Born March 12, 2014 at 10:43pm
8 pounds, 7oz - 21 inches
I LOVE being a new brother, and I am so proud to show off my new baby. I even got to show him off to all my friends at school yesterday, and I was the ONLY one who could touch him and rock his seat. I love to give him kisses and touch his small ears.
It's hard for me to share Mommy with this new person, but I'm getting used to it, and I like to keep my eye on her to make sure she is ok. Daddy and I get to hang out a lot, too.
I'll share some pictures, and Mommy wants to share baby Luke's birth story.
Baby Luke's Birth Story - Part 1
It all sort of started on Tuesday morning, March 11, when I went to a routine doctor's appointment (one that I was SURE I wouldn't need to go to because I'd have a baby by then), and found out that was 4-5cm dilated. They sent me straight to the hospital to be monitored for signs of labor. John met me there. And there I sat, for 5 hours, or rather walked, around and around the labor and delivery unit. I was having mild contractions, but nothing that would indicate that I was in labor. I tried, I really did, but it wasn't meant to be. I was SO ready to have a baby right then and there, but they sent me home. It was for the best. If I had stayed I would have been induced, and therefore started the chain of interventions that I've always wanted to avoid. So I went home, relaxed, and went to work the next day. Because there was no baby.
Part 2
While at work on Wednesday, March 12 (really? I didn't have much to do at work, but would rather not sit at home, so there I was... at work) I got a phone call from daycare that Preston had tripped and fallen and that he had a lump on his wrist. They told me that it wasn't bothering him at all and didn't hurt him, but they wanted me to know about it. I didn't think much of it until I picked him up later that afternoon and realized that the bump on the top of his wrist was really WEIRD. I couldn't describe it any other way. It was about the size of a nickle, not black and blue at all, and caused him no pain. Clearly that meant that I needed to call the pediatrician and see if he needed to be checked out. After getting the confirmation from both the pediatrician and a surgeon, who just happened to be working with our neighbor when we texted a picture of the bump to our neighbor, that we needed to get it checked out, I reluctantly headed for the ER. John met us there.
The ER was packed, but we thankfully avoided the crowd by having a 3 year old patient who could go to the children's ER.
He totally freaked out from start to finish when he was getting checked out. He wouldn't even sit down on the super fancy bed that also checks his weight. He thrashed around like crazy to have his blood pressure taken, and don't even get me started when they brought in the mobile x-ray unit. It was complete chaos. And sometime during the chaos, while I was hold a thrashing around 3 year old at 39.5 weeks pregnant, I'm pretty sure I sprung a leak of my amniotic fluid. My water didn't break entirely, and my labor didn't start, but I felt different.
Preston turned out to be fine. There are a lot of theories as to what the mystery bump could be. It was related to him injuring his hand, but nothing is broken and he is fine.
So I maybe had sprung a leak, but there were no other real signs of me being in labor. I told John I was fine, and that I just wanted to go home. Because we were at the hospital already, he wanted to hang out a little bit to see if anything happened. So we went to the cafeteria to get some dinner and mull over the situation. After much persuasion I called the OB to see what they wanted me to do. I was worried about a repeat of the day before when I wasn't actually in labor, but the OB said that I could be in an out of triage if all was well, so I headed upstairs to get checked out.
Part 3
Back in labor and delivery and back in Triage Room 2, things felt like de-ja-vu. John stayed downstairs in the hospital to keep Preston occupied, so I was by myself when my water definitely broke, minutes after arriving at L&D. Just like my labor with Preston my contractions started immediately, but thanks to the universe and my perfectly unharmed toddler I was already at the hospital, on fluids, and headed for an epidural in record time. It probably took an hour and a half before I got my epidural, but after that things were smooth sailing.
Let's rewind a little bit, because if you remember John was with Preston when my water broke, so we had the little problem of me being in labor and needing John's support, and Preston being at the hospital with us. Not to mention that when I first tried to call John to tell him that I was in labor he didn't answer is phone... 5 times. So I tried plan B, called my friend Destinee and then called my Mom. Somehow in the next hour John came to check on me, Destinee came to hang out with Preston while we waited for my parents, Mom took Preston home in my car (because we had two cars at the hospital), and John had to orchestrate all of it. He was back by my side in time to be there for my epidural.
We didn't have to wait long, and if I hadn't gotten an epidural it might have been an even shorter amount of time, but I started pushing around 10:30pm, and Luke arrived at 10:43 - 3 hours after my water broke. All the nurses were excited to have a surprise baby, and they ALL voted that it would be a girl just minutes before he revealed himself to be very much a perfect little boy.
The rest is just recovery, way too many trips to the pediatrician for nothing, and a very tired, but very happy Mommy, Daddy, Big Brother, and new baby.