Our Baby

Lincoln's story...I went in Monday morning at 9:30 (November 15th, 35 weeks) to have a non-stress test. I am diabetic, so I get to have those twice a week starting at 32 weeks. I've had to do it with all 4 pregnancies, no big deal, it's just what I do. During a non-stress test they check many things...my blood pressure/heart rate, contractions, they measure the amniotic fluid through an ultrasound, they record the baby's heart rate (they have to get a resting heart rate, then an active heart rate, then another resting). During this appointment my blood pressure was high and I was having consistent (not painful) contractions. They kept me for further monitoring but things weren't getting any better. The Neonatalogist (sp?) decided it would be best for me to go to Labor and Delivery.
When I got there I was at a 1 and the baby was very high up. My mom and Amanda came down to keep me company (and Amanda sure got an eye full!!). After about 3 hours they wanted to do another non-stress test. The nurse checked me again and I was at a 3. They admitted me. Matt wasn't there yet. He was working at a house by the temple, so I told him to just keep working and I would call him when things got serious. The contractions started getting pretty painful, so I got my epidural. My mom was still with me and said I was very brave! I texted Matt around 5 or 6 and told him I needed him now. We were still so shocked that this was happening. We had my brother, David, come and help Matt give me a blessing.
At about 7:30 I was ready to push. I had lots of amniotic fluid (very common in diabetic mothers), so the baby was still really high up. I pushed for only about 30 minutes and he was not coming down at all. The doctor gave me the option to keep pushing or have a c-section. I was too tired to push and I knew it was pointless. I thought it would be interesting to have a c-section, I had the first 3 the other way, so let's try this way!
They swung into action and rolled me to the other room. The anesthesiologist told us to bring our cameras but we didn't have them...remember I was just going in for a non-stress test! Luckily, we had our phones! I started freaking out when they were half way through. I had the weirdest strongest need to move my legs and I couldn't. It didn't bother me that I couldn't move them, but I just "needed" to move them. It was weird, I can't really explain it. I think it was just a plain ole panic attack. I begged the anesthesiologist to give me something to put me out. He kept telling me they had to get the baby out first. I remember the doctors laughing and saying "look at that big head", they told Matt to stand up and look, and then I was out.
The next thing I remember is the doctor standing over me saying "he's almost 9 pounds". I couldn't believe it. He was 5 weeks early and 8 lbs 15 oz. Imagine if I would have gone full term! The doctor was going to induce me at 37 weeks, but even then I bet he would have been over 10 pounds. (My mom had a 10 lb 4 oz- 2 weeks late baby!)
The baby was having trouble breathing on his own so they took him to the NICU (more on that later). I went up to see him around 5:30 the next morning (he was born around 8:30 pm). He was giant, but worth it!