So I've always wanted to start a blog, and since you've come into this world I wanted to document as much as your life as possible for you and our family to enjoy over the years. My first post is fittingly titled "On the day you were born" where I will describe one of the most challenging but overall best days of my life.
Sunday, December 30 was your eviction date set by the doctor. My blood pressure was running a little high at the last two appointments so my OB decided that when I hit 39 weeks it was time for you to come out. So, the induction was scheduled to start Sunday 12/30 at 8pm. After your dad and I found that out, we started to get really nervous on Saturday. The time was finally here, and while we had everything ready, it was another thing to get our minds ready for your arrival. On Sunday morning, we slept in until 10ish, then I did some laundry and prepped the house for visitors. In order to try and kill some time, around 12:30pm we went to Average Joes to watch some of the Bengals game and get some lunch. After watching about an hour of the game, we left and decided to get a car wash for Molly. (she was really dirty so it was nice to get her cleaned up!) Then, because we know we wouldn't get a lot of sleep when you arrived, we decided to take another nap until around 6pm when it was time to get ready for the hospital. I have to admit I was a little to nervous to sleep though. I took a nice long shower at home, shaved (even cut myself on the ankle). I then decided to have my final meal (an english muffin with peanut butter) around 6:30pm. Dad didn't eat anything, but I kinda wish he would have.
We left the house around 7:30pm and headed to the hospital. This was the last time we would leave the house as two. :) It was very cold on that night, with a blanket of about 6 inches of snow that had fallen throughout the past weeks. We knew you were definitely going to be born to a coat of snow since there was no chance of this melting at all. After getting to the hospital around 7:55pm, we checked in at registration, and then headed to the waiting room to wait for our room to be ready. We had to wait around 15 minutes, but it was the longest wait of my life. lol. Around 8:30pm we got into the hospital room and I changed into my hospital gown. My first nurse, DeeDee, who was on until 11pm, got my IV set up in my hand and started me on fluid. I also had a blood pressure cuff, a pulse oximeter on my finger, your heart rate monitor and a uterine contraction monitor that were placed around my tummy. After checking vitals, they started me on pitocin around 9:30pm. They mentioned that I should start feeling contractions within 45 minutes but nothing started in that time frame. She also checked my cervix and I was 2cm dilated and 70% effaced, so I still had a long way to go! After 11pm, I got a new nurse Karen that was really nice. She continued to monitor my contractions throughout the night, (or lack thereof). Throughout the night, I got no sleep (same with Dad as well), but everything else was good except the monitors kept coming off that measured your heart rate so that was annoying. I was really hot though, so of course I was freezing everyone else out in the room. Grandpa Lucas was happy because he said the rest of the hospital was hot, so my room was a nice change of pace! Dad was cold, so he used my pink robe as a blanket. It was very cute by the way, and he did a great job of being beside me and supporting me throughout the night.
After hours of no cervix change and no contractions, they decided to break my water around 5:30am. A sleepy resident came in and performed the procedure, and after only a few minutes I felt warm liquid in the bed! My water had broken! Woohoo!! After that, I started having contractions that were very painful and came about every 2 minutes. The nurse mentioned I could get an epidural whenever I needed it, so I was able to handle the pain for about 2 hours before needing one. At 7:30am, the anesthesia nurse Ron came in to do my epidural. Let me tell you, that man has a very high stress job. While he was doing my epidural, he was getting called in for an emergency c-section. The good news is that he was able to finish mine before leaving, but wasn't able to connect the pump because he had to leave STAT! After it was in, it was the greatest feeling ever because my pain was gone. I was relieved when everything started numbing since I had been in pain for over 2 hours at this point. After that, I was able to continue labor, relatively pain free, for another 4 or 5 hours.
Throughout the next 6 hours, the nurses checked my cervix and up until about 2pm, I wasn't dilated more than 5cm. I was very upset since I was making no progress, but the doctor and nurses kept telling me that you were doing fine in there so I didn't need to worry. At about 3:15pm, the nurse surprised me by telling me that it was time for me to start pushing. I got a little excited because I was thinking I was going to meet you very soon!! Well, lets just say the next 2-3 hours were very eventful. I had a few embarassing labor moments I won't write about here ;), and I pushed through every painful contraction (oh yeah, my epidural fell out midway through so that was painful when the drugs started wearing off). It was difficult at first to know how to push, but the nurses and doctors were trying to help as much as possible. Even Dad and Grandma Lucas got into the act and helped me push by holding my legs. They were tired afterwards because they said my legs were very strong. Towards the end, Dad even held up my head to try and help me focus on pushing correctly. Lets just say my support team was amazing, and Dad worked as hard as he could to help me get you out. However, at around 5:45pm, the doctor decided that there was no way your head was going to fit through my pelvis correctly, and that we needed to do a c-section. Of course, when I found out, I wasn't very happy and was a crying mess. It was a very tough time because I blamed myself for not being able to get you out the normal way.
The c-section was a blur. Within an hour, I was given antibiotics that tasted like grape flavored smarties, I was given more medication to numb me even more for surgery, and was whisked off to the operating room for surgery. Only Dad was allowed to come, and he had to get dressed up in scrubs. I remember telling him that he needed to remember the camera because I didn't want to miss this moment! LOL. After being prepped for surgery, Dr. Lindauer came in and started. Within less than 10 minutes, and after needing a few nurses to push you back into my stomach area from where you were, you were born! At 7:09pm, you came into the world crying beautifully, and I had the greatest feeling of joy come over me knowing that you were out and healthy. After they got you out, Dad was able to hold you and be with you while they were measuring your heart rate and making sure everything was ok. I got to see you as well, but since they were still stitching me up, I didn't get to hold you, which was kind of sad. Dad was able to get some really good pictures of your first minutes of life. He even went to the waiting room to show everyone that was waiting for you. At first, they thought you looked really big in the pictures, but it turns out you were only 7 pounds, 1 oz and were 20 inches long. :) You definitely had a conehead and a bruise on your head, leg, and butt from the labor, but you were still pretty cute.
I was then taken to the recovery room, where Dad and I got to hold you again. We got to do skin to skin, and also I attempted to breastfeed you. You were so amazing, and I was in love with you! We stayed in the recovery room for about an hour before you were taken away for your first bath in the nursery. It turns out while you were in the nursery, everyone waiting for you was able to watch. Uncle Jeffrey took a pretty funny video of that experience, which we all laughed as we were watching later.
I was then taken to my room in the hospital, which would be the place that your dad and I stayed for the next four days. The coolest part of the night is that they finally brought you to our room at around 11:55pm, and I was able to hold you as the ball dropped in New York City marking the beginning of 2013! You barely made it as a 2012 baby, but I think you definitely have a pretty cool birthday. Everyone will celebrate with you every year!
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