The Cadillac of ALL Bassinets

June 12, 2012

Our first night with Baby Luke

This day was really special for our family because we gained a new member. On this day at 1:30pm, David Luke Davis entered the world weighing 8 pounds 12 ounces and 19 inches long. The morning and early afternoon of this day seems like a blur. It started with us arriving to the hospital for a planned C-Section at 11am. Shortly after noon, I was taken to the Operating Room to begin the surgery and at 1:30pm Baby Luke greeted us with a beautiful cry. It wasn't until after 2pm that we were able to go back to our room and get settled in for the 3 day hospital stay that awaited us.

The nurses wheeled me back to our room while Chris walked behind me holding Luke to show all the grandparents and my sister Allison. They all took a glance at him and each got to hold him for a short period of time as well. We then asked them to all step out for a little bit while I tried to breastfeed him. Gigi Jackie headed over to Mother's Day Out to pick up Natalie and my family went back to the house for a while.

Around 4pm, Natalie came and was able to meet Luke for the first time. This was a very special moment in our family and a moment I will never forget. She was a little hesitant to touch him and even look at him at first. Chris was holding her and having her lean over the bassinet Luke was laying in. We kept telling her, "This is Baby Luke... your BROTHER!" She would just look at us all dazed and confused and timid. Finally, after about 20 minutes or so, she walked over to the bassinet and said, "That is my brother! Hello Baby Luke!" These were beautiful words to my ears. I began to tear up a little bit thinking about my sweet little family of FOUR!

That night Chris decided he would stay at the hospital with me over night. The family all left around 9pm and Chris and I started watching The Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals... Baby Luke in hand! (We are training him right... from the BEGINNING!) I was under a very tight feeding schedule of 3 hours and I was constantly having to feed Baby Luke. He was SO TIRED and he would fall asleep during these feedings so what should have taken only 30-45 minutes would take well over an hour. I would feed Baby Luke and then Chris would hold him while I tried to get some sleep. Both Chris and I were SO EXHAUSTED.

Around 2:30am I had just finished a feeding and Luke seemed pretty fussy. I still could not get up out of bed so I had to give him to Chris to hold. Chris tried to hold him, rock him, bounce him, walk with him and he was still fussy so I reverted back to trying to feed him. This didn't work either so regretfully, we called the nurse to take Luke to the "nursery" area until the next feeding. This was a service provided by the hospital where there were designated pediatric nurses that would swaddle and hold your baby so you could get some much needed sleep (more or less, just babysitting). I SWORE I would not use it but I was working on less than 1 hour of sleep and recovering from surgery and I gave in and called the nurse. She told me she would be back at 5:30am for the next feeding. I gave Luke a kiss they whisked him away. I teared up a little bit but I knew I needed sleep for my own good.

Luke was in a "Plain Jane", or the Kia version, silver bassinet that was the standard hospital grade and quality. Of course he had a sticker with all of his statistics on it and a name plate but it was just a standard bassinet. He also had a bracelet on his hand that matched mine and a "fancy dancy" locator device, we called it the Baby GPS, on his right ankle which would locate him if ever taken off the Labor and Delivery Floor. He also had several marks on him from the birth and surgery that Chris and I could use to identify him if needed.

At 5:30am the kind nurse came in with Baby Luke and Chris and I both woke up from pretty deep sleeps. Before I could even get my powered bed to raise to the correct height Chris yells out "Is that our Baby". Umm... I just about had a major heart-attack. My bed finally raised and I see this fancy wooden Bassinet with a red-haired baby in it. It had a bigger basket it in it and even a handle! I immediately reach into the bassinet and pull out Luke and check his bracelets. They both said "David Luke Davis" and "Mother: Kellie Rhea Davis". Chris was already up and investigating as well but he noticed that the GPS ankle device was now on Luke's LEFT ankle! We both looked at each other in pure fear. The nurse was just reassuring us that it was all fine and this was our baby. I was beginning to cry out of fear and worry and Chris was getting his shoes on (I'm not sure why but he was getting ready for something). About that time the intercom comes on and says "Mrs. Davis, do you have your baby?" Ummm... I DON'T KNOW? I was a basket case at this point! Chris and I unclothed Baby Luke and saw a few birth marks on him and even a scar on his scalp so we knew it was David Luke Davis and we stopped worry but it is a GOOD THING THEY DIDN'T CHECK MY BLOOD PRESSURE right after that!

Its also a good thing we identified his special birth marks that afternoon and evening because they are pretty much all that reassured us it was in fact OUR BABY! I just kissed and kissed and kissed Baby Luke and then began to feed him. In the mean time, Chris took a ball-point pen and wrote his initials on his heels! I didn't get ANY MORE SLEEP THAT NIGHT! I just sat there and held my baby boy! Around 7am the head of the nursery and pediatric department came in and reassured me what had happened and all was well. Needlesstosay, we did not use the nursery services any more during our stay at the hospital. I had my mom stay with me on night #2 so Chris could get some sleep. The funny thing is that they called me over the intercom to check if I had my baby at least 10 more times in our 60 hour stay at the hospital. Sometimes the new fancy technology is cool but the good ol' fashion stuff will still do.

This is the standard "Kia" version Bassinet we started off with!

Natalie was meeting Luke for the first time in this photo!

You can kinda see in the background the wooden "Cadillac" version of the Bassinet! It TOTALLY freaked us out!

This is a story we can always look back on and laugh but at the time it was not funny! In the heat of this crazy and bizarre moment, I stopped and asked God to show me my son and he did! It was yet again, as my dad would call it, "A Trust Issue".

Baby Luke is home and doing well and again this is a story we will all never forget. All because they had to change his standard bassinet to the Cadillac version!

Still...

God is good... ALL THE TIME!