July 22, 2010 - Enter Henry

I have a hard time believing it's been one full year since this post or this post but, then it feels like Henry has always been with our family.

Henry, you make me one proud mama! You taught me that I can do hard things - things I never knew I could do. You are the perfect little caboose for our family. You are such a sweet boy, so easy going. We love you to pieces.

Isn't he the cutest ever?

That picture has little boy written all over it.

When I figure out how to get birthday pictures on here, I will.

(his parents weren't even there...rude.)

If It Weren't For Her

If it weren't for her . . .

We wouldn't have them.

Mark Your Calendars!

It was taking pictures for this event that spurred taking all the pictures of the kids (below).
Last year, I paid a gal on Etsy for Rylee's invitation, but figured out how to do it myself this year.
Ryan was afraid I'd girly it up too much, but I think the simplicity was okay for him. I love you, Ryan

And, to add to the special-ness of Clay being baptized on his actual birthday, we're blessing Henry in Sacrament Meeting that morning as well.
It should be a glorious day - we hope you can make it!

I Told You So!

It doesn't take long for our babies to chunk right up.
I told you those cheeks were coming!

Can you believe sweet Henry is 6 weeks old today? I can't.
And frankly, it makes me pretty sad that he's growing so quickly.
He doesn't seem to act his age either. He reminds me of how a 2-3 month old baby would be (and the size of his clothes agree with me).
Sigh . . .

Sharing Cuteness

Henry is 3 weeks old today.

We are grateful he's so willing to share his cuteness.

(Hang on tight - his cheeks are really starting to fill out!)

The Past 10 Days

My parents came in to town the night before we went to the hospital, and if you remember when we had Olivia how much my mom did, can you imagine how much we did with my dad here too?!

Well let me tell you. I could probably go day by day and tell you what they did, but let's see if I can sum it all up.

Dad plumbs the pedestal sink, along with fixing a compression valve that exploded hot water on him. Dad and Ryan start putting the window casings back together (it had only been 3 years since the windows were put in...). Mom outside weeding. My parents move everything out of the bedrooms (upstairs) and the entire basement (except the girls' room) to have carpet laid the next day. Tuesday the carpet guys come. Dad and Ryan still working on windows, my mom is doing a gazillion loads of laundry, fixing all our dresser drawers, and sorting all the kids' clothing into the drawers - including cute, little storage containers for their underwear and socks. (Something I obviously didn't want to do.) The next day, Dad and Ryan are searching for a specific tile to tile the shower with. (When we replaced all the windows, we found mold all around the window in the shower - we've just covered it with a shower curtain. 2 days of searching for a matching tile - the tile had been discontinued 3 years ago...of course - so low and behold, they find a tile close enough to match at Home Depot. Of all places.) They spend Wednesday cutting, tiling, and grout the shower, while my mom takes the kids (two separate trips) to Build A Bear for them to put together their Christmas gifts. Are you tired yet? This was all done while tending kids, taking them to the pool every day, fixing meals and running the household (and I'm sure many more things that I'm forgetting) while I sat, held the baby and answered questions. Sweet deal.

Now I have new carpet - that has helped us de-clutter and (still) de-junk,
An awesome bathroom - thanks to Ryan for doing the baseboards, caulking and hanging our new hardware,
Windows that look amazing even if they aren't quite finished yet (sanding and more mudding to go),
Kids' dressers that are organized and functioning again along with clean clothes AND baby girl clothes sorted and ready to pass on,
Clean bedrooms
A happy, contented baby Henry that I have been able to soak up and hold all day long.

There is a special place in heaven for parents like mine. Who come and do all they can to ease our burden and make life sweeter. We can't ever thank them enough.

I'm too lazy to post pictures right now, but as soon as everything is close(r) to being finished, I will.

In the meantime, I'm trying to figure out who our little Henry looks like now. At the hospital he looked just like Clay. See?

Henry's first bath in the hospital

But, now it seems he's changed so much in just these 10 short days that I can't tell who he looks like. And, not that he needs to look like anyone - he can be his own little self, but can you see any of his siblings in him?

*house pictures to follow soon.

And Along Came Henry

Thursday July 22, 2010 - Henry's Birth day
Ryan's notes, my comments in italics.

7:10am Got in the hospital. (decided the day before to be induced.)
7:45 Antibiotics started off and on (for Group B Strep) - watched because Honey was having a hard time taking a deep breath. We think it was her position because she was able to stand up and it got better. She took 2 Tums because of some heart burn.
We watched the last of the TDF (Tour de France). Contador and Schleck battled it up the Tourmalet like champs. AC was holding AS’s back wheel and AS couldn’t shake him. Honey is so good to me.(only a man...)
9:50 TdF stage over. Ryan takes a few minutes to discuss the finish with some friends at work; The nurse starts Pitocin and Honey gets back in bed. She’s sleepy now and closes her eyes. Good luck sleeping though. Anxiety builds.
Ryan – I am FREEZING! The A/C has been blowing full bore this whole time. Where’s the thermostat?!
10:11 Honey’s first contraction since being on Pitocin. She was having regular ones before that. What the?!
10:25 Pitocin is upped
11:40 4-5 centimeters dialated, 70% effaced, -2 station, bulging waters? The nurses noticed that the baby’s heart rate as well as Honey’s blood pressure were pretty low. They changed her position and things seem to be better now.
11:55 Another round of Penicillin was started and Pitocin upped again.
Despite being at 4-5 cm dialated, Honey has been fairly comfortable. She says her pain is about a 2.
12:50 Replaced the IV and upped the Pitocin - she started at a 2 and now is up to 10 (ml/hr), Honey up to go to the bathroom and feels a lot better standing up and swaying during the contractions. I wish we had figured this out about 6 kids ago.
12:55 Dr. Logan broke Honey’s water and she’s back in bed. Right after they brought the birthing ball in. She has to be in bed for about 15 min before she can get back up. Dr. Logan says she’s still about a 4, I’m sure that’s tough for Honey to hear. Some of those contractions had been pretty hard ones. She’s doing awesome, though, and is willing herself to relax if that’s possible. She’s really controlled the pain well
1:10 Pitocin turned DOWN! That was a relief to Honey, the contractions were one on top of the other, but Honey was doing great. She gets to get up now too! That’s a relief too.
1:20 Orange popsicles and apple juice. Just trying to keep the energy up. I’m getting anxious and fidgety. Honey’s about to kick me out because I want to help but there’s nothing I can do right now. Back labor apparently SUCKS!
There’s quite a storm kicking up out here. I can see it out west rolling in and some dark puffy clouds hang like clumps of cottonwood cotton above us.
Although the Poticin in back down to 8 ml/hr, the contractions are still on top of each other.

(Around 2pm I couldn't have Ryan leave my side. After I was checked and at 6cm the nurse suggested we lower the end of the bed, have me kneel in the knee to chest position to dilate the rest of the way. The next 45 minutes went from "I remember this pain" to "holy cow how I am going to do this" pain to "I don't want to do this anymore pain" to (back up on the bed to be checked) to "get him out - he wants to come out!")

Honey did it! She did the whole thing without an epidural AND she was on Pitocin. The contractions steadily came on in waves and started to get stronger despite turning the Pitocin down twice. She was able to control the pain through breathing and positioning until she was about an 8. Then all of the sudden, she was ready to push. Between being an 8 and giving birth Honey was screaming and cursing and speaking in tongues. Actually, she was just screaming I’m surprised with how quickly he came actually. (My Doctor was in there in seconds, I was hyperventilating and didn't realize I was actually screaming until I heard it and had a nurse grab my face and tell me to breath. )But, Henry Dale Hunt made it here at 2:43 pm on 7/22/2010 weighing 7 lbs and 15 oz (he peed on me shortly after) and measuring 21 in long. (He had the cord wrapped around his neck twice.) Honey did awesome and seems to be recovering really well, and quickly too - she’s bugging me to order some lunch/dinner.

Sweet baby boy.

Henry and Dad (looking a little tired Ry :)

Mom and Baby. Wait, where's baby?

Introducing . . . .

Henry Dale Hunt
July 22, 2010
2:43pm
7lb 15 oz
21 in long