Introducing Lucas Allen McNeely

Lucas Allen McNeely made his way into this world on Thursday, September 2nd, 2010 at 3:34am. He weighed 6 pounds 5 ounces and was 19 inches long.

The story begins at 3:30am on Wednesday, September 1st. I had just been to the doctor the afternoon before and was told I had to be tested for preeclampsia and was to be on bed rest until Luke arrived. I woke up in the middle of the night with some really bad pains starting in my lower back and wrapping around to my lower abdomen. I thought they were contractions, so I stuck through them and finally called the doctor at 8:30am. They told me to come in to the office and they would hook me up to the machines to see if I was truly having contractions. When we got there and got hooked up to the machines, there were no signs of contractions. Brandon and I were disappointed, but because of my history of high blood pressure and possible preeclampsia they wanted me to go ahead and go to the hospital and get some blood work done to see if my kidneys and liver were starting to become a factor.

We arrived at the hospital around noon on Wednesday, and they checked me into a room and started the tests. Shortly there after, the test results came back that I was severe preeclamptic and they wanted to go ahead and induce labor. By this time, my mom had met Brandon and I at the hospital and we were just waiting around on the actual labor process to start. By early afternoon, I hadn't made much progress, but we were hopeful that things would start progressing soon. Pretty soon Luke had his own cheer section in the waiting room. Grandma and Grandpa McNeely, Aunt Christina, Aunt Sarah, Uncle Craig, Cousin Amy, Grandpa Stanton, Mandy, and Marc were all patiently waiting. They took turns sleeping and entertaining each other until 3:34am finally arrived!

There were a couple of hard times during the labor process as far as my blood pressure rising and falling, and Luke's heartbeat also rising and falling. I also had to be given two epidurals, since the first one failed. We definitely kept the nurses on their toes. The last thing I remember before actually starting to push was Aunt Christina and Aunt Sarah sitting in the room talking to me and all of the sudden I felt very sick and felt like I was going to pass out. Brandon and my mom had just stepped out of the room for a drink and by the time they walked in everyone was running around like crazy and the doctor was there ready to deliver. Since I got the epidural, I can say that the pain was minimal and it was hard to tell if I was actually pushing! I would say I pushed for about 40 min. before Luke came out. They had to use the vacuum to get him out, but once he was out and cleaned up he was just fine!

I experienced a lot of shaking and blurred vision right after the delivery, but they said that was due to the magnesium that I was on to prevent anything else from happening to me.

After the family came in to see Luke, we were finally able to get some sleep around 6:00am. Brandon and I only slept a couple of hours before we were up and ready to take on the day with our new son! The nurses kept a close eye on me all day Thursday and on Friday suggested that I get a blood transfusion. Apparently, I had lost a lot of blood during delivery and if I were to not take the transfusion I would be really weak for a couple of weeks before my body would catch back up to its normal self. I received 2 pints of blood throughout the day on Friday and by Friday evening I was already starting to feel better and they finally let me get up and out of bed!

I didn't sleep at all on Friday night due to the anticipation of getting to come home on Saturday. They finally discharged Luke and I on Saturday afternoon around 2pm. We made it home just in time for the Purdue football game. Grandma Linda was able to stay with us on Saturday and Sunday evening and left Monday afternoon. She was able to help out with taking care of Luke so we could catch up on our sleep and helped take care of the house as well. On Monday night, Grandma Debbie came and is going to be staying with us this week to help out.

Luke slept okay the first night home, but the second night was a different story. He is definitely trying to figure out day and night right now. Last night, we finally were able to get Luke to start breastfeeding. It was a good step in the right direction for all of us, as I was starting to get frustrated with the whole process. Luke also had to go back to the hospital on Sunday and Monday for a billirubon test as he has a little bit of jaundice. We have been trying to get him some natural sunlight whenever we can!

Luke and I both have doctor's appointments this Thursday afternoon. I am anxious for Luke's appointment to see how he is doing and what information the pediatrician has to offer us.