Lincoln Daniel Reed

Lincoln joined us just over a month ago, so I thought it was high time to share his story. :)   This will come as no surprise, but it has certainly NOT gotten any easier to blog (or do anything at all) since we added a tiny little newborn into our family. In fact, this is the first night, at home, that I have been hands free. Lincoln tends to be pretty fussy between 8 and 11. He actually did really great last week while we were on a little mini-vaca/visit with family, so I'm really hoping he is out-growing that fussy period.

Anyway...I want to start at the beginning because I love being able to look back on those first days. I can't believe it has already been a month! How is this possible?!?

I was due May 9th. I had a strong feeling this baby was coming early and that was more than fine with me. I have been pregnant 9 trimesters now, between all 3 kids, and this last trimester was probably the toughest. My body was just SO tired and SO achy. For the first time, I was just done being pregnant and ready to move on to the next crazy phase in life. 

At 37 weeks, there were a couple of days, one in particular, that convinced me the baby was coming soon. I was wrong by a week, but the beauty in that was that I was now mentally prepared as well as physically prepared for the baby to come. That is a nice, much more peaceful place to be than worrying about what "needs" to be done before the baby comes. :)

On April 25th, I had my 38 weeks OB appointment. I had been dilated to about 3cm for a couple of weeks (standard for all of my pregnancies). Similar to Aislinn, I was shocked to find out that I was already nearly 5 cm. My mid-wife informed me that the baby would be coming this weekend. What?! She was confident it would be that very day. Excuse me? All of those moments wondering how it is going to happen and when (this was really stressing me out, especially wondering who would watch the kids if Patrick was at work), and then it is mind blowing to find out the day has come. It is also really crazy that with every baby, I have found out at an appointment that it's time. This time around, Patrick was at the appointment with me, so we were able to go out to lunch with the kids and come up with a game plan.

Just a few hours before Lincoln was born. I thought my camera had died and I'm so glad I got this picture!

Patrick had a meeting and a few patients to see at work and then planned to be home early. We had a friend (thanks again Ali!) come stay with me a few hours *just in case*. Of course nothing happened while she was here and I felt like we over-reacted. Contractions were sporadic and not too strong most of the afternoon. Then right at 6:00 pm they started hitting much harder and faster. I started timing them and by 6:30, Patrick was on the phone with our friend and pastor's wife (thanks Lee Ella!) to have her come up and watch the kids. We were at the hospital by 7, finally in triage by 7:20 (felt like a life time); the staff seemed to be in no rush, though it probably only felt like that to me. Once they found out it was my 3rd baby and that I was nearly 5 cm dilated that morning and now having contractions 2 minutes apart, I was taken straight back into a birthing room. :) Everything went so smoothly from there. We had the same amazing nurse we had with Ronan and even though we didn't have my mid-wife, we had the on-call doctor I was hoping for. He had 4 c-sections that night, so thankfully we fit right in between those without any anxiety. The anesthesia team was very busy too, but my nurse made sure I got taken care of ASAP (thank goodness!). Seriously, we have had such great experiences with the Sacred Heart staff, I am so thankful for that!

My water finally broke at 10:17 and 7 or 8 pushes later our little baby BOY was born, all 6 lbs, 7oz and 19 1/4" of him. It was thrilling to finally find out the sex of our baby. It's funny how many thoughts one can have in a split-second. Realizing that "it" was no longer "it", but a boy, a boy named Lincoln Daniel Reed, the little brother that Ronan and Aislinn were convinced we were having all along, relief in knowing they would be so excited, imagining him playing with them in years to come. It was a great moment. 

First bath. Loved this part

Not so much this part

Ronan and Aislinn came to visit the next day and it was the best. They were pretty smitten, especially Ro. I love the big brother that he is. He has such a tender heart toward babies, he was meant to be a big brother! And Aislinn is so tough-she was meant to have brothers! :)

Since Lincoln was born so late at night, we ended up staying 2 nights in the hospital. Call me crazy, but I find it somewhat relaxing there. Patrick thinks I'm nuts. Of course, the fathers don't exactly have the best sleeping arrangements there. :) On our 2nd night, we made the most of our stay by getting sushi takeout, ice cream and a movie. Lincoln slept through the whole thing. It was pretty awesome. :)

Thank goodness for good coffee

First clothes! Ready to go home