Our Newest Arrival

This story began early last Friday morning.  At around 5 a.m. I started to feel contractions that felt like they were fairly regular.  By 6 a.m. I felt comfortable asking Bri to call his mom and have her come over and watch the boys while we went to the hospital.  Brian's mom came at about 7 a.m. and shortly after that we left the house for the hospital.  We made it to the hospital only to find that I had forgotten to pre-register.  You'd think with this being baby #4 I would have this thing down, but I had spaced that detail.  Fortunately the process was over fairly quickly and by 8 a.m. we were in a delivery room.  I was dilated to about a 5 1/2.  I thought I might not be in labor for too long because Bradon was born in under three hours, but by 9 a.m. I had only dilated one more centimeter so I decided it was time to request an epidural.  I'm always glad when that part is over, and once the epidural was in place I really couldn't feel anything at all.  That's not a bad thing.

My doctor was taking a long weekend (he's only delivered one of our four), so Dr. Terry came in to break my water and get things moving along.  Eventually the epidural wore off a bit and I could feel the contractions again (although not in full force) and soon it was time to push.  The doctor was called back down and Dr. Terry told us this baby had a lot of dark hair.  After only a couple of pushes our baby was born at 11:50 a.m.

There's nothing comparable to the feeling of seeing your baby for the first time. It's an overwhelming feeling to think that Heavenly Father has trusted you with the care of one of his precious children. After nine months of caring for them inside your body it is a joyful feeling to have them in your arms.

He was a pretty big boy!

 My mom was able to come and visit us and the baby while we were still in labor and delivery and that was really nice.  She also got Brian some lunch since they don't feed dads.  I didn't get a picture of her with the baby, which I regret.

 Brian, me and baby shortly after he was born.  Yes, Brian did take some work calls while I was in labor.  He and that earpiece are inseparable.  But it does pay the bills!

 We made it up to our regular hospital room around 1:00 in the afternoon and eagerly anticipated a visit from the rest of our boys after Ethan got off from school.  Grandma H brought them to the hospital and carried a very sleepy Bradon all the way from the parking lot to my hospital room.  You can see Bradon and his blanket in the background of the picture below.

 Grandma H and the baby.

Ethan and the baby.  He was instantly smitten.  He and Tanner were campaigning for us to name the baby Jimmer.  Grandma H said that on the way to the hospital they were chanting "Jimmer!  Jimmer!"  I was not convinced.  Yes, he's a great BYU basketball player, but does he deserve to have infants named after him?

 Tanner also enjoyed holding his baby brother.

Even Bradon liked holding his baby brother, although he does need a little more assistance than the older boys.

Brian and I spent most of the day trying to think of a name.  We had a nice, quiet evening together before he went home to get some much needed rest.  I really needed some rest too, but I had to be woken up a couple of times during the night to be checked and they come to draw blood at 5 a.m.!

This is our fourth baby, but I'm still completely overwhelmed by the miracle of a newborn baby.  It's amazing that such a perfect little being can grow inside of you for nine months.  We're in love with this little guy and can't wait to get to know him better!