Recapping Luke's birth on the eve of his 2nd birthday...

The story of Luke’s birth is a much shorter story than Seth’s. We were told to be at the hospital at 10AM. We arrived a little late (shocking, I know, but Dave pointed out they couldn’t do much without us!). And he was born via c-section at 12:36PM.

Of course, there was a little more to it than that. Having had a c-section with Seth, we got to choose whether we had another c-section or tried for a “normal” birth again. I know that many people are opposed to opting for a repeat c-section and I know that many people have non-surgical deliveries following a c-section. I also know that there is a very tiny risk of the mom rupturing during labor following a c-section and that the results can be catastrophic. So, couple the thought of being in labor forever and then having another c-section anyway with the thought of worrying about the risks, and another c-section seemed like a good idea to both David and myself.

The day before was really hard. Knowing that I would have a baby the next day sent me into some sort of cleaning frenzy. I wanted everything to be just perfect, as if Luke would care. And I had a 22 month old who had decided that sleeping alone in his room was overrated. So, Dave spent a lot of the night in Seth’s room after he went to bed, leaving me alone and probably more neurotic than I needed to be!

The morning of February 18^th, 2008 finally arrived. I wasn't allowed to eat because of the scheduled surgery. We took Seth to my sister’s house to spend the day. That might have been the most difficult drop off ever! And off we went to the hospital to meet our new little guy.

I remember waiting briefly in the waiting area and then being ushered back to put on the beautiful gown, and wondering why I bothered to get dressed up for the day. They started all the pre-op fun, labs and IV’s, etc. at a leisurely pace. Then they put the monitor on Luke and his heart rate was either too high or too low (high, I think) and they started rushing the prep in case he needed to be delivered sooner. Never a dull moment with Luke!!

Then the worst part – you get to walk yourself back to the operating room. AND they take your husband away, temporarily, to get him dressed up like the Michelin man in his pretty, blue, sterile outfit. But I like my doctor a lot and our anesthesiologist was wonderful so we all hung out chatting and Dave joined us shortly and then the c-section got under way. Pretty soon we were admiring our little guy, who was a whole pound lighter than Seth. I couldn’t believe this tiny (? 8lbs, 2 oz) person came out of me!

Then the doctors and nurses started a discussion that my medically queasy-stomached husband didn’t appreciate so much. He had to put Luke back in the bassinet and he started looking very pale. All I knew was that if he knocked the minutes-old baby on the floor I was going to be VERY unhappy. So, they took him out of the OR to get a drink. And then my petite and pregnant doctor realized we were stuck as everyone had left her and I in the room and she couldn’t lift me from one cart to the other to go back to the room. Pretty funny now!

Unfortunately the drugs make me very sick and after a little while I started throwing up and that lasted until 8 or so that night. It took two kinds of meds and a wonderful nurse to get me under control. But I think I only used the morphine drip once (learned from the my experience with Seth) and once I wasn’t getting sick anymore I could have oral meds which make me much less loopy! I have heard about a fabulous new option for pain management and I just have to find out if my doctor uses it (she’s on maternity leave now and no one could answer the question at my last appointment, but she should be back in plenty of time for the next c-section!).

So, that's the story of how we met our little Lukey!