Luke Robert Goertzen

Our precious little baby boy was born on November 3rd!!  And yes, it has taken me that long to update the blog.  Life has been very busy between the holidays and spending time getting to know him.  I've pretty much not had time to do anything since Luke is very much a "people person".  He's perfectly content if you're holding him, but cries the minute you set him down.  That's ok with me for now though, since I know he's only going to be this little for a short time.  Sometimes I can't stop staring at him and thinking what a miracle he is - God is amazing!

First off - I suppose I should finish up my weekly pregnancy photos that I never posted...

30 weeks: before Heather's Wedding

32 Weeks at my church baby shower

33 Weeks (we left our camera in Nebraska - so this was taken on Trevor's phone)

This was when the swelling really started.  Here are my "cankles" during my 35th week.  Yikes, huh??  Not pretty.

And this next picture was taken in the middle of the night when I was 38 1/2 weeks.  My water broke about 1:15 AM, so we quickly packed my bags (no, I hadn't done it yet!) and headed to the hospital, but not without snapping a couple of pictures first!

Our last time at home as a family of 2!

We arrived at the hospital around 3:00 AM and found out that I was 2 1/2 cm.  I was still feeling pretty good at this point.

I called Mom to tell her we were headed to the hospital and then again after they confirmed my water had broke.  She packed up and headed down the road to Kansas City and made it to the hospital around 7 in the morning.

Trevor had been trying to go to sleep on me all night.  Neither of us got any sleep that night and we knew we were going to be up for quite awhile.  Trevor's exact words were "I can't be up for 48 hours straight!"  When I told him I was going to have to, he then reasoned that one of us needed to be well-rested.  That didn't really fly with me while I was having contractions by myself, so needless to say, he stayed up with me! :)  So when Mom arrived, he took advantage of it and tried to catch some shut-eye.

Trevor's parents arrived around 9:00 AM.  Then Kim and Victoria got there about 12:30 PM.  Victoria had been begging Kim to be at the hospital when her baby cousin arrived. 

I didn't think Dad was going to make it down, so when he walked in with Kim & Victoria it was such a fun surprise!

This was my nurse Debbie.  She was amazing.  It made the whole experience a lot more bearable!

As far as how my labor progressed, I was only about 3 1/2 cm by the time the doctor came on his morning rounds, so he said that he wanted to get me started on Pitocin.  He gave me two options: 1) Get the epidural and then start the Pitocin to speed up the labor or 2) Get the Pitocin and then I was going to want the epidural shortly after.  After questioning him which he thought was better and him saying he liked both plans equally, I went with the plan that sounded less painful - Epidural first! :)  I got the epidural/pitocin around 10:00 AM.  The epidural was heavenly.  I kept saying I didn't know why anyone wouldn't get one.  That's when the majority of these smiling pictures were taken. 

At about 10:45 I was 4 cm, so I decided to try and take a nap while I couldn't feel anything.  I think my mind was running too fast though, so Mom and I just sat and talked and watched the contractions on the monitor.  They started to become almost non-existent and we and the nurses started worrying that the epidural had really slowed my labor down.  However, when they checked me again around 12:15 I was 8 cm already!  I thought things were going to be smooth sailing from there, but then my epidural started to WEAR OFF.  It was slow at first, but before long I was writhing in pain.  I could push the button on the epidural line and it would give me another dose every 10 minutes.  I think I was pushing that thing every minute! :)   I progressed very slowly during that time.  I was at about 9 1/2 cm from about 1:00-3:00 PM.   Finally around 3:00 the nurse got hold of my doctor and got the anesthesiologist back in there to boost my epidural.  I was never so glad to see someone in my life.  After he did that, I was feeling really good again.  It wasn't long after then that I was 10 cm and they said I was ready to push.  Trevor gave me a high five and a "Let's do this!"  We were ready to meet our little boy!

I only pushed for 5-10 minutes and he was out at 3:54 PM.  As they were cleaning him up, Trevor watched with tears of joy in his eyes. 

He was 19 1/2" and 7 lbs, 13 ozs.

I love this picture of Daddy holding his hand for the first time.

Getting his footprints

Trevor and Luke with my doctor, Dr. MacFarlane. 

Daddy holding him for the first time

Our first picture as a family of three!

We announced to everyone that his name was Luke Robert.  Mom said she guessed that his name was Luke!  I had mentioned in the past being not sure if I wanted his official name to be the shortened version or the long version of his name.  Mom had brainstormed and came up with a whole list of names that she thought I might pick that could be done both ways.  She narrowed it down and thought it might be Luke.  Crazy!

Robert is my dad's first name (he goes by his middle name Terry).  Trevor and I both wanted Dad to be able to pass down his name somehow since he had all girls and Duffy would never get passed on.  We also want nothing more than for our son to follow in the footsteps of my father.  I don't know if I know anyone else who puts as much time and effort into serving God and truly living as a Christian as he does.  I couldn't have a greater wish for Luke than to live his life whole-heartedly for God.  Sometimes I think it is so scary to be bringing a child into this world knowing all the pressures he'll have to face.  I looked up what his name meant after we already had decided on it and discovered that it means "light".  I pray daily that little Luke will grow up to be a light shining brightly in this dark world.

Victoria & Grandpa admiring Luke

Grandpa Fred & Grandma Dee holding Luke for the first time

Grandma Karen & Grandpa Terry holding Luke for the first time

Victoria holding Luke for the first time

Aunt Kim and Luke

We captured him holding his head up like this the first day - he's a strong little guy!  He actually rolled from his tummy to his back the second day in the hospital.  We thought it might be a fluke, but he's continued to do it since.  I need to get a video of it!

This picture amazes me.  I can't believe those chubby little cheeks!  He thinned out pretty quick after we got home.  His cheeks are still this kissable though!

Mommy dressing him for the first time

Our adorable little frog!

I had left Luke's newborn Husker hat at home, so Trevor had Mom bring it to the hospital the second day.  He's planning on training him up right!

Well, that's all I have in me for now and this blog is plenty long enough already!!  Hopefully I'll be updating more often as we get into more of a routine around here.