He's Here

Lincoln David Hadley Frick joined the world on Saturday March 8th at 10:18 am. He was 7lbs 9oz and 20 1/4 inches long. As you can see in the pictures he is just perfect! (Just copy and past the below URL in to see his pictures)

http://picasaweb.google.com/elifrick/LincolnSBirthday

My water broke on Friday night at 9pm while we were watching Dateline. We called the Dr and he said to head into the hospital. We arrived around 9:45 and they checked us in. I was 3cm dilated. They hooked me up to the IV, fetal monitor and a heart rate monitor for me. After they got their numbers they allowed me to walk around the halls for a while and try to get labor to begin. I had contractions but they weren't very close together. They told me that I could have until 6am to see if I would go into active labor on my own and if not they would start me on pitocin. My parents arrived at 2am from Nebraska. We visited with them for a while and then I tried to get some sleep. It is impossible to sleep in the hospital especially when you know you are about to have a baby. At 4am I got up and walked some more, but no labor. The nurse came in at 6am and said that she wanted to start me on the pitocin. I asked if I could have another half hour to walk around and see what would happen. She gave me until 6:30 but still no labor. They put me back in bed and hooked me up to the pitocin. The contractions came hard and fast at about 7am. I spent most of the contractions standing up because it was easier to deal with the pain. I used the fit ball for a little while but ended up standing up. I had a lot of back labor which was very painful. Mom, Dad and Eli were in the room while I was in labor. We had the news on and I just took one contraction at a time. I have to admit it was more painful than I thought it would be. Everyone tells you that it will be...God himself tells us that it will be, but you just never know how much until you go through it yourself. I was in active labor from 7am until she checked me at 9:45 and I was 8cm. I had a few more contractions and then she came back and checked me at 10:05 and I was complete at 10cm. It was time to push! Eli held one leg and Kim my nurse held the other and the pushing began. I had three good pushes and out he came. He gave a good cry and they suctioned him out. They handed him to me and I just cried and gave a big sigh of relief. I had a little bit of tearing so they stitched me up, but nothing out of the ordinary.

The whole process was absolutely amazing..Painful but amazing. I had such a great experience. My nurse was the perfect fit for me. She was very firm but supportive. She never offered me pain killers. She really respected my desire to do it naturally and offered ways to manage the contractions. The Dr came in to check on me shortly after the delivery and told me that my delivery would have normally resulted in a C-section due to how long it was between my water breaking and actual labor. They worry about infection after your water breaks. He was very impressed and complimentary of how well I handled the process. I am just so pleased that I was able to deliver vaginally and without pain meds. It was just the perfect experience.