On thursday, March 14th I went to a Relief Society dinner at the church and then met the Andersons and Morrills for another dinner to celebrate Katie's birthday. I felt gross through it all. I was 37 weeks pregnant. I had been feeling gross for about a week and after an Ultrasound that week that showed I had too much amniotic fluid, my old friend anxiety had returned. I prayed and prayed that I would go into labor. At 10:00 pm on the 14th I started having contractions. I didn't think too much of it and tried to go to bed. By 1:00 in the morning I texted Hans, who was at a Bingo fundraiser for gymnastics. He came home at 2:00 in the morning and wanted to take me to the hospital, but I wasn't sure the contractions were consistent enough. At 4:00 the contractions stopped and I slept for an hour. At 5:00 they started again. I got up and showered and got ready for work. I called the Dr. They wanted me to go to the hospital since a 5th c-section poses lots of risks. I decided instead to call in sick to work and then take the kids to school. On the way to school I was confident that labor was for real. I was dying. They were frequent and painful. I drove myself to Hans' office and moaned on his office couch for 30 minutes and then took Mia to school. By the time I walked her into school the contractions were very painful. I drove myself straight to the hospital after talking to several friends on the phone. They admitted me right away and after an hour of being there my contractions were 4 minutes apart. The Dr gave me a bag of IV fluids to see if it would stop the labor. It didn't. I called Hans and he came over. 2 hours later Liam was born by C-section. The nurses warned me that the baby would be in the NICU since he was so early and a boy. The whole experience was a blurr and went by so so fast.
Here I am meeting Liam briefly on his way to the NICU. He couldn't keep his Oxygen above 50 percent and so they put him on a CPAP machine and started an IV to keep his blood sugar up. C-sections are a very strange experience. The drs had to really push to get Liam out and I was extremely uncomfortable. I just was stuck there while Hans was with Liam in the NICU while they sewed me up. I kind of hated it, but felt so much better having the baby out of me. I was relieved he was here, but unsure of what was happening. It was stressful!
I was only able to see pictures since they wouldn't let me go see him until I could sit up in a wheelchair, which took me 10 hours. C-section recovery is a whole new kind of pain. It hurts. A lot. Worst pain ever. But worth it.
The kids were all excited to see him in the NICU, but it's a little scary looking with all the tubes and machines.
My parents got there right as I was trying to get myself into a wheel chair. After a nauseating ride to the NICU and much dry heaving I was able to see my beautiful baby boy. It was a very strange experience to be sitting alone in a hospital room recovering from surgery. I was missing Hans, my kids, and the baby. It took me a lot longer to bond with Liam since I didn't get to see him, but after a couple of days I fell in love. He is very sweet. I love newborns.
It took Hans and I 4 days to come up with his name. Liam Hans Egbert. Born March 15th at 1:04 pm. 5 lbs 15.5 oz. 18 inches long. Blonde hair.
The older kids all adore him. They are very sweet with him and love holding him. It was so nice to have my parents drive out when they heard I was in labor. We are grateful for their help. Hans was able to spend the nights with me at the hospital to help me with the baby. My parents dyed Easter eggs with the kids, participated in Justin's birthday party, and drove the kids to their various activities. Hooray for helpful, interested parents.
