We are so happy to have the 6th member of our family join us! Luke has been a wonderful addition to our family and I wanted to write about his birth before I forget the details...
We had a scheduled C Section for 12:00 pm. It was really nice to be able to wake up at a normal time and not have to rush out the door at 6:00 am. We had a relaxing morning and Grandma Sharon came down to be with the 3 big brothers. We went back up to IMC in Murray because I like my doctor up there so much and I'm glad that we did. Their O.R. seems more legit some how, more modern and techy. (Yes I make up words now, my brain resorts to whatever means neccesary to communicate.)
We had some time to kill because my doc was a little busy so we watched some football in our room. Nate and I were both more relaxed this time having gone through it so recently. I just couldn't wait to meet baby #4. Finally they came to take us to the delivery room and the surgery was under way. They offered me a mirror this time so I could watch the whole thing. As they were cutting into me I just kept thinking, "Oh man, that's going to hurt later..." But I am so glad that I could see because I got to see my sweet baby Luke's head right as he came out. He was so fat! His cheeks and arms and legs had little rolls on him and there were exclamations of surprise at his size all around. They took him over to weigh him and check on him and I could hear his angry cry. I immediately thought he sounded more like Caden - kind of loud bursting screeches that you couldn't believe came out of someone so tiny. The word that came to my mind was strong. I knew he was a strong soul.
They wrapped him up and brought him over to me and sure enough he even looked more like Caden than his other two brothers. He was still a little unhappy with a gorgeous bottom lip pout but he was calm and I just wanted to kiss his chubby little cheeks. It took them longer than expected to sew me up. So many kids, so many surgeries, putting my back together proved to be a little challenging. Luckily I felt totally safe in the hands of my doc. But I did loose a lot of blood and felt on the verge of fainting for the following 30 - 40 min. The room was swimming and I felt like I was in a happy dream. There is no other experience like the euphoria of a successful birth and having just met someone you would die for.
My dad was in a hurry to catch a flight to Africa that day so he was outside the O.R. waiting with my sweet sisters. They snapped some pics and gave us all hugs and then took off. I honestly don't remember much because I felt like I was barely hanging on to consciousness.
Throughout that day and the following few days in the hospital all the nurses kept commenting on how strong Luke was for a newborn. His resistance to straightening his arms to get dressed or his legs to get his foot pricked was always surprising everyone. I would hold him to feed and the impression I got was that his little spirit wanted to hit the ground running! He was trying so hard, expending so much effort. It was like he thought he could grow up faster if he just tried hard enough. What a remarkable little man.
We had lots of visitors and everyone was excited to meet the little guy. Wherever he went in the room he would turn his head toward the sound of my voice. Tyler was especially honored because of the name choice. Don't ask me why but I felt so good about it from the moment we found out he was a boy. Tyler is a very special guy, very unique. He has all the toughness of a "Ross Man" and at the same time he is very perceptive and caring with people. He is a great bridge builder. I felt this little spirit may benefit from a special connection to his uncle.
His middle name was a favorite of mine before we even picked out a first name. As I went back to the list of names we made when we were expecting Gavin, Luke wasn't even on the list. But it has been one of my favorite boy names since we very first found out Blake was a boy. In fact we called Blake Luke while he was still inside me for just over a week. Then I had a dream and I could not remember it when I woke up but I was alert and focused and I knew that the baby inside me was not supposed to be named Luke. I don't know why it never came up with Gavin, but here we are, finally with the real Luke in our home.
Getting him home turned out to be more complicated than any of our other children. On the second evening in the hospital they ran a test on the oxygen levels in his hand and foot to test circulation. He was low so they retested in an hour. He was still low and they decided to monitor him. Eventually the pediatrician came in to the hospital and took a look. He suggested that we transfer him down to the NICU just so he could be monitored more closely.
I was feeling good, or at least I couldn't feel my own pain at the moment, so I choose to walk down with Luke to the NICU. I sat in a chair next to Nate as about 5 or 6 nurses/doctors checked him and hooked him up to monitors and oxygen. They were all listening to his heart and talking amongst themselves for about 10 minutes before they even recognized that we were in the room. They assured us and told us of the tests they planned to run and asked a bunch of questions.
I started to relax and realized how much pain I was in. I was barely over 24 hours out of surgery, walking all over the place, and forgetting about my pain meds. They sent me back upstairs to rest and I cried the whole way. I was so mad. Not at anyone in particular. My instincts just told me to be a Mama Bear and protect that strong little guy and yet I knew I couldn't do anything. Plus the first hours of the NICU are the hardest for me, not knowing anything.
Over the next week Luke had two echoes, lots of oxygen, and I was released to come home without him. It turns out that he had a mild case of pulmonary hypertension. Nate and I had to stay the night at the hospital while Jessica stayed with our boys to get trained on his equipment to bring him home. We had his oxymitter and tank in tow when we left with him the next day. About 10 minutes into the drive on the way home the alarm started beeping that his oxygen levels were low. I looked at his tank and it was empty. Good job IMC staff... they made us watch a video on how to install a carseat properly and then sent us home with an empty oxygen tank. Ugh. Thank goodness for smart phones, we found the home healthcare place we were using right off the freeway and we went in and got a replacement tank.
All of his gear was delivered later that night and his room looked oddly like a hospital room but he was home! It felt so good to go to sleep with everyone under the same roof that night. His oxymitter only beeped when he would cry and fuss so he did really well. He was ready to be home. He was such a good sport with all the wires and stickers. My mom came and stayed with us which saved our sanity. I couldn't have the boys running around Luke's room while I fed or rocked him so I was kind of MIA that week for the other boys. Luckily Luke was only on the oxygen for a little over a week before we did the test and he came off it for good on Christmas Eve. It was so great to have Christmas morning all together as a family with no tanks or tubes.
Life with Luke is crazy thanks to his 3 older brothers. But Luke is a sweet boy who is excited to be alive. He sometimes tries too hard making eating a burping a little more difficult than it has to be. But he is a good sleeper at night, taking a couple 4 - 5 hour stretches of sleep so that is nice. We have found our new normal and I can actually say that we are happily surviving this craziness. Four kids in three and a half years is not for the faint of heart, haha. Adoring the heck out of each boy individually helps a lot.
