Lucas' Birth Story... Just a Few Months Late

When I was pregnant, I followed these online boards religiously where women who were expecting their baby's in April 2013 would post questions, rants & raves and just general comments about being pregnant. Starting in March, they all started posting their birth stories, which in a way kind of weirded me out. I mean, it's a very personal story, one that is *ahem* delicate in nature. Things that even as a woman getting ready to experience birth, I didn't want to know. 

But now, I understand why they did it. Why they typed out every excruciating detail... my goal with this blog is to document Luke's first year (and beyond). There are ways to have your blog printed out into an actual book and I'm excited to do that in April 2014. I don't want to give all the details, some things should be kept secret, but I do want to remember when things happened and the emotions that Dillon and I both felt. When I'm having a bad day, I go back to that evening when I started feeling the obvious contraction pains and I walk through the evening into the next morning, and while it was so painful for my body, it was so joyous for my soul, and it makes me happy. So here goes... I'm not writing this so much for everyone else, but for me and for Luke, so he knows the story of how things went down. :) 

On April 17th, I was 38.5 weeks pregnant. I had went to the doctor the day before and she had told me she would be surprised if I made it back to my appointment the following week. She figured he would come in the next few days. She even said if I could, try and have the baby that evening as she was on call and could deliver him. I told her I would do my best, but the evening came and left and I was still pregnant. I woke up the next morning, no contractions and no obvious signs of labor. I knew he wasn't coming today, so I buckled in for the long haul of having a 7 pound baby in my belly one day longer. I was exhausted and working from home by that point, trying to finish up everything before I left for three months. I had decided that the following Monday I was starting maternity leave, baby here or not. In between emails and finalizing my return plans for July, I napped twice. Dillon got home around 5 and we decided that he should make shrimp and grits for dinner, one of my faves. We ran to the store and I waddled through, even picking up a pineapple to cut up thinking maybe it would kick start the baby into coming. 

We returned home, and Dillon made dinner while I laid on the couch. I requested that the shrimp and grits be made extra spicy, could you tell I was ready to have that baby? We ate dinner and I returned to my spot on the couch. That's when I started to feel pretty bad. My stomach hurt and the contractions I had a few days ago were coming pretty hard now. Much more painful than before. Dillon had to turn in a form at work before the next day, and fearing that the baby might come before the next day he ran out to his office. We decided that if I still felt bad when he returned, we would call the doctor. I timed the contractions and they were coming pretty regular. When he returned, I called the doctor on call and they said to come on in. 

We grabbed our bags, patted the dogs on the head and left. We even left the lights on in the house, I figured it was false labor and we'd be back in a few hours. When we got to the hospital, we went into triage and waited to see the doctor on call. We waited for awhile and by the time he came in he basically gave the option to break my water or wait it out. I thought he was going to send me home, but he said "Uh, no. You're in labor and if we break your water you'll go quicker. If we don't we just let you progress at your own rate, but it's still in the hospital." I said, let's make it as quick as possible.

We got into our room and I changed into my gown. I remember watching Friends and Duck Dynasty, while the contractions kept coming. I told them that I thought I wanted an epidural but I wanted to wait and see how far I could go. Dillon and I took a quick walk up the hallway and when we got back to the room I laid down. I was going to sit on an exercise ball to help but when I stood up to walk across the room, a contraction hit and I doubled over and said "No more walking, let's talk about that epidural." An hour later, and I had the catheter in my back and was going to try and sleep. Dillon pulled out the sleeper chair and we turned the lights down low. The last thing he said to me was "I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight, I'm so excited!" And the next thing I knew, he was snoring. :) It was so sweet. I laid there, trying to doze, but watching the clock tick by, thinking that in a few short hours I would be holding my sweet baby. 

I watched the sun came up and had to ask for the epidural to be fixed. I was starting to feel bad, bad contractions on one side still and needed some relief. After they fixed it, I felt some better but still could feel a lot of pain. Finally, around 7:00 am the doctor came in and said it was time to start pushing. I was so excited, by mid morning he would be here! Not the case...

I pushed for hours. I threw up (See, it's not pretty, and really embarrassing)... But eventually they started setting up the room for the entrance of a baby. I was so tired... the sleep that evaded me now came in between each contraction. It was like being in a dream state but when the contraction happened, it was all business. I knew I was having one before the machine even registered it. Dr. Veazy came in, dressed in her scrubs, I was hoping this was it, but things just weren't happening. I was too tired. She told me that if I didn't have the baby within the hour that she was going to have to use the vacuum to get him out. Dillon said once she told me that my face completely changed and he could tell I was determined to do it on my own. I had the baby in the next 10 minutes. 

When the baby arrived, I looked up and saw the most complete look of joy on Dillon's face. It was honestly the happiest moment of my entire life. They placed the baby on my chest and my first thought was "he's so purple, is he ok?!" The nurse assured me all was well and I got to hold him for I don't know how long. Maybe an hour? Maybe less? Time sort of became a blur at that point. I remember my mom and dad coming in, my awesome nurse ordering me chicken fingers as I hadn't eaten since the shrimp and grits the night before, and trying to move my legs and walk from the epidural. We moved up into our room and had visitors every day. It rained all day the next day and on Saturday, when we went home, it was one of the coldest days in April that I can remember. My mom and dad searched all over Asheville for a space heater, because our heat pump wasn't working (remember we set the house on fire?!) and had no heat for the new baby. We had tears and smiles all the while being in that hospital room, but we were a family of three and all was well. 

If you've made it this far in reading our story, I'm impressed! I know that it's kind of a boring story if you weren't there, but I really just want to have this down to remember in years to come. I know that even 4 months later, I don't remember every detail, but it's still very vivid in my mind. I hope that writing it helps me remember even better in the years to come and that you don't mind me sharing the story. 

Luke the day he was born... right after we moved into our Mother/Baby room

And the little man at 4 months old