Lucas Stanley Robinson

Lucas Stanley Robinson arrived on January 19, 2012 at 5:10 PM, weighing 8 lbs. 8 oz, and 21 inches long!

Here’s a photo summary of our day!

We had to be at the hospital for the induction at 6 AM!  We were quite tired…and it was so weird to be getting ready to go to the hospital to have a baby without any contractions or mild fear!  We realized as soon as we got up that our day and birth story wouldn’t be anything like our first two!

Last photo of baby in the belly!

The entire day was so different than either of our past two birth experiences—just different, not better or worse…we drove calmly to the hospital, parked, checked in at ER, and had to wait for someone to come down and get us!  (The past two times they’ve had us go up immediately since I was in active labor-aka crying in pain). 

They walked us straight into the birthing room and got us all ready…got my fluids and antibiotics for Group B Strep, and they started the pitocin around 7:30 AM.

Dr. Stallworth (who delivered both Reily and Isaac) came by to check on me, and broke my water about 9 AM.  That’s when things got a little crazy…he said not much fluid came out, and then the baby’s heart rate dropped from the 140s to 70/80’s and stayed there for what seemed like forever.  (It was really only 40 seconds, but it was a terrible 40 seconds!).  Dr. Stallworth had been talking to me, and then trailed off while looking at the monitors, and suddenly 2 other nurses rushed in and they had me change positions…Dr. told them to turn off the pitocin and his heart rate finally recovered and looked like he was doing okay…scary moment for mama! (Turns out Hans and my aunt, who was there at the time, didn’t even realize what was going on…)

They kept the pitocin off for awhile, and took a couple of hours to bring it back up to the level it was at in the morning…I think that’s why it was a slow-go…but as long as baby was healthy, I was happy!  We spent a good part of the day just watching the monitors and seeing the contractions and heart rate…

I decided to get an epidural after about 5.5 hours even though the contractions weren’t that bad yet…I’d heard pitocin contractions were unbearable, and these were nothing compared to what I had with Isaac…more like what I had with Reily.  But I figured I was going to get one anyway, so why wait until they got worse?  (And did I mention that in 9 hours I’d only progressed to 6 cm, and I was 4 cm when I got there?)  Yeah, we were in it for the long haul, or so I thought!

We had a few visitors—my Dad came by and Neeny brought my Grandma over, and all in all we just rested, talked, and hung out, commenting on how weird it was to be in the labor and delivery room for so long…Poor Hans had been sick for a few days and was still feeling pretty miserable, so we kept it low key!

The nurse came in around 4:15 after having me sit up for awhile and checked me, and I was only at a 7…she said she thought I would have been further since the contractions had been pretty steady and strong…thanks, Nurse Britni, just what I wanted to hear!  We figured we had a long time to go…but then I started really feeling the contractions and feeling like I had to push and I figured I was going through transition…

At 4:45 the nurse checked me again, and sure enough I was at 9.5 cm!  We called the troops to come back to the hospital, and they paged Dr. Stallworth while they got everything ready.  I started pushing at 5:05 PM, and Lucas was born at 5:10 PM!  No shoulder dystocia, and everything went great!! 

It was so amazing…they put him right up on me and I was able to hold him and nurse him immediately!  Our other boys needed to be checked out right away for breathing issues, so this was very different for us…but wonderful! 

After a little while they took him to measure him and weigh him…He’s our big boy!  8 lbs. 8 oz. and 21 inches long!

After about 25 minutes from him being born, everyone got to come into the birthing room!  Also amazing and different, since before they had to wheel the baby to the nursery to check him out some more, and I was left alone in the room…

The boys and Grandma made cupcakes for Lucas’ birthday…

 

They were so cute and excited to meet their little brother!! 

First family of 5 picture!

 

Then we realized that Hans hadn’t held Lucas yet!  In the past he’d gotten all of the bonding time right after birth, and this time I hogged it all! :)

Grandpa Jim holding Lucas for the first time!

Aunt Neeny holding Lucas for the first time…

 

Grandpa Lee came in a little later after getting home from work and got to hold Lucas too!

After that excitement, they moved us to our regular room about 8 PM and we settled in for our first night with Lucas!  It never ceases to amaze me how you can love a little baby so much…

More pictures of our first week coming soon!  We’ve had a good week with Lucas, but the rest of us have been struggling…Hans had his cold for 10 days, Reily got a cold sore, Isaac got a cold and still has a bad runny nose and a cough, and now I’ve got it…Feeling so terrible I went to the doctor yesterday and they diagnosed me with adenovirus—terrible sore throat, cough, swollen/pink eye, and a rash from the top of my head to the bottoms of my feet that itches and burns.  They also told me I had to wear a mask around Lucas…ugh, really??  Oh well, as long as he doesn’t get sick!!  So I apologize for the delay in posting on the blog…things have been a little crazy!