We've anxiously awaited the arrival of Hyrum and he was born on April 10th, 2011, weighed 9 lbs and was 22 1/2 inches long. But I'm getting ahead of myself... I believe in miracles.
Once upon a time Misty had a due date which was April 4th. April 4th came and gone with no Hyrum. At this point in time with Misty never having had to wait past her due date to give birth it was touch and go whether to call her or not. Because I know it's one of the worst things when you are about to deliver and people keep asking you about it. Things said like "You still haven't had that baby yet?", "You haven 't popped yet?", "Oh my you look like you're going to explode!". You get the picture. I tried, I really did try not to bother her too much. Did I succeed or not? I don't know you'd have to ask Misty. She mentioned that David thought it was a good idea if I came up early because the older kids were on spring break and I could do something with them to help make spring break fun. Misty had gone to the mid wife and her blood pressure was high and she was suppose to rest so I decided to go ahead and go. I was somewhat nervous because I really wanted her to have Hyrum that weekend so I could spend a whole week helping her out with meals and the other kids. I had to be home the next weekend because I had to work. So I prayed (again) that Hyrum would be born early in my stay. I got there Thursday night. Friday Nathan got invited to go bowling with a friend so I took Aria, Gabe and Clara and we went downtown. We rode the carousel which was fun.
Clara
Gabe or as Clara says "My Gabers"
Aria
I was watching Misty and I could tell that her "contractions" were getting more uncomfortable so I was hopeful labor would start soon. But as of Saturday still no go. So the kids and I decided to go to the park and invited April, Jovie and Ainsley to come with us.
Jovie and Clara are as I called it when I was a little girl Spider swinging. Nathan, Gabe and Aria are on the other swings, you can see their feet.
Saturday night after a full day and all the kids were in bed I decided to read a book. Well I got into the book and read until midnight. Poor choice on my behalf because at about 3:00 am I hear footsteps up in the kitchen. I thought maybe David was up so I went back to sleep. about 3:30 am I hear more footsteps and thought why in the world would David or Misty wear shoes in the middle of the night? I decide to go upstairs to see what's going on and I open the door and their are 2 women in Misty's kitchen I've never seen before. I may have scared them. They introduce themselves as Misty's midwife and her assistant. Misty has chosen to have Hyrum at home. I debated on whether to go upstairs or not thinking I should wait until David comes to get me. In the end I decided to go up and see if they need anything and was welcomed to stay. So I grabbed her camera and became the photographer and whatever else I was needed to do. Labor seemed to be going well. For the most part she was laboring in a small pool in her room filled with really warm water. David and I took turns using his iphone to time the contractions, counter pressure Misty's back and get her food, water ect. The mid wife basically left them alone but would come up periodically to check blood pressure, babies heart rate during and not during contractions. Everything was going well. Misty was in a lot more pain than with her other labors but the pool seemed to help her.To make a long story short ( you can read her labor and delivery story with all the details on her blog,
http://www.myinneraria.blogspot.com/) her water broke and she got back into the pool and two contractions later Hyrum was born at 6:32 am. He slipped out into the water the mid wife pulls him up and he is pink and kinda lets out a little cry then the mid wife starts praising God and tells us the their is a true knot in the cord. Hyrum turns purple and isn't wanting to cry, the mid wife is massaging the cord up above the knot up towards Hyrum to get him some blood. It doesn't seem to be helping. She decides to cut the cord and blood is squirting and I'm praying to Heavenly Father to please help Hyrum live, meanwhile taking pictures for Misty.
He still isn't crying and he goes from pinker to purple a few times. He's a little fighter. He started fighting for his life in Misty's womb. The knot had been in the cord for a long time. The knot was twice as long as it should have been and it was twisted like a telephone cord. In Misty's womb Hyrum literally bounced and turned all over to be able to get the oxygen he needed to stay alive.
Misty didn't get to hold him very long because the little guy needed oxygen. He wouldn't cry to help clear out his lungs and he kept going purple. When he got the oxygen he would pink up. After a little while though he seemed to be doing better and was all pink so I got to take him and give him to Misty to hold and to see if he would nurse. Lucky me! The midwife comes over and gives me a big hug and whispers in my ears that he's going to be ok and so is Misty. That's when I shed tears. I'm so glad that the midwife believes in God and knows from where blessings and miracles come. She did a wonderful job for Misty and Hyrum.
Misty was having a really hard time delivery the placenta. Finally the midwife got it unstuck and it was delivered. I was really proud of myself for not "freaking" out and for taking everything in stride and calmness. Inside though I was worried and praying, praying and worried. Knowing though in a peaceful sense that everything would be fine. I was over by the baby taking pictures for Misty watching the little guy get oxygen and out of the corner of my eyes I was watching Misty and seeing her pain in not delivering the placenta and knowing something was wrong. Hyrum still gave us a couple of worries. His blood sugar went really low (40) and his body temperature was really low (94). Thankfully Hyrum nursed well and so Misty would keep nursing him and his blood sugar got ok. She also laid with Hyrum skin to skin, blanket and heating pad on him to warm him up. David gave him a priesthood blessing and soon after his body temperature started raising. Thank God again for miracles and answers to prayer.
Hyrum weighs in at 9 pounds.
Thankfully prayers were answered and Hyrum and Misty are doing well.
I went into the kitchen to make breakfast and I got really grossed out. Misty's placenta was on the kitchen counter (on a towel) and I almost threw up. I decided not to cook breakfast until the midwife cleaned that up. She talked to me and told me that in all the years of delivering babies that was only the 3rd live birth with a knot. Her assistant had never seen any live birth with a knot. I'm grateful for miracles. Eventually I could make breakfast and got all the kids ready for church and me too but I started feeling really sick, I mean really dizzy, sick and felt like throwing up. I couldn't take the kids to church and they really wanted to go so David took them. I stayed with Misty and helped where I could with the baby. I felt so bad that I couldn't even fix them dinner that night and prayed that I would feel better by morning so I could fulfill my responsibilities and help Misty's family. After throwing up at midnight I started feeling better and by morning I was good to go. Once again I'm thankful for prayers being answered.
Good to go meant taking the kids to school. I love this picture. We are on our way to take Nathan and Aria to school and Ruby is riding in Clara's car seat.
I woke up and came upstairs one morning and this is what I saw.
David was letting Misty get some sleep but he had to run outside so he sat Gabe down and put Hyrum in Gabe's arms.
Here are the other kids holding their baby brother.
Clara
Aria
Nathan
Ruby was a tad bit jealous.
I'm glad I brought Ruby. She turned out to be a great play toy for the kids. They loved having her there. Plus we would go on walks around Misty's neighborhood in the evening.
Precious.
On a few of the mornings I did Zumba downstairs and this is where I found Ruby one day.
April made Hyrum this hat. Isn't it cute! Hyrum was fussy so I held him and talked to him and he settled down. Misty was able to take the pictures.
The time came when I had to go home. I'm going to miss them and miss holding that precious baby.
He gave me a thank you, I love you Grandma smile.
Then it looks like he was saying ok enough's enough Grandma give me back to my mom.
I'm glad I was able to be there and help them all out. I loved being able to spend time with Hyrum's brothers and sisters and helping out his mom and dad. David did a very nice thing for me. He stole my car and filled it with gas before I got up Saturday morning. I also got a bag of cinnamon bears in my car for a nice surprise. I was grateful!
Ham and sliced oranges on the side with a drink of home made apple cider. Nothing better on a beautiful Easter morning celebrating the Resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ. He died and lived again so that we may have eternal life. To that I'm eternally grateful.
