30 Hours Later

These little babies sure are worth every bit of the 9-month process we women go through but I have to admit that the last 30 hours of my 9 months was a lot harder than I ever expected it would be! I had to write down the details so feel free to stop reading now if you so choose. I will not be offended :).

Chris did me the favor of going to a Childbirth class about 5 weeks before Luke was born because I wanted to do it to feel more prepared. We laughed hysterically through all of the breathing techniques because I knew they were ridiculous and I would never use them - but let me tell you, counting to 5 and then back down to 1 is what really saved me through the difficult labor process that I so wasn't expecting. After all, Becky just had a baby. Her water broke and baby Tucker was out 4 hours later. Obviously I thought it would be the same thing for me! Well, let me just say we definitely weren't laughing when it came down to the real deal and those silly breathing techniques and my 'coach' were what got me through it all :)! Thanks for being by my side every second honey.

My mom got into town on Monday night at midnight and that morning around 5am was when I started having contractions. Perfect timing for mom to get here because Chris and I might not have made it without her. I continued having contractions throughout that day as they got stronger and longer. By dinner time I was thinking: ok, well, lets get our bags packed because we're probably going to the hospital tonight. My mom, on the other hand, said: Well Cassie, you might have a baby by tomorrow night this time. And I said, "what do you mean tomorrow night??!"

Contractions got harder and stronger but never got closer together than about 5 minutes apart. Our doctor told us to go into the hospital when my water broke or when contractions were 2-4 min apart. So we endured the contractions as long as I could until at 12:30am when Chris and I went into the hospital. I was dilated to 2.5cm. The nurse had us walk around the hospital for an hour after being monitored - then I was dilated to 3cm, but they sent us home with a shot of morphine in my tush. The nurse said that the shot would help me get some sleep and if contractions got worse, to come back in. We got home from the hospital at 5am - I was so tired and in so much pain I didn't know what to do. And I couldn't get any sleep at all - the nurse lied about the morphine being able to help! Contractions continued coming every 4-6 min. My mom and Chris just sat in my room with me for about 5 hours straight. Everytime a contraction came I would wake up, start breathing like a maniac, or start pacing the floor in my room, trying to hold the tears back. Chris and mom were so supportive and took such good care of me, I felt like I wouldn't have survived without them. By that afternoon at 1pm I was hysterical in tears and we went to the hospital again because I couldn't bear it anymore. I think the nurses felt frantic when Chris and I got to Labor and Delivery because I could not stop crying. I got a small gift from heaven when the doc said I was dilated to 6cm and they would give me an epidural if I wanted it. Boy did I want it!!!! The anesthesiologist put it in about a half our later (thank goodness they didn't make me wait), I felt contractions but no pain, and 30 minutes later I was asleep, completely exhausted. I'm sure the epidural was a total relief to my support group as well beacuse I'm pretty sure they were just as tired and worn out as I was!

By 9pm I was dilated to 10cm and started pushing. Although my contractions (even with petocin) never really got closer than 4 min apart, we still got the little guy out in about 45 min with no problems. It was really crazy because they dropped a mirror down so we were all able to watch little Luke being born. What a miraculous thing! The greatest moment in life, to see your first baby being born.

Luke slept 4 hour stretches in the hospital, even his first night. That was his Christmas gift to his mom and dad after 30 hours of labor. So he definitely seems to take after his mom in the sleeping department. Luke has changed our lives so much already and we can't imagine life without him. We feel so lucky for the plan of salvation and to know that we will be a family forever. We love you so much Luke.

(And also, Mom - wanted to thank you so much for being here with us, taking care of me, and sharing this special time with us and Luke. He is one lucky boy to have you as his grandma.)