Luca Quinn- Week 1
It’s that time again—weekly blog posts for our newest little nugget, Luca Quinn!
Today, I will share Luca’s birth story!
It’s been a roller coaster of a month since I last posted about Luca’s pregnancy. I think my last post at 34 weeks, I had said that everything was still going well, and then that very night we started having some complications. I spent week 34 in and out of the hospital. We were pretty certain we would have to get him out that week, I even got steroid shots to help his lungs develop. This also happened to be the week that partners were banned from the delivery room. I cried so many tears that week trying to mentally prepare to give birth alone that week, and then for our son to be in the NICU where Ron would also not be allowed. One particular appointment that week, I ended up being sent to L&D. I had a mini panic attack that I was about to give birth and was totally unprepared. It’s not like Ron could even bring me a bag or anything. So from there on, I had my hospital bag packed, including a laptop and cameras to document as much of his birth as I could for Ron. I carried this bag with me the 1 mile I walked each way twice a week for my appointments. Going through this pregnancy during a pandemic was incredibly stressful, and that week in particular was really tough.
But the Lord answered our prayers in big ways. First, Governor Cuomo put out an executive order forcing our hospital to allow partners in the delivery room. We breathed a huge sigh of relief with this! While we were still uncertain when we would need to get Luca out, we were relieved to know that Ron would be there by my side and able to witness his son’s birth. Secondly, we made it to our original goal of 37 weeks!! This seemed impossible a few weeks ago, but again, by God’s mercy, we made it. We have a full term baby who did not need to go to the NICU and is fully thriving!
We’ve said many times that Luca was born at such a historic time—not only during a pandemic, but also in the epicenter, at its peak. What a crazy time. Our family has been self-quarantined for over 5 weeks now, Ron only leaving to go to the grocery store, and me only leaving to go to my doctors appointments. With every appointment over the past month, I was always amazed at how quickly things were escalating. With each visit, there would be some new measure of protection in place. By my last appointments, I would have my temperature checked before entering the building, be given gloves and a mask if I wasn’t already wearing them, and fill out a health form. Each visit the doctors and technicians were more and more protected.
Though our hospital was forced to allow partners in the delivery, they still had a lot of stipulations. Ron would be allowed to be in the room for the delivery, but he would not be allowed with me in the postpartum ward. We also both had to be tested for Covid-19. We spent last Friday morning doing this, and man was that test incredibly unpleasant!! By Friday night we received a call letting us know that we were both negative and good to go for the induction in the morning.
The entire week leading up to our induction, I barely slept. We lost Roman during the night at 38.5 weeks, so as we got so close to the induction date, I couldn’t help but be so nervous and paranoid, in particular during the nighttime. Every time I stirred, I would wake up waiting to feel Luca move, a quick reassurance that he was okay. This probably happened well over a dozen times every night as I slept. As much as I tried to remain calm and remind myself that I was doing everything I could, it’s hard not to feel the weight of keeping him alive.
By Friday night, I was a ball of emotions. It was already going to be a short night of sleep, and I slept even less than usual. On top of that, Fynn got up twice in the night with nightmares. So when 4:30 rolled around, I was already so exhausted from lack of sleep and emotionally drained. We got ready and headed to the hospital around 5am.
I’ve always joked that I wanted to take the bus to the hospital when in labor, but it has never happened. This time, we took it one step further and actually walked to the hospital. I love that I can say that I walked there to give birth. When we got to the hospital, I had to leave Ron in the lobby until I was registered and settled into my L&D room.
Of course, it just takes time for everything to get going. Ron joined me around 7am, and they started pitocin for me around 9am. Now, each of my labors have been progressively shorter with each child—Aly (60 hours!), Fynn (12), Roman (5), and Jackson (3), and both Roman and Jackson came very quick when it was time. So we all definitely thought it would only be a few short hours before Luca was here.
But the hours ticked by slowly. I had an epidural and my water broken around 1pm, to which my doctor said she imagined we’d be holding our baby within the hour (as that’s how it’s been in the past!).
Hour after hour continued to pass with no news, other than a very slow progression. Around 6, I asked the nurse if she could get the doctor to check me. But my doctor was incredibly busy that day, I think she had delivered nearly a dozen babies in the time I was there that day before she delivered Luca. She was in the middle of delivering a Covid positive patient and could not leave the room until she was done, changed and showered. So they stopped my pitocin to slow my labor down, because again, we all assumed that the second I was feeling anything, it was only a matter of minutes before he came out. This happened again around 9, where they turned down my pitocin to wait on my doctor.
Finally, at 10:40, my doctor came to my room and said she wasn’t leaving until I had my baby! I was fully dilated, but Luca hadn’t descended far enough. However, that’s exactly how I delivered Aly & Fynn, so my doctor told me I could go ahead and try pushing if I wanted to. It was at this point that I realized I was a bit spoiled with my deliveries with Roman and Jackson, because I legitimately did not even push with either of them, they both just came out with no effort on my part haha. I naively thought the same would happen with Luca. So when she told me this, I was actually taken aback that Luca wasn’t just going to come out on his own! I had to take a minute to regroup because I did not want to have work for this haha. I was so exhausted from lack of sleep, and I hadn’t eaten since the night before (amateur mistake for sure), so most of all I just felt so drained and lacking energy.
But, 3-4 pushes later at 10:50pm Luca Quinn Arevalo made his way into this world! Another hour and he would have been an Easter baby! That moment when we heard his tiny little cry was such a joyous moment! Luca snuggled with me for a bit before being wiped down and weighed. He weighed 7 pounds exactly, which was so great as he was 3 weeks early! Then Ron and I enjoyed some time with Luca before Ron had to head home.
It was a bit strange being in the postpartum ward alone without Ron or any visitors, and the nursery was closed as well. They were trying to get most patients out at the 24 hour mark, but that would have been the middle of the night for me, when Ron would not be able to pick me up. So Luca and I stayed until Monday afternoon. I did greatly enjoy the uninterrupted one-on-one time I had with him, especially while I was recovering. (Not only was this labor my 2nd longest, it was also one of the most physically taxing deliveries).
Monday afternoon, Ron picked us up outside the hospital, and we went home for the kids to meet Luca for the first time! Each of the kids were so excited to meet him. Jackson was definitely very skeptical at first, but over the past week, he has warmed up so much. He asks multiple times a day to hold Luca; he’ll get on the couch and sit down in position ready to hold him and knows now how to hold him and sit still! And of course, Aly and Fynn are both great with him. Luca is one loved little boy!
It’s hard to believe a week has already gone by! We are so grateful Luca is here and healthy and safe. He is a sweet little baby. He rarely cries, loves to snuggle, is nursing like a champ, and sleeping as well as a newborn can. It helps too that we are seasoned parents at this point, which is a good thing since we haven’t been able to have any help this time around.
While none of this has looked like we thought it would because of this pandemic, we are doing well, and everyone is adjusting nicely. Already, we can’t imagine our family without Luca in it! We are so grateful to have him home. It’s been a truly wonderful first week with him!
And now for a flood of pictures :D
