The hospital told me to come in around 10:15am. So we had grandma come over to watch Sophie and Aspen and we went to the hospital. Being induced is a really weird experience because you just calmly drive to the hospital without any of the urgency of real labor. It feels really surreal.
When we got to the hospital they checked us in to a room and told me to put on the gown. Then the nurse left for 30 mins. She finally came back and put my IV in, then left again for 30 mins. The nurse checked me and I was still only at 3cm. I know that I have fast labors, so I was getting a little impatient with having to wait to get my labor started. (I know they have other things to do, but I was so ready to meet my little guy and get him out of me.) Then the nurse came back and said that my doctor really wanted me to get the epidural before he broke my water. He knows that I labor quickly, and thought that would be the best option. But I was a little torn: I never really felt any pain during Aspen's delivery, so I didn't know how much I needed the epidural. Plus it seemed a little pointless to get it when I wasn't in any pain at the time. But I also knew that I progress quickly and didn't want to risk not being able to get one in time. So I decided to go ahead with my doctor's recommendation. So we waited a little longer for the anesthesiologist to come give me the epidural.
The anesthesiologist arrived and gave me a really good epidural. I asked for a low dose because I wasn't feeling anything yet, and I was still able to move and feel the contractions a little. At about 1pm, Dr. Terry arrived to break my water. Dr. Terry is a funny guy--I really like him as a doctor, but he has so much energy and enthusiasm it wears you out after a while. I started joking around with him about having this baby fast and I said that I expected to be done in less than an hour. Dr. Terry looked at the clock and said, "Ok, how does 2:14 sound? Let's have this baby at 2:14". We all laughed about it thinking there was no way that was going to happen. But he broke my water, started the Pitocin, and left.
Things were good for the first 30 mins or so. But then I started to feel "weird". I kept telling Isaac that I felt weird, but couldn't explain it well. I felt like I had to pee, but knew that I shouldn't because I had a catheter in. But every time I had a contraction I would feel like I needed to pee. (I know that baby feels like poop, so the peeing sensation was throwing me off.) Isaac just thought that when I had a contraction my uterus was pressing on the catheter funny. So I waited it out for a while longer. But after a few more contractions I felt like I had to poop. It wasn't a super strong feeling, but I knew it wouldn't be long. The pooping feeling got stronger, so I paged the nurse. She came in and checked me, but I was only at 7cm. She said I still had a while and left. I endured a few more contractions and started feeling like I needed to push. By this time I was in quite a bit of pain and my low dose epidural didn't seem to be doing anything. I asked Isaac if I should call the nurse again, cause I felt a little silly paging her 5 mins after she just checked me. But by the next contraction I knew the baby was coming.
So the nurse came in and checked me. Then she very calmly said, "let me just page your doctor". Ha! I knew the baby was on it's way. She also paged another nurse saying your patient is about to have a baby. Through the intercom necklace things they use the nurse said "they said she's fast, but that's ridiculous". So after a few more painful contractions (they had me push the button for more drug, but I had to wait 10 mins before I could push it again) the doctor and nurses arrived. This whole time the nurse kept telling me not to push. When you have pressure like that, it's practically impossible not to push. They also paged the anesthesiologist to come in again because my epidural was wearing off. He was in with another patient but said he'd be there shortly. Dr. Terry quickly broke the bed down and they had my legs in the stirrups and had me start pushing.
I could tell that Luke was almost ready to come out when the anesthesiologist rushed in. He didn't ask if I still wanted drugs, but shot something into my IV line and left. By that time Luke's head was crowning and they could see all his dark hair. After about 2 more pushes, baby Luke was born. It was 2:08pm. The new drug didn't have a chance to kick in before he was born, but I guess it did help when the doctor stitched up where he gave me an episiotomy. But I was crazy numb for the next 4 hours (which was really annoying).
This was definitely my most painful delivery yet. I'm not sure how much my epidural was even working at that time (the nurses made comments after that they thought the epidural was completely worn off by the time I started pushing) and I was squeezing Isaac's hand harder than I've ever done before. The need to push was so strong that I really couldn't stop. At one point the nurses told me to take a break and I said "I can't stop pushing". So they had me keep going, but then I couldn't breathe very well. Anyway, Isaac keeps telling me I have the easiest deliveries he's ever seen (so I'm not sure he appreciates how much it hurts).
They wiped Luke down a little bit and handed him to me. He immediately peed all over me as a thank you for bringing him into the cold world. The hospital does something called "The Sacred Hour" where they leave the baby and mom with skin-to-skin for an hour right after birth. It was nice to have that alone time with our little family, but it was weird that Isaac didn't get to hold his son for over an hour after birth.
Then they moved me up to my recovery room and Jamie came to visit. She had a date that night and really wanted to see him first. It was good to see her, but I started feeling tired and weak at that point. I think the blood loss was kicking in. Then Barry and Karla showed up right when the nurses had to take Luke away to do some stuff, so they didn't get to see him much. My dinner also showed up, and I rudely ate in front of everyone, but I was starving since having not eaten since breakfast that morning.
By this time it was about 6:30pm and I sent Isaac home to relieve my mom from dealing with a vomiting child all day. We really wanted the girls to meet their new brother, but didn't want to bring sick kids to the hospital. When Isaac got home and told Sophie they couldn't come, she started crying. She wanted to meet her brother so much and give him the present (a stuffed fox and slippers and hat) that she had picked out for him. So Isaac caved and brought the girls to the hospital. My mom was also really sad because she didn't know if she could go to the hospital in her "contaminated" clothing, but didn't think she would have time to change before visiting hours were over. Isaac convinced her to just go with him and the girls, so they showed up around 7pm to meet Baby Luke.
Sophie was really cute with Luke. And we tried to keep Aspen away from him (which was actually really easy because she was a zombie). It was great to see my girls, but they didn't stay long because of their germs. Isaac took them home and decided to stay with them the following day instead of joining baby Luke and me at the hospital.
Staying at the hospital is not a restful experience. Nurses have to come in every few hours to check on me and Luke. After everyone left, I was looking forward to relaxing and getting some rest because I was completely exhausted after a very emotional day. But the nurse came in and said we could give Luke his first bath at 10:30pm. Since the nurses were going to come check on me at 11pm I decided it would be fine.
Luke was so cute during his bath. When the nurse would run water over his head, his eyes would relax and he would look so content and happy. And it is so nice to be able to hold my sweet little baby once all the nasty birth stuff has been washed off (especially since all my babies have had so much hair that is matted down with gross stuff).
The next day Isaac didn't come to the hospital because he had to take care of Aspen and Sophie (we couldn't subject my mom to another day of sick and vomiting children). So although it was nice to have time to bond with Luke, I was bored out of my mind. All my visitors had come the night before, so there was no one to talk to. I was feeling really good and took Luke for a few walks around the hospital. All the nurses kept making comments about it being strange that I was up and about, but what else was I supposed to do? Finally I asked if I could be discharged after 24 hrs because I missed my girls and couldn't stand the hospital any longer. I debated whether I should bring Luke home to a house full of sickness, but figured that 24 hours longer in the hospital wouldn't make a difference. So Isaac and the girls came to pick us up and we went home.
The first week home was a really stressful one. Aspen got over her sickness in a few days, but right when she got over it Sophie came down with it. Then Sophie got better and Isaac got sick. So I was cleaning up vomit and diarrhea, and trying to sterilize everything that was contaminated all while trying to keep Luke from getting sick. I must have done 3 loads of laundry every day that week because I had so many soiled blankets and towels. But miraculously Luke and I never got sick.
Luke is such an adorable little guy. He feeds really well and sleeps almost all the time. I just want to snuggle him all day. I have started calling him "Little Man" because Luke still just hasn't clicked for me yet. But I love my Little Man and am so glad he is here with me (outside of me).
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