Baby Luke made his enterance into the world on August 6th at 10:31 p.m. I went into the hospital that morning around 10 am and they started the induction process around 11:30 am. I had hoped to have Luke around early evening but he obviously didn't agree with his mother!
My labor went fairly well. I had persistent contractions throughout the day every 2 to 4 minutes. I must admit, I was very nervous about being induced. There were times in the hospital I questioned our decision to go through with the induction. I just wanted the baby to be O. K. Again, with this labor as my labor with Logan, I didn't experience too much pain until the last hour and a half.
I started to feel many of my contractions in my back. This is a sign that the baby is posterior. This means that normally babies are born face down, but when they are posterior they are born face up. Sometimes it is too difficult for women to deliver babies that are posterior and then a c-section is performed. Well, wouldn't you know it, my Luke decided to come out in a posterior way. I pushed and pushed for 31 minutes before he made his enterance. I have never felt such pain in my life. When I was pushing Logan out, I was able to relax for a minute or so between contractions. Not so with Luke, I was so very uncomfortable through the whole pushing part of labor. My doctor told me afterward that if Luke had been in the correct position, I would have delivered him with just 3 pushes. Thanks Doc!
As soon as Luke was put on my stomach, I couldn't believe how much he looked like his big brother Logan. Dustin, my cousin Sarah along with my sister-in-law Amy were in the delivery room with me and we all commented how much Luke looked like Logan.
The big question was how much Luke weighed. One of the reasons I was induced was because we thought Luke was going to be a bigger baby. Logan was 8 lbs. 13 oz. and my doctor thought Luke was going to be in the 8 lb range. I asked them how much Luke weighed and they said 7 lbs. 4 oz. WHAT!?! I couldn't believe it. I seriously thought they made a mistake. He was so tiny. We all laughed at how small he was.
So, we spent the next few days in the hospital. I cried when Logan came the next day to see his new brother. Logan looked so big. He did very well with his new brother. He paid little attention to Luke, but a lot of attention to all the new toys his brother got him along with everyone else in the family!!
We were released from the hospital on Wednesday and had our first pediatrician appointment on that Friday. Once we got Luke to the doctor's office, Dustin and I noticed that his eyes looked a little yellow. The doctor did his exam and didn't think the jaundice was that bad but had a blood test run on Luke. An hour and a half after returning home, the doctor called us and told us he was admitting Luke back into the hospital for "photo therapy" because his jaundice level was too high. So, back to the hospital we went. Luke had to be put in an incubator with no clothes on, a surgical mask as a diaper and goggles over his eyes. There were lights all around him. The doctor in charge of Luke while he was there wouldn't let us hold Luke at all. We could touch him but couldn't take him out of the incubator. He wanted solid and consistent light on Luke. This was hard for me. I cried for seriously the first few hours we were there. I just wanted Luke to be O. K. and wanted him to know we loved him.
Luke did better than his Mommy. He basically slept the whole time except when we had to feed him in the incubator by syringe. We weren't even in a room at the hospital, we were in a nursery. It wasn't very comfortable for Dustin and I but all that mattered was Luke! Around 3 am the next morning, we got to hold our precious new son for roughly 2 minutes while they weighed him. Again, Mommy sobbed and sobbed while holding her baby. Then around 8 or so, they did another blood test and his level was normal... after 16 hours, we were going home, praise the Lord! So about noon we went home again!
As you can see it has been an eventful few weeks. Dustin and I are adjusting to no sleep at night. Logan is also adjusting to no sleep due to his baby brother waking him by crying. Hopefully, within the next few weeks we will get on a schedule with our 2 sons. I am so thankful for both of my boys. I can't believe I am now a mother of 2!
In closing, I want to thank all of our family and friends who have come over to help or come over with meals. You don't know how much all of you mean to us. We are so appreciative for all you have done. We couldn't have made it without you all! Thanks!
