ONE YEAR!!

I can’t believe Lukie is one! The year seriously went by in the blink of an eye and what a wonderfully amazing year it has been. Our little man is such a blessing and such a sweet boy. He is always full of smiles and has recently started climbing into my lap, wrapping his arms around my neck and giving me big hugs ((my heart melts every time)). He is officially walking and the look on his face when he walks across the room is priceless - he is so proud and I make sure I always smile & clap for him :) So cheers to Luke, my little love bug, here’s to a very happy first birthday and many many more!

riding the carousel - such a big boy!

"cheeeese!"

matching tie dye with daddy

you know, just eating a book

coming to get mommy!

playing with the "one year" sign

my big one year old :)

*the birth of Luke – remembering that wonderful day one year ago*

When I went in for my 36 week appointment, after Dr. Long listened to the baby’s heart rate and measured my ever growing belly, she checked my cervix to see if I was dilated or effaced yet. To my surprise, I was; half a centimeter dilated and 70% effaced! Oh boy. That’s when it got real. Dr. Long told me that since I have already started progressing, I could potentially go into labor at any moment. That news both terrified and excited me and had the same effect on Eric when I told him. Over the next few weeks we made sure the nursery was completely ready to go, the car seat was installed in the car, and the hospital bag packed and placed in the trunk. Each week I would go to the doctor and hope to hear that I was a few centimeters dilated but instead I was progressing slowly; only half a centimeter at a time. When I went for my 39 week appointment I was beyond swollen and bloated and ready to have baby boy. Dr. Long told me that I was about 2.5 cm. As she was asking me how I was feeling she was listening to the baby’s heart rate and told me I had just had a contraction. What? I didn't feel anything. So then of course, as a first time mom, I started worrying that I wouldn't know when I was having contractions and would of course have the baby in the car. Dr. Long then told me that if I didn't have the baby by my due date, August 28^th, that I would be induced at 3am on August 29^th - so many emotions. I was relieved that there was a for sure end in sight but had heard scary stories about how bad the contractions were due to the Pitocin (what they give you to induce labor). So, for the next week Eric and I did everything we could to naturally induce labor. We walked everywhere. We ate spicy food. I did squats. If there was an old wives tale to induce labor, we did it. On my due date we realized that baby boy wasn't coming on his own and we would be headed calmly to the hospital at 3am. We dropped Daisy dog off at Eric’s dad’s house that afternoon and went home to enjoy a quiet dinner. We watched a movie and tried very hard to sleep but we were like kids at Christmas. The most amazing gift was coming our way in just a few hours and the ability to sleep had completely escaped us.

At 1:45 AM on August 29^th I hopped in the shower, got dressed and by 2:45am we were on our way to the hospital to have our baby. By the time we registered, were taken to our delivery room and were settled in it was 4am. The nurse started me on an IV and the Pitocin and now it was time to let the drug do its job. My mom showed up at the hospital around 6:30am and my Dad, brother and other family members not long after. Eric did a wonderful job of bringing me ice chips and keeping me calm and comfortable. He brought a sock full of rice and a sock full tennis balls to massage my neck and back. The nurse told me that as soon as Dr. Long got to the hospital she would break my water in order to really get my labor going. She showed up in my room around 8:30 and along with nurse they broke my water. It wasn't a painful experience, just a weird one. It felt as though I wet myself, a lot of water came gushing out. Not long after they broke my water, the contractions really started. I, of course, was hooked up to two monitors: one to monitor baby boy’s heart and one to monitor my contractions. We were watching both on the screen and seeing that baby’s heart rate was strong and steady and so were my contractions. They started coming every 2-4 minutes and the pain started to get pretty intense. By this point in the day most of our family was at the hospital and were visiting with us in the labor room in shifts. I told Eric that it was time to politely kick everyone out because I was no longer able to smile and talk through my contractions. I knew I was going to eventually opt for the epidural but I was doing my best to make it as long as I could without. Well time had come to go numb and the anesthesiologist came in and gave me the epidural. I was 4 – 4.5 cm dilated when that happened. Once I was numb the nurse told me (and Eric) to try and get some sleep since I would need the strength of a bear when it came time to push. Well, easier said than done. I couldn't sleep at all and neither could Eric. He kept bringing me ice chips and popsicles and we kept each other occupied by talking about anything and everything.

My epidural kept wearing off and I could feel everything. Ouch. I had to have the anesthesiologist come in and re-dose my epidural not once, but twice. For some reason my body and the epidural didn't mix too well because after the second re-dose my left eye swelled up.

It was about 3:00pm when Dr. Long came in to check my cervix and told me that I was 9.5cm dilated! That was the good news. The not so good news was that baby boy turned from his head-down-right-where-he-should-be position, to lying sideways in my belly. Little stinker. So, Dr. Long told me that as soon as he rotated back in to the correct position, it would be go time. In order to make that happen, she flipped me on to my side and told me she would be back in about an hour. About an hour later when she came back in and checked me, she told me that baby boy had cooperated and it was time to push. Oh my gosh. This was it. I started shaking and was so nervous. Eric and I looked at each other, both took a deep breath, and smiled. Eric alerted the 20+ family members in the waiting room that it was time to push while the nurse and doctor got all of the tools ready. The nurse, Mary Ann, held one leg and Eric held the other as I started pushing through each contraction. They were about a minute apart at that point. Let me tell you, pushing was hard and awkward. My epidural started wearing off AGAIN and I could feel everything as I pushed. Oh my gosh it hurt. I once again was re-dosed and all was right with the world again. I pushed and pushed and pushed. The hours went by and still no baby. Dr. Long told me that baby’s head was right there, so close, but wasn't moving very quickly and I could either keep pushing but it would take several more hours, or she could help pull him out with forceps. It had been three hours already. I was going on an hour of sleep and hadn't eaten in over 24 hours. I was exhausted and just wanted to hold my baby. Eric and I quickly talked about it and decided that we wanted to move forward with the forceps. Immediately Dr. Long sprang into action and started getting the appropriate tools out. Not a minute later that good ol’ anesthesiologist came back and gave me a hefty dose of the epidural since they didn't want me to be able to feel any of what was about to happen. Once everything was in order, a contraction came along and I had to push as hard as I could while Dr. Long pulled with the forceps. It took three pushes for baby boy to come out. Eric was holding my leg and watching our son come into the world. I looked at his face and it went white. Dr. Long calmly said “hey dad is it ok if I cut the cord, it’s around the baby’s neck.” Eric of course said, "yes, do it now!". She cut the cord and placed the baby on my belly. He was slightly blue but his color came right away. The nurse started patting him on the back and the next sound I heard was the most wonderful of all: my baby’s first cry. The next few hours were a complete blur. Lukas Oliver was measured, weighed, inked and swaddled tightly while Dr. Long worked her magic and cleaned me up. Eric went back and forth from me to Luke and took pictures of our first moments together. We then got to hold our baby. The three of us, our family, the beginning of the most wonderful journey. After everyone was cleaned up our entourage was allowed into our room where Luke got to meet our big crazy family. Luke was wide eyed the whole time he was passed around from person to person and many pictures were taken. I finally got to eat and the nurse made everyone leave so we could try breast feeding for the first time. Luke was such a natural. We were moved to a different room where we spent the next day and a half. We had a constant flow of visitors before we went home on Friday afternoon, just the three of us. Our little family.