Little Things: March 2009

It's been a week and a half since little Luke came into our lives and I have not had a moment to journal my experience yet. Life has been enhanced and challenged all in the same moment.

The labor and delivery couldn't have gone more smoothly. I wish all birthing experiences could be as wonderful as this one was.

We received a call at 8:50 am on Tuesday morning letting us know that the hospital was ready for me to come in for an induced labor at anytime. We later learned how lucky we were to get in as I was the first one on the list and they only had one bed open that day. We quickly called Jolea and Ryan's parents. Jolea came and stayed with Max until JoAnn and Paul got there. Then Jolea came to the hospital to be there with Ryan and I for the birth.

We arrived at the hospital around 10:00 am and I opted to have the epidural first, as the anaesthesiologist was very busy and I didn't know when he would get to me if I waited. Having gone 6 hours of intense contractions with Max without the epidural, I figured I had experienced enough of the "birthing pains" and didn't feel the need to repeat such an experience. I had the epidural administered around 11:00 am and by 11:15 I was started on the petosin.

After one push with the nurse and one push with the doctor, our Luke came to us pretty effortlessly at 3:13 pm. In fact after the nurse had me push once she paged for Dr. Watabe to come immediately. Jolea actually filmed him running from his office across the parking lot and he wasn't taking his time! Luke must have been on his way out. Dr. Watabe came into the room around 3:11 pm and like I said, Luke was here at 3:13 pm.

Because he came so quickly and because the cord was wrapped around his neck, he was very bruised and swollen for the first few days. After the swelling went down and his blue tint turned to a very pretty pink, we were able to see that he had received two little black eyes from his journey into our world. He is our little bruiser for sure!

Ironically both he and Max came on the 24th, both weighed 8 lb 10 oz, and were within 1/2 inch of each other in length. Luke looked almost identical to Max when he was born; while there is certainly a striking resemblance, Luke is taking on more and more of his own look with each day.

While we were in the hospital, Max contracted a nasty cough and cold which has made coming home with a newborn very difficult. Max hasn't been able to be around the baby much and we are constantly having to tell him not to touch the baby's things. Our hands are raw as we are washing around the clock and the laundry has doubled as we need to change from our "Max" clothes to our "Luke" clothes when holding the baby. Ryan actually was fighting a sinus infection while I was in the hospital, but was able to get over it quickly. Max seems to be getting over the worst of the sickness, but about 3 days ago, I caught it and unfortunately I cannot take anything for it because I am nursing.

Luke actually seems to be adjusting the best out of all of us. He nurses well, sleeps well, and is just a really good baby so far. We even have him sleeping in his own little bed (by our bed) which is something we didn't ever get down with Max. Max on the other hand has had a hard time with the transition. While he isn't at all mean to the baby, and generally likes Luke, he has been acting out in ways that have left us speechless and broken sound barriers we didn't know existed. With Mom always nursing the baby, and now with Dad back at work, I think his little world has been rocked. The fact that he has been sick and I haven't been able to let him near the baby hasn't helped the situation.

We finally had a good night last night and hope has returned. The baby slept in between feedings, Max slept the night through in his new big boy bed (in his own room), and Ryan and I were able to get more sleep than we have in two weeks. I felt very blessed when we all woke up at 9:00 am this morning. I thought to myself "We are going to make it. We are going to make it." The night before, none of us were asleep before 4:00 am as Max had a major melt down in the middle of the night. So last night was for sure a tender mercy.

I need to express my thanks to all of you who visited, called, text, brought meals,etc. We love and appreciate your friendship. And to JoAnn (Ryan's mom), Jolea, my mom, and most of all, my sweet husband, I could not have managed the past two weeks without all you have done for me and our family.

We are so excited to be a family of four and realize the tender mercy that our children are to us.