Wyatt's Story

    This post has taken me a week to finally sit down and write because all I want to do is hold and look at our sweet baby boy. He is the most perfect thing I have ever seen. It is such a blessing that he made it here safe and sound, and I am so grateful for that every day.
    Tuesday, July 10th, Chantz and I had driven up to Salt Lake with his family to attend their Grandpa Gate's funeral. About an hour into the car ride home on Wednesday the 11th I started contracting regularly. I didn't get too excited about it because this had happened plenty of times before with no baby as a result. When we got home they dissapeared almost entirely until I had finished making dinner. And then they hit, and they hit hard! I knew it couldn't be fake anymore because I had never felt them strong like this before now & they stayed steadily between 2 and 4 minutes apart. I called the hospital and was told to wait 1 hour or until my water broke to come in, so we waited.. They didn't let up and showed no sign of stopping so we packed up at 10 o' clock that night and headed for the hospital. We learned something that night.. always go through the emergency room entrance after hours. For some stupid reason we tried just about every other door before figuring that out. That was a fun walk around the hospital! haha. After being hooked up and monitored, the contraction monitor confirmed that I was contracting steadily every 2 to 6 minutes apart. BUT when the nurse checked my cervix I wasn't making much progress. They decided that I was in a non-progressive labor and wanted to send me home to sleep in "comfort". When the nurse lifted my blanket and saw how swollen my legs, ankles and feet were she was a little concerned for the baby. Turned out he was perfectly fine and healthy, but all the test's they had to run kept us there until around 1:30am.
    By the next morning I was as miserable and grumpy as they come. I had not stopped contracting once the entire night & ended up not getting any sleep at all. I was frustrated and close to tears asking my husband "how could it even be possible that these aren't dialating me?!" He was so sweet and mindful of how tired I was and how much I was hurting. I'm so grateful I had him through the entire experience. Chantz's mom had arrived at 2am that morning, and boy was I glad to see her! She cooked and cleaned and basically took care of everything all afternoon while helping me stay positive through the pain and fatigue as well.
    As the day went on and the contractions continued they worsened with almost every one. Each time I would ask Racqual, "How can it hurt more than this?" Buttttt they could and they did. I was so terrified of going back into the hospital and being told that I hadn't progressed that I kept refusing to go until my water broke. Finally when I couldn't hardly stand it anymore, I gave in. This time it was good news.. thank goodness!! I hadn't made much progress, but progress was definately there. Finally after 2 hours of waiting and wondering, my nurse (who I actually knew from working at Smith's and threw church) decided they would admit me. My doctor had decided however that I needed sleep to relax my body enough to dialate more, so he order a shot of morphine in my hip, another shot of morphine in my IV, and an ambian (sleeping pill). The idea was to knock me out for atleast 4 hours and then to check me again when I had woken up. It was just too bad that my contractions decided to kick it up a knotch about half an hour after I'd been drugged up, resulting in no sleep at all and a VERY tired body. And what do you know..? I made it from a 2 to a 3 1/2 in an hour. You're not technically supposed to receive an epidural until you're dialated to a 4, but my nurse was so sweet and said she reported to the anesthesiologist that I was at a 4 and to go along with it if I was asked. Gosh I loved her.. :)
    By now I've been in labor almost 25 hours. Not only was I running on no sleep, I was functioning through 2 shots of morphine and an ambian that was supposed to have knocked me out hours ago. After receiving my epidural (which I COMPLETELY reccomend to everyone out there) things moved right along. Soon enough I was feeling pressure and dialated to an 8. Than the nurse could see the head and I was at a 9. Chantz was in heaven smiling and saying, "This is better than Christmas!!!" hahah he was ready to go! We got all ready to push and then the nurse decided it wasn't quite time yet. Talk about a dissapointed husband.. Finally it was time to push! I was so scared I hit my epidural button to send more before I even felt a thing. Chantz, Racqual and Paul were there by my side the entire time. They were so amazing. About 2 pushes in I had to ask Paul  to hold my head up for me because I was so tired and it was so heavy that I wasn't able to concentrate on pushing like I needed to. Pathetic I know.. lol. In no time at all little Wyatt's head and then body was out and in my arms. He was born on Friday the 13th, 2012 at 12:46am weighing 7lb 8oz and measuring 19 1/2in. That is the most incredible feeling I have EVER experienced. I didn't know I could love someone like that. He is perfect in every way <3
    By the end of it I couldn't fight the sleeping medicine any longer. No matter how hard I tried to stay awake to hold my baby, I had to sleep. I was so upset I kept saying "I'm the worst mom in the world, I can't even stay awake!" Chantz took him and loved on him and held him all night that night until I woke up the next morning. He seriously is such a good dad!
    Wyatt has definately changed our lives for the better. He is a better baby than I ever could have hoped for! He sleeps good, eats good, takes (and loves) his paci, and almost never cries. If he ever makes a fuss there is always a reason and it can be fixed almost instantly. I don't know how we got so lucky, but I'm so so glad we did. We love you more than words can describe sweet baby <3