Luke Baron Collins was born on February 27, 2009 at 2:38pm. He weighed 6 lbs.8 oz and was 19.5 inches long. He is a beautiful and healthy baby boy! We are so blessed!
I should have posted an update sooner, but the past 4 weeks have been a whirlwind. The time seems to have gone by so quickly. He is already 1 month old!
There is so much I want to share and document that I don't know where to begin. So I guess I will just start with my labor experience... this is going to be a long one! :)
Labor and Delivery
On Thanksgiving my family took bets on when Luke's birthday would be. I just happened to guess February 27th (which is my grandfather's birthday). So when the afternoon of the 26th rolled around I called my mom and sister and invited them to go for a walk with me. Doc had said that's one way to spark spontaneous labor. So after a nice stroll around the mall, I headed home to prepare to host life group at our house.
When the guests started arriving I started noticing my contractions were getting to be more rhythmic than normal (I had been having the occasional braxton hicks contraction for the past few months.) So I began jotting down the times to see how close together they were. We proceeded with our bible study and the guys were getting a little nervous when my pen was hitting the paper every 7 minutes or so.
After they left around 9pm I told Marty that I thought this was it. I was not in much pain at this point and the hospital suggests that if you go into labor in the evening to try to wait till 12:01am if possible, so that you get 2 full nights stay. So Marty suggested that we pop in a movie, I was so excited about the possibility that this could be it, that I couldn't sit still and went to take a shower, shave my legs (hehe), and get my bag ready. As the contractions continued and started getting stronger and more painful, we hopped in the car and headed for the hospital.
Once they admitted us, my contractions were 5 minutes apart and they were at a 10 on the monitor. I had heard that walking it off can be helpful for taking your mind off the pain and speeding up the process, so I tried it... I didn't last but one trip down the hall before we headed back to bed. I waited till I was 4 cm dilated before I got the epidural, and once I started feeling the effects of it....I was soooo much better!!! Thank God for the epi!!!
I ended up being in labor for a total of 14 hours and spent 3 long hours pushing! Even with the epi, that part was not so much fun! It was hard and exhausting. My epidural wore off 2 times (At one point I was pushing and 10 cm.... ouchie!), so the anistiologist had to come give me a refill. Dr. De la Pena was assisting in another surgery so the nurse had me start pusing way too soon. Luke wasn't moving past the pelvic bone and so once the doc got there he did have to use the vaccum and give me an episiotimy.
The moment that I saw my precious baby boy for the first time was absolutely AMAZING! They laid him on my chest and I just started sobbing! He was so beautiful and grasped my finger right away... it was a very special moment. Marty cut the embellical cord and then they took him off to get weighed and cleaned up. Once they brought him back to me we had about an hour of bonding time with just the 3 of us. We listened to praise and worship music, prayed and spent time cuddling our little one. One of the most joyous moments of my life!
We stayed at Los Robles hospital for 2 nights, 3 days and enjoyed the experience very much. My doctor was awesome, the nurses were great and the pain meds were wonderful! :)
Coming Home
The next day I was so sore and realized that I had badly bruised my tailbone during labor. So poor Marty had to help me get up and down every time I wanted to move. It took about 2 weeks for me to feel completely better.
And so the sleepless nights begin! No person or book can ever prepare you for the physical and emotional exhaustion you feel those first few weeks. It was the most challenging time of my life.. for sure! But all worth it!
We are following the Babywise book and it has been working well so far. Luke is now on a 3 hour schedule during the day. He feeds for 30-45 minutes, is awake for 30 minutes, takes an hour and a half - two hour nap, and then usually wakes up on time to eat again. At night he sleeps for maybe 3 hours at a time now. The book says that if you follow their guidelines that by 8 weeks he should be sleeping through the night. O Lord, I pray!!! :)
Breastfeeding has been our biggest challenge, but he seems to be getting the hang of it a little better these days. They all say if you can stick it out for 6 weeks, they become pros. I hope so!!!
He is now going down for his naps without too much crying (maybe 10-15 minutes max), but night time is a different story. Looking forward to the days ahead.
At our last doctor's appointment he weighed 7 lbs. 11 oz. and was 21.5 inches long. Doctor said he is growing well and very strong.
MY THANKFUL THOUGHTS...
The outpouring of love and support from family and friends during this special time in our lives has been overwhelming. I feel so incredibly blessed by all of those who delivered us meals, ran errands for us, and came by to visit and meet our little prince.
Although parenthood has been CHALLENGING thus far (to say the least), it is so very REWARDING. When Luke smiles at me, my heart just melts. I am soooo in love with him and continue to fall more in love each day. Marty is such a great daddy! I love to watch his face when he is holding his son. If we love him this much, I can not imagine the love our Heavenly Father feels for us.
I was thinking the other day during my devotional time, about how dependent baby's are upon their parents. They are helpless little ones who rely upon us for food, clothing, and shelter. They need us to cuddle them, hold them close, nurture them, teach them things, attend to their every whimper and cry, make sure they are washed clean, and shower our love upon them daily. I pray that I am this way with my Heavenly Father. That I rely upon Him for all these things, afterall His word does tell us that we can trust in Him to provide for our every need. I want to be dependent not upon myself and my own doing, but upon God to take care of me. He is our Creator and just like I desire to spend time with my son and do what is best for him, I know that God wants to do the same for me. Thank you Lord, I am helpless without you!
What a gift God gives us in our children!!!
Some of my favorite 1st month pictures...
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