Baby Trey

Here are the details of Trey's birth--it won't get too graphic, I promise. I went to the doctor November 4th to find I was dilated to 3 cm but nothing was happening (this was enough to get me excited--I've never dilated at all with the others, really). She did what is sometimes done to help things get started without meds (I told you I wouldn't get graphic). Nothing happened until we went to dinner that evening and I had regular contractions about 10 minutes apart for an hour or so. Then they stopped. I felt like labor was probably going to start either that night or the next day, so I talked to the kids about it and cleaned as much as I could--tried out the new Dyson and completely filled it up!-- before watching the results of the election and going to bed. At 1:45 I woke up with a major contraction, sat up and checked the time and then laid back down. Another one hit pretty quickly. When the third one came soon after that, I sat up to check the time again and saw it was only 1:50! I couldn't lay down any more, so I got up and went through a couple of more before waking up Jessy to time them and help me by pushing on my back. It took him several attempts at timing before he woke up enough to remember when the previous one started and to be able to figure out how long it was between them (let's just say I was in no mood to be amused with him at that point in time!!). The contractions weren't consistently spaced or the same lengths, so I was nervous I'd be sent home from the hospital, but they were pretty hard and not more than 3 minutes apart, so I gathered up my stuff and went out to the car. I'm not sure what Jessy was doing, but he eventually came out, too. (Okay, he was really tired from working on the basement and I was only out there a few minutes before he came out.) We left home at 2:30 am and Jessy only ran two red lights (they were dumb ones and nobody was around). About 10 minutes before we got to the hospital I really felt I had to push (we were on I-15). Jessy's face was a sight to see when I said that. He got very pale and started reassuring me that I did not have to push and would make it to the hospital because we were almost there. (I think he was reassuring himself.) As we were checking in to the labor and delivery unit, the nurses at the desk asked which baby it was for me--when I said my fourth and the contractions were really strong, they skipped triage and took me straight to a room. The nurse checked me right away and announced we were "at a 9"--suddenly there was a flurry of activity and the two nurses that had been casually setting things up somehow multiplied into at least 5 people all busily calling the doctor or trying to get an IV in or asking about my medical history or getting gloves on "just in case." Luckily the midwife made it to the hospital in about 10 minutes. She took one look, broke my water, and Trey was born with the next contractions. Like Jessy said, it was 22 minutes from check-in to delivery. Crazy! It was all such a whirlwind, but it was definitely a good way to do it when you want to go natural. The nurse told me that if I have another, I need to go to the hospital with the first contraction, since now my pregnancy history will have rapid labor to go along with extra-large baby. (My mom says that Trey came so fast because Hunter made the chute big. That might be too graphic, but funny anyway.)
Trey is gorgeous (what mother would say anything else?). I thought he was bald when I first saw him, but he has quite a bit of hair--it's just a golden-brown color rather than the black hair our other kids had. He has Jessy's lips, droopy left eye (at this point, I sometimes think we have a mini pirate), and little head (his head circ falls in the 16th percentile--our other kids are no less than 75%). When the nurses cleared out after he was born, he was so alert and just cooed and gurgled and looked all around while Jessy held him. He is a good baby and sleeps SO MUCH!! I always thought people were lying when they said their babies slept most of the time and didn't cry much. It is possible, it just took us four tries to get one of that kind! Everything with this delivery/recovery has been so much easier than the rest--and not just because it's the fourth time. I really feel blessed!As you can see, Trey is loved. I think Daddy appreciates the "good baby" factor as much as I do and he loves holding him at his alert times (plus he's a fantastic diaper changer). Savannah loves to hold him, is an expert at getting him to sleep, and has even fed him! Hunter can't get enough, and when his cold sore goes away, he will return to plastering Trey with kisses and cuddles and holding him, then returning him, then wanting him back, then... Collin said he would not like the baby if we named him Trey (he thought we should name him Collin, or as a last resort Hunter, because those are the best names), but as you can see, he was all smiles when he met him for the first time. We love our baby and are so glad he finally came to join our family!