Lindgren Family Adventures: January 2012

Tuesday morning was quite surreal. I wake up, get dressed and am ready to head out the door. Meanwhile, my husband is taking his sweet time...a nice long hot shower and a shave and then walks out of our bedroom decked out in dress pants, shirt and a tie! REALLY?

I am about to have a baby. And Paul has decided that this is the moment to focus on improving his personal grooming habits. I couldn't convince him that a suit and tie were simply not practical for the OR. He insisted. Then he continues on his rambling preparations to pack a handful of cigars and a flask of whiskey.

I almost have a complete come apart right then and there. While he is making his last minute preparations for the birth of our son, I am packing up the car...in a lightning storm! It begins to pour just as we get the last item in the car. And we are off.

As we both settle in to the 4 minute drive to the hospital, we apologize for our mutual short responses, take a deep breath and admit we are scared to death.

Paul drops me off at the entrance, parks the car and we make it up to the labor and delivery floor. Our friends Steven and Jane meet us there to pray with us before we are taken back. I am so thankful for their love and prayers. The calming presence of Jesus washed over me as I realized we were about to welcome Matthew, our gift from God, into the world.

We are called back and taken to a private room where I have to sign paperwork, get hooked up to monitors, start the IV, etc. All quite routine. Matthew in the meantime, knew something was up and my belly was just dancing around with his kicks and maneuvers.

We requested our friend Lindsay be our nurse and she comes bounding in like a ray of sunshine. If you know someone who is a nurse in labor and delivery, request them. Having a friendly face and someone I knew walking us through the steps was quite comforting.

Finally, the time had come to go back to the OR. It was a little after 7am.

Everything from here on out happened really fast. There were nurses everywhere. I was administered a spinal. It didn't hurt at all and took effect immediately. Dr. Raiford arrived. I was laid back with my arms outstretched. A curtain was raised and everyone got to work. They called Paul in to the OR and by the time he arrived, I am pretty sure Dr. Raiford was well on her way to wrestling Matthew out of my belly. I could feel a lot of pressure and jerking, but nothing terrible.

Then I heard him cry. January 17th, 2012, 7:15 am. The world stopped turning. It was the most amazing sound I have ever heard. My son. Robert Matthew Lindgren.

After that, I am not at all sure what exactly happened...I hear Paul talking to Matthew like he has been part of the family forever. Paul says things like: "He's all cheesy! Just like his dad!". "He has Josie Lindgren's nose" "He looks just like Lee Lindgren"

Paul's account of it is hysterical. "I was anxious up until the point they called me through the doors into the OR. Stepping into the OR was like walking onto a live gameshow set. It was seemingly so chaotic and quick that I didn't have time to get nervous. No lie, it looked like they were fighting a prize-winning smallmouth bass before nearly tossing him from behind the curtain to the scales. I was not in the OR for more than 3 minutes... tops."

Then they brought him to me to see for the first time.

After that, Paul went with him to give him his first bath and I while I was being sewn up and whisked off to recovery.

Little man has some lungs!

All cleaned up and ready to meet Momma

Finally the time came to wheel me to our room to finally hold Matthew. I was a little concerned about this actually, because I couldn't stop shaking. It took a while for them to bring him in, so I took the opportunity to send out a text blast to let people know of Matthew's safe arrival into the world.

Finally, they brought Matthew in to our room.

If you look at the time stamp on this picture, it is 8:17am. It felt like much much later.

The day flew by in a blur...we had lots of visitors. Here are a few pics from the day.