Lincoln's Birth Story

39 w 4 days Prego....

Thursday, June 14th I went in at 6:30pm to Timpanogos Hospital to start Cytotec, a medication that helps ripen the cervix before induction (pitocin). The process is - they insert the pill, I lay flat for 2 hours, and then hang out for two more hours... then they insert another pill, lay flat for 2 hours, and hang out for 2 more hours, etc. They were to start the pitocin generally around 6am, but I got my first pill inserted at 8:30pm, so with the timing I had a 3rd pill inserted at 4:30am. Therefore, at 8:30am would be when they would have started the pitocin.

At my 38 week appointment I was dilated to a 1, about 50% effaced. This was exciting for me since I never really dilated on my own at all with Scarlett. With her, I went in the night before for a dose of Prepadil - which was a crazy painful process and didn't really help dilate/efface me. They sent me home to come back in the morning for the induction. But this time I liked Cytotec MUCH better, wasn't in pain until the contractions started during my 2nd dose. and you stay in the hospital, they don't send you home.

During my 2nd dose of Cytotec I started having some contractions, They seemed more like Braxton Hicks because they weren't strong at all on the monitor. But when they checked me at 2:30am I was dilated to a 2, so that was excited that the contractions seemed to be progressing my situation. At 4:30 am they gave me a 3rd pill, I was dilated to a 3, and I requested pain meds. I Love Fentanyl. Love It. Best pain med ever.
 the Fentanyl works really well for about 40-45 minutes and then it wears off. They can give Fentanyl once every hour, so that left 20-15 minutes of feeling some pretty good contractions/pain.The contractions were getting stronger, and by 6:15 I had requested an epidural.6:00am was the nurse/doctor shift change so we weren't sure when the anesthesiologist would be able to give me the epidural.  But my new nurse, Erin, for the new shift, checked me and I was dilated to a 4. She gave me another dose of Fentanyl at 6:30 and magically the anesthesia man walked in at 6:35! So I was all doped up and ready to hold still in the fetal position for them to stick the big needle in my back. Such perfect timing! Which was about how it went with Scarlett too - having a fresh dose of pain meds in you makes getting the epidural pretty easy! I definitely recommend it.

It was pretty much PURE CHAOS after that.

 Lincoln became difficult for them to track on the fetal hear rate monitor. Sometimes he would disappear and they wouldn't be able to find him for a bit. Which was scary because his heart rate kept going down drastically during every contraction I had. They had a nurse trying to find him and a nurse keeping me breathing with an oxygen mask to help Lincoln get enough oxygen.

6:45 am My Epidural worked perfectly. I could still feel/move my legs and the pressure of the contractions, but had no pain. They got me laying on my back/side after the epidural was in and I was dilated to a 5.

6:50am Then they put the catheter in (the should have done that before the epi, duh!!) because they thought my water broke - but no... I just pee'd. haha. embarrassing and sorry if TMI. But they cleaned it up, checked me again - I was a 6. all within 5 minutes!! And my water was bulging, about to break any minute.Erin said, "wow, he just really wants to come out right now!"

7:00 water broke, dilated to about a 7. they couldn't find Lincoln's heart rate... Took a few minutes, but they found it - and it just did not sound right. Which completely freaked me out. They pushed the panic button - which got 2 more nurses in there instantly. The supervisor lady was trying to calm me down while finding Lincoln's heart rate. They put the monitors on his head to monitor him that way, so we knew where he was. His heart rate continued to decline during each contraction. But went back up in between, so we were generally okay.

7:15am 8 cm dilated... Progressing so quickly. Called  a few baby nurses in the room. They tried finding the OB doctor to get him to the hospital asap because I as going to be ready soon. But of course he was at Utah Valley delivering a baby. So they called in another doc to come in.

7:30am - complete. Fully dilated and effaced. About 8 nurses in the room now. Seth was holding my hand helping me breath w/ the oxygen in order to keep baby's heart rate up. We were waiting for the doctor to get there! Lincoln was still high, his head wasn't on its way out or anything, just ready to push. I was shivering like crazy, like when you're cold and your body is convulsing to keep warm. It was so annoying. The nurse said I was fine, and that it's normal for the body to do that when it's transitioning into active labor so quickly.

      (**I start yelling at Seth to find the camera. He couldn't find it!! So all these nurses are looking at Seth who with no sleep, was blindly trying to find the camera while I'm yelling at him that baby is coming and we're not even going to get a picture. Oh boy. He found it though! The nurses were all grateful it wasn't going to be Seth's last day on earth after all - b/c they were just waiting for me to end Seth if he didn't find the camera!!!**)

I kept telling the nurse I don't care if my OB is here to deliver or not. I wanted to make sure Lincoln was okay. I didn't care if a nurse or whoever delivered Lincoln, I was just so nervous he wasn't going to be okay b/c his heart rate was decreasing so low each contraction.

7:40am - a random hospital doctor came in to deliver Lincoln... But they didn't want me to push yet. He was feeling for his head, etc. Since his heart rate would increase and go back up after each contraction Lincoln didn't seem to be in distress. My OB was on his way, so the random hospital doctor left and told us to wait for the OB.

7:50ish - OB walks into the room!! Yay! Gets all ready in his gown/mask... I'm ready to push Lincoln out. We're all happy campers. Contraction comes.... I push. 2nd Contraction comes... there is his head. 3rd Contraction... push, head is out, they ask me to stop pushing - suction suction. They ask me to push a little more, out comes the body.

8:02am - He's here!! But I can't hear Lincoln and I'm freaking out that something is wrong. But the cord wasn't cut yet, We were all just fine. Then the OB had Seth cuts the cord. More suctioning... and then I hear the little whimper! And all is right in the world! Sigh. Lincoln was here, and breathing, and has SO much hair!!!

Weighing in at 6lb 12.6 ounces... 19inches long. I'm shocked he is smaller than his sister was. I was so positive he was going to be at least 8 lbs! He didn't really cry at all, which worried me. I would be much more happy to hear a loud, strong, healthy cry. But he scored well on the APGAR scale and was soon on my chest meeting his mama for the first time.

It all happened so fast! I just laid there holding him and looked up at the nurses thinking, "Holy crap! Didn't I just ask for my epidural?" It felt like I just got my epidural 15 minutes ago, but it had been over an hour. He was seriously in my arms!? I don't think my nurses left the room once since walking in at 6:15 am - at the beginning of their shift.  "It's 8:15am... I'm suppose to start pitocin, the induction in 15 minutes!! And he's in my arms already?" It was just insane to wrap my head around. He was here!

We had pushed the epidural button just a few times throughout the hour, I am soooo grateful I got the epidural when I did! So happy it wasn't too late.


I tore/ripped more than with Scarlett, smaller baby - faster delivery, but more damage. I got super swollen in the hospital too. I lost over 15 lbs of water weight over my first week at home. I was always trying to keep my feet elevated! It was sooo uncomfortable to have such swollen feet/ankles/legs. I'm so glad that is back to normal.

We're so glad Lincoln is here! He is such a great baby. With such a mild temperament, he whimpers for a long time before crying for food or attention. He has big eyes that make every expression so fun to watch. His lips pucker up (like Zoolander) and sometimes pout when he's getting upset. We are a pretty happy Burke family that is feeling a bit more complete these days.