Eli's Birth Story

So so happy our sweet boy is here! I love writing down my children's birth stories in order to remember all of the little details. They are so fun and special to look back on!  

Well, Mister Eli decided to forego coming early like his siblings so we decided to be induced on Friday, February 16 when I was 39 weeks and 1 day pregnant. For some reason I felt a little uneasy about waiting any longer to have him. (You'll find out why later on!) It felt so strange calmly finishing some last minute packing for the hospital and some house-cleaning things the night before. With the other two, I was usually in pain with labor contractions and we were rushing throughout the house trying to get all of the last minute things together. Such a huge difference, it felt a little Twilight-zone ish knowing the day our boy would be here!

Earlier that day, I had had my last prenatal appointment and my doctor stripped my membranes just in case to see if he might still come on his own. I was dilated to a 4 and 80% effaced. I was having some contractions on and off all day after the sweep but honestly I'd had contractions on and off all week so I didn't really feel any different. After Kyler and I finally settled down for the night, I started having contractions again around 11:15pm but after about 40 minutes they went away. I finally fell asleep about midnight and my alarm woke me up at 5:30am to get ready to head to the hospital at 6:15am. Again, I felt so weird that morning just calmly getting ready to have a baby- like what?!

Waiting to get signed in!  

We got to the hospital and walked up to the labor and delivery unit. (again, so different! Usually Kyler grabs me a wheel chair and is flying down the hall while I'm in crazy pain!) We waited for a little in the reception area and then signed in and were taken to our room where the magic would happen! 

Our labor and delivery nurse Sally was so sweet and nice. She was actually the same nurse I had had when I had my kidney stones this past November! She was awesome. She got us all set up and Kyler took some pictures of me in my last moments as a prego. We waited for a bit (good ol' hospital standard time where everything moves a little slow. Totally fine with it though- I get how busy medical professionals are!) and then Sally put in my IV and started asking me all sorts of questions about myself and my pregnancy and what not. Finally at about 7:40am she put me on pitocin. I could feel contractions right away but they were very minimal and very spaced out. I was feeling a bit dizzy so she had me lay on my side. I think I just hadn't eaten enough that morning or was laying on the wrong side or something. At 8am she gave me some phentanol (sp?) to help with pain because the anesthesiologist was in a c section and couldn't get to me yet. It made me feel a bit loopy dizzy.

My last "pregnant with Eli" picture

Doctor Savage came in and broke my water at 8:30am! The contractions started to get worse pretty quickly after that and they became quite painful and every 3 minutes almost immediately. The phentanol wasn't even touching the pain, and I was not loving feeling it. I had so hoped this time around I could avoid feeling those intense contractions dang it! The anesthesiologist came in at about 8:45am. Thankfully, he was awesome and so so fast which I greatly appreciated. He gave me some medicine to help the epidural work faster and it made me CRAZY itchy (like Rosie's labor) but I'd rather be itchy than in pain! I finally felt numb at about 8:55/9 ish. The anesthesiologist mentioned he could give me some Benadryl to help with the itch if needed. At about 9:25am I decided to take him up on that offer! As he was putting it into my epidural catheter, I all of a sudden felt a huge pressure down below and a strong urge to push. Sally checked me and I was at a full 10 (had been at a 4 when she started pitocin) and baby was ready to be born. I didn't even have my catheter in my bladder yet, Eli was just a little too quick!

Sally called Doctor Savage and she got there at about 9:45am. I pushed 3 times in one contraction and BOOM. Out he came at 9:50am! So so quick, just over 2 hours from when I was started. I tore just a tiny bit and had one small stitch at the top and one at the bottom (which is exactly how it's been for all three babies, kinda crazy.) He was 7lbs 15oz, a whole pound and a half bigger than Hank and Rose were! He was 20 inches long and cried the sweetest little cry as he was plopped onto me. Right before Kyler got to the cut the cord, Doctor Savage showed us a HUGE knot in it. She said seeing that is proof that God was watching out for our baby because if it had tightened just a little more, Eli wouldn't have made it. (I'm thinking that's why I felt like we should be induced sooner than later!) So grateful nothing awful happened!

The huge knot in Eli's cord!  

Daddy got to cut the cord and then they checked baby. He was doing great! In those first moments he definitely looked like he had red hair, but as time goes on I can't decide and sometimes think he has hair like Henry did when he was first born. At first I thought he looked so much like Rose, mainly with his mouth, but with every passing day I think he looks a little more like Hank and his daddy! 

They gave him back to me and we snuggled and did skin to skin and took some pictures with Kyler and then Doctor Savage. Then Sally brought me a turkey sandwich (which is one of my favorite parts after delivery, YUM) and I nursed Eli. He ate so well right off the bat. He's been a fantastic nurser from the get go, thank goodness! Those first few days of nursing him brought some awful cramps though. They literally felt like labor contractions at times. Don't love that part but glad it only lasts a few days! After feeding him, we took a bunch of pictures and just snuggled him. At about 11am Sally took us down to the Postpartum unit. 

So overexposed sorry 😬 I love Doctor Savage!

They got us all settled in the Postpartum wing and then Kyler and I had lunch. Eli got a little check up, some shots and a bath and cried his sweet little heart out during it, but he did love being under the heat lamp.

Basking in the warmth of the heat lamp :)  

Later that day after I got some sleep in and Kyler got some work done (a lawyer's work is literally never on hold,) we announced Eli's birth to our families. We first played a joke on them that his name was Archibald Marmaduke McCarty ha ha ha it was great because everyone really believed us. It made Eli James sound so much better when we finally told the truth. :) Kyler was busting a gut over everyone's very polite reactions, and then when we told the truth the real opinions came out. :) ha ha seriously so funny. Don't worry guys I'd never let Kyler get away with something like that for real! I can't really remember where we got the name Eli from, but when we heard it we just loved it. James is after Kyler, as it's one of his middle names! ❤️

❤️ 

Later that night, Kyler went to pick up the kids to have them meet baby brother! They were so funny. They were excited to see him but kind of wanted to keep their distance. Almost like this little tiny human freaked them out a little. We actually had to bribe them a bit to take pictures with him. 😂 After that initial shock was over though they have totally warmed up to him. Henry loves saying hi to Eli every day and loves to see what animals he has on his blankets and clothes, it's pretty cute. Rose loves to rub his head real hard a few times a day and then will occasionally show bursts of love towards him. :)

Doing some of that good ol' head rubbing that she does best 

Henry looking like a 10 year old!  

My babies 💙💙💙 

Baby Eli gave them presents in the hospital (play doh for Rose and a cute car puzzle for Henry) and they were so excited about them. I think it definitely made them feel a little more favorable towards the tiny new creature that Mom said was baby brother. :) We took some pictures, the kids played with their toys for a minute and then Kyler packed them up and took them home and stayed the night with them. 

Celebrating Eli's birthday!  

His going home outfit :) 

The following morning Kyler came back at 8:30 am. Doctor Savage came and circumcised Eli and then we were able to go home at about 2pm. It was such a whirlwind experience but I'm so grateful for how things turned out! Being induced was pretty awesome if I say so myself. I had been a little nervous beforehand because i didn't know what to expect or how my body would react, but it was great! I especially liked being able to plan in advance and not worry about not being able to get an epidural or even get to the hospital quick enough if my water were to break on it's own! Definitely a lot less stressful, and I'm extra grateful we had it scheduled for when we did so that knot in Eli's cord didn't cause us any issues! 

All ready to go home! 

We love having this sweet boy in our family and can't believe he's really here with us. Having a new little one is always such a testament to me of the miracle of life! 

A family of FIVE!  ❤️

Rosemary's Birth Story

Well, this beautiful little girl is now in my arms instead of in my belly :) she came so very quickly and 10 days early, I still can't believe how it happened!

Saturday, June 4, we went to clean and redecorate Kyler's bishop office. (He had just been called as Bishop of our ward the Sunday before.) Shortly after we got there, around 8 or 8:30pm, I started to get painful braxton hicks contractions anytime I moved. It was weird. They were just in my belly but they hurt, so I tried to sit still while Kyler finished things. I was 38 weeks and 3 days along. (Henry came at 38 weeks 2 days) Then we went home and I was starting to feel so much pain anytime I walked, it was so so weird! These pains literally came out of no where, I had been just fine the whole day. (besides tired.)

Kyler did Henry's bedtime routine by himself at 9pm and I went to lay down because I felt so sick. I noticed the pain was coming regularly whether I moved or not, and it was starting in my back and moving to my belly, which is how I remembered real contractions were with Henry. I told Kyler and we let Sandy know (our sitter for Henry and dear friend in the ward-seriously she's the best!) and I jumped in the shower because I wanted freshly washed hair if this was the real deal. :) (for some reason I've always remembered that was one of my regrets with Henry- I should have washed my hair the day before he came but didn't! I guess clean hair is high on my list of priorities when in labor :) )  I had contractions about every 5 minutes at this point but they weren't too uncomfortable while laying down.

Once I finished my shower things became more intense and I was feeling more pain and it was closer together. It was probably about 9:30/10pm right now. It was hard to do some last minute things to get ready. When my contractions would come, Kyler would put hard counter pressure on my back and that made to easier to handle the pain. (I looked up tips for natural ways to get through contractions, and this one was a life saver for me.) They were getting closer together, about 2 minutes apart. Poor Kyler had to to run into the room when I yelled for him with each contraction, so I stalled his own packing process quite a bit. He was seriously so great and just did whatever he could to help ease my pain! 

Sandy came at about 10:35pm and Kyler went to put our things in the car. Sandy was a saint and helped give counter pressure on my back during the contractions, she is the best! She just jumped right in to help!

My contractions were becoming so painful and so close together-probably every minute and a half at this point. We headed to the hospital. Kyler drove skillfully (and a little faster than normal :) ) - luckily we live 5 minutes from Utah Valley Regional so we got there so fast! My contractions in the car were terrible because Kyler couldn't really do counter pressure while driving. We got there and he got me a wheelchair and we went straight to L&D!

The nurse took me back into a room asap and had me change into a gown so she could check me. I was a 4! She said it was obvious I was in real labor so they admitted me asap and got me an IV (they had to try three times but it finally worked) and an epidural right away. (BLESS THEM!) I was grateful I was admitted so quickly, because it took awhile to be admitted with Mr. Hank! By now the contractions were so painful and so close together that counter pressure from Kyler wasn't working anymore. To speed things up the anesthesiologist gave me some medicine to make the epidural work asap, but its side affect made me itchy for 5-6 hours afterwards. I'd much rather itch than be miserably in pain though! I felt AMAZING once I got the epidural. I had never been so happy to have tingly, numb legs. :) This was all around 11:15/30 pm.

At Midnight I was dilated to a 6+, and she said my cervix was paper thin. At 12:30 am I was a full 10! Doctor Savage came shortly after to set things up. She was super woman because she had just gotten back from her ward's youth conference that day, and she was probably exhausted. Once things were set up, she told me to start pushing. I only had to push three times in one contraction and boom! Out Rosie came! My epidural wasn't quite as strong at that point so I could feel it all a little bit, bit it wasn't painful. I actually liked it!

Rosemary Pay was born at 12:47am on June 5, 2016 weighing 6lbs 8oz and 19 inches long! I was 38 weeks 3 days pregnant when labor started but was technically 38 weeks 4 days when she was born. Henry came at 38 weeks 2 days and weighed 6lb 7oz and was the same length. I'm so happy she decided to come early (and was tiny) like her brother! 

I had one tiny upper tear and needed only one stitch, yay! I could walk just fine about 30 minutes later. My back was a little sore from Kyler's counter pressure during contractions but I'm so grateful for his help!!

After Rosie nursed for the first time (she did great!) and I ate as well, (why are those little sandwiches they give you after birth so dang delicious?!) we eventually were moved to the postpartum wing. She got a check up and a bath- she cried during the whole bath, poor thing! That was the most she cried during the whole stay though, otherwise she rarely made a peep!  We finally got to sleep around 4 am. 

My nurses were all so great. They were really considerate with my wishes for sleep and they let me do my own thing for the most part. It helped that this was my second babe! I had a much better hospital experience this time around, but it did help that I also knew what to expect. 

Kyler picked Henry up from nursery (our sweet ward friends took him to church for us) around 11:30am and he came to meet Rosie! He said "baby!" about 400 times and loved touching her and giving her kisses. :) He looked so HUGE to me when he walked into the room. It was instant - he wasn't my little baby anymore, he was Rosemary's big brother. 

Our first moments all together as a family of four were fun - we had a mini birthday party with hats and party blowers! Henry opened a gift "from Rosie" and was so excited! We had a few visitors throughout the day and then Kyler went home to spend the night with Henry. We had a pretty uneventful night, and were able to go home the next day by 11 am. 

Rosie is such a calm, peaceful little girl. She is far easier than Henry was, which is really saying something because he had been pretty darn easy as well! It's a testimony to me that Heavenly Father knows me and is taking care of me with this new situation of Kyler being Bishop. He knows what I can and can't handle right now, and has more than blessed me in this situation. I have recovered well (I was able to stop taking medicine 4 days later), Rosie nurses well, and for the most part we are getting enough sleep. I'd say the only tricky part is keeping Henry's love for her under control so he doesn't accidentally smoosh her. :) We have been truly blessed, and we are so grateful for this precious little girl!  (click the picture below to see more)