Hyrum's Story

Last time I wrote, I was two weeks from my due date and Hyrum had finally flipped heads down. All was looking well for a vbac. At my 39 and 40 week check ups he was still heads down. My due date had come and gone and my doctor wasn't going to discuss inducing until I had reached 41 weeks because the risks of uterine rupture increase with vbacs if they induce. She did order me to to a stress test to make sure the baby had enough room and amniotic fluid and see that everything was okay.

Monday afternoon (4 days post due date), I showed up to the hospital for the stress test. Everything seemed to be fine. I'd had some fairly regular Braxton-Hicks contractions, but nothing major. They sent me to ultrasound to check the amniotic fluid. I saw the technician grimace, but she didn't say anything to me. Once she was done, she sent me back to labor and delivery for more monitoring. A few minutes later, the nurse came in to talk. Hyrum was breach. The doctor came in after a while to discuss what to do. I had already called Joseph and after we talked and prayed, we decided that the best thing for all of us was to just go with a c-section. Yes, I was disappointed, but I'd kind of had that gut feeling that the vbac wasn't going to happen for a few weeks, even though Hyrum had been heads down for the last month.

Tuesdays, apparently, are c-section days at this hospital, so the staff kept telling me how serendipitous it was that I had come in on that Monday for the stress test. My surgery was scheduled for the first thing Tuesday morning. We were expected at the hospital at 5:30am. We had a lot of juggling to figure out how to get the older kids taken care of. Asher had been sick and home from school for nearly a week, so we needed someone to watch both him and Simon, make sure the older kids got off to school and that they had after school care. Luckily, we have very good friends who were willing to rearrange their already busy lives to help us out. My friend Becca offered to come to our house at 5:00am to be there for the kids when they woke up, make sure they got off to school, and hang out with the little boys. Our other friends, the Warners, offered to take care of Akiko and Moses after school.

We had one last meal together as a family of six and everyone went to bed early. Around 1:00am, a contraction had woken me up. I thought maybe it was a strong Braxton-Hicks, but a couple short minutes later confirmed that I had started labor naturally. While this was something we had been waiting to happen for the last several days, it felt too little too late at that point, especially since we knew the baby wasn't in the correct position.

Joseph and I spent the next couple hours puttering around the house getting those last minute things done and killing time before we felt like we really needed to go. We woke Akiko up and asked her to lay in bed next to Simon in case he woke up, but of course, she was so excited the baby was coming, she was wide awake after that. I dealt with the contractions the best I could. I was trying to hold out until Becca would be able to show up, but by about 3:00am, I just couldn't handle it anymore. Unfortunately, that's when Simon decided to wake up and freak out that I wasn't in bed with him. I laid down next to him and tried my best to get him back to sleep while not making any noise with every contraction (which is nearly impossible) and relax as much as possible. I had to give up after about the fifth contraction. They were just too intense. We had to go. Thankfully, Simon decided that it was a great time to play on the Kindle, so we sent him to bed with that and left Akiko in charge for the next hour until Becca would show up. I got in the car. Joseph got in after a couple minutes. Apparently Asher had woken up and Joseph had to get him back to sleep. Moses slept through all the ruckus like a good boy.

We got to the hospital a little after 4:00am and I was hooked up to the monitors. Since we were a bit early for our appointment and was in labor already, the doctors had to be called in. I had dilated to 3cm, but the nurse couldn't feel a bottom or a head, so they wheeled the little ultrasound machine in to check Hyrum's position. He was transverse and was not going anywhere. He couldn't move from his position because of the contractions. Everyone rushed to get the OR ready, which wasn't that big of a deal since we were only a little early for our scheduled appointment.

Around 6:00am, I started to get delirious from being up all night. I'd only gotten about three hours of sleep. I tried to rest the best I could between contractions, but they were so close together and more intense, it was impossible to do. About 6:15am, they wheeled me into the OR. At that point I was panicking, exhausted, sobbing, in pain, delirious, and about ten other negative emotions all at the same time. Thankfully, my anesthesiologist is a friend of mine from church and I had requested that she be there, which she was happy to oblige. She was amazing. Kind, caring, and got her job done as quick as she could to put me out of my misery. I'd never been more relieved to get poked by a needle, even though it still hurt.

It was so bright in the OR, but I kept my eyes shut through almost everything. I just wanted to sleep through it all. At some point, Joseph showed up. At some point later, I heard Hyrum's first cries. A few minutes later, he was laying on my chest, though I couldn't hold him because my arms were strapped to the table. I remember kissing his chubby cheeks and crying. I vaguely remember Stephanie, my anesthesiologist friend, keeping me up to date on everything that was going on. Everything was such a blur. I was almost too tired to care.

Joseph and the baby were lead into the recovery room while I was put back together. I eventually showed up. Joseph greeted me with an excited, "Did you hear how much he weighs?" I shook my head no. "Ten pounds and two-and-a-half ounces!" I knew he was going to be our biggest baby. My belly was so big at the end and I had gained about 58 pounds this time. I wasn't quite expecting a ten pounder. I kind of remember the doctors and attending nurses in the OR exclaiming what a big baby he was. Nearly everyone on staff has said something about it. I still think he's a perfect little newborn. He's still way smaller than Simon is now.

So, here we are now. Hyrum is perfect. I'm slowly recovering, but doing a lot better at this point than I did with Simon's recovery. I was able to walk around a little bit 24 hours post-surgery. I couldn't do that last time. Everything hurts, but little by little it's getting better. Now that the baby is finally here, I feel like we're on the downhill side of everything. Life is crazy. I miss my crazy family at home and they miss me. Joseph is trying to scramble around getting whatever he can while being a single dad for the time being. Ladies in our ward have set up meals for us for the next several days. Friends are stepping in to help us out wherever and whenever they can.

I am truly grateful for how everything turned out. It wasn't what we planned on, but we had always known the risks and were aware of the complications. I'm grateful for a loving Heavenly Father whom we can rely on to guide us in our decisions and lead us to the best possible outcome. I grateful for the opportunity I have to be the mother to the most amazing kids I've ever known. I love them so much. I'm grateful that Heavenly Father trusts me to be their mother on earth. They are such a blessing. I'm excited to see what ingredient little Hyrum brings to our wild, crazy concoction of a family.

I wish Asher were in this cute picture. Perhaps he was the one who took it.

I love this sweet picture of my family so much.

Those cheeks! I can't stop kissing them!