It's hard to believe that two weeks have passed since Luke entered our lives. On Monday, November 23rd I was finishing up dinner for Justin, my mom (who was visiting for a couple of days before Thanksgiving), and our good friend Nancy (who was trying to squeeze in one more baby-free evening with us). As I was making the salad (well opening the bag of lettuce), my water broke. I had read that only 1 in 10 women actually have a semi-dramatic water breaking experience and doubted that I would be that person. Surprise! I went out in the living room to tell the waiting guests that dinner may have to be cut short due to my HAVING A BABY! We all kicked into overdrive, calling the hospital, taking a quick shower, grabbing final items for the suitcases, eating the proverbial last supper, etc. We got to Modesto Kaiser around 8pm when I had barely started feeling light contractions. By the time I got into the birthing suite they had gotten a bit stronger, but I still wasn't convinced I wanted an epidural. So we watched Elf and I rolled around on a giant exercise ball. I didn't want to get the drugs too soon and prolong my labor, but as the contractions started getting harder it became clear that modern medicine was the way to go for maximum comfort. It took about 45 minutes for an IV of saline to get into my system and then another 30ish for the anesthesiologist to get everything going. I tried not to look at the contraction monitor after the drugs kicked in, but my mom said they looked pretty crazy. By time the drugs kicked in I was almost fully dialated. Around 2:20am on Tuesday, November 24th, the midwife and nurses came in and I pushed for about 30 minutes before Luke arrived. There was a tense moment when they lost his heartbeat and gave me oxygen, but overall it went pretty smoothly. I know I had a pretty easy labor compared to some people, but in the immediate hours that followed I kept wondering how and why I would ever be persuaded to do it again! It's true what they say though, you do start to forget. And I've found that the early days of parenthood are longer, harder, and more tiring than the labor itself. Breastfeeding is hard, the early post partum emotional days were hard, not getting more than 3 or 4 hours of sleep at a time is hard. Last night I got nearly 5 hours and I was amazed at how refreshed I felt! It's crazy how quickly you can love someone though. It's hard for me to follow the "sleep when he sleeps rule" because I just want to stare at him and hold him all the time. My favorites are nap times together on the couch - him completely safe from being smothered or rolled on of course. This parenthood thing is harder than I ever could have imagined, but it's pretty amazing and I'm trying to savor every single moment of these early days. I'm not looking forward to 10-ish weeks from now when I have to become a "working mom." In the meantime, I'm trying to stay off the Internet, not let the household chores or the undecorated Christmas tree in the corner bother me, and just enjoy every moment with my Luke.
