Welcome Home Baby Luke!

  
Baby Luke was able to come home from the NICU on day 4!  What a beautiful day it was as our family of 5 was able to be together for the first time!

Luke brought the boys a balloon and toy truck to let them know how excited he was to be their little brother.  The boys thought that was the greatest thing ever!   Here Gavin is touching Luke's head and patting him.    Below the boys had so much fun putting their stuffed animals in the carseat.  They of course then had to sit in the carseat too!

 And then they wanted Mama to put Baby Luke in the carseat too!

  Gavin loved to say hi to Luke and wave at him.

 Wyatt ran and gave Luke his teddy bear all on his own!

They of course wanted to sit in the bassinet.

Here we are for the first time as our family of 5!!!!!

Grandmas got to finally have their snuggle time after 4 days!

Both boys thought taking the pacifier and putting it in their mouths was the funniest thing ever the first couple of weeks.  It was a huge game and we laughed along.  We never wanted them to think they couldn't touch the Baby's things or feel left out.  If everyone was safe, then we wanted them to be a part of it.  And we of course had no worries about them wanting to use the pacifier again; it was just a fun game.

Aunt Selina finally got to snuggle her newest nephew!

That evening we ordered take-out from one of our favorite mexican restaurants.  We decided to all eat in the living room which has only happened one other time (all other times at the table) on their 1st birthday.  They thought this was so fun!

After so many prayers for Gavin and Wyatt's heart during this transition, my heart was full of joy as I watched the joy in their hearts as well!  Luke's first day home was amazing and I will forever be thankful for the beautiful gifts God has entrusted to us!  Gavin, Wyatt and Luke, you are loved more than you ever know by your Mama and Daddy, family, friends and most importantly, by our Lord and Savior.  

Happy Birthday Luke Alan French!!

Despite my efforts to try to go into labor naturally, my prayer for God’s will was answered by delivering our sweet Luke via the scheduled C-Section.  What a gift trusting in God always turns out to be!  The doctor said that as she began the surgery, they saw that my uterus was extremely stretched and beyond thin from pregnancy with my 7lb 8oz (each) twin boys just 17 months before.  If I would have gone into labor naturally, it could have ended very bad.  What a beautiful gift God gave us and kept us safe and healthy!

My mom and sister had driven from El Paso to Houston the Tuesday before my section.  Friday morning, the 17^th of August, Jason and I headed to the hospital; arriving at 5:30am.  My mom and sister woke the boys up and took them to the hospital; arriving about 7/7:30am.  Grandma Nadine, Great Aunt Cynthia and cousin Zander also were at the hospital to welcome Luke into the world!  Luke Alan French was born at 8am; weighing 7lbs 4oz and 20 inches long.  It took the nurses a while to get air into his lungs, which felt like an eternity to me.  What a beautiful sound it was when he started crying!  They cleaned him up and then handed him to Jason who brought him to me to touch, talk to and kiss.  Then Jason and Luke headed to the nursery as they finished ‘working’ on me.  They wheeled me back to the room and eventually Jason came back to be with me.  We waited, and waited for them to bring Luke, but no one showed up.  I sent Jason to see what was going on, having a bad feeling something must be up.  Jason came back with a blank look on his face and I knew something was wrong.  The prayers began to flood up to heaven.  Jason explained that he had low blood sugar, high respiratory rates and low O2 levels; that he was in the NICU.  My heart broke, but I felt at peace knowing God was holding him and taking care of him. 

I told the nurses I had to get in to the NICU to see my son.  They reassured me that as soon as my feeling came back and I proved I could stand on my own, they would let me go.  I began doing everything I could to get moving.  I was up out of that bed within 2-3 hours!  It wasn’t until 12 hours after surgery though that I actually got to hold my son.  It broke my heart seeing him with all those tubes and IVs.  I still continued to pray and remain thankful for his health, despite the complications he was having.  I knew he would be okay, he just needed a little extra help in the beginning was all.  But still, it was beyond hard on this Mama not being able to be with my son and hold him on my chest and kiss him without all those tubes and IVs.  

 

While all this was going on, Gavin and Wyatt were having a great time in the waiting room!  They got so excited every time they went up there that week!  I had packed goodie bags full of fun activities and snacks for them, and what 17 month old wouldn’t love having a whole room with couches and chairs, and elevators and water fountains to play with?!  I was able to snuggle the boys on the hospital bed that day; an answer to my prayers!   We snuggled together as we watched a Baby Einstein DVD.  We also pulled out their doctor kits which they thought was really fun to do in the hospital!  Gavin and Wyatt’s heart was full of joy the week Luke was born and continues to be!  What a beautiful answer to prayers!  I have been able to snuggle them and love on them as well since the C-section was so much easier than my first one!  Another answer to so many of my prayers.  While my heart ached bad to be the mom I was before (rolling on the floor and chasing them), I had to be thankful for what we were able to do considering I had just had surgery.   

While Luke was in the NICU, they discovered he had low platelet counts and jaundice; the former of which caused him to stay in the NICU 4 days.  They never could figure out what caused the low levels, but it eventually came up a little and leveled out, so they released him.  (A week later, blood tests showed they came back up and are fine now!) 

Jason spent the nights at home with the boys to keep some normalcy for them as well as ensure he got some rest.  I spent my nights pumping and visiting Luke in the NICU.  By Sunday, I was beyond tired, pulled and stressed and hormonal.  The nurses gave me sleeping medicine to help me sleep (I had been unable to before) and I had to miss a couple of Luke’s feedings.  I hated this, but realized this was best and he would be okay without me for a few hours.  Even though I could have been discharged on Sunday because I was recovering so well, I stayed until Monday.  I decided it was best for me to go home and spend time with my husband and two sons and sleep in my own bed though Monday.  So Jason drove me home on Monday.  It was the hardest thing ever being wheeled out of the hospital without my son in my arms.  That afternoon was wonderful spending with my family at home!  Jason and I headed back up to the hospital to be with Luke that evening.  Later that night we drove home back home.  I felt like I needed to be with Luke when at home and with Gavin and Wyatt when at the hospital.  I continued to pray for peace so I could enjoy my blessings in the moments I was given with each of them.  We had breakfast with the boys and then headed to the NICU Tuesday morning.  After a few hours, we were told he would be able to go home that day!!!  A couple of hours later we were on our way home!   

Our Past Month at a Glance

There are so many wonderful things to write about from this past month; I am way behind to say the very least.  I want to capture everything in more detail, but that will have to be at a later date.  For now, I want to give a brief overview to capture our past four weeks at a glance.

The biggest moment this past month was of course the birth of our third son Luke Alan French!  What a blessing he is!  He was born at 8AM on 08/17/12; weighing 7lbs 4oz and 20 inches long.  I ended up having a C-Section as scheduled (and what a blessing, I'll write more later).  Luke was not breathing when he was born, but the nurses quickly got air into his lungs (it felt like an eternity to me as I waited to hear him cry).  He ended up having to go to the NICU after the doctors discovered he had 1) low blood sugar levels, 2) high respiratory rate and 3) low O2 levels.  The first two were corrected pretty quickly, but for the next 2.5 days, he worked to keep his O2 levels up and consistantly breath well on his own.  During this time they discovered that he had low platelet counts and jaundice.  By the fourth day in the NICU his platelet counts had risen some and leveled out, so he was able to come home!  My C-section went wonderful.  I was up moving around as soon as my feeling came back in my legs (I had a very special son in the NICU I had to get to!).  It was the hardest thing not being able to hold my son for the first 12 hours after his birth.  So hard still not being able to hold him w/o tubes and IVs in the way.  I felt like I couldn't be there for my newborn son Luke and I couldn't be there for my sweet 17 month olds Gavin and Wyatt (who did AMAZING while I was in the hospital and since Luke has been home!!).  I'll write about all this and more later when I have more time.  The C-section was on a Friday morning and they were going to let me go on Sunday morning, but since Luke was still in the NICU, I stayed until Monday.  I decided I needed to go home and spend time with my Gavin and Wyatt and husband and sleep in my own bed that night.  It was an awful feeling... feeling like I needed and wanted to be with Luke when at home and needed and wanted to be with my other 3 men when at the hospital.  God helped bring me peace and I was able to enjoy my time with each of them when I was given the time.

Luke came home on Tuesday, day 4, and what a great feeling to have all 5 of us together!  The boys have been so sweet and gentle with Luke!  We've all been adjusting well.  Luke was majority spoiled his first two weeks since we didn't get to give him the love we wanted his first 4 days.  By the 3rd week he decided he didn't want to sleep unless he was being held!  Not good, hehe!  Anyways, he is now sleeping fine when we aren't holding him.  He was very sleepy his first 1.5 weeks... I mean very very sleepy; to the point I'd wake him up to feed him and because I just missed him!  Then he hardly slept for a week.  Now it's been a great balance the past few days.  Again, I'll write more about this later.  

Luke is an incredibly sweet little boy who loves to stare deep into you as you talk to him.  He loves to snuggle on my chest (wiggles to the middle of my chest if I put him on my shoulder...) where he gets lots of kisses on his forehead and head.  He is also the most stubborn and strong willed newborn I have ever known or heard of.  He gets so red and his overall looks majorly change when he gets mad (mainly when he wants food NOW, bath or diaper time).  Luke will contort his body and stiffen up like I've never seen.  He is beyond strong; seriously strong.  He stands up like nothing when he's mad and I'm trying to burp him on my lap; you can't bend him at the waist.  Nursing him when he's in this state is a nightmare.  He moves 180 and forward when on tummy time and upset.  But I've been very happy to see that these fits are fewer in-between the past few days!  He's learning to trust that Mama will take care of his needs and he can relax when she's holding him!  Makes my heart happy watching him feel safe and loved!  

Luke was on formula the first day of his life due to him being in the NICU.  I started pumping and giving him the colostrum via bottle (I couldn't nurse until he was out of the NICU...).  Long story short (I'll write more later), he was on about 70/30 breast milk his last 2 days in the NICU, 90/10 breast milk his first day home and 100% breast milk every since!  My milk supply is amazing; I"m actually having to freeze a whole lot.  Nursing however has been a major challenge due to a number of reasons: 1) not getting to nurse until day 4 due to him being in the NICU and taking a bottle 2) Luke was tongue tied until 1.5 weeks of age and 3) his strong will/fits make it so hard to calm him down to focus on nursing. I've seen a lactation consultant though and things are heading in the right direction.  He nurses about 50-70% of the time; mainly with the shield to help bridge the difference between the nipple and the bottle nipple.  But he does nurse okay w/o it at times depending on his mood!  Our main issue now is that he gets too relaxed and comfy and nurses so slow; a MAJOR challenge with two now 18 month olds to also care for.    

My mom and sister were here his first week and my dad was here his second.  What a gift!  Again, I'll write more later.  The day after my dad left, Wyatt came down with a bad tummy bug; the next day Gavin and I got it and then the following Daddy had it too.  Everyone but Luke was throwing up and just felt AWFUL.  So thankful Luke never got sick!  Jason's mom ended coming over to help one day because it was so hard on Jason and me to take care of two sick boys and a newborn when we were so sick ourselves (and I was still recovering my C-section).  What a gift!  She ended up getting the tummy bug too a couple of days latter :(  While we were still recovering, Jason had to go out of town for work for about 2.5 days, which meant it was my first time to take care of the 3 boys by myself.  It was challenging to say the least with us all being sick still, but we made it!

Then then past week, I have been potty training the boys!  Wyatt has been getting ready for a long time, but just wasn't quite there yet.  Two weeks ago he started to get VERY upset when he'd pee or poo in his diaper and want me to change him right away.  Gavin too would want me to change his diaper, but not be as interested or bothered by it.  For Wyatt, everything started being about potty.  I knew I had to start training him despite the fact that we had a 3 week old.  So the following week we started off on our journey through potty training.  After 4 days, I can say it's gone very well.  We are no where near being potty trained completely, but we are for sure heading in the right direction with huge successes!  Both boys have gone pee and poo on the potty many times a day.  Wyatt is doing excellent with control; his main accidents are tiny dribbles in his briefs and then we run to the potty.  Gavin's learning as well, but doesn't seem as interested; he actually seems upset at times that he's having to do this.  I know he isn't really ready, but I have to try with him as well since Wyatt is ready.  I'm making sure to treat them as individuals though.  We continue to make it fun.  I'm thankful for the joy and happy hearts God has blessed us with this week!  I'll write more about potty training too in another post.

I had my first outing with the 3 boys by myself today; to the pediatricians office for the boys' 18 month checkup.  It was great and a piece of cake!  The boys are so good out in public walking holding my hand, that it wasn't any trouble or worries.  Gavin is 34 and 1/4 inches (100% in height) and 28lbs and Wyatt is 33 inches (80% in height) and 26 and 1/2 lbs.  I weighed Luke this evening and he is 9lbs 8oz at 4 weeks old.  Just the past two days he has really become more aware and interacting with us.  He loves to stare at us when we talk to him (he'll contort his body trying to look at the boys!).  He also is trying to coo back to us when we talk to him.  He's starting to enjoy learning to grasp material or other simple things to hold/touch.

Again, I want to capture so much more in individual posts about these special topics, but I wanted to give a 'brief' overview first before another month passes!  So thankful for all God has blessed and entrusted us with!  Here are just a few pics in random order due to time: