Dear Lucas,

You’re here! You’re here! You’re here! Your Dad and I could not be more excited. We love you more than we ever thought was possible. From the moment you popped out, our lives became dedicated to you, and working together to give you the best life possible. Here is your story:

On July 19th, your Dad and I woke up at 4:30am to head to the hospital. It was finally time! Our bags were packed, the car seat was in the car, and everything was ready. Here we are arriving at labor and delivery at Central Baptist Hospital. When we got there, we paused for one last belly photo, and then got hooked up to all the machines necessary to monitor my contractions and make sure you were safe. When the nurse put in my IV, I heard her mention that she had made a mess, so I glanced over and my blood had shot all the way across the room, and was everywhere. Eek! I was already having regular contractions, and they gave me pitocin to make the contractions stronger. A little while later, our OB, Dr. Simms, came in to break my water. So that was interesting, it felt like I peed like 20 gallons of water, and never stopped. How strange!

They asked if I wanted the epidural already, but I was afraid that it would stall my labor, so I said I’d wait for awhile. Probably like 30 mins later, the contractions started to get pretty painful, but I was still unsure about whether it was time to get it or not. Our nurse, Mary, decided that she would go ahead and hang the necessary IVs and page anesthesia. It’s a good thing she did, becuase not long after the contractions really started to hurt. It wasn’t long after that, maybe 15 painful contractions, that the anesthesiologist showed up. Hallelujah! They made Daddy leave the room, which made both of us nervous, but he stayed right outside the door the whole time so he was close. The numbing medication that they used before the epidural hurt more than the epidural itself. Also because I have slight scoliosis (I blame on lugging your fat Uncle Joey on my hip when we were kids), she had to adjust it slightly so that it would numb both sides of my body.  And for the record, I love epidurals. It was great!

A little while later, your Aunt Katie, and Grammy came so that they could watch you be born. Around 4pm, I officially started “pushing” to get you out. Pushing was really really really hard. It was much worse than I thought it was going to be. Basically I had to push as hard as I could for 10 very long seconds, then take a quick breath, push for 10 secs again, one more quick breath, and then the last 10 second push. I felt like I couldn’t get enough air! Your Dad was absolutely phenomenal during the whole time. He stood by me and I could just feel the love radiating off of him. You and I are so lucky to have a man like him in our lives. I hope you grow up to be just like him.

I ended up throwing up several times because I was pushing so hard for you. I pushed for almost 3 hours to get you out because you were face up instead of the proper position of face down (stubborn boy!) I had to had two extra doses of the epidural medicine because my labor was lasting so long.  We were all starting to get scared because it had the potential of turning into an emergency situation very quickly. They were watching the heart rate monitors very closely to make sure you were tolerating everything okay. Our nurse said it was one of the most difficult deliveries she had seen in a while. But just like a Coe/Atkinson you were a trooper. A severe storm started rolling into Lexington, just as you were about to come out,  Dad joked that you were riding in on a bolt of lightning just like Thor.

Finally, Dr. Simms said “one more push and his head will be out.” Everyone was cheering me on, and your head popped out, and since you were face up, your eyes were open and staring right at your Dad. He turned to me with tears in his eyes said that you were the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. One more push and the rest of your body came out.  Thursday, July 19th at 6:57pm you were born, Lucas Walter Atkinson!  You weighed 7lbs 15 oz, and were 19.5 inches long.  I can’t believe I actually did it.  I was so worn down, both mentally and physically.  They laid you on my chest to wipe you down and your Dad and I both cried over you.  And Dad got to cut your umbilical cord. 

They cleaned you down while  the doctor was stitching me up (ug!), and you were still having some troubles breathing (you were doing something called stridor breathing), and so they rushed you off to the nursery to make sure you were safe.  Your Dad went with you.  I was so scared that you wouldn’t be okay, I was just trying to hold it together and not turn into a melted ball of emotions.

Your Grammy, Poppy, Uncle Michael, Uncle Joey,  and Aunt Katie were all at the nursery window looking at you.   Everyone was so glad you had arrived, but scared at the same time that you were having breathing problems.   They kept you in the nursery for 3 very long hours before you were brought back to us.

When they finally wheeled you into our room, I knew that you’d be okay.  I was in the bathroom when you were wheeled in, so Daddy got to pick you up and hold you for the very first time, you tried to eat his arm!   Once I crawled back into the bed, your Dad handed you to me, and you immediately rooted and literally crawled down my chest to feed, you were a hungry little man and instinctively knew exactly what to do.  It was an absolutely amazing experience to feed you, with your Dad by my side.  We stared and stared and stared at you.  Our perfect baby.

You scared us several more times that night because you still had a lot of mucus in your lungs and choked.  Once was so bad that you started turning colors and we had to grab the nurse to help.  We were and still are always so worried that something will happen to you.  You are our life now, and I cannot even tell you how much love we have  for you little man.

 Your first day on earth started off rocky, but at the end of the night we had you in our arms.  And that’s all that mattered. I am so glad that you are here, and healthy.  You make us the happiest couple in the world.  I love you forever, son.

Love, Mom