Wednesday, April 20, 2011

The Birth Story

I began writing Lucas' birth story in January, then again in February and March and now here it is April. Everytime I attempted to write I would get distracted by a crying baby or a 5 year old. Let's hope I can finally get the story done and that I can remember all the details! :)

Here goes! The story of Baby Lucas' Birth.

Because of my history of having a large child (Hoss weighed 10lb 5oz) and Lucas' ultrasound at 33 weeks showing he was following in his brother's footsteps, we scheduled a repeat c-section for January 11th.

We had a snow storm the night before and had a few inches of snow on the ground. My parents, Gigi and Grandpa, came to our house the night before in order to be at the hospital for Lucas' arrival and to wrangle Jacob during the c-section.

The morning of the c-section was typical. We left at 10a.m. in order to get to the hospital and finalize some paperwork. Once that was done I answered a million questions about my health history, changed into the attractive hospital gown and prepared for all the fun that lies ahead.

My mom came in when they arrived and sat with Donnie and me. About this time, the nurse began to put in my IV. I always say one of the worst parts of the entire c-section experience with Jacob was the IV. So, I had some anxiety about this part. I also have a history of passing out during blood draws and similar procedures. As the nurse was putting the needle into my hand I could tell I was starting to experience some anxiety. My mom was trying to distract me by telling me about a story...it didn't work. I completely blacked out, soon after the nurse told me that she may have to stick me again (she didn't, she was able to get the first stick to work). My husband tells me my eyes rolled back in my head, I began to make a snoring type noise and twitched slightly. I think it was scarier to watch than what actually happened.

I remember when I began to regain consciousness, I could hear the nurse calling for back up, asking for ammonia. I didn't need the ammonia, but my reputation spread quickly. When it came time to head back to the operating room, the anesthesiologist came in and discussed the spinal and told me he was going to give me some medicine to help me during the procedure, so I wouldn't pass out. Apparently the medicine he gave me forced me to "fall asleep" for a few minutes. I remember him telling me he was putting the medication into my IV, leaning over the side of the table with the nurse in front of me, then waking up lying on the table, ready for surgery and completely numb.

The c-section went as planned. Lucas was born at 12:30p.m. weighing 9lbs 1 oz, measuring 21 3/4 inches (a bit smaller than his big brother!). He did not immediately cry as he had inhaled a large amount of amniotic fluid, but after much suctioning by the doctors and nurses he began to cry. And it was the cry that could pierce eardrums. Shew! He was so loud and definitely made his prescence known. Donnie went with Lucas to the nursery while the doctors finished up my c-section.

Soon after they left the room, my face began to itch. I mentioned it to the anesthesiologist and he said it was likely from the morphine they put in my spinal. The longer I laid there, the more I itched. It was torture!

As soon as I was put back together, I went to recovery where I got to hold Lucas for the first time. He did not have the red hair like his big brother, but he has the beautiful big blue eyes. A few minutes later the nursery took Lucas back in order to bathe him and I was moved to my room.

As they began to move me to my room I began to feel sick to my stomach. I was able to keep it together, but we stopped moving for a minute and I received the nice pink puke bucket to accompany me. Once I made it to my room, the visitors arrived. Gigi and Grandpa brought big brother Jacob in to visit and my in-laws also stopped by to see little Lucas.

About an hour after being in my room, I began to feel sick to my stomach again. This time I couldn't keep it together and the room full of people quickly cleared out! The nurse was able to give me anti-nausea medicine which kept everything stable, but I had to remain on a liquid diet a bit longer.

Everything settled down and more visitors arrived to see Lucas. He was a very popular little boy! As the night moved along, I began to experience the post c-section pains and the itching I experienced from the morphine continued, but only more severe. Luckily, there is magic medicine to help with itching and this was very helpful; however, I got to enjoy the itching for a couple more days until all the medicine was out of my body.

My hospital stay was great. The nurses were wonderful; very friendly and helpful. Lucas was a great baby, sleeping a lot and easy to satisfy. The last day we were at the hospital, my husband and I got to enjoy a special steak dinner to celebrate Lucas' arrival! We got to go home on Friday. I wasn't sure I was ready because I was in a lot of pain still, but by Sunday I was a new women, pain free and ready to tackle the joys of parenting 2 boys!

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

I'm still here!

Whew! Has it really been 3 MONTHS since I last wrote a blog post? I never planned to abandon my blog writing after having Lucas, but I have found being a mother of 2 keeps me much busier than I expected. By the end of the day when I finally have a few minutes to myself, my brain is no longer able to throw words together to write a coherent blog post.

Life has been going well. I returned to work 2 weeks ago and that transition has been great. My husband took a 12 week family medical leave from work and is staying home with both boys now. I think he is starting to have more compassion for me and mothers in general. He is doing a wonderful job caring for the boys and I'm proud he's my husband!

Once he returns to work in late June, little Lucas will be attending daycare. Jacob will have 6 weeks before he starts Kindergarten (this transition is hurting his Momma's heart!) so he is going to be hanging out with grandparents, attending a camp and playing with friends during those 6 weeks.

Lucas is doing great. Growing like a weed! Gosh, he's stinkin' cute! And getting so big! I will post pictures soon. No, really, I will. I am just not on a computer that has pictures saved.

Well, that's about all I have for today. I started Lucas' birth story waaaaayyyy back in January and it is not done. I hope to tackle that this week. :)