Friday, May 29, 2009

...And Baby Makes Three!


I know it has been a month or so since I updated the blog and a lot has happened. The most important event: Lucas Tyler Kepner is here!!! He was born via emergency C-Section on May 1st at 5:10 pm; weighed 8 lbs 6.4 oz and was 20 3/4" long.  

About the delivery... since Lucas decided to hang out in mommy's belly up until my due date we decided to induce labor on May 1st. I was always told that he was a big baby so I really did not want to go past my due date. I was admitted to Sacred Heart Hospital at midnight on Friday; at about 1 am I was set up in a room with an IV, full hospital gown, oxygen, and ice chips. Tyler and my mom were there to support me but at this time we all decided to sleep. At 3:00 am my water broke (yes, on its own) so I thought this was going to be a nice and quick process. Oh the wishful thinking! After that, things started progressing pretty fast except for Lucas not dropping where he needed to be so I could push him out. I believe it was around noon time when I was finally 10 cm dilated and the contractions were so close together that it seemed like one big contraction that never stopped and I was ready to push him out! Well, Lucas was not ready; he was too comfy in there and was not any lower than what he was 6 hours before. At that moment We knew we had to sit and wait on the baby for a bit longer so I decided to call in for the epidural! After that I was able to rest and sleep for a little while.

Finally the nurse decided to let me push and see if baby had moved down; so I did. I pushed for about an hour and nothing! Then I rested some more and at about 3:30 pm started to push again with not much happening. The doctor finally made it to my room at about 4:00 pm and by this time I was worried that Lucas had been there for 13 hours without the amniotic fluid; also if I pushed some more and his head does come out - what about his shoulders? Are they going to "fit"? Also, I was exhausted; I did not have a drop of energy left in me. To make matters worse; I had nothing to eat since dinner the night before and ice chips were not doing it for me anymore. The doctor offer to use the forceps or "the vacuum" to help the baby come out. At this time I knew he was not coming out; something in me just felt it; I had been pushing for a total of 1 hour and 45 min approximately and he hadn't come out! I DID NOT want to use the "help" so I asked for a C-Section. Very quickly they prepared me for surgery and after signing some paper work I was on my way to the O.R.

Being in the OR was surreal - it was a totally different experience.  I guess cause I had never been in an OR before I could not help but looking around and try to figure out what they were going to do to me. However, I had a bad case of "the shakes"... Oh yes! I was shaking uncontrollably. It was pretty bad; my arms would shake so bad that kind of freak Tyler out. Everybody kept asking me if I was cold but I wasn't. They kept bringing warm blankets -which was nice- but nothing helped. Finally Tyler was able to come in and the surgery started. It was weird to lay there knowing they are cutting you open and getting the baby out and not feeling anything. Tyler was watching the whole thing - he was fascinated with the process. He also took some pretty graphic pictures when only the head was out, baby out, etc. He also got to cut the umbilical cord and was able to see the cleaning process. 

After surgery the doctor gave me some kind of drug to stop the shakes which made me very drowsy -let's just say that I was not making sense and speaking to Tyler in Spanish- I felt asleep and woke up in the recovery room where my mom was waiting on me. Tyler's family had the chance of meeting Lucas right after he was born. Even before they saw me they were able to meet him; They were all there waiting to meet him... Mom, Jenny and Ella had been there since the morning so I am sure they were super excited that he finally arrived!

We stayed in the hospital until Monday at 11:00 am. I was so ready to be back at home and eat some good food. You have to understand that I was on a liquid diet for two days at the hospital and it was getting very old very quick! We got home and my mom had made a delicious chicken and vegetable soup (unlike the broth I was having at the hospital). The first few days of recovery were hard. I needed help for everything. Could not get up or down by myself; could not sit or stand without help; and the list goes on. Tyler took a week off of work and that was very helpful. He would get up at night and change Lucas then handed him to me so I could feed him. 

Lucas is now 4 weeks old! Crazy fast!!! he is a very healthy baby boy. We are very happy and everyday we learn something new. He eats a lot and very often so I feel like that's all I do in my day. We thank our Lord Jesus everyday for the blessing Lucas is in our lives and the lives of our families. Here are few pictures now so you can enjoy him...