Well, as you can tell by the title, you are here and you are perfect! We officially welcomed you, Luke Casmir Terry, on Friday June 21st at 6:35 PM weighing in at 9 pounds, 2 ounces and 21 inches long. It was quite the eventful birth and I want to tell you all about it. This post is probably more for me than you at this point, but I don't want to forget how you came into this world because every time I think back to that day I still get tears of happiness knowing that you are healthy and safe. That's what I prayed for EVERY SINGLE NIGHT of your pregnancy and now here you are, taking a nap by our bed with your sister napping in the other room and I just keep thinking about how lucky I am to be your mom. Here is how your "birthday" happened...
The last time I wrote to you was Father's Day, one day after you were due. We spent the entire week waiting for you to arrive. We thought you were coming on Tuesday when I went to see Bernie and she said I was 3 cm dilated and 80% effaced. I was contracting all day that day and she was just sure that I would be in to have you later that evening. Grandma Cindy came into town that night and we, along with Daddy and Grandma Carol, timed my contractions for the whole evening. I finally went to bed around 11 and...nothing happened. The rest of the week was full of fun things like picking up Uncle Brandon from the airport, BBQs, playing at the park, and taking your sister to the St. Thomas More festival. Finally on Friday, things started to change.
I woke up on Friday feeling the same as I had for the past few days. Grandma Cindy and Uncle Brandon stayed with Teney while Daddy and I headed to the hospital for a nonstress test to make sure you were still doing OK. The Labor and Delivery floor was super busy, but Bernie just happened to be rounding up there so she got us all hooked up and offered to check me to see if I had progressed any in the past few days. When she checked me, she said I was 4 cm and still at 80%. You passed the nonstress test with flying colors and I only had one small contraction, so we left the hospital to wait some more. While we were waiting for the elevator, we saw Dr. Losure and he was surprised that we hadn't delivered yet. He wished us luck and we were on our way.
When we got home, we headed out to El Salto to get some lunch before Grandma Cindy and Uncle Brandon had to leave. While we were at lunch, I had a couple of uncomfortable contractions but they weren't any different than what I had been feeling on Tuesday. After we got home from lunch, Uncle Brandon and Grandma Cindy left for Grandma Cindy's house so that she could get things around for Relay for Life. Their plan was to attend Relay over the weekend and then come back to hang out with us until Uncle Brandon had to fly out on Tuesday. Little did we know that we would be seeing them again much sooner!
After they left, Grandma Carol came over and I went back to put Tenley down for a nap. While I was waiting for her to fall asleep, I had another contraction that was a bit more painful. Once she was asleep, I decided to go try to lay down and see if the contractions would get worse or settle down. They weren't bad for awhile, but once they started to get more painful I started timing them. They seemed to be coming pretty regularly at 11 minutes apart, then 10, then 9. Once they hit 9 minutes apart they really started getting painful- painful enough that I would have to get out of bed halfway through them and lean over until it was over. At that point I went out to the living room and put Grandma Carol in charge of the contraction timer. She and Daddy were convinced that I was in labor, but I still wasn't sure. I imagined contractions being so much worse than what I was feeling and figured it was just another false alarm. They kept wanting me to call Grandma Cindy to turn around, but I was too stubborn because I didn't want her to come all the way back for a false alarm.
We timed the contractions for another 30 minutes or so and they jumped to about 6 minutes apart. They were pretty painful and I finally called Bernie's office to see if we should come in. She wasn't readily available so we waited for a callback. As we were waiting, Grandma Carol called Aunt Julie to come and take care of Tenley. At about the same time, I felt what I thought was my water breaking and knew we probably needed to get to the hospital, regardless of whether or not we had talked to Bernie. After some last-minute packing and a lot of running around, we left Aunt Julie and Tenley and jumped in the car to get to the hospital.
The drive to the hospital is anywhere between 30 and 40 minutes and we were a bit nervous because it was 4:45 on a Friday evening. Daddy and Grandma argued a little about which way he should take and ultimately Daddy just drove as fast as he could down Indianapolis Blvd. My contractions were coming around every 5 minutes and we still hadn't heard from Bernie. Finally, when we were by Lake Central High School, we got a phone call from Bernie. Grandma Carol had to answer my phone because I was having a contraction. When I finally talked to Bernie, she sounded a little concerned about my water breaking and my contractions being close together. She asked us where we were and she sounded relieved that we were over halfway there. She told us to get to the hospital and, if I could walk, to come straight up to Labor and Delivery. Later on she told me that if she had called us back and we were at home, she would have told us to just go to Community Hospital. I am so thankful we were already on our way!
We got to the hospital and I got out of the car as fast as I could. I was hoping to make it up to the 7th floor before having another contraction but that didn't happen. We were almost to the elevator when I felt another one coming on. Daddy urged me to just hurry up and keep walking, but he had no idea the type of pain that I was in and there was NO WAY I could have walked another step. There I was, that lady in the middle of the hospital hallway doubled over my suitcase during a contraction while people steered clear of me and looked at me like I was dying. We finally made it on the elevator and after an agonizing stop on the second floor to pick up three people that reeked of cigarette smoke (and then drop them off on the third floor) we finally arrived at Labor and Delivery. As soon as the door opened, Bernie was waiting for us. She ushered us through the double doors and straight into room 710 where she proceeded to hurry me out of my clothes and into the hospital gown so she could check my progress. When she did that, I could just hear her say "OK." I asked her if I had progressed any from the 4 cm that morning and she looked at me with her eyebrows raised and said, "Um, you're at 9 cm, you're going to be pushing soon." I could not believe that everything was happening so fast. My birth plan was to try to deliver you without an epidural or any medication but I hadn't made up my mind as to whether or not I was going to be able to do it. This ended up being the best case scenario because there was absolutely no time to get an epidural. As I was having back to back contractions, a tech came in to insert an IV. Bernie said that she was going to try to push a bag of fluids into me before I started to push and that this would take about 40 minutes. Kathy, our delivery nurse (who was TOTALLY awesome), asked Bernie if she should fill the tub so I could labor in there and I heard Bernie say that the tub would take 30 minutes to fill and that I would probably have a baby by then. I think that's when it hit me that I would be having you VERY soon, that Grandma Cindy wasn't going to make it back, and that it was going to be a totally unmedicated birth. YIKES!
After a few more very painful contractions, Kathy asked me if I felt like I could push. They say that your body just "knows" when to push and I would say this is true to an extent. It wasn't until you were truly making your entrance that I felt like I knew what to do and when. I never thought I would scream during labor but I know that I did. Kathy finally told me, "Stop screaming and use that energy to get the baby out" and (I think) that's what I did. Bernie had promised me that I would only push for 20 minutes and I'm pretty sure she was good on her word. After a bunch of pushes (and me wondering if you were really going to come out) you were born at 6:35 PM. I believe we got to the hospital at around 5:15, so it was a good thing we made it when we did. Your Daddy was there to see you born as well as Grandma Carol. Grandma Cindy was supposed to be there too but because your Mommy is so stubborn, she wasn't able to turn around fast enough. Before you were born, Grandma Carol was talking to Grandma Cindy on the phone. Bernie asked Grandma Carol who was on the phone and when she heard it was Grandma Cindy trying to make it back for the birth she said, "Tell her not to break any speed limits, she's not going to make it." It was so sad, but just knowing that she was coming and that she would be there soon made it easier for me to get you out.
Before I go any further, I just have to tell you how truly wonderful Bernie is. I am so, SO happy that fate (for lack of a better or less cheesy way to say it) brought me to her 2 years ago and I felt so well cared for both during my pregnancy and during labor. Your Daddy and I discussed switching up our insurance plans in case we have another baby so that we could be at Community Hospital again. Not because we don't like St. Anthony's, but because I ended up having to make so many trips to Crown Point over the last few months and it really being hard to get out there. After your birth and our phenomenal care in the hospital, there is NO WAY I am leaving Bernie or the St. Anthony network...all that driving was totally worth the experiences we had. Everyone has asked me how my stay at the hospital was and I never hesitate to tell them that there was not ONE person that I ran into that is affiliated with St. Anthony's that I wouldn't recommend to someone. NOT ONE. And I saw a lot of people. So, all that to say, you and I were in great hands and I could not be more grateful to Bernie, Kathy, Dr. Losure, Dr. Kalchbrenner, and all of the people at the hospital that helped you come into the world safe and sound.
Once you were delivered, there was a lot of happy activity. Bernie let me see your placenta and umbilical cord and it was indeed inserted at the very edge. I felt like finally seeing that with my own eyes made the experience come full circle. I just had to see for myself what we had been so stinkin' worried about that whole time. I was never so glad to get rid of something in my life but am very thankful to those two parts that held up and kept you going for 40 weeks and 6 days. I was able to hold you skin-to-skin for a good hour and, while doing so, Grandpa Jeff and Uncle Pete were able to come into the room. We were able to FaceTime with Tenley and that was the most precious thing ever- she was so tickled to see you and that is a memory that we will have forever. I finally had to part with you so others could hold you including Daddy, Grandma Carol, Grandpa Jeff, and Uncle Pete. While I was in the bathroom getting cleaned up, Grandma Cindy arrived and was able to hold you too. Finally, after two hours, our nurse Nicole said that you needed to be weighed and taken to the nursery for your evaluations. When she put you on the scale, I could not BELIEVE that it read over 9 pounds. When we had the growth scans with Dr. Losure, you were always "smaller" in the 33rd percentile. I feel sorry for those moms who deliver babies in the 100th percentile- holy cow! After weighing in and being measured, you were whisked away to the nursery and I was taken to my postpartum room.
Our first picture together
Daddy loves you!
Grandpa Jeff
Grandma Carol
Grandma Cindy
I love my Baby Lukey
This is when things got a bit scary. I was eating dinner while you were being evaluated and Daddy, Grandma Carol, Grandpa Jeff, and Uncle Pete were watching you through the nursery window. Grandma Carol came in and told me not to be alarmed, but they were going to take you to the NICU because you had a low body temperature amongst other symptoms that pointed to a possible infection. I ran over to the NICU where we talked to Nicole (our awesome NICU nurse) and Dr. Chandra who said that they were going to take a culture and it would return in 48 hours to tell us if you had any infections. In the meantime, they were going to keep you in the NICU and give you antibiotics to treat you as if you had an infection so that if the culture came back positive, there was already something being done. I was a little heartbroken because this meant that I couldn't nurse you right away again (I had already tried right after you were born), you wouldn't be spending any time in our hospital room with us, and we couldn't hold you whenever we wanted. And, of course, there was the threat of something being really wrong with you which was terrifying. We wanted to take every precaution there was, so being in the NICU was absolutely the best place for you.
Over the next few days, we had lots of visitors and the hospital was so nice about letting everyone come and see you. Cam, Ethan, Uncle Pete, and Aunt Carrie were some of the first to visit followed by Grandpa Rand and Uncle Brandon, Aunt Julie, Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Walter, Uncle Bernard and Aunt Lou, Becky, Betty, and Amber. It was so nice of everyone to come and see us and it made the time in the hospital pass by quickly. We visited you a lot in the NICU and you kept getting stronger every day. By Monday, we were pretty sure you were going to be able to go home. Your last culture came back clear and we were able to get you ready to hit the road. Nicole was our day nurse that day, but she had to leave early so Ali took over. She was really sweet and got your footprints and your picture taken. Around 5:30, we were ready to leave the hospital and take you home. The only problem was that a huge storm had blown up, so once we were in the car, we took one lap around the parking lot and turned right back around and went into the hospital. We waited out the storm and then headed home. It's a good thing we did because Munster was a MESS- trees were down everywhere. Aunt Julie didn't even have power! We made it home safely and had a wonderful evening eating pizza with family. It was so good to have you home!
Well, that's the story Luke! We've had you with us now for 18 days and we are pretty sure we will keep you! Tenley loves you and is VERY protective over you. We've already spent a week at Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Rand's house and you've had two doctor's appointments which have deemed you on track and healthy. We are so very happy that you are here safe and sound. We never did really come to understand why your body temperature and blood sugar was so low, but the pediatrician said that the nurses were saying that because the labor and delivery were so fast you may not have transitioned well. This makes sense to me and, as of right now, that's the explanation I am going with.
Besides posting a bunch of pictures, this is probably going to be the end of my blog to you. Now I can just talk to you because you are right here, sleeping on my chest. I love you so much lil' buddy and I can't wait to be your Mommy for the rest of my life!
Uncle Brandon, Grandma Cindy, and Grandpa Rand
Meeting Tenley for the first time!
Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Walter
Uncle Bernard and Aunt Lou
Tenley is in love with you :)
So happy to be home!
Cute little owl :)
Great Grandpa
Great Grandma
Sleeping through the Cedar Lake Flotilla
