Luke's Story...

**Long Story for Memory Purposes**

Well I'm finally not pregnant and that in itself is a relief!

And we are all safe and healthy.

Lots to be thankful for over here.

Truly grateful for my family, watching Emma and Kate while we had our little boy. They're having tons of fun with Grandpa & Grandma T. and their Aunts, Uncles and cousins. They couldn't be in better hands!

Thankful for Joe in helping me through yesterday.

Thankful for fabulous nurses and doctors who have helped me as well.

Thankful for modern medicine!

And lastly, Thankful for Luke and the sweet little baby that he is already! I can't get enough of this guy. I am so humbled to be the privileged mother to take care of him on this earth. It can be an overwhelming task to be a mother. But the special moments that happen between me and my children are precious and unforgettable...and so worth it.

Yesterday, we got up and ready for the hospital. We arrived a little before 8 AM. We did the normal paperwork and got placed in our room. Our nurse, Lori, came in and asked some more questions. I got in my bare-backed gown and got ready for some fun. They inserted my IV....ahh!...those are the worse! She checked me and I was at a 3. So, I thought, we are on to a good start!

Immediately, they got Pitocin in it to get things going. I was expecting for them to then break my water but she didn't and couldn't. He, the baby, wasn't fully engaged down. His head was bouncing around when she would put her fingers up there. If she were to break my water, there was a chance that the umbilical cord could block the cervix and cause many complications. So she had to wait on breaking my water until he was fully engaged down into the cervix.

The contractions started coming and was ready for the epidural. Initially he was available but right after I asked for it, another case came up, with an emergency with another patient having twins, so I had to wait. I was fine with that. The contractions weren't that bad so I waited.

Things were just going really slow. It didn't help that they hadn't broken my water yet. That always does the trick with me but since they couldn't, I dilated very slowly...slower than I anticipated.

Finally around 11 am, I got the epidural. But there was one complication with it. The catheter in which they used for it wasn't inserted as far in as the anesthesiologist wanted but left it alone, telling me to just be careful so that it won't fall out. If it did or if I wanted to fix it, I would have to do the whole 'insert huge needle into my back" process again. So I made sure to not move at all.

So we just hung around some more. The nurse was waiting for my bottom half to get numb so she could insert the catheter and break my water. The baby was now engaged. So we were excited because we knew once she broke the water, things would go a lot faster.

So we waited for the epidural to kick it. I could immediately feel my legs become tingly and numb but then it wouldn't moved up to my stomach. This was like 1/2 hour after I got it and it definitely should have been all numb. So we thought he just didn't give me a big enough dose. So i pressed the dosage button to get a kick of drugs to get fully numb.

Initially it worked...

So we waited about another hour, waiting for that to kick in. It spread to where I finally couldn't feel the nurse insert my catheter, which was good because I needed to go really bad.

And then after that, she broke my water. Wahoo! This was about 12:30 or 1 when they broke my water. After that I was at a 6. So how we waited for me to dilate some more.

But as I got more dilated, the more the pain grew.

So the Anesthesiologist came in. He asked me what I felt and I told him at contractions, it was my lower stomach and lower back, really severe cramp-like pain.

So he gave me some a dose of something that would make me very numb.

So we waited for that to kick in....

Nothing.

And since they had broken my water, I was dilating faster. The pain got worse with every contraction...um this isn't suppose to happen with an epidural folks! I think it was the worse pain I had ever felt.

The Anesthesiologist was kind of a punk. He was about 30, seemed to have just finished medical school. And was treating me like I was one of those whiny patients. You know, the annoying ones. So when I would tell him I was still feeling severe pain, he just thought I was ridiculous because "he knew he had put so much medicine in me that I couldn't be in pain"...ugh, idiot.

So after barely getting through a contraction and bawling my eyes off from the pain, the nurse, who was sympathetic to what I was going through and understood that I wasn't full of crap, told me that something must be wrong with the epidural because I should be so so completely numb. So she called the half-"A" doctor and said, "You are replacing the epidural right now, come back in!"

So he did.

And when they lifted me up to redo the whole process, the Anesthesiologist says, "Oh...huh, yep it fell out."

AHHHHHH, you freaking idiot. Guaranteed it had been out for like 2 hours, which explains the growing pains...So I hadn't really been getting an epidural where it mattered the most. So the contractions I have been feeling this whole time have been with no help? Honestly, Doc, if you stick a catheter half way in someone's back, isn't that an indication that you should probably do it again?

UGH...Such a moron.

And the nurse had checked me before I got the replacement and found that I was dilated to an 8....geez louise. Those were some serious contractions I was experiencing! So he did it again and I INSTANTLY got completely numb.

See, that's how it was supposed to happen the first time!

And now that my body had a chance to finally relax, I got to a 10 in like 1/2 hour. And my OBGYN was hilarious because he kept calling through out the day, yelling at the Anesthesiologist to get me comfortable because he too knew that it shouldn't be taking this long!

Anyways, I get to a 10. I push twice and this huge baby comes out. The doctor's like, "whoa, this is much bigger than your other babies!"

Luke came out with the cord around his neck and one of his hands up by his face. He was blue so they grab him and start to revive him....

it took them about 5 minutes to get to him to finally breathe! Even the NICU team came running in before he did. Talk about scary. I was just laying there, thinking, Breathe!! Breathe!!!

Phew but he did. And I'm glad. They weigh him and he's only 8.5 lbs, which surprises the doctor because he looks bigger than that...But for being a week early, that's pretty big!

He is such a sweetie and has been a great baby so far. lol just sleeps all the time. I have to wake him up hardcore to feed him or else he'd just keep sleeping.

We are staying an extra night because he had swallowed alot of crap and it just keeps coming out so they just want to make sure everything is safe and good. I'm fine with that. I like being taken care of still. It'll be weird to be home.

I just can't believe he's finally here!

Good times at the hospital :)