Reminiscing- A Birth Story

My pregnancy with H was basically uneventful in a good way. I spent the first 4 months laying on the couch in a daze. I remember laying there so tired and so sick that I’m ashamed to say I did very little with S aside from tossing him cheerios and refilling his sippy with milk. Those middle months weren’t too bad and come summer time I looked like a balloon and felt like one too. I retain water anyway but having a baby in August is just plain miserable.

At about 20 weeks I was elated to find out we were having another boy. Everything looked great and while I never really worried about the baby I was terrified of labor and delivery. About 6 or 7 weeks before my due date I flew to Oklahoma for an Usborne convention (with my doctors permission of course:) The first night that I was there I had some bleeding. I was able to snag a ride with one of the other consultants and she took me to the hospital where they performed an ultrasound to see if the baby was okay. The baby checked out fine and I’ll never forget when the sonographer smiled and said, "He has a full head of hair"!

Eight days before my due date I awoke about 1:30 in the morning with contractions. The contractions were steady throughout the night and I woke Carl at 6:30. At 7:00 am we called my sister to come over. She arrived about 15 minutes later and as I was climbing into our SUV Carl said, "Are you sure your in labor". Duh! We arrived at UVRMC a few minutes later and they took us to our room. They checked me and asked if I wanted an epidural. I was surprised that I could get one so soon because the contractions weren’t too bad. I decided against it. Carl went to get some food and when he came back I was dilated to an eight. At 9:15 am little H was born red faced and mad.... and oh yes with a full head of hair:) It was love at first sight even before the nurse stated, "He has a dimple". He weighed seven pounds twelve ounces and measured twenty inches long.

At two weeks old, H had his first haircut. Even with his new cut I would get comments like, "Aren’t you tempted to put bows in that hair", or "Oh, She’s so beautiful with all that hair". Duh, blue blanket, blue clothes, Its' a BOY!

H was an easy baby and by six months old he weighed 18 pounds. He was very tolerant of S and his jealous streak and I would often find S wrestling H. He hardly ever cried and was such a cuddlebug. By eighteen months old, H could be found on top of the table, on top of the counter, or standing on a chair. You get the picture. He didn’t make a lot of noise. The silent terror.

H is a yellow. He’s the happy, playful, roll with the punches kind of kid. H was sent to this family to teach us all to chill. H likes it when people are having fun, cracking jokes, and getting along. H would give you the shirt off his back if it would please you. I’m so thankful we have this kid in our family.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAMMER!