Lincoln Jack Snodgress

 I went into the hospital at 7am with contractions a couple of minutes apart.  I was complete at 10 am. I had the greatest desire to have Lincoln naturally. We all thought I would be popping him out with only a three hour labor, but when it came time to push there was no Lincoln. Their initial thought was he's posterior and it was making labor harder. I pushed for an hour and then the doctor recommended I either get an epidural or do a c-section. I was exhausted at this point and literally felt I had the smallest amount left in me. But I had so much support and at moments I had several pairs of hands on me- literally and spiritually: playing with my hair, rubbing my hands and feet, whispering encouraging words and reminding me to try my hardest to relax and focus on what made it better, which was the love of my life standing in front of me bracing my knees with helpless tears in his eyes. When I was faced with the decision- epidural or C-section?? I thought to myself- I'm a failure. I've made it all this way and I can't seem to have this baby,  and when I submitted to the epidural, my heart was aching (I wanted to do it all natural so bad). It was at that moment when I felt my grandma’s sweet spirit embracing me and the small whisperings of comfort from her. I had done what I could then and I was far from being a failure.

There were several there to help console me which I'm indeed grateful for, My mom, my sisters, Telli and Jayna, my soon to be sister-in-law, Jennie, my dear friend, Rae, my cousin, Angie and of course, my Rick. I received the epidural and the labor stood still for hours. More pushing at times but also a lot of waiting, repositioning and trying to figure out what was stopping the baby from coming. They had found out he was posterior and couldn't get him to turn. Then they realized he was transverse posterior- sideways and face-up. But he still wasn't coming... my doctor got a second opinion from Dr. Fagnant and they realized the baby was wedged up in my pelvic bone. He wasn't budging! They said they were going to try the vacuum to see if they could get his head to move down. They told me that there were risks involved, the vacuum could get the baby out part of the way but he could get stuck and then they would have to rush me to emergency C-section Or if the vacuum didn't work after three times they would have to resort to the c-section as well. It was then that I asked Rick for a blessing. The crew of ten or so staff left the room but Rick was the only male there. I asked my doctor to stay. A man I have always admired and who has been a blessing in our lives countless times. Dr. Thompson anointed me and Rick gave me a blessing. After that blessing I knew it was going to be okay- no matter what they would have to do- it was going to be okay. I pushed as hard as I could as they tried to pull him out. One, Two, Three times went by and each time the suction came loose. My doctor then turned to the other doctor and said one more time, which followed with one more and one more. After several times, a head finally appeared- with some good pushing on my part, a lot of support from my family and friends, a great doctor and the help from angels; Lincoln made his grand entrance into our lives. 

We were all a little nervous when he wasn't coming even after the several attempts to suck him out but Rick said he looked at Dr. Thompson each time he made the decision to try "one more time" and he said he could see he was inspired to make each decision. We had complete trust in him.

  Lincoln was another miracle on top of so many others we've seen take place in our lives!

Along with it all, Lincoln had a short Umbilical cord just like his daddy. Any kind of issue after the delivery was just suddenly better. He was grunting and they were thinking of neo-puffing but when they made the call to do so, it stopped. He was clear. I had no tearing which was a complete surprise to everyone that was there. I was, however very swollen. The doctor was worried about nerve damage in Lincoln's face that was completely non-apparent the next morning as well as the cone head everyone thought would take days to go down. Lincoln was beautiful and perfect in every way. The rate that we both recovered was unbelievable. It's been a huge testimony builder and one of the best experiences of my life. I thank my Heavenly Father every day and every minute I spend with my family, I find myself more and more grateful. My heart is Full. So, there it is...my birthing story.