Getting bigger (and cuter, too!)

We gave him a real bath the other day now that the chord fell off.
Suzanna took Luke to the doctor's office yesterday, and we found out that he's grown another 1/2 inch in height, and he's gained back all the weight he lost and then another pound! He weighs 8 lbs. 14 oz. now, and he's getting a little chubbier in the face. He's so cute! He hasn't let us sleep much, especially last night when he had us up every hour until 4:00 a.m. when he finally fell into a decent 3 hour (or so) sleep.

Look at his cute face. He's getting chubbier!
Suzanna thinks it's so funny that any time she tries to burp Luke, he won't do it, but as soon as I take him, it takes only 10 seconds or so until he lets out a nice belch! That happened twice today, already. How funny... maybe it's just the way I hold him.

I must have the special touch.
I wanted to make a nice dinner for Suzanna on Sunday, so I got a recipe from Laurie for a Fresh Mex dinner. It included lime-cilantro rice, chicken in a spicy tomato sauce in the crock-pot, a cilantro-tomatillo-chile-ranch sauce, and my homemade tortillas. It turned out really well, and we had a huge dinner on Sunday and leftovers that lasted until Wednesday!

Too bad you can't taste the picture!

Feeling Better

Both Luke and Suzanna are feeling better now. On Saturday, Luke's bilirubin level was 17.2 mg/dL, which is way too high, so we started the lights that day. On Sunday, the lights had helped lower the level to 13.8 mg/dL. One more day of the lights and Monday morning's level was 10.8 mg/dL. At that point, the doctor told us to take him off the lights until Tuesday morning to see if the bilirubin would spike or if Luke's body would naturally decrease the level itself. So Tuesday morning we were really glad to find out that the level was down to 10.4 mg/dL. Good job Luke! All together, he only had to be under the lights on Saturday and Sunday... not a bad deal! Just in time for me to go back to school and work on Monday. Suzanna has been holding up really well, and she's happy. We figured out how to get access to the terminal server at the office from our home laptop, so she can do some things for work here at home without needing to be at the office in person. That's fortunate for everybody at the office, since she knows how to do a lot of things that nobody else understands!

Luke is definitely bigger than he was last week at this time. And he's already learned to kick dad out of his spot in the bed!

His chord stump fell of last night, too! Gross!

He's so cute, isn't he?

Yellow and Blue

On Thursday when Dr. Simmons visited us in our room, he told us he was a little concerned because Luke's bilirubin level was really high. Praxair showed up yesterday afternoon finally with a bili light suitcase for Luke to be in any time he isn't eating or having his diaper changed. We're happy to have him at home instead of at the hospital, but the partition in the suitcase which shields his face from the bright blue lights is only a light piece of cloth material with velcro fasteners, so anytime Luke moves his arms up to his face or back down to his body, he pulls the thing loose and the partition either covers the rest of his body or leaves his face exposed. We have to watch him constantly to make sure he gets the maximum amount of the blue light while protecting his face from exposure. Look at how yellow little Luke's skin is. We have to watch him constantly in his suitcase. He holds still pretty well in there, but it's sad to be unable to hold him.

Home at last!

Well... I didn't sleep as well last night as I did the night Luke was born. Perhaps it was because we didn't go to bed until it was much later, and they brought him in to eat a couple of different times in the middle of the night. But today has been a wonderful day so far as we got all ready to leave the hospital. We watched a 45 minute video about how to take care of Mom and Baby after getting home, and we filled out more paperwork so they could discharge us. Luke's bilirubin levels are a little high, so we have to go back tomorrow to have a third test done to see if we need to treat it. The doctor said it's not too bad, so he might just adjust without any extra care in a few days.

We left the hospital shortly after 12:00 p.m. to come home. Suzanna got to eat one more meal there before we came home: meatloaf with gravy, mashed potatoes, and a variety of vegetables. She let me have a few bites and it was so tasty! Suzanna got dressed in regular clothes again and had a flu vaccination before leaving, and then we loaded Luke up in his car seat with some cute clothes his great aunt Trisha gave him (great aunt! Holy cow!).

So I'll quit carrying on and get to the pictures!

We needed a picture of the bed with him in it!

So cute!

Suzanna is feeling well, and we're all happy to have come home safely.

One more day...

What an exhausting two days! Last night before going to bed after our long day of labor, delivery, and welcoming Luke into the world, I remembered that I had an interview scheduled for this morning (Thursday morning) with a potential employer on campus, so at 7:00 this morning I got up to leave the hospital and go get cleaned up and shaved. After the interview, I had to go to work to get some things done, so I was away from Suzanna and Luke for most of the day until about 6:00 tonight. I did stop by during the lunch hour to visit and while here, I took Luke to the nursery to have the PKU and bilirubin tests done. The poor little guy didn't like getting his heal poked, but he did really well! Right when I got here tonight our pediatrician had just come back and wanted to do the circumcision. Wow... that was a much bigger ordeal than a simple heal poke. He did really well though, and I wanted to go and be with him. I hate the thought of either Luke or Suzanna having to be alone for any sort of uncomfortable or painful procedure. While watching Suzanna in labor yesterday I was getting so distraught seeing her in so much pain that I wanted to leave for a minute but I decided I needed to stay with her for support. So I did, and now tonight I stayed with Luke for his little procedure. The good little boy is doing well and sleeping soundly (I hope!) in the nursery.

Here are some more pictures from last night and today. Enjoy our experience with us!
This is the first picture we actually got of the three of us together!
Look how long the little guy is!
Mom and Dad after another long day!
He's definitely a treat... not a trick.
We like to wrap him up like a little burrito.

The Arrival of Luke!

Suzanna, Luke, and Dr. Judd
She did it! Wow! Suzanna was amazing today! Right after I published the last post, Dr. Judd came and broke Suzanna's water. We had a couple hours of quiet while the epidural worked it's magic, but then she started feeling some serious pain on her side. The anesthesiologist came back and tried to help her by giving her an extra dose, but the pain kept increasing. Eventually it was so bad that each time she had a contraction, she would cry like the saddest little thing. I felt so helpless just sitting by watching. I held her hand and helped her breathe. I tried to help her relax and manage the pain well. The nurses finally checked her and found that she had dilated to an 8 already! Just two hours before she was a 3, so she made some serious improvement! Unfortunately the pain was so bad that Suzanna was starting to get delirious. We got a new anesthesiologist to come and give her a new epidural since the original one wasn't working on her left side. Once that was in, she was able to get a little more comfortable for the major pushing. Within another half hour or so she was to a 9 and then to a 10. The nurses called Dr. Judd at about 1:00 and told him the baby was coming. Even before he got here, I could see the very top of the baby's head as he got closer! Finally, Dr. Judd arrived and told Suzanna her options: Either she could push for another hour or two, or she could let Dr. Judd use forceps and be done "in five minutes." Sure enough, Luke Jeffrey Holdaway was born within five minutes at 1:27 p.m., weighed 7 lbs. 12 oz., and was 20.5 inches long! Hooray!

Luke is 7 lbs. 12 oz. and 20.5 inches long!

Within 15-20 minutes, the doctor had everything "cleaned up," and Suzanna was looking and feeling a thousand times better. We had about 2 minutes as a three-person family together before nurses came back in and family showed up. It was a very emotional experience, and I am so grateful that Suzanna and Luke are both okay and healthy now. He's less than an hour and a half old right now, so I'll post more later (either today, tomorrow, or in a few days).

On the way!

Two weeks ago at Suzanna's doctor's appointment, she was told that nothing was happening yet, but if she was dilated at all or made any "progress" then she could be induced as of the 11th. Last week at her appointment she was officially dilated to a "1" and was 50% effaced. Yesterday morning at her checkup, Dr. Judd said she was dilated to a "2" and now had a choice to make. Either she could be induced "tomorrow" (today, now), or she could be pregnant for another week and probably then have to be induced. She decided that she's been uncomfortable long enough, so this morning at 5:00 we arrived here at Orem Community Hospital, and we're well on our way!

Before we got here, Suzanna was feeling some pretty intense shooting pains in her lower abdomen, though they weren't normal contractions. The pain lasted about 5 minutes, so I hurried and packed up the car and got everything ready to go out the door. It was totally dark outside, except for the full moon, as we made our way to the hospital.

The first two hours were awkward and strange. It was still so dark outside and there weren't many people around in the hospital. We had to answer a million questions about Suzanna's medical history and pregnancy, but eventually she got an IV along with penicillin (for Group B Strep) and Oxytocin. Even before the Oxytocin, her contractions were getting more regular and more intense. With the Oxytocin, they started getting even more intense. The anesthesiologist came in and gave her an epidural at about 7:30 or so. I stood by the side of the bed to support Suzanna, but after about five minutes, I started to get a little light headed and dizzy. Suzanna later laughed and commented that my face was going pretty white! The nurse took my place while I lay down on a second bed and recovered.

It is now about 8:30, and Suzanna is resting peacefully in her bed (which is too short, by the way... her feet hang off the end because she's too tall for the bed!). The doctor should be by sometime soon to "break the water" and get this show on the road...

Suzanna in her lovely "comfortable" bed...

Here I am eating her breakfast, since she's not allowed to have any solids until after the baby is born, now. This is the second time in less than a week that I've been able to eat somebody else's food in the hospital! On Saturday Dad and I watched the BYU game in his hospital room, and since he didn't want his dinner, he gave it to me!