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We are so thrilled to announce the birth of our baby boy...

HYRUM DEAN

7/22/2013 

8 lbs. 8 oz. 

Hyrum's Birth Story:

Two weeks ago, my doctor suggested that I may want to consider an induction with this baby because I tend to have big babies, and it also seems to be the Utah way to do things. After Andrew's birth, which was completely natural, I was concerned that an induction would lead to an epidural (which was a terrible experience with Christian, and the thought of another one really scared me). I was really torn about what I wanted to do, but scheduling the induction just felt right. I was nervous, but I couldn't deny the feeling that the decision to be induced was a good one.

We were originally scheduled to go into the hospital at midnight on the morning of the 22nd, but all of the beds were full, so a nurse called and said to come in at 7 A.M. I tried to sleep as much as possible that night, but my thoughts were obviously elsewhere. My mom came down on Sunday night to take care of Christian and Andrew (a HUGE benefit of induction!), so when 7:00 rolled around, we hugged the boys goodbye and headed to the hospital.

The last pregnant photo while heading into the hospital

My doctor greeted me around 7:30 and got me all ready to go. I was already around 4 cm dilated, so he decided to just go ahead and break my water right then to get things started. Shortly after, they hooked me up to the lowest dose of pitocin and within 10 minutes I was starting to feel the contractions. They continued coming fast and furious. I was getting them every 2 minutes, lasting about a minute each time. I tried to hold out as long as possible, but they were coming too fast and starting to really hurt. Since I was tied to the bed via an IV, I really couldn't move around to work through the contractions.When they checked me again an hour later and I hadn't dilated any more, I threw my hands in the air, and realized that I wasn't going to last without an epidural. When I came to terms that I was going to get an epidural at some point, I decided it might as well be now. 

The anesthesiologist came in and talked to us. I told him about my prior bad experience with an epidural, and he assured me that he was "really good" because Utah has nearly a 90% epidural rate. I decided to give it a shot, and it was another great decision. The epidural was perfect. It wasn't painful going in, and it soon started to work. 

While I was relaxing/sleeping a bit, the TV was on and we were following the royal birth of Will and Kate's baby. I had been telling people for several days that Kate was just waiting for me to have the baby, so it was pretty funny that it was all happening at the same time. I was quite comfortable for about an hour. The nurse checked me again and I was still a 4. I figured this labor was just going to last for a while, which seemed a lot less daunting now that I wasn't in anguish. 

20 minutes later, the nurse came back and said that the baby's heart rate was dropping a lot during the contractions and that this sometimes occurred when things were happening fast, or if there was an umbilical cord problem. She was a little worried, so she checked me again. In those 20 minutes I had gone from 4 to 8 cm. She left to call my doctor and let him know that it would be soon. 10 minutes later she came back, again concerned about the baby's heart rate. When she checked I was at a 10 and ready to push. Things started happening in super-speed at that point. All of the nurses were rushing around trying to get things set up. My doctor hurried into the room and started getting dressed. Soon I was pushing with the next contraction. Not only were things happening fast, but the cord was also around the baby's neck/face. The doctor didn't want to take any chances, so he got the vacuum ready so that the baby would for sure be born with the next contraction. So after only 4 total hours of labor and pushing through 2 contractions, our baby was born, and he was perfect! The doctor kept saying how glad he was that the baby had come fast because there could have been problems if he had taken his time. I couldn't help but feel so grateful that I had followed through with the impression that induction was the right thing for this labor and delivery. 

 5 minutes after Hyrum was born... Mama's first look at her new baby

Since the labor was so short (and I had gone to the hospital already in the early stages of labor), I received very little pitocin and only one dose of epidural meds. This made the recovery so easy. I was feeling great only a couple hours later. Baby Hyrum cried for the first 5 minutes and then only whimpered and made cute little squeaks for the rest of our hospital stay. At least right now, he definitely has more of Christian's temperament as a baby and is not a big crier like Andrew was. 

Overall, the hospital stay was very pleasant. I was feeling good and was so hungry. Every meal I would order a huge amount of food. I think Jonathon was a little embarrassed by how much I ordered :) After not being able to eat much for the last 3 weeks, it just felt so good to have real food. My favorite treat though was the Oreo milkshake Jonathon snuck in for me. Due to the potential for listeria in pregnancy, it is recommended not to eat soft-serve ice cream, so I have been dying for ice cream for several months. It did not disappoint!

YUM!

  The hospital also gave complimentary pedicures performed by students at the local cosmetology program. It was heaven. She massaged my feet for almost an hour and then painted my toenails. Every hospital should do that. It was lovely. Another fun thing offered was a complimentary candlelight dinner for 2 to celebrate. Jonathon and I got to enjoy a 3 course meal with sparkling cider while the nursery staff watched the baby... so Fun!

Cute toes and Cute Hubby

I was ready to go home the next day, but Hyrum wasn't cooperating. He failed his hearing test the first time, so he had to stay to take it again the next morning. He also had a really high bilirubin count and needed to be put under the lights for jaundice. 

Hanging out under the lights

By the next morning, things were all taken care of, and we were ready to go home. We are all delighted to have Hyrum as a member of our family. The boys are curious about everything he does and just want to be around him. We love him so much already!

 The PROUD big brothers

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