Figuring It All Out...

I have a whole new respect for the billions of women who have gone through child birth and the first few days with a newborn baby. I'm not sure I would have survived our first week home without my mom and Tommy. My mom has been here almost every day and has been absolutely amazing, just as she was for the weeks I was on bed rest. I feel a completely new bond with Tommy and feel like we've never been stronger. I truly love him more every day. Every day gets a little easier and I can't believe how much Luke has changed already. He started smiling yesterday (my mom claims he smiled somewhere around day 3 but I don't buy it). They're mostly in his sleep, but it's the most adorably beautiful thing to see a brand new baby smile. He's so snuggly and sweet and tiny and he's a piece of me and Tommy!

My dad with his first grandchild

sleeping on his dad

again... sleeping... you mommies know what newborns do



on his Grandma's knees

Coming Home

After three days in the hospital we were so ready to be home!

Daddy checking out his "mini-me" as he calls him shortly before we left

strapped in ready for the ride

first time in his swing (he loves it)

resting with Mommy

We had so many visitors in the hospital. Luke was highly anticipated and Tommy and I are so blessed with lots of friends and family, people couldn't wait to get their hands on him! My Mom (who will be called Grandma), Aunt Bonnie, and Sarah were there waiting when he was born.

She's in love :)

My other sister, Carrie

My Grandma

Tommy's best friend Jason

me with my naked baby in my shirt... a suggestion from the lactation consultant. We haven't tried this one again since.

~*Luke*~

Brand new

Baby Feet!

Our First Family Photo

Proud Daddy

11 days into Luke's life and I'm finally getting around to blogging about it! The days since he was born have all blurred together, flown, and dragged all at the same time. So much has changed in less than two weeks, it's absolutely unbelievable! So, here's the story of Luke's first day:
After spending Tuesday night in the hospital on cervidil, I woke up Wednesday morning still 2 cm dilated and ready to be induced. At 9:00 they started the Pitocin and contractions started coming on very soon after that. Because I was only 2 cm dilated everyone was anticipating a long labor. We were all shocked when my water broke around 10:00 and contractions became very intense. I was fully dilated very quickly and Luke was on his way! After I started pushing Dr. Davis became very concerned because every time I pushed Luke's heartbeat dropped dramatically. He let me push through a few contractions, but after it consistently dropped he finally decided Luke needed to come out immediately and I was wheeled in for a c-section. Dr. Davis had him out in the same minute he made the incision (Luke threw his arm up in the air as soon as the cut was made to let them know where he was :) ) and the cord was wrapped around his neck, explaining the drop in heart rate. Luckily Dr. Davis had made the right decision when it needed to be made, and he was perfectly fine and cried to let us know he was okay. He was 6 lbs, 12.6 oz and 21" long. He's a miniature Tommy. The resemblance is especially clear when his eyes are open. I think he might have my lips and chin, but from the top of the head to the nose he's his daddy all the way.

Here We Go!

Just got back from the doctors. I'm heading into the hospital in about an hour for Cervidil overnight. Tomorrow morning they're going to start me on Pitocin and hopefully sometime tomorrow there will be a new member of our family. I'm pretty nervous, I was really hoping to avoid being induced but they think it's best to get him out as soon as possible with the excess fluid around him and my blood pressure which was up today. Stay tuned for Luke's debut into the blog world very soon!

*Sigh*

Well, due date has come and gone. Obviously not all babies are born on or before their due date, but after answering the question "when are you due??" 1,000 times during pregnancy, that date just starts to stick out in your head as THE day. I have a doctor's appointment this afternoon where they may or may not strip my membranes depending on what's going on down there. If not, she said we'll schedule a date for induction. I would really rather wait and go naturally than be induced, but I'm starting to worry about my boy being a big chunker, plus I watched the show "Babies: Special Delivery" on the Discovery Channel yesterday and this doctor got me really freaked out about going over my due date and the complications that can come along with it. I had two horrendous nightmares last night, both having to do with Luke. I very rarely have scary dreams, so I'm really hoping he comes out soon because I think this is definitely starting to affect me psychologically! I'm planning to run to Best Buy this morning to exchange the new camcorder we got because another brand got much better reviews for the same price and I don't want to be stuck with a piece of junk. Tommy advised against it, he's convinced I'm going to end up delivering our child in some public restroom or something if I leave the house :) So wish me luck and say a little prayer please!

I'm Back!

I had an ultrasound Monday night to check my fluid levels because the doctor's concerned about me having some extra fluid. Then, I had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday and my blood pressure was very normal for the second week in a row, and the results from the ultrasound looked good, so she told me I could come off bed rest! Hopefully a little bit of exercise will speed Luke's arrival up. I'm not doing too much because I get tired really easily. But, I did come into work today.... I haven't done much, just catching up on the blogs and e-mail and bills and stuff. Nine days until my due date and Luke shows no signs of coming. I'm glad to be out of the house, but I wish I was in my pool right now! It's such a beautiful day.

Picture from my sonogram on Monday. Isn't our boy a cutie already??

me last week- 37 weeks