzy. He told me they had just given me a blast of pain medication as they pulled the baby out and that was what I was feeling. For the next half hour I listened to the Doctor and his assistant count. I'm not really sure what they were counting. Tools or stitches perhaps, but they went all the way up to 21 and down. It was taking forever! All I wanted to do was see my baby and family and I knew I still had 40 minutes of recovery in another room after that! Finally they were done and the Doctor told me "I combined both your old scars into one new one. I know all you ladies care about how that belly looks afterwards, So give me a good referral." (he was teasing of course) After that I was rolled and lifted onto a bed with wheels and taken to recovery. I had a lady nurse and she chatted with me and kept an eye on my blood pressure. I apparently was doing very well because the Doctors had made the comment that I hadn't bled very much compared to a normal delivery and they only made me stay in recovery about 25 minutes verses 40.
They wheeled me out and I saw everyone starring into the window of the nursery. Everyone was there and they all told me how "CUTE" he was. He had the chubby cheeks like all my kiddos do, and lighter hair then Emi's dark black when she was born.
Things got a little more foggy after that. My medication was kicking in and all I wanted to do was sleep. All the family came in to hold Lincoln and they were all taking pictures. Martin and Emily cuddled him and then left after they started to get restless. I wish I could remember more of that first day. I didnt even get any sleep- I remember being awake a lot- I just cant tell you what I was doing other then laying in a hospital bed holding my new little one. He nursed right away and was a sweet quiet little thing. I remember he didn't open his eyes for us that entire first day. Everyone kept asking "What color are his eyes?" and all we could say was "We don't know! He hasn't opened them!"
I knew I needed sleep and rest badly, so we didn't invite very many friends up to see us. I tried to send Lincoln to the nursery that first night so I could sleep. But they kept bringing him back to me to nurse him. I knew he didn't really need it. Newborns can survive on nothing for a day or two after birth, so i was aggravated that they wouldn't just let me sleep. Finally I told them "I need at least 4 hours straight of sleep- so just do your best to pacify him until six am." So they did. But the 2nd night a nurse came in and said that administration really didn't want babies in the nursery all night long and that they should be with the mothers so i continued on with no sleep, except for the 2nd night Lincoln had been circumcised earlier that day and was extremely fussy and needy. I ended up letting him sleep on my chest because I was so exhausted.
Where was Dustin during all my sleeplessness you ask? Well he was almost completely useless. He was running low on sleep himself but he was handling it very poorly! He was extremely cranky and hard to wake up. I remember having a very strong and cranky argument in the middle of the night asking him to step it up. After that things were better and he snapped out of it.
The Air Conditioner was on the fritz our entire stay at the hospital. It didn't help with trying to sleep. It was almost always 78 or more in our room until evening and then it would drop to about 76. It was uncomfortably stuffy. Eventually Dustin had to go out and find some fans to blow on me.
Finally Wednesday rolled around and it was the best day of all. I was feeling good pain wise. My milk had come in and I was nursing and getting a little more rest with Lincoln on my chest. As we waited to be discharged and we had no visitors, Dustin climbed into bed with us and we watched tv all morning- some Alligator catching show... ha ha! We left around noon and drove home, walked in the door of our tiny apartment and went straight to bed! And that was that. Nothing crazy really happening during our hospital stay. The food was decent. The care fantastic. The Air condition... hopeless. It was funny though that during our stay Jesseca was there visiting the first 2 days for the entire day and she got up to complain about the air countless times. After a while the nurses started making fun of her. At one point Jesseca said "It's not the patient that is asking for the air- it's me!" and the nurse said "Well- can you go home then?" ha ha! It was so funny. she was a crazy little lady (the nurse)!
So that was the day, and the days following the birth of my third born, Lincoln James. He is now 5 & 1/2 weeks old- and as sweet as can be. I held him half the time I typed this- then I set him down and he cried some while I tried to finish it up. But all I can say is- as much as I dislike the pregnancy and the surgery of having a child, We are completely and utterly in love with him- and he was worth every day and hour of it. We definitely think we will have at least one more before its all said and done. Cause that's our life... Strickland LIFE.
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