♥ Lukas Timothy Klich ♥ August 28, 2012 ♥

It's been a long time since I have been on here. Almost a month maybe. But I have been super busy being a new mommy :). After I wrote my last entry on here, I went into labor the morning of the 28th of August. I was expecting it, and I knew something was going on. I can't really explain it, but whenever I feel those shifts of energy and time in my life, I can always tell something is coming. Even though I feigned skepticism during labor, believing I was only experiencing Braxton-Hicks, (let me say the contractions did not hurt me, everybody said I would know when I was in real labor, I knew I was in real labor but definitely not because of the contractions). They were nothing like I thought they would be.

The contractions were different, though, because they woke me up around 1 AM. I assumed it was indigestion or something, or maybe just the Braxton-Hicks practicing for D-Day. Little did I know I had been sleeping while my cervix was dilating. I assumed this was my insomnia keeping me up again, so when I couldn't go back to sleep, after trying and being woke up by contractions again, I turned on the TV like usual and watched Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The movie was over and I was going to go back to bed, because usually I can sleep again after 3 AM the insomnia would wear off and I'd be tired enough to sleep.
Well, needless to say it was not insomnia. And although the contractions were more intense, they didn't really hurt, so I was confused and unsure of what to do. I had called my doctor the night before (two nights ago to be exact) and gave her some symptoms I was having. She said it sounded like early labor, but because I had no other symptoms and my contractions were by far regular, I was actually not going to go in to the hospital. I was just going to stay home and try to sleep.
Let me tell you, ladies, NEVER go by the books when it comes to your own unique pregnancy. Everyone is different, and everyone goes through labor differently. Had I not gone in, I would've been sorry later on, because I ended up having some major back labor that did make me uncomfortable. I also wound up having to have a C-Section as well. So, as I said, my contractions were not at all regular, I never lost any mucous plug, although I am assuming I was losing it very gradually, and my water never broke either.
If your gut tells you something is up, listen to it, and don't listen to the books or so-called experts.
So, that said, my contractions were very irregular, some were even 15 minutes apart. I got up for some water, and ended up curling up next to the couch on the floor, where Tim was sleeping, because the contraction I was getting was definitely more intense than the last. I could walk, talk, think and breathe normal, though, so again going according to the books I was just going to stay home and do absolutely nothing about it.
I just couldn't sleep because I had that intuitive feeling something needed to be done. I was right, the books were all wrong.

I grabbed Tim's arm and squeezed, he woke up immediately after a couple shakes, and I curled up into his arms lying next to him for a minute with the dogs curled up among both of us. I explained what was happening, and he asked if we needed to go to the hospital. I finally agreed because I just wanted to know if I was even progressing. I had heard such horror stories about women who had stayed dilated at 1 CMT for an entire month :(, and at this moment I hardly believed I was even dilated 3 CMT, so I just wanted to know if everything was going along or progressing or staying the same. Even though we really believed we would be sent home from the hospital after examination, Tim still flew around the house packing our "hospital bag". Not to mention, that very afternoon prior to all the hospitalization, I had asked him to pick up toiletries and things for the hospital stay after work, which he forgot to do. Let me also say the whole panicky "pack a bag for the hospital" is very overrated. We didn't even use half the stuff we brought, if any at all. We just used the obvious like the going home outfit for the baby, and the car seat were the only real necessities we needed. The hospital provided everything else, free of charge, including shampoo and soap. We got excellent treatment from Sacred Heart Hospital :). However, I will say the older RNs (save for a few) were very bitchy and kind of nasty. The young ones were absolutely amazing though! I am getting ahead of myself here, that is a whole other story I'll talk about later.
We are driving on one of the crappiest roads that will lead us to our destination. North Crossing has bumps, pot holes and everything in between to make your ride during labor rather uncomfortable.
Tim is helping me time my contractions, and they are still very irregular, but they last longer and longer and get more intense.
We pull into the parking lot around 3:48 AM, and trying to find some humor in everything, Tim goes, "Look, honey, choice of parking, front row." Like parking was even on my mind at this point. He could've driven us straight through the emergency marked entrance and I wouldn't have cared.
We walk past a police car sitting parked outside the entrance, and walked through the doors to the desk. The woman didn't waste a breath before she asked, "Are you in labor?"
I just nodded and said, "Maybe so. I think so." She had me sign papers and took my information.
A RN came and rescued us from the lobby after what felt like forever, and we were walking up to the room where I would spend the next 17 hours in labor and attempting to deliver my son naturally as planned. We rode the elevator up and I had not even paid the slightest bit of attention to the floor we were journeying up to. It was high up, though, I will guess it was 4th floor or 3rd? I didn't rally care at that point, I just wanted to know what was going on.
The nurses were amazing, we liked all of them and appreciated every single thing they did. Sacred Heart is really a great hospital, probably even at the very top, from our experience.
We were taken into a cool, quiet room, and I was instructed to go through the routine of changing into a gown, no panties, and to climb into bed so they could examine me inside and out... Literally.
No, really, I felt like a porn star after all the digging around those people did, checking my cervix for dilation and all that fun stuff. I didn't get any epidurals until I got back labor during my second phase or whatever. So, even though I wanted it naturally without any drugs or pain killers, I didn't get my wish because I didn't know what I would be in for with the back labor, I just knew it was starting to hurt and all my girlfriends who have been through back labor said it sucks incredibly.
Well, lying in the hospital bed drove me crazy. The stronger my contractions got, and they felt like little menstrual cramps, but slightly more intense, I just wanted to get up and walk around or lean against the wall in our room.
The merciful RNs brought me a large mug for water with ice, and I was so grateful for it! I was starving to death, too, I had not eaten much the previous evening, just a 2 inch sub sandwich around 5 PM, and 3 AM rolled around and I was famished, but I could not eat anything period, except a popsicle, which I accepted because I was desperate for anything to coat my stomach. It was better than nothing, and once the contractions got more intense, hunger subsided and my focus was on my baby's delivery completely.
Well, after the RNs strapped me into bed with the baby heart monitor and some other contraption to record all of my contractions, we had already been in the hospital for almost 40 minutes at this point. They examined my cervix, and because I barely felt anything with each contraction, and they were totally far apart and irregular, I assumed I wasn't even 3 CMT dilated yet. Come to find out, the nurse pulled her hand out and looked at the other RN and raised her eyebrows. "Wow," she said. They pulled the dilation measuring board out, and she held her middle and pointer fingers up to the 6 CMT circle, and said again, "Wow."
"Wow? What's wow? What's that mean?" Tim asked, all confused. I had explained the whole dilation process to him, how they measure it, and apparently he had forgotten or never paid attention, (but I talk a lot I guess so him missing that wasn't a big deal).
"You guys aren't going anywhere today," the RN said with a big smile, "you are having a baby today. She is dilated 6 centimeters!"
I was immediately excited as hell. I wasn't nervous, I was anxious and ecstatic all at once. I have to say, never once did I feel nervous or scared about the delivery or labor thing. I was more or less looking forward to experiencing it. I wanted to feel it all. That probably sounds crazy, but I wanted to feel this new experience 100% and to know what it meant to bear the pain for child delivery. So, there I was lying, kind of sitting up, and feeling only the pain of waiting. Something I  have never been good at, EVER. I am one of the most impatient people on this planet Earth.
After hearing we were staying in the hospital until our son was here, we called both grandparents, my parents and Tim's, and they rushed over to be with us throughout the entire delivery. I remember waiting impatiently for everyone to get there. I missed everybody so much, and was very anxious to see them.
Tim's parents arrived not long after my parents arrived, Tim's mom and dad came in. My dad had to leave and go back home, because he had to work and had to take care of all the animals back home, and would be coming back later on the next day. Mom stayed there the whole time, and Tim's mom, Gail, and dad, Larry, were there through the delivery with Tim and my mom.
The pushing sucked bad. I pushed so much so long and yet even after a few hours there had been no progress. I was beginning to wonder if I was ever going to see my baby. I had never been through that before, labor and delivery were all new to me, so I didn't really know how long the estimated time was that the average woman pushed before her baby started to crown.
Well, I joked and laughed almost the entire time I was in labor and going through delivery. I don't really know how or why, but I think it was the good company. Everyone I had ever wanted to be there with me throughout this ending to my adventure as a pregnant woman was there with me, and I was so happy. The anticipation, too, of knowing our baby was on his way to finally meet us gave me more reason to be happy and excited. I remember lying on the sofa at home, just waiting for this day, waiting for the moment we would finally see him, and now all of a sudden it was here.
The RNs and doctors loved our group. I suppose it must have been a long shot from the people they usually get in there who are in labor. Cranky, bitchy women who can't handle the pain or allow stress to ruin the moment. To me, this moment would forever be a memory and it should be a good one, and I had waited 9 months to experience the opening of that door that would lead me into Mommyhood.
I am not sure how many RNs or doctors we met or went through that entire time we were there, but it was quite a few. I think it was 3 shifts before our son was finally delivered. I cannot really remember. What I do remember, though, was the details of the labor and delivery, the pieces I will hold on to for as long as I live. While I admit the labor itself was uncomfortable, I know I would definitely do it all over again in a heartbeat, and the experience was wonderful. It made  me feel like I was finally a real woman. And, in all honesty, I agree with most men who also say a woman without children is just a girl, but a girl who becomes a mother becomes a real woman. That said, real women are mothers.
Well, we made some really great memories in that hospital on the 28th of August. Tim wanted our baby boy for his birthday, and even though we didn't have Luke until the 28th, at least it was only 2 days away from his birthday :).
I was still pushing when 4:45 PM rolled around, after pushing 2 hours and some odd minutes, the doctor came back in and explained the complications to me. The very words I wasn't ready to hear. Had I not been able to hear my baby's heartbeat the entire time she was beginning to gravely explain things to me, I would have lost it.
It was not what I wanted, and it was exactly what I had feared, but I needed to have a c-section. The doctor suggested it because she said the baby's head was not descending through the canal the way it was supposed to. Dear Lord, this was not what I wanted at all. My plan (and dream throughout my pregnancy) was to have an all natural birth, without drugs, with the baby coming into the world the natural way. Well, that wasn't going to happen, and by this point, I was running a fever of 104.2 and getting exhausted. I was thirsty even though I had 2 packs of IV's hooked up to me.


So, Tim dressed in his scrubs, and they were prepping me for c-section surgery. I was being numbed up, and then we were wheeled down the hall to an operating room, where they cut me open and our baby boy was finally delivered. I remember lying there, anxiously waiting to finally hear the first cries from our son. I felt them pulling and tugging on things, I felt some pressure, and then at 5:37 PM our son was finally brought into this world and I heard his cries.
Tim stayed by me the entire time, and watched as they delivered Lukas in the operating room.
He was led out into a room connected to the operating room, where they weighed our baby and measured him.
I remember lying there as they were taking our baby out of me, and one of the doctor's saying, "So how big did you guys think he was gonna be?" (Recalling our earlier times in the other room where the doctor was listening to the family taking bets on the baby's birth weight lol).
Tim was able to see Lukas first.
They stapled my incision up and then wheeled me into the next room right away, where I met back up with Tim and finally saw my baby boy for the first time. I had felt like crying the moment I heard Luke's cries, and seeing him and being able to look into his eyes made me almost break down. But I didn't. Instead, I enjoyed the time looking into his eyes and holding him to my skin and nursing him for the first time.
I thanked God for this gift, for everything, and could not stop looking at my baby. Tim and I stood by as we watched the RN, Lindsey, give Lukas his first "bath" and then dressed him in a long sleeve white top with fold over gloves at the ends so he couldn't scratch himself, thank God!
They wheeled us back into a recovery room, where they got me into another bed (which was easier than getting me onto the operating table, because this time I wasn't really numb anymore). I was shocked the numbness had totally worn off so fast. Under 1 hour. People always told me it took hours before theirs wore off. Well, anyway, I am not complaining.
The staples sucked so bad! They pinched and dear God the pain after delivery was excruciating. I could barely straighten up to stand the first few days, and only too Ibuprofen but no Norco for pain. I guess I was being given the minimum dosage. No wonder I was sore! Nobody bothered to give me an option for pain meds until 3 days later in the hospital they told me about the Norco, which was stronger stuff. Well by that point I decided to just stick with the Ibuprofen.


Long story short, we ended up staying in the hospital 5 days and 4 nights. Even though Lukas didn't have jaundice and was not yellow, they kept him again overnight under those annoying lights with the dumb mask that wouldn't stay on or in place and kept blocking
One of the senior nurses even had the nerve to condescendingly ask me, "where is the daddy? He not around?" What a jerk!! I had to keep from snapping at her, but fortunately one of the awesome young interns piped up and said what a happy family we were and how great my husband was with our son. That seemed to shut the senior nurse up. Good.
Another one came in and tried arguing with me about how far along I really was. Why, for the love of God, were they still going off my old due date? I had my ultrasound and they changed my due date to September 4th, but our wonderful hospital kept our old due date which was September 13th. So, likewise, they said I delivered premature (at 37 1/2 weeks right, which is actually full term for one thing) and who ever heard of a 9.2 pound premature baby? Not to mention, one who was delivered with absolutely no vernix on him.

Anywho, I am just so happy it is over now and he is here with us. Life will never be the same, and that is perfectly great. We wouldn't have it any other way! :)
Posted by a at 7:43 PM