Hyrum's Birth Story

Oh goodness, hopefully the phrase "better late than never" applies here, 'cause this is eleven months late.

If you don't want to be here for the long haul, turn back now. Exit the page, 'cause this is going to be a novel of a post.

Wednesday, October 8th 2014

At that time, eleven months ago, Dallin was working eight to noon at one job, and then two to eleven at his second job (we really felt like we never saw each other). 10 pm rolled around and I was dying to crawl into bed. I was so physically and mentally exhausted, and I knew that Dallin was as well. I was awake waiting for him to call me to go give him a ride home from work.

I was standing next to our bed folding laundry when I peed my pants. Literally soaked them, weird things happen to you when you're pregnant. I stared down at myself in complete disbelief. I hadn't felt like I needed to pee. But as I was standing there staring at myself completely confused, I felt another huge gush. I was absolutely terrified, seriously let me use caps here, I was TERRIFIED as I realized that was not pee. My water had broken.

I called Dallin in hysterics, trembling something fierce. I told him my water broken and that I didn't know what to do. He freaked out, obviously. He called our friend Matt, who thankfully was available to pick him up from work (thanks Bennions!). He got home ridiculously fast and we both had a mini panic session.

I was not prepared to have this baby, I hadn't even unpacked the bassinet, hadn't washed or sorted clothes, hadn't set up the dresser, hadn't even packed a hospital bag. My due date was Halloween, I thought I had three more weeks to do all that nesting stuff. I have mentioned in my "abortion" post (the one just below this one) that Dallin and I had planned on waiting a little while to have kids, so even emotionally I was not ready for this.

While I called our doctor and our mothers, Dallin packed up stuff to take to the hospital with us. I am grateful that guy is all mine. After everything was packed we were like "Well... ready or not!"

We headed up to the hospital, emergency room entrance, it's past 11 pm by now. They got us all checked in and called up to Labor and Delivery to have someone come down and get us. They wheeled me up in a wheelchair and I felt so pampered. We got into our room, I changed into the hospital gown and then got all cozy in my hospital bed. The nurses (one of which was totally a former classmate of mine!) gave me an IV. Honestly I think I had been more scared of getting that stupid IV, than of actually delivering a baby! But it was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be..

After we got all settled in, our friends Damon and Jamie came up to visit us. Dallin and Damon gave me a Priesthood blessing, to help calm me down and to bless me and Hyrum that all would go well through the delivery. They brought Dallin food and goodies, and then visited with us for an hour or two. They even ran to our house for us to grab our SD card for our camera, that we had forgotten. It was so good to have good friends there to help take our minds off the stress we were feeling.

As I had not started having contractions yet, the nurses gave me pitocin to help jump start labor. After the Chlarson's left Dallin and I decided to sleep while we could. We both got some good sleep. At 6 am the shift changed and we got a new nurse, the nurse was my moms age and was very sweet and motherly to me. At 7 am I started having contractions. They didn't come gradually, because of the pitocin they came in full force. Ow. I laid in bed trembling, and crying in so much pain. Dallin was asleep through the first few contractions, but then I couldn't handle the pain by myself, so I woke him up. He held my hands and coached me through the next contractions. When the nurse came to check on me she asked if I wanted the epidural, I said yes please (I have no regrets there). A short while later the guy came to give me the epidural, he had me sit on the edge of the bed, and Dallin sat in a chair in front of me to keep me calm. Because you can't move while receiving the epidural, I was so scared that I was going to have a contraction at the wrong time and that I wouldn't be able to keep from doubling over. Apparently the needle for an epidural is quite long, and when they asked if I wanted to see it, I declined, but remember Dallin is in front of me facing the guy delivering it. When they pulled the needle out Dallin's mouth dropped open, literally. Totally not reassuring! I had to look at it after that. But anyway, he managed to stick me with the epidural in between contractions, and all went well.

Once that kicked in I started feeling real good, real good, and Dallin and I went back to sleep. We kept waking up periodically as the nurses kept coming in to check my dilatation.  

[Unfortunately, I wrote most of this blog post months ago.. and am just coming back to finish it up, eleven months later - the rest is really hazy so it will be a lot less detailed, maybe that's a good thing though. Ha.]

Around 10:26 am, I was eating ice chips (so unsatisfying!) and dilated to a 5.

12:28 pm, nurse can feel babies head. Dilated to a 6, and 90% effaced.

1:37 pm, dilated to a 10, we could see his head, what an exciting/crazy feeling.

I must have been pushing at this point, cause I remember I pushed for two hours straight. I had the nurse put a mirror in front of me, so I could watch. For a long time we could see Hyrum's head and I was pushing so so so hard, but he just wouldn't budge. That was such a distressing feeling.

But finally at 3:02 pm Hyrum was born. He was 5 lbs 2 oz, and PERFECT with huge blue eyes. Dallin and I were in awe at birth. It was seriously AWESOME, I remember saying I couldn't wait to do that again. And I meant it. It was an amazing experience that I am glad I got to go through with Dallin. We went into the hospital feeling terrified and unprepared, but it turned out to be one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I love reflecting on it. And I LOVE hearing other people's birth stories.

Here - you read so much, enjoy some pictures now.

#abortion

This is Hyrum, my perfect angel baby. I am his mama. I am his voice. I gave him life, and I am the one who stands up for his rights.
When Dallin and I got married we decided we were not going to have children for a couple of years. We wanted to finish school, I had a super good job, we were building our savings account and paying off my student loans, we also wanted to travel and continue living spontaneously.
When I first found out I was pregnant, I felt no happiness, no excitement. I felt despair, and devastation. I curled up on my bed and sobbed. I felt like I was trapped in a dark hole.
But here is what I believe, my choices led me to getting pregnant. And now I had to buck up and deal with the consequences. You see, there was a living human being inside me, and whether I was excited about it or not, I needed to stand up for his right to live.
I am eternally grateful that I did, and that he is mine. I love his big blue eyes, and his adorable giggle. I love watching how excited he gets when he hears me coming in the morning to get him out of his crib. I love how curious he is, and how much he loves to be outdoors. I love him.
From what I have read, abortions are legal up to 22 weeks of pregnancy. I remember the feeling of peace and excitement when we saw Hyrum through the ultrasound for the first time at 16 weeks. His heartbeat was strong, and he was healthy and alive.
Life is so precious and valuable. Please seriously consider alternatives to abortion. Babies are alive, even in the womb.

The Proposal

A year ago TODAY! Time freaking flies when you're having fun.

Last year on September 1st, Dallin flew to Michigan to stay with my family for a week. I knew he was going to propose to me while he was there, he told me by the time we hopped on our flight that next Saturday morning to head back out to Idaho together - I would be engaged.

EVERY DAY I thought he was going to pop the question, but I went to bed every night that week still single and still anxious to be officially engaged to my handsome best friend.

Wednesday night was the perfect set up for a proposal. We went to Lake Michigan to watch the sunset, and we went out to the fanciest restaurant in town. I KNEW IT WAS COMING. We rolled up our pant legs and waded in the water. So romantic. So perfect.

When we were finished in the water we started walking back up to the car. Dallin said "Aubrey, I want to ask you a question," I said... "Yeah???" and he got down on one knee and smiled sweetly up at me and said, "Can I roll your pant legs down for your?" You better believe I pushed him in the sand! I was not very pleased with his funny business. Wednesday night ended with me still being single.

Thursday came and went... still single.

Now Friday has GOT to be the DAY! Our flight was to leave early the next morning and I knew I would be engaged sometime within the next 24 hours.

Friday just so happened to be the first day of the Allegan County Fair. I LOVE the Allegan Country Fair. Due to going to school in Idaho I hadn't had the chance to go to the fair since high school. I was so beyond thrilled to be going with Dallin!!!!!!

We had an awesome time eating tons of food, walking through all the barns, listening to the concert, and realizing we couldn't ride as many rides as we once could. I seriously felt dizzy on everything except the ferris wheel, which we rode A LOT. It was almost 10 o'clock at night and I'm still walking around the fair a single lady. I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that he is NEVER going to actually propose! It was killing me.

We decided we were both faired out and ready to go home. We decided to ride the gliders and then the ferris wheel one more time, for good measure. While on the ferris wheel Dallin said "Aubrey" very sweetly, I almost didn't hear him because I was making pretend retching noises, feeling just slightly dizzy from the ride. When I realized he was sounding sweet I quickly stopped the noises and said "What???" Then he started saying really sweet things about us spending eternity together and I thought my goodness! Here is comes!!!

While we were sitting at the top of the ride he pulled out a ring box... My heart was racing.... He opened the box, panic quickly showed on both of our faces as we realized the ring box was empty. HE HAD LOST MY RING!!!!! He checked his pockets frantically, and I looked everywhere in our seat. I was terrified as I realized that Dallin lost my engagement ring at the Allegan County Fair, and we would NEVER find it again.

.....I was still panicking and looking around the seat when I heard Dallin say my name, I looked up and he pulled another ring box out of his pocket. This one had the prettiest ring I had EVER seen in it. Still in a state of panic I grabbed the ring out of the box and shouted "PUT THIS ON MY FINGER!!!!!!" ...I didn't want to risk it falling, ya know? Apparently Dallin asked me to marry him three times while I was in the state of panic, but I didn't hear him due to me frantically looking for the ring... HA. I eventually said yes, and could not be any more happy about my decision!! We walked off the ferris wheel and I just couldn't stop staring at my hand. Happiest girl ever award went to me that night.

I love Dallin, jokes and hilarity are a big part of our relationship and I could not be more happy with how he proposed to me :)

My first backpacking trip!

Dallin and I backpacked around Diamond Peak, Idaho back in June. Our camera batteries were dead for the majority of the trip... But we still got some good pictures and videos :) I got pretty worn out trying to keep up with Dallin, and I was terrified of the heights part of the time. But Dallin was patient with me and we still had an awesome weekend together :)