Luke's Birth Day - this is how it went!

I woke up around 1am on Saturday June 20th, 2009 with that “ugh” feeling. I hightailed it to the bathroom and felt much better afterwards (no need for ALL the details). I even remember thinking that it must have been something I ate. I was 40 weeks and 1 day pregnant and had my membranes scraped the day before but I was truly convinced that this yucky feeling was just something I ate. All those preparations and I still was not mentally ready to have labor be the reason for my stomach pain. I am a moron! This bed to bathroom dance continued for about 45 minutes before I woke up my dear, sweet, will sleep through a tornado, husband. I basically said I am not feeling well and his more logical brain said “Do you think this is it?” I seriously responded with “Do I think this is what?”. Duh. I didn’t have time to be embarrassed because at that moment I ran as fast as my pregnant self could run to make it to the bathroom in time to vomit. That’s right, vomit! I don’t remember any of my literature mentioning projectile vomit in the labor section. Why didn’t anyone tell me about the barfing? I am not a vomiter, seriously, I can count on one hand the number of times I have vomited. (Yes, I can hold my liquor very well, thank you.). To make matters worse I was too huge to properly hug the toilet so the sink it was. Gross. I returned from this completely unexpected turn of events and said to my husband, with complete affirmation, “Yes, this is it.”


L immediately went into scientist mode and got out the premade chart and his stopwatch. We had only filled in 4 boxes before we realized that my contractions were only 4 minutes apart and lasting nearly a minute – plus some added time for the aforementioned puking. A call was made to the doctor – which of course is not directly to the doctor, a random kid (I say kid because he honestly sounded like he was 12) said that he would pass the information along and would call us back. Two agonizing contractions later we were on our way.

I remember the ride to the hospital vividly. It’s sad but I remember the car trip to the hospital more clearly than I remember Luke being born…did I just admit that?! Anyway, we lived about 40 minutes from the hospital but because it was just after 3 in the morning it didn’t take nearly that long. I also remember thinking that there seemed to be an awful lot of people on the road at that hour, could any of those other cars have held expectant moms breathing deeply and swearing? The car contractions seemed to pass better than the ones at home, I don’t know if it was because I had more distractions (the lights, the noises, etc.) or what but they didn’t seem quite as bad…maybe we should have driven around some more. The vomiting persisted though and I remember asking L if he would rather I puke out the window or into the pillowcase that contained the pillow I had ready to go at week 30. He chose the pillowcase because the car was new. Yes, we had to upgrade to a babymobile and no it is NOT a minivan (I have nothing against minivans, I was shuttled around my entire childhood in a minivan), we are just not there yet. A minivan seems so “mom-ish”, I am a mom but I have yet to have the “-ish” attached.

When we got to the hospital, we knew exactly where to go because we had taken the tour months before. We discarded the pillow in a parking garage trashcan and entered the hospital around 4am. I was admitted, checked (completely and utterly uncomfortable), puked some more (although I was told by the attending doctor that vomit is often a sign of a quick labor to come…she was wrong), and transferred to a birthing room. Let’s just stop and mention that these birthing rooms are nicer than 75% of the hotels that I have stayed in…the birthing room luxury is not helping to keep world population down.

I will spare you lots of details, let’s just say there was a lot of pain, a lot of crying, and a lot of hand holding. My husband had so much love, pride, and fear in his eyes, I cannot imagine what it is like to simply be an onlooker in the whole process. He did everything right.  We were so thankful for the machine that tracks heartrate and contractions, it gave us both something to concentrate on and we welcomed the science talk – in between contractions of course. Listen, I couldn’t hack it. I got an epidural, hell, I DEMANDED an epidural. I am not ashamed of it, in fact I am utterly surprised that it has to be ordered at all. The anestegiologist should just come with the birthing room package. For me it was a no brainer. I do, however, completely admire those that go the natural route. God bless you, I am not on your team but I respect your game.

What a difference a huge needle in your back makes. The epidural was truly a godsend. I slept, I smiled, I laughed, I for some reason really enjoyed 2 straight hours of CNN. And then, sixteen hours into labor it was time to push and wouldn’t you know the epidural had worn off…of course it did. I pushed and pushed and pushed and PUSHED. Nothing, very little progress in 2 hours of pushing so we were prepped for a c-section. Let me just say that being told that I should have a c-section was the absolute hardest thing for me to hear. If you could see me, I have the textbook birthing body, honestly, I was built for this. I was so disappointed, I felt like a failure, me of all people could not get this baby out…I was devastated. I cried my eyes out and in retrospect I think that kept me from thinking about the c-section – major surgery but at that point I just wanted to see my son. I wanted it all to be over.

L was a wreck. He is a kind, gentle, soft spoken guy (opposites attract obviously) and he continued to say all the right things and be upbeat about everything but I could see in eyes that he was terrified. His wife was about to have major surgery and all he could he do was hold her hand and watch (little did he know that was all I needed). Off we went and 19 ½ hours after my contractions started little Luke was pulled from my belly! The cry! Honestly, it is the only time in which hearing a baby scream is the best sound in the entire world. He was perfect, conehead and all, just perfect!

I cried, L cried, and I am pretty sure I saw tears in our labor nurses’ eyes. (The labor nurse became my best friend, seriously, I know all about her family, her favorite vacation destination, and how she likes her coffee). She was an angel and my mom brought cookies for her when she came to visit the next day. Iin 19 hours we developed a cookie giving relationship…that is pretty serious, don’t you think! What an emotional rollercoaster. Little Luke was rushed off to the NICU because he spiked a fever during labor (as did I) so I just watched his pink body being carried away by some unidentified hospital personel. I had lost control already and my kid is only 2 minutes old!? L got to go see him while I was ordered to rest, my family (mom, dad, and Daney) arrived to keep me company. I remember telling them that yes, I was feeling fine despite my unshakable shivers and that I wanted to wait until L got back to tell them our son’s name. Don’t even get me started, the whole name game was not nearly as much fun as I thought it was going to be…Luke was an almost game time decision. Anyway, L returned, the name proclamation was given and all was well with the world. I had to wait longer than expected to see my baby and in the meantime wouldn’t you know that my parents (“Yes, the baby’s grandparents are more than welcome to go see Luke”) and my sister (The nurse: “We don’t allow aunts and uncles to visit until after the baby is out of the NICU.” My sister: “Well, I am only here for 24 hours, my flight leaves tomorrow (that was true), and I am a doctor (ahhh yes, playing the doctor card).” The nurse: “Okay then.”). So, after everyone except the mother got to see his gorgeous, albeit fresh from the womb face (I will never understand why some people send birth announcements with photos of their child .2 seconds after birth…not cute) I finally was wheeled in to greet my baby boy. More tears and the beginning of my, probably annoying to others, baby voice. He was mine, all mine…a beautiful baby boy! It was the most exciting and exhausting day of my entire life and if it hadn’t been for the whole “ I just had a 9lb baby and now I have to take care of him” thing I would have slept for days.

Happy Birthday Luke!