Reading through all the old posts, I must admit, I am feeling really guilty about stopping this blog and not documenting anything about Lincoln or River. Granted, it does get a lot harder once you have a second child (and even more so once you have a third) to find any free time but still, I feel really bad and sad that I don't have anything in here about the boys. Because of that, I will start from the beginning - with Lincoln's birth. I'm sure a lot of you have heard this, but again, I'm writing this so I remember :)
Lincoln was another miracle baby. We had gone through 4 IVF rounds with no luck and we we're ready to start the 5th and final round of IVF treatments. At this point, I had come to terms with the fact that Lilian might be our only child and that was ok. Going into this last round of IVF I had to prepare myself for the reality of the situation. Anyone who has gone through IVF knows that there are so many emotions that come with the whole process - hopes and expectations, disappointment and heartbreak, and for the lucky ones happiness and gratefulness. This last round of IVF was it for us - we maxed out on our insurance benefits and I was done, spent - emotionally and physically drained. My doctor started me on what would be the first of many medications. As part of the process, weekly and daily blood draws are necessary to keep track of your hormone levels and to determine what comes next - continue or stop with the medication, add more/less, start or add a new medication. I can't remember how long I was taking the first medication but when I went to get a blood test, surprise, surprise - I was pregnant and we didn't have to go through another IVF!
My pregnancy with Lincoln was not as easy as Lilian, but was also not hard. I was just a little more uncomfortable and felt a lot bigger. Lincoln was born 4 days overdue so that didn't help either. The day of his birth, we had gone to the zoo and did some serious walking, starting from the bottom of the zoo and headed up the big hill. I had felt twinges of contractions but nothing major. We went about our day and ended up going to our friends, John & Ann's house for dinner. That's when I felt my contractions coming a little more often but again, nothing big. After dinner, Ian decided to go to the casino about 45 minutes away and dropped me off at home. My mom had flown in a few days before my due date so she was at home with me and Lily. Around 9 pm, my contractions had been about 12 minutes apart for the last hour. I texted Ian just to give him a heads up. By 10 pm, contraction were about 10 minutes apart and still not painful. But around 11 pm I started to panic because the contractions were getting closer and started to feel more intense. I told Ian he needed to come home and by the time he got there, I was in pain. I don't remember how close the contractions were but we called midwife and she said she would meet us at the birth center in 20 minutes. We were totally unprepared and Ian still had to put the carseat in the car before we left. Luckily, the birth center was a quick 5 minutes away and as soon as we got there, I was already dialated to 9.5 centimeters. I really wanted to have another water birth but Lincoln wouldn't wait until the tub was full so I got into a half-filled bathtub and with only a couple of pushes, Lincoln was born. It all happened so fast and it was such a blur. Lincoln, unlike Lilian, came into this world kicking and screaming so I like to describe his birth as "fast and furious". Photos to come...
Lincoln was another miracle baby. We had gone through 4 IVF rounds with no luck and we we're ready to start the 5th and final round of IVF treatments. At this point, I had come to terms with the fact that Lilian might be our only child and that was ok. Going into this last round of IVF I had to prepare myself for the reality of the situation. Anyone who has gone through IVF knows that there are so many emotions that come with the whole process - hopes and expectations, disappointment and heartbreak, and for the lucky ones happiness and gratefulness. This last round of IVF was it for us - we maxed out on our insurance benefits and I was done, spent - emotionally and physically drained. My doctor started me on what would be the first of many medications. As part of the process, weekly and daily blood draws are necessary to keep track of your hormone levels and to determine what comes next - continue or stop with the medication, add more/less, start or add a new medication. I can't remember how long I was taking the first medication but when I went to get a blood test, surprise, surprise - I was pregnant and we didn't have to go through another IVF!
My pregnancy with Lincoln was not as easy as Lilian, but was also not hard. I was just a little more uncomfortable and felt a lot bigger. Lincoln was born 4 days overdue so that didn't help either. The day of his birth, we had gone to the zoo and did some serious walking, starting from the bottom of the zoo and headed up the big hill. I had felt twinges of contractions but nothing major. We went about our day and ended up going to our friends, John & Ann's house for dinner. That's when I felt my contractions coming a little more often but again, nothing big. After dinner, Ian decided to go to the casino about 45 minutes away and dropped me off at home. My mom had flown in a few days before my due date so she was at home with me and Lily. Around 9 pm, my contractions had been about 12 minutes apart for the last hour. I texted Ian just to give him a heads up. By 10 pm, contraction were about 10 minutes apart and still not painful. But around 11 pm I started to panic because the contractions were getting closer and started to feel more intense. I told Ian he needed to come home and by the time he got there, I was in pain. I don't remember how close the contractions were but we called midwife and she said she would meet us at the birth center in 20 minutes. We were totally unprepared and Ian still had to put the carseat in the car before we left. Luckily, the birth center was a quick 5 minutes away and as soon as we got there, I was already dialated to 9.5 centimeters. I really wanted to have another water birth but Lincoln wouldn't wait until the tub was full so I got into a half-filled bathtub and with only a couple of pushes, Lincoln was born. It all happened so fast and it was such a blur. Lincoln, unlike Lilian, came into this world kicking and screaming so I like to describe his birth as "fast and furious". Photos to come...
