Henry Eric Ford - A Birth Story.

My Little Prince Charming is THREE WEEKS OLD. 

It seems like yesterday I was waiting anxiously for this little guy to show up and join the party!  It's been a wonderful three weeks and it's amazing how complete our family feels.  At his 2 week Apt Henry Eric weighed 6 lbs 5 oz (just 3 oz shy of his birth weight) and was 20 inches long. 
We're so glad you're here Henry Boy. ____________________
My parents arrived to Utah on December 17th. With both Hunter & Hayden arriving weeks before their due dates, we expected little baby to here in Mid December.  My official due date was January 6th but Dr said we could expect the baby ANYTIME after December 9th.  So we prepared ourselves for a Christmas baby.  When Christmas arrived, and we still had no baby, frustrations were on the surface.  I was uncomfortable and tired and had started to swell and was so done being pregnant.  My parents had planed to leave on December 30th, so anxiety that mom and dad would have come and gone and missed the baby was bursting. Christmas came and went and I was actually OK not having a baby on Christmas.  Monday, December 26th came around and again, I was OK not having a baby the DAY AFTER Christmas because everyone is so burnt out from the day before.  This year it worked out fabulously that baby stayed in so that I could help celebrate my Grandma Carol's 80th birthday with a surprise party my mom and Aunts pulled together.  It was a so special to be there with Grandma and she was so surprised. Everyone at the party asked when that baby was coming and I joked that now all the parties were over so he could come tomorrow.... and that's exactly what he did.
Tuesday, December 27th, I woke up with cramping.  I was shocked how quickly it came on and how consistent they were.  (I was contracting every 90 seconds and they were lasting 30 seconds) I quickly realized I was in labor.  We joyfully announced to the household that it was baby time. I am so so grateful my parents and sisters were in town to help with the kiddos. I was most concerned about who would take Hunter & Hayden when it was go time.

We arrived to the hospital and by 10am we were checked in and ready to go. The nurse said I was at a 5 when I arrived. I immediately got an epidural so I could relax and prepare for baby.  This time the epidural brought my labor to a STAND STILL.  With my other two labors, I continued to progress and babies were born in a couple of hours. After a couple of hours and not progressing at all the nurse put me on pitocin. When that didn't work she called in a doctor to break my water.  The baby was also posterior (facing up) so we rolled me over to see if we could get baby to rotate. Finally I began to progress again.

By 3:20pm baby had turned, my Dr had arrived and we were ready to go. Our cute friend Cheryl was our photographer and had been on call all morning.  Things progressed super fast that last hour and she showed up right as the Doctor said to start pushing.  She really almost missed it!  Pushing was so much harder this time. I was not able to catch my breath and was throwing up a lot. I was SO GRATEFUL that my sweet mama was there to encourage me and keep my neck and head cool with a wet rag. It helped so much.   After some pushing I was finally able to get some good breaths and was relieved when the Dr said I could stop pushing.

At 3:37 my baby daddy announced "ITS A BOY!"  (Actually he said "well its pretty obvious I don't think I have to announce it") 

It was such a special moment.

Not finding out the gender of the baby was stressful at times the prior 9 months, and so I was much more emotional when I finally saw HIM for the first time. I was able to have Henry for skin to skin right after delivery, something I wasn't able to do with my other two. That skin to skin time with my fresh baby was incredible. 

He weighed 6lbs 7.5oz and 18inches making him my biggest baby. 

He looked exactly like his big brother and sister.  This time I was also able to breastfeed right away, another first time experience.  He did so great. He latched right away and we've been successful exclusively breastfeeding ever since. 

Henry and I both got cleaned up and we were moved to Postpartum where we began to relax and enjoy our sweet new angel. Hunter & Hayden came that night to meet their new baby brother.  They were both so excited, I think Hayden a little more than Hunter (since she wasn't dethroned) and it was the most amazing feeling to have my little family all together.  How blessed am I you guys?? 

We were also excited to have Grandma Carol and three of my dads brothers come visit us. 

I am so grateful my mom and sister could be part of the delivery. I always imagined my mom being part of that experience and since she lives in California and the other two came early.. she missed both Hunter and Hayden's births. I was so happy that she could be there with Henry and I clearly needed her this time. It was fun to have my sister in the room also.  Good thing I kept it real huh Kenna? Ha. Bet you're super anxious to have a baby now! 
I was also SO SO HAPPY that Dr. Judd was able to deliver baby Henry.

Back story: Dr. Judd informed me at the beginning of December that he would be retiring at the end of the year and his last day was December 28th. After that day he would not be able to deliver my baby. I kept it together in the office but kinda had a freak out/melt down when I got home that this baby was gonna be 10 days overdue and Dr. Judd wouldn't be able to deliver him. I LOVE Dr. Judd. Luckily, baby boy decided he wanted the best to deliver him also and showed up one day before Dr. Judd retired.  Henry was Dr. Judd's last delivery at Timpanogos Hospital and the last boy he delivered. He delivered over 26,000 babies over 46.5 years.  (See... BEST DR EVER) Dr. Judd visited us in the hospital the next day, his last day before retirement and we were so happy to be able to say our farewells.  We LOVE YOU Dr. Judd.

A HUGE Thank You to our dear friend Cheryl who captured this special day perfectly! Be sure to check out this adorable video she made of Henry's Birthday! 

A BIG THANK YOU also to my wonderful parents and sisters who we couldn't have survived this day (and the few days after) without! 

We're so happy to be home with our little Henry and getting used to life as a family of 5.