Hey everyone! 

It's been one week that we have been home as a fam!  (well tomorrow night it will be one week) ... Things are going well and Behren is doing lots of eating, pooping, and sleeping!  We couldn't be more proud, haha!!!  

We are not taking anything for granted because Behr gave us a SCARE!  I labored for 18 hours and then two hours of pushing and he just wouldn't come ... we were concerned the entire time because his heart rate was dipping very low during each contraction.  (They knew it had something to do with the cord).  My midwife called in the Dr. on call and we decided on c-section, but I wondered what the hell took them so LONG to make that call!  Thanks god we did the section when we did because the poor guy had the cord wrapped around his neck two times, rendering it impossible to make the transition outward... not to mention cutting off his O2.  He did let out a few pathetic cries, but I knew something was wrong by how quickly they were working on him and that they didn't offer him to me for a quick kiss (and his color was grey).  Luke got to talk to the nurses and dr.'s as they worked on him and was also able to accompany Behren to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, two floors below.  It was one the most scary experiences of my life!  It takes much longer for them to suture you up during a C-section than it does to remove the baby ... it felt like hours without Luke, there worrying about Behren, while they finished the procedure.  I did get to see him in the unti from my bed a few hours later and then we visited him the unit every couples hours until they released him Wednesday evening to join us in the room.  He was diagnosed with pneumothorax which means that he had an air pocket between his rib cage and lungs causing him to not get enough O2.  It usually goes away on it's own and often occurs when the baby is straining to get air.  They treated him with antibiotics in case of infection, and he cooked under a heated lamp and O2 tent ... we will never forget those first tough days!  Thanks to everyone that rooted him on and gave us positive energies and prayers ... it surely helped because he is doing awesome now.   His only battle scar is his pealing skin from being in the "tanning bed" they called "Hawaii" in the NIC U. 

More to come!

l,

brooke, lucas, & behren lucas