Luke

Wow! Where to begin? The last 48 hours have been a whirlwind.

On Monday morning at 6:15 I felt and heard kind of a "pop" sound. Honestly I thought it was a hard baby kick and shortly after got up to go to the bathroom. When I was walking back to my bed, more and more fluid came out and I realized that perhaps my water had broken. I've never had this happen at home, and since I was exactly 38 weeks and had never delivered a baby more than 2 days early, I certainly wasn't expecting any of this to be happening. It didn't take long to be convinced that in fact my water had broken, and were going to be having a baby!

Brian took the boys up to our friend and neighbor, Kari, around 7:00 while I was making dr. phone calls and getting a few last things together. As we made the 20 min drive to the hospital I started having some consistent and painful contractions, and based on my history of fast deliveries, we assumed this baby was going to be here SOON!

I got checked in around 7:30, the nurse checked me and said I was dilated to a 4. She asked if I wanted an epidural and I said ABSOLUTELY! I've never been able to have one before because things progressed so quickly, but she said she'd get the IV started and that hopefully I'd be able to see the anesthesiologist soon. I was so very thankful that I was in fact able to get the drugs! It was heaven! I was chatting with my parents, Holly and Brian who were all in the room while I "peacefully" labored.

When it was time to start pushing the nurses and dr. had me move from my side to my back at which point my blood pressure dropped unexpectedly. I guess I was out for 30 sec or so and when I came to I remember looking up at all these faces saying, "Hilary? Are you okay? Do you know where you are?" It turns out it had dropped to 50/28...pretty low considering the normal is 120/80. I could tell people were concerned and they called for some extra staff in the room in case they needed any additional help. Fortunately none of that was necessary, and with an oxygen mask on a few more pushes, at 9:50, just a little over 2 hours after arriving at the hospital, I was able to deliver Luke, a happy healthy boy!

After delivery the placenta would not deliver, an issue I had with my second pregnancy as well, but fortunately the dr. was able to perform a D & C in the room and I was able to avoid going to the OR like I had to with Matt's delivery. Several times the dr. commented that he was so glad I had the epidural to block the pain of the placenta removal. God certainly had his hand on us in that room and took care of everything!

Fast forward about 36 hours and we were heading home with baby Luke! I only stayed one night in the hospital because I was feeling really well and ready to get home.

We're all adjusting and the boys have been so sweet with their new little brother. Some of the comments have been "This is like a dream" (Matt), "This is the best" (Ben), and "I love being a big brother" (Adam). What more could we ask for?!

Sure, I know life is going to be crazy, and I've already had a few moments of wondering how I meet everyone's needs. We need time to adjust, but so far, things couldn't be going any better!

We are thankful for our healthy family and know that we are truly blessed!

Luke Randolph

October 18, 2010

7 lbs 13 oz

20 in

Already declaring he's #1, despite being number 4!

The best shot we've got so far with his eyes open.

He better get used to being picked on!

Being a big brother is tiring work!