Our sweet baby boy arrived on Thursday, February 17, 2011 at 11:18 a.m. He weighed 8 pounds, 12 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long.
About 2 hours after he was born, we noticed that Luke was having difficulty breathing. From the very beginning, with each breath he took, he made a little noise. We thought it was sweet, we even had him "talk" on the phone to his Grammy. Later we found out that noise is called grunting and it is a sign of respiratory distress. It wasn't until he was gagging on mucus and breathing was visibly difficult for him (quick breaths, nostrils flared, and retractions in his chest) that we knew there was a problem. He was taken to the nursery for tests and monitoring. Thankfully all blood work and chest x-rays came back clear, ruling out infection. The chest x-ray showed some fluid and after monitoring Luke it was decided his problem was Transient Tachypnea (TTN). TTN is caused by fluid remaining in the lungs after birth. Usually as birth nears, the fluid gradually decreases and what is left of it is pushed out through the birthing process and the first few breaths after birth. In Luke's case, he had too much fluid remaining and it couldn't clear out quite so easily. He was kept in the nursery to monitor his respiration, oxygen level, and heart rate for 24 hours. Since he had his own nurse in the nursery, she was able to watch him for gagging and help him clear the mucus out before his levels dropped. Thankfully his vitals always stayed within the normal range. After about 6 hours of monitoring we were able to hold him again and I could nurse him. He looked pathetic hooked up to his wires, but we were happy it was nothing serious or life threatening and that TTN has no long term effects.
24 hours seemed like an eternity, but finally we were able to have him in our room again and hold him without getting permission first!
Kate and Ben had to wait a little longer than they had expected to meet their baby brother. It was killing Kate, she wanted to meet him so badly!! Finally, we had Lukas back in our room and the kids got the OK to visit. Aunt Jenn made them shirts for the big event. It was too cute! Kate immediately wanted to hold Luke. She kissed on him and was so gentle. But, I knew she'd be great. It was Ben who surprised me. He too wanted to hold Lukas. He rubbed his hair and kissed his face over and over. He kept saying "my baby" and he pronounces Luke as "Luck".
At first we were told we would have to stay an extra night, then it was reduced to after 7 p.m. Saturday (to wait on a final blood culture), but Luke was doing so well we were able to leave Saturday afternoon as originally planned! Bringing Lukas home was emotional for me. Our hospital stay had been sort of a roller coaster. I was anxious to get him home and have my family all in one place. At the same time I'm so nervous about being the mommy of 3! Sometimes I feel like I can barely take care of just myself! Then there is Ben. On Wednesday night when I rocked him to bed he was my baby. On Saturday afternoon he was a little boy. I swear he gained 10 pounds while I was gone. His body just feels different in my arms. When we got home Kate was still napping. It was fun to spend a little time with just my two boys for a little while.
We are finally complete. I'm so proud of my family.
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