by Morgan Lundberg
Being a first-time mama, I honestly didn't know what to expect going into my pregnancy. I heard many different people's stories: the good, the bad, the in between. My pregnancy seemed to have all of those phases and my labor and delivery was just.... hard.
My pregnancy started out AMAZING! The first trimester seemed to fly by (I didn't know I was pregnant till about 9 weeks) you probably wonder how? It comes from having irregular periods since I was younger. I never knew if I was going to have one each month because that was 'my normal'. I know I'm not the only one who's been that way- so I'm sure some of you ladies can relate ;)
Second trimester, is when the emotions really hit. It was an up and down rollercoaster ride, quite honestly. My favorite thing about my second trimester was finding out the gender + being able to feel the movements of our sweet blessing that was growing inside me. That was one of the BEST moments/feelings in my life. I felt so thankful that God chose Zach and I to be parents - that He chose me to be a mama.
Third trimester was when the waiting game took place for me. Lennon was measuring ahead since the second trimester and around 30 weeks gestation, he dropped, but I knew I had potentially 7-10 more weeks with him growing inside my belly. The pain, oh the pain. Not to mention, I started retaining water around 27-28 weeks. Everything was SO swollen - so that added to my being miserable. But through all of that, I'm so so thankful to have such an amazing man by my side who pushed through the hormones and loved me no matter how bad I was at times.
When I started going to my check-ups once a week around 36 weeks, my doctor realized my blood pressure was a little elevated but it wasn't high enough to be worried about it just yet. She asked me to come in again later that week to check it again, this time it was a little higher, but still not in the danger zone. 37 weeks, I was absolutely exhausted and began to get worried with all of my symptoms and how I felt. Constant dizziness, weakness, fatigue, you name it. I had a gut feeling that something wasn't right. I called my doctor and she asked me to come in that day (Friday) to check my blood pressure.. Sure enough - hypertension.
The following Sunday, was GO TIME! We arrived at the hospital at 5am and shortly after the induction process started..
My labor progressed slow, and when I say slow - just imagine a turtle's pace (at least that's what it felt like for me). I only had back labor and with a history of arthritis in my back, I felt it was a magnified pain. In my birth plan, I originally wanted to see how things were going before fully deciding if I wanted an epidural or not- but because of my low pain tolerance, I got my epidural around 11am since the pain in my back from contractions was too much for me to handle and my biggest worry was tiring out too soon.
After that everything seemed to be a breeze, until around 9pm when I felt an immense amount of pressure and felt like I needed to push. The nurse had just checked me around 8:30pm and I was only at 4cm which was what I had been since the time I had gotten my epidural. So when I called her in, you could tell she didn't really want to check me again but I BEGGED her! Sure enough, all in just a half an hour, I was "about 9.75cm dilated" and (ALMOST) ready to push. My pelvic area was much smaller than my doctor had assumed it to be, so getting Lennon down to where he actually needed to be was such a chore. The nurse had me trying many different 'pushing exercises' before the real pushing ever began.
When it was time for the REAL pushing, the two+ hours of pushing felt like an eternity for me. I began to lose consciousness because somewhere in the process my epidural stopped working so between the pain of that and with the excessive amount of pushing, I became overly exhausted. The room went from just a few nurses and my doctor to about ten nurses and my doctor, that's when we all knew that something wasn't right. My doctor gave me about a thirty second break from pushing and that's when she told me I only had "two more pushes to get him out." TWO. I began to cry, thinking if I couldn't get him out through all of this, how can I do it in just TWO more pushes?!
But somehow, I did.
At 12:28am on August 22, 2016, we welcomed our sweet Lennon James into the world.
Seven pounds, three ounces - Twenty inches long.
The most beautiful little boy I ever have laid eyes on and we were given the privilege to call him ours.
...we've been loving on him ever since. This past year has been the best year of our lives + we can't wait to spend the rest of our days with you. Thank you, Lennon, for making us a mama and daddy.
Much love,
Morgan Lundberg
For more great blogs from Morgan, check out her blog at lovedbylennon.com or follow her on instagram @morganlundberg
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Bloggers featured as part of Willow+Co "Featured Blogger Series" are independently written by the contributor credited above. Willow+Co does not take responsibility for advice/opinions expressed in blogs, and in circumstances of any medical or direct advice related to the health or well-being of the child or parent recommends you seek a licensed professional's opinion.