Week 1

[Note: I started writing this post last night and got "pulled away" part way through to give some hugs to the little man.  So I realize that he is actually a week and one day old today, but let's pretend it's yesterday and he's exactly a week old so that the timing in the post makes sense.  Okay?  Thanks...  Oh, and don't read this if you don't want to know the details of Lukas' birth.  This post contains way too much information, but for posterity, I wanted to write it.  You have been warned.]

Our bundle of joy is one week old today!  And what a week it has been.  So far things are going really well and we're loving figuring out this whole parenting thing.  Some days/nights have been easier than others, but on the whole, I think we have a pretty chill baby.  Except when he is hungry.  He takes after his mother in being ill tempered when there's not enough food around.  Luckily, the milk supply is now in full effect, so as long as momma is around Lukas has access to all the food he can drink.

So how did we get here? Here's the story of Lukas' birth.

Last Sunday (November 7th) Mr. Cob and I spent the day keeping busy.  We walked the mall in the afternoon and had a late lunch at Tavern at Phipps.  And then we went home to continue waiting.  At this point I was convinced we'd be waiting for another few days.  In my mind Lukas wasn't coming until Wednesday, November 10th - for some reason this was the day I believed he'd arrive.  I'm glad he didn't make us wait that long!  So Mr. Cob made spicy beef fajitas for dinner Sunday night and we put in a movie while we ate.  What movie you ask?  Zach and Miri Make a Porno.  Mr. Cob thinks this is hilarious that we were watching this particular movie when my labor began.  I'm just glad it began. 

Around 6pm on Sunday I began noticing the contractions but was convinced it was just Braxton Hicks so I didn't mention them to Mr. Cob.  But an hour later they were still coming on a regular basis, so I thought I should mention it.  We then started timing the contractions and realized they were already 7 minutes apart.  I didn't want to get too excited because I feared this was just a false alarm, but we began getting everything ready for the hospital, "just in case."  We called our folks and put them on notice and just continued with the timing.  They quickly became 5 minutes apart, but I was still comfortable so I decided to take a bath and just relax as the hypnobirthing class had taught me to do.  I didn't want to go to the hospital too early, so I just kept busy picking up the house and what not.  Around 11pm the contractions were about 3 and a half minutes apart.  But I could still talk and walk through them and was excited because I figured this was really it.  We then debated about when to call the doctor.  I told Mr. Cob that we'd call her when they were 3 minutes apart, which happened around midnight.  The on call doctor said to wait another hour and if the contractions were still 3 minutes apart (or closer), then to go ahead and come to the hospital.  At this point Mr. Cob called his parents to let them know it was the real thing and so they jumped in the car and started driving to Atlanta from Chicago.  Mr. Cob tried to sleep and I took a shower to continue staying relaxed.  Finally around 1:15am we packed up the car and headed to the hospital.

I'd read many birth stories talking about how miserable the ride to hospital was, so I was thankful when I was still comfortable in the car.  I had control of the ipod and we sang loudly to silly pop songs.  We were both rather giddy at this point.

I was checked in to the hospital and finally situated around 2am.  When the nurse checked I was 3 cm, so she said I was definitely in labor and would be having this baby in the next day or so!  My parents arrived shortly thereafter and it was nice to see them and let them know I was OK.  They hung out in the waiting room all night long. And were joined by Mr. Cob's parents around 11am after their 11 hour drive from Chicago.

Labor progressed and eventually the contractions became quite strong.  We went through various hypnobirthing exercises and I did my breathing techniques.  Everything was rather intense and I was handling it as best I could. Mr. Cob was a great support and he was so encouraging. Around 6:30am I was exhausted and in extreme pain and having a hard time handling the contractions.  I was clinching Mr. Cob's hand and not able to breathe and relax through the contractions, which was just making them worse.  I asked the nurse to check my progress so I could make a decision about what to do.  I was 6 cm, so there was still a ways to go.  I decided to get the epidural.  And I'm so happy I did.  I don't feel like I failed or that the hypnobirthing didn't work.  I know that it did and helped me remain calm for much longer than I otherwise would have. 

But once I made the decision to get the epidural, I still had to wait.  They had to give me a full bag of fluid through the IV and then we had to wait for the anesthesiologist.  So I didn't actually get the epidural until 7:30am.  So I labored for 13+ hours without any pain medication.  And I should probably tell you now that the main reason for my doing the hypnobirthing is that I have always had this severe fear of the epidural.  I don't know why and I don't know where it comes from, but while I like the idea of an unmedicated birth for my baby, I really was just petrified of having a needle inserted in my back.  Mr. Cob said that the look of fear on my face when the doctor was about to stick me was so intense. I was so scared.  It probably didn't help that I knew nothing about epidurals since we hadn't talked to the doctor about it.  I had no idea that they insert a tube in your back and leave it so that the epidural can be continuously administered.  Well after the intensity of the contractions, the epidural was more or less a breeze.  There was extreme pressure and some pain, but nothing near what I had made it out to be in my mind to be.  And within ten minutes, my entire lower body was numb and I could no longer feel the pain of the contractions.  Sweet relief.

Then within 5 minutes of getting the epidural my water broke.  And there was meconium in the fluid (meaning Lukas pooped), which can be a sign that the baby is stressed and is taken very seriously.  The doctors watched him more closely to check for fetal distress and we were also told that the NICU team would be in the delivery room when I delivered to make sure that they got any fluid out of his lungs ASAP.  This was very scary especially since we could tell that the nurses were acting more nervous.  And on top of this, Lukas' heart rate started jumping all over the board every time I would have a contraction.  Mr. Cob and I were both very worried for the hour after I got the epidural while all this was happening.  Luckily his heart rate worked itself out and we were all finally able to relax.

My OB checked me at 9am and I was not progressing at all, so they decided to start me on a low dose of Pitocin.  At this point, I just wanted the baby to be born and I trusted my doctor so we figured she knew best what I needed.  I was then able to get some sleep and just waited and hoped that the Pitocin would get things moving again.

Around 1:30pm I started feeling more pressure and was relieved when thirty minutes later my OB came back to check me and told us that it was time to start pushing.  The nurses got the room ready and 15 minutes later my OB was back for the big event.  Oh, and around this time, my epidural ran out.  The nurses and my OB talked about whether or not to give me more but decided there wasn't time and that I'd be fine.  I knew that they typically turn the epidural down so you can feel pressure and know when to push, but I wasn't expecting to be able to feel as much as I could!  But in the end, I'm glad I had as much control as I did because I think it helped me to push and get the baby out.  It took 8 contractions and about 35 minutes to finally welcome Lukas Philip into this world!

I was not able to hold him immediately because the NICU team rushed him over to an exam table and shoved tubes down his throat to drain the fluid from his lungs and make sure the meconium didn't harm him.  Mr. Cob was with him during this time and said it was pretty scary, but luckily they said he was looking good and soon we were both able to hold our baby boy and have our bonding time.

All in all, it was a wonderful experience and one I would have again in a heartbeat.  I knew that I was going to love this kid, but I honestly had no idea how much. I did not think that I would have such strong feelings of love and attachment so soon.  This last week has been amazing and I think its safe to say that I'm the happiest and most in love (with my husband and now my son) that I've ever been.  Life is very good!