Thursday, July 2, 2009

It's A BOY! Baby Lucas is finally here!

Well, our Baby Story began a week before Lucas was actually born. I had been contemplating the whole castor oil thing for a couple of days, but was too afraid to do it because I feared the awful side effects (castor oil is a potent laxative, but has also been proved to help induce labor). But on Wednesday, 3 days before my due date, I told my girlfriend Lauri that the only way I would drink it is peer pressure! haha! So what do you know, later that night, Lauri and her husband Branden and their 3 kids show up at our apartment, castor oil in hand! To make a long story short, I drank 2 tablespoons and then we went out to Mexican for dinner! We got home, I packed my bags, cleaned the apartment, and went to sleep just hoping that maybe I would go in to labor that night. Well, no such luck. All I got was the INTENDED side effect of castor oil that morning. At least I got to start my post-baby diet early, because I think I lost like 4 pounds that day! Hahaha!
Saturday, my due date, came and went like no big deal, just an ordinary day...it was the longest day ever! Same with Sunday and then Monday...at my Dr's appt on Monday, I was ready to just be induced, but much to my dismay, the earliest date they could induce me was that Friday-5 days later! I was so disappointed. The best part of not going into labor before Tuesday was that I got to participate in our first Mom's group gathering at my parish that I helped get started. We all joked that maybe God was keeping the baby in until after our first meeting, so that I could be there with all my girlfriends! Well that afternoon, without thinking too long about it, I took more castor oil while Ava napped....I basically finished off the bottle...4 tablespoons of thick oil...ugh...not fun. When Bobby got home from work, we even went to the YMCA, and I worked out on the elliptical machine for 20 minutes! My goal was 30 minutes, but the castor oil started kicking in, so needless to say, we left the Y! That night, a few contractions-irregular and short ones-started to kick in. Bobby and I got kinda excited, but decided to try to go to bed in case this was really going to be it. We were blessed with 6 hours of peaceful sleep and then at 6:30am on June 24-Bobby and I's 3rd wedding anniversary, I FINALLY began going into labor!
My ideal labor experience was to labor at home as long as possible, go to the hospital, get an epidural and deliver a less than 9lb baby with no tearing! For about 3 hours, I had short contractions every 2.5-3.5 minutes apart. I was able to talk through them, so I knew we still had a long ways to go. Around 9:30am, they started spacing apart, and we got kinda discouraged, but soon they started getting more and more intense. Finally around noon, we called my friend Corinne to come get Ava and we decided to go to the hospital. We were placed in a triage room around 12:30 and our nurse Jill (LOVE HER!) told me that they would watch me for 2 hours and if I didn't progress (believe it or not, I was only 3cm when I got to the hospital-I was 2 cm at my appt on Monday), I would probably have to go home. I thought to myself, "there is NO WAY I am going back home! I am 4 days PAST my due date!!" Luckily, 2 hours later, I had managed to dilate to 5cm and my contractions were getting REALLY REALLY intense. I was ready for the epidural!! BUT, I was still in the triage room! So amid killer contractions, I had to get an IV and go in a wheelchair to our labor and delivery room. It was pretty rough. As soon as I got in our new room, I was almost in tears. But I knew I couldn't start to cry because then I would lose control over my breathing and the contractions would just get worse. So with Bobby by my side, my hero, we made it through some of the worst pain I have ever experienced. I managed to get through each one simply my remembering that they didn't last forever and we would soon be meeting our precious baby _____! At one point, I remember telling Bobby to start praying with me, and he beautifully began whispering a prayer in my ear, and I remember immediately snapping, "NO! To yourself!! NOT OUT LOUD!" hahaha, my sweet husband probably just smiled at me (I wouldn't know because I had my eyes closed for like 2 hours straight during the contractions), and continued to pray for his laboring wife. It just seemed that my senses were heightened and any noises were just unbearable!
At 7 cm, the anesthesiologist finally made it to our room. I was so happy to see her! My epidural definitely did not kick in though like my Dr was expecting, so the anesthesiologist had to keep increasing the dose until finally after about 20 minutes, I no longer felt the intense contractions. I was SOO relieved and remember telling the Dr that even my butt felt numb...random. I felt my personality come back and for about 30 minutes, I was chatty and relaxed. And then, my Dr came in, checked me and it was time to push! So at 4:45pm, I began pushing and my nurse Jill and Bobby encouraged me the whole time, and even though I felt like I was not pushing at all, Lucas was born 13 minutes later! I think he was trying to beat Ava's delivery time of only pushing for 12 minutes! He got close! The rest is history and we are so happy. My ideal delivery basically came true (except the contractions were a little worse than I expected!)- we had a 8lb 1oz baby and I barely had a 1st degree tear! And we had a BOY! Bobby's face was soo adorable when we realized our sweet baby was our new son LUCAS!
Before I got all hooked up, Bobby and I took my last preggo belly picture!
40wks and 4 days pregnant!
Our new family...I'm so in love :)
We're going home! All buckled up for his first car ride! Such a cutie :)
Bright eyes!
Ava pretending to sleep with her brother. She has far exceeded my expectations thus far on being a GREAT big sister. She has been way more gentle and patient than I expected. It probably helps that my mom and alex are here to keep her company too.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a sweet story! He is truly a beautiful baby! Thanks for sharing!

Unknown said...

thanks for your sharing..beautiful family..LOVE HIS NAME

Krista said...

Lucas is SO adorable!!! :) I'm so glad Ava is being such a sweet big sister! Y'all are a sweet couple, so no doubt in my mind that y'all would raise sweet little kids! Thank you for sharing your labor/delivery story! :) I enjoyed reading it!

Unknown said...

Katherine, You're adorable. I love reading your story and anticipating the day (no time soon)of experiencing the joy that children bring. I love you! Congratulations and you have such a beautiful family.

Anonymous said...

Enjoyed hearing "the rest of the story"! What a special and beautiful family...such love...of each other...and of GOD! With faith as your foundation, these wonderful children are seen as the true blessings from God that they are! God Bless Y'all!

Anonymous said...

OOPS! That "anonymous" was me...Laura! TKC!

Anna Liesemeyer said...

Oh my gosh! I am so excited for you! Its the year for baby boys! I LOVED reading your story...thanks for sharing it. Would love to catch up soon!