Mother's Day Dinner

This was my first Mother's Day as a mom to a real baby not just a mom to puppies.  We went over to Nick's parents house at 3 so we could talk to Jared, who is serving a mission in San Paulo Brazil.  It was wonderful to be able to talk and see him.  After we talked to Jared we had dinner and the husband's were in charge.  Shawn made pork roast, Nick made garlic mashed potatoes and Jake made a Cesare salad, but he was in a creative mood and put a peanut butter cup in the salad.  I was a little afraid when he said there was a surprise in the salad.  The salad tasted fine, and while I was eating dinner I was reminded of a salad I've made with chocolate in it.  The recipe is posted in the recipe section and it is called, "Strawberry Salad".  Since I forgot the camera at the house I'll post more pictures of Luca and how cute he is.

This is the day we brought Luca home from the hospital

Just hanin' out with dad

He love his suckie

Bad Mommy Moments

   I knew being a mom would be hard and different but I didn't know how many times a day I would feel like a bad mom. It seems that every time I pick up Luca someone is telling me that I'm doing it wrong or that I should carry him some other way.  I know I just need to grin and bear it but sometimes I wish they would just sink into the earth to never been seen again.  I also love it when older people tell me that if it weren't for modern medicine Luca would be dead.  I love those people too.  It doesn't make it any better when I'm giving Luca a bath and he screams as if I killing him and not just cleaning out his little fat folds so he doesn't smell like sour milk.
   Talking to my mother-in-law and sister's in law really helps because when I talk to them they help me feel normal and that it is alright if my baby screams while I am giving him a bath.  Enough complaining.  Here are some of Luca's first bath at our house pictures.

Easter 2011

Nick is helping Luca get Easter Eggs in his Easter basket, Luca seems super excited, so excited he can't wake up.

Nick, Luca, Carson and Savanna (in the back) are looking for eggs in Grandma's flower garden.

Nick and Luca after getting tons of Easter Eggs, also his Easter puppie is in his basket too.

Addison, Streator, Savanna, Brooklyn, and Carson holding Luca after the Easter Egg hunt.

Luca's Blessing Day

Luca was blessed on April 10th at the Davis Hospital. We decided it was probably better to get it done sooner than later. Our bishop was very excited to attend the blessing because he said he never blessed a baby in a hospital. We would like to thank all the family who were able to attend and help Nick bless our little Luca. We missed those who weren't able to be there.

Nick & Shauna holding Luca after he was blessed

The proud papa holding his little guy

Shauna with her little guy

Luca in NICU

After Luca was born he stayed in NICU for one month and five days before getting to come home on April 18th. We were so happy to finally get him home.

Luca hanging out with his giraffe buddy

This is the first time Luca wore clothes and he did a show and tell at the nursery window for his family to have a peak at him. Saturday March 26th

The Day Luca Came

Wednesday March 16th 2011 was a very stormy day turning into a even stormier night. I was on bed rest at the hospital waiting to have my baby; I was anticipating a 2 week stay at the hospital due to the fact that the baby was so early and I was having issues with my blood pressure.

Nick had just gotten off of work and was hanging out at the hospital with me. I had to go to the restroom so Nick helped me unhook all of the monitors and he walked me to the bathroom. I noticed when I was in the bathroom that my underwear was wet and I knew that I didn't have an accident so when I went back to bed I told the nurse. The nurse thought I had an accident but she indulged my anyway by checking the fluid to see if it was urine or amniotic fluid. The nurse pulled out the test strip and checked, then she checked again, and just to be sure she checked one more time. Nick asked what the color on the strip meant and the nurse said that if it was urine the color of the strip would be yellow but the strip was blue, a pretty dark blue and she said that it was amniotic fluid.

The nurse quickly left the room and called Doctor Hall; he was at the hospital within a couple of minutes and he checked me himself. He then said, "OK, this is as far as we go, how would you like to have your baby today?" I asked him if we could just pretend there wasn't any fluid and go on with me on bed rest. He chuckled a little and told the nurse to start prepping me for a c-section in about an hour. I was scared and I think that Nick was a little scared too. I was worried because our little guy was going to be so early and so little and that he may not survive the ordeal.

After Doctor Hall left my room I asked Nick to call his parents and see if his dad could come down and help Nick give me a blessing. After that call everything happened so quickly. My nurse came back in and started prepping me and she found out that I had eaten lunch earlier that day. (A person is not supposed to eat at least 6 hours prior to having anesthetic, due to the fact that it can make them sick and if they were to throw up they could aspirate and possibly die.) I had to drink the yuckiest stuff to neutralize the stuff in my stomach in case I did get sick during the surgery.

Shawn, Linda and Katie showed up and I got my blessing. Becky from NICU showed up and told us what was going to happen once the baby was born and what to expect in the NICU. Then the anesthesiologist's assistant showed up and went over everything that was going to happen during the surgery. At that point Doctor Hall came into the room and said the surgery was going to be delayed an hour due to there being an emergency c-section. After that we just waited.

At 8:00 pm my nurse Nichole and the anesthesiologist showed up and told Nick to put on his surgical clothes and get ready. I was then wheeled into the operating room. After they gave me my epidural Nick showed up looking like a lost tourist because he had the camera draped around his neck. I was so happy to see him. The epidural started working and I felt strangely numb all over and I felt this weird tugging sensation and I asked Nick when they were going to start. He looked over the sheet and said they had already started. I didn't feel any pain, just some weird tugging, but from what Nick saw he thought is was pretty cool.

At 8:38 pm Doctor Hall pulled a screaming baby with tons of dark hair out and handed him to the nurse. Nick and I were able to see him for about 15 seconds before they whisked him away to be checked and made sure everything was alright.

Luca was born at 8:38 pm, weighing 3 pounds 5 ounces and 16.5 inches long. He had tons of dark hair, a good set of lungs and was absolutely perfect.

Shawn & Katie in the Labor & Delivery room before Luca was born Nick in his surgical outfit Shauna during Luca's c-section Luca in NICU after he was born

Third Trimester

The third trimester is where the trouble really started in my pregnancy. The day I started my third trimester I got food poisoning from eating chicken fingers from Harmons and I got admitted to the hospital that night but I was released at 4 in the morning. My doctor was called when I was in the hospital and he told the nurse that I needed to be seen in his office the following Monday.

Nick and I went to the appointment and Doctor Hall was concerned about my blood pressure and he said it is probably nothing but he was going to watch it anyway. We went a week and a half before being admitted to the hospital again. Late on a Friday night I woke up feeling horrible, I got sick in the bathroom, had a horrible headache, my left hand and foot was very swollen, and I had horrible abdominal pain, I though I was going to die. We were only in the hospital for a couple of hours again before being released. Dr. Hall wanted to see me again the following Monday.

At this point Dr. Hall realized we may have a problem with preeclampsia and that if my blood pressure didn't get under control the baby would be coming sooner than later. Long story short, Nick and I visited the doctor three times a week and I was being admitted to the hospital at least twice a week.

After one of the really bad readings (210/104) I was admitted over night and they started me on blood pressure medicine. The baby was only 30 weeks along then and the doctor was very worried they were going to have to take him that night. But our luck held out and I was released the next day on the condition that I was on strict bed rest.

The weeks slowly pressed on and I had a paranatologist (baby doctor specialist) visit at the hospital on Monday the 14th of March and he and Doctor Hall decided the best thing to do would have me be admitted to the hospital until the baby came. I was 32 weeks along and they wanted me to try and make it to 34 weeks so the baby would be a little more developed. So when Nick and I came to the hospital the last time before having the baby I was under the impression that I would be on bed rest for 2 weeks but the baby, Luca, had other thoughts completely.