OK, so I have written all about the NICU experience and Praise God everything is perfectly fine with our little man now!! I wanted to get down how Luke came into this world before I forget. If you don't want to read this story (I won't get too graphic, but some people who are especially squimish may not want to read) no big deal, I just wanted to make sure I have it for later.
On Wednesday September 2 I went for my weekly check up at my doctor's office and she once again told me that there was no change and to go ahead and set up an appointment for the following week as well as an ultrasound. So I had it in my mind that Luke was going to be late so I go on to work after the appointment. Eric and I went to Logan's for dinner and then came home where I promptly fell asleep on the couch - not unusual at this stage of my pregnancy. We went to bed around 10 pm. Around 12 am I had a strong urge to go to the bathroom - also not unusual for me at this stage of the game - so I rushed to the bathroom and my water broke (how lucky was that??). I called several times for Eric who is a pretty sound sleeper and he came running to the bathroom. I told him I thought my water broke and we both just paused for a few moments before we went into full throttle. I took a shower and got ready while Eric got all of our bags in the car. I called the doctor's office and was told to come on in since my water had broke so off we go to St. Vincents. I was not having any contractions at this point. In fact, I felt great. I was so excited! We called our parents on the way to the hospital and they met us up there once we were settled in our room.
The nurses were great. They checked me and unfortunately I still had not progressed any so they started me on Pitocin around 5 am. Well, Lucas did not like it at all when I had a contraction and his heart rate dropped several times, so they made me get in different positions while they stopped the meds to try to get his heart rate back up. This happened several times, but he always returned to normal fairly quickly. My doctor is at her satellite office in Jasper on Thursdays so she was not there to deliver Lucas. Dr. Edwards was on call and he is such a wonderful doctor so I had no problem with that (when you go to such a large practice there is always the chance that your doctor won't be there to deliver your baby). Dr. Edwards kept coming back to check me and I just never changed so finally at 2 pm we decided to do a c-section because he said we could still be there Friday afternoon with no baby with the way things were going and I did not like that Luke's heart rate kept dropping, so I was fine with a c-section.
The OR staff was fantastic and I had a wonderful anesthesiologist. Eric came in after I got my spinal and I was strapped to the table. Dr. Edwards kept me informed of what was going on (not too much detail mind you-there is no way I could have stomached that!!). We had fun talking with them - Eric even invited the entire OR over to our house for Thanksgiving! Then at 2:51 pm the sweetest sound ever came - Lucas crying! Eric and I started crying too! It was the most precious moment for us and we were so blessed. He weighed in at 8 lbs 7 oz and was 21 3/4 inches.
We were taken back to our room where our fabulous nurse, Rhonda, gave Lucas a bath and then I fed him. Such a sweet moment! Then once we had our family time the our parents and my brother came back to meet Lucas. My mother held him first and it was so amazing to see them together. My dad commented that Lucas is what had helped my mother do so well with her chemo treatments - she wanted to make sure she was well for this day. God is so good. After the grandparents and Uncle John had their turn it was time for the rest of the gang to come in and meet Lucas. Great Grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins all came that day and through the night. It was such a sweet day!!
