Happy Birthday Taycen!

October 4^th, 2009

I was awakened early in the morning to thunder and the gentle sound of rain on the windows. Natalie, like many other nights before, was unable to sleep due to the aches and pains in her hips, her ongoing contractions, and a sore throat. She had spent a majority of the night on the couch but was up early washing some of the new baby clothes that we had received at her baby shower the day before. We started watching General Conference at 10 AM and by 10:20, the pain became too much to bear and she went to bed. She took one half of a Unisom pill (sleeping aid) and laid in bed in tears because of the pain. I ran a warm bath for her and while the bath tub was filling up, I rubbed her lower back to help relieve the pain. After her bath, she took a few Tylenol and rested. I continued to wash and organize the gifts that we received. At noon, we decided to start timing the contractions and she really started complaining about the pain in her back. At this point, we both know that she was in labor, but we wanted to time the contractions just to make sure. We timed the contractions at about five minutes apart and because of the pain in her lower back, we went to the Women’s Center at the Alta View hospital.

Once we arrived, they showed us to a room and checked Natalie to see if she was in labor. Natalie was dilated to a 3+ and also tested positive for amniotic fluid, meaning that her water had broken. Natalie turned to me and said that she wondered if it had broken the day before during the shower but was not sure because it had only been a slow leak, not a gush that ran down her legs. Once she tested positive for amniotic fluid, she was admitted to the hospital. She was given an IV and blood was taken for tests.

At around 4:14 PM the anesthesiologist gave Natalie an epidural. At this point she had dilated to a 5 and the rest of her water broke and came gushing out. The water that had come out previously had only leaked out and was only a small amount. At around 5:30 PM I went down the hospital cafeteria for a quick dinner, then back up to be with Natalie. At 6 the nurse checked again and she had dilated to a 7. Several times the baby’s heartbeat dipped down and was concerning, but after changing positions it came back up. Natalie distracted herself by watching “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” and had to have the epidural button pushed every hour and a half to avoid the pain of contractions and the catheter.

At 6:40, Katie, our nurse checked and she said that she was completely dilated. She asked another nurse to call Dr. Walker. Dr. England, our regular OB/GYN, was in Yellowstone, so his associate, Dr. Walker delivered our baby. Taycen Joseph was born at 7:29 PM. He was 6 lbs. 6 oz. and was 19 inches long. He scored an 8.9 on the APGAR scale and was very healthy! Katie’s shift ended at 7, and she had a family dinner to get to with her husband, children, and another couple, but she stayed until the baby was born. She had actually taken care of us a month before when we had to stay in the hospital with pre term labor and contractions. It was very nice of her to stay. She said that she couldn’t leave until the baby was born because she was invested and wanted to make sure that he got here safe. It was very nice of her and we really appreciated her special attention and love for us and the baby.

Bright Lights!

I love you mommy

Footprints

His head measured 33 cm

I need a bath!

Finally, I made it!!

19 inches long

Taycen: I finally meet the face of "the voice!"

Daddy: We meet at last!

Grandma and Grandpa meet Taycen

Aunt Marchaan and Uncle Brett meet Taycen