Life With Luke: Week One

I am finally blogging about our first few weeks as parents to the sweetest little boy. I have been keeping a bulleted list of occurrences each day of these first three weeks of Luke’s life, but things just take so much longer with a newborn around. Taking care of him and the house and running the occasional errand is about all I manage to get done most days. On top of that, I am still trying to finish my final (online) class as a student at BYU and I felt like I should make that a priority. But who am I kidding? Recording these memories on this blog is much more important. And besides, I have an entire year to finish that class if I need it. I won’t let it take that long, but it’s nice to know it’s not that urgent so I can afford to set aside some time for blogging.

So I’ll pick up where I left off – in the hospital right after Luke was born…

Day 1

Luke was born at 6:14pm so most of the day was over by the time he got here, but I’ll still call it day one. After Jeff, Mom, and I held Luke and marveled at what an incredible little blessing he is, the nurses took him away to the nursery and Jeff went with him. Mom stayed in the room with me, while I inhaled my dinner. I was hungry and it showed. I downed my meal along with about a gallon of orange juice in no time. As soon as I was finished, it hit me – I had eaten and drank way too much, way too fast. The nausea, combined with my body realizing the incredible feat it had just performed led me to be in what I honestly think was more discomfort than I had been in all day, contractions, childbirth and all. Granted, the epidural made labor and delivery about as pleasant as could be for me and I honestly hadn’t been in much pain at all, but I never expected to go through the worst of it after my baby had already arrived! I couldn’t stop shaking, I was still contracting frequently, and I felt on the verge of losing my dinner. Luckily, I was able to squeeze in a wonderful little conversation with my dad, who I wish could have been there, before the worst of it hit. I was pretty miserable for a little while, and it didn’t help that Tricia had to push on my stomach while I was feeling this way. Fortunately, the shaking and nausea didn’t last too long. Of course, the contractions went on for several hours, as they kept me on pitocin for quite a while. And every time I fed Luke over the next day or two, they would come back. They were pretty mild though so I didn’t mind too much and I was very happy to have a baby who was such a good little eater! I fed him once right after he was born, before they took him to the nursery, and he did perfect! The nurses were very impressed with him.

Luke getting ready to go to the nursery

They gave Luke his first bath in the nursery. He didn't like it very much.

He has the cutest quivering bottom lip

Look at that big hand!

Getting his footprints

Tricia brought me to my room downstairs, where we would be spending the next couple of days. Lucky for us, it was one the two biggest recovery rooms because it was on the corner and I was happy to discover that the bed was much more comfortable in there than in labor and delivery. Soon, Jeff joined us and my mom went home. After a few minutes, they brought Luke in. He was sleeping so Jeff and I did a lot of staring and smiling. We still couldn’t believe how perfect he was or that he was ours. I got a call from Patrick and Ashley and had a great time talking to them. They are awesome. I can’t wait til we get to see them a little more often when we move to Arizona and live closer to them. And I know Luke will love his Uncle Patrick and Aunt Ashley. Jeff spent the night on the uncomfortable fold out chair in the corner of the room that night. I would have understood if he had gone home to sleep, but I was happy he stayed. Luke spent the night in the nursery, but the nurses brought him in about every 4 hours so he could eat and I was so excited to see him every time. After he was finished eating each time, I would hold him and rock him for a few extra minutes before calling the nurses back in to take him back to the nursery. I can’t express in words the joy I felt as I held him and looked down at his sweet little face and realized that he was mine. I couldn’t stop smiling.

Luke loves having his hands up by his face. He hated having them stuck down by his sides when he was swaddled so we would let him keep them out most of the time.

Jeff ran home to get a few things before bedtime. He made sure to grab Luke's football rattle, which stayed in his bed with him the whole time we were at the hospital. Jeff was worried Luke would be too cold without his hat on, but he didn't want to wake him up so he just laid it on his head.

Day 2

We spent the entire next day in the hospital. We were ready to get out of there and take Luke home after a few hours, but we were told we would have to stay until the next morning. So we spent the day loving our sweet little Luke. Jeff and I were alone with him for a lot of the day (if you don’t count the nurses, housekeeping staff, food service people, and the photographer that came in to take pictures of Luke and then tried to sell them to us for an absurd amount of money). We finally named him that day. The night before, we had almost settled on Jeff’s favorite name, Braeden Michael, but I wasn’t sure it quite fit him. After talking it over, we decided this little boy looked like a Luke, which had been one of my top three names, although I had never been able to settle on a favorite. It wasn’t until the next morning just before we left, that we finally chose his middle name, Andrew.

Mom spent the morning deep cleaning our entire apartment. She did an incredible job and it was so nice to come home to such a clean place. She came to the hospital in the afternoon and a couple of hours later, we had some visitors. Aunt Valerie and Brittney arrived first and brought with them some much appreciated diapers and wipes (this little boy goes through diapers like you wouldn't believe! He far surpasses the minimum given for a healthy baby who is getting enough to eat. We didn’t feel the full force of this in the hospital when the nurses were doing most of the diaper changing). Within a few minutes, my Uncle David, Aunt Holly, and their daughters Erika and Rachel walked in and before they left, our friends Matt and Vanessa Johnston and their four-month-old son, Thomas showed up. It was so fun seeing everyone and introducing them to Luke, although I’ll admit, as a nervous, brand-new mom, slightly nerve-racking passing him around to so many people all at once. Of course, Luke didn’t mind. He slept the entire time. After all of our visitors left and Mom went home once again, our friends, Jeff and Brenda Oswell stopped by for a visit. We had a nice chat with them, but unfortunately, had to kick them out after a while because Luke was hungry and he was done waiting! By then, it had gotten pretty late and Jeff headed home for a better night’s rest in a more comfortable bed, assuring me that I could call him any time and he would come back if I needed him. I spent the night relishing every second I had alone with Luke whenever the nurses brought him in to be fed. I couldn’t believe how much I already loved him.

Aunt Valerie

Brittney

Aunt Holly and Rachel

Erika

Uncle David

The Johnstons

Brooke

Day 3

The next morning, we were finally released from the hospital around 10:30am. Luke slept the entire way down to the car and all the way home (about a 3-5 minute drive) in his car seat. Mom met us at the house and enjoyed trying out Luke’s crib and swing with me and ooohing and awing over how cute and tiny he looked in them. She also clipped his nails for me, which was a relief because I was nervous to do it myself. That night, she and my Aunt Brenda kindly brought us a delicious homemade dinner and then, we were on our own with Luke for the first time. It was a long night as I woke up to every little sound Luke made and ended up spending most of that night and the next sleeping in a half sitting up position on the couch with him on my chest. Don’t worry, eventually I got the hang of nights and Luke is actually a great little sleeper for the most part.

Getting Luke all dressed in his cute clothes to go home. Check out those long toes! And he has the fattest little big toe.

So tiny in his car seat when we first got him home

In his crib for the first time

Trying out the swing. Luke loves his swing.

Jeff couldn't get enough of Luke. He was working on his computer, but he would get up every five minutes to watch Luke nap.

We kept little mitts on his hands for the first few days because he kept scratching his face and poking his eyes. However, he got them off all the time and he didn't seem to like having his hands stuck in them so we stopped using them after a while. We try to keep his nails trimmed and he rarely gets scratches on his face now, although he still constantly has his hands up by his face.

Jeff has dubbed this "Daddy's Chair" even though it was my grandma who gave it to us when we got married.

Day 4

Thursday was “baby’s day out.” While Jeff was working on campus, Mom and I took Luke out in the car for the first time. We went to Wal-Mart to get a trash can for his diapers, to the Distribution Center to get me some nursing garments, and to Kneaders for lunch. He did great! He slept most of the time and only started to fuss a little at the Kneaders drive-thru right before we headed home. Everyone that asked was so surprised to hear that Luke wasn’t even three days old yet. Surprisingly, I wasn’t nervous to have him out. Probably because I wasn’t alone – I had the Momma with me.

Day 5

On Friday, we did tummy time with Luke for the first time. He was pretty active and strong for a 4-day-old.

My guys napping. Notice my hand in the upper left-hand corner. I was massaging Jeff's head. I tried to keep doing it as I took the picture.

Day 6

On Saturday morning, Mom reluctantly said goodbye and drove back to California. We were sad to see her go. She was a huge help, taking Luke while I showered and got things done around the house, making us fantastic dinners, and being such a wonderful grandma. She was constantly singing and humming to Luke and talking to him as she rocked him while I was busy doing other things. I’m sure he loved it and her.

After she left, Jeff and I took Luke for a walk in his stroller for the first time. Once again he slept most of the way and behaved like a perfect angel. Later, we took him out in the car again. This time, we went to Target and then stopped by Macey’s to get a Redbox movie. That night, our friends the Maxfields came to visit. It was great to see them. We don’t see much of them since they moved to Salt Lake and we miss them.

Getting ready for our first walk

Check out those guns!

Some more tummy time with Daddy

Long arms

Big yawn!

Day 7

On Sunday, we went for another walk in the morning and then Jeff went to church to teach our Sunday school class, while Luke and I stayed home. What a guy! We meant to go and take the sacrament later, but we missed it. Whoops! That evening, we had a whole crowd of visitors: a whole bunch of my cousins, aunts and uncles from my dad’s side of the family. They filled our whole living room, but even with a crowd like that surrounding him, Luke never woke up from his nap in his swing while they were here. It was so nice to see them all and chat for a little bit and my cousin, Kerra brought us an adorable onesie that Luke wears all the time and a great Nuk bottle that we’ve used almost every day since Luke was about two weeks old. Awesome gift!

Sunday nap on Daddy's lap

I had a hard time getting Luke to burp in the hospital, but once I got it down, I learned to love it because he always curls up and tucks his head in against my neck like this.