Well, Hesston was born on June 29th, 2012, at 7:55 pm. He weighed 8 pounds, 3 ounces, and was 20.5 inches long. I guessed he would be around 7 pounds, 6 ounces, and Ted guessed 8 pounds 5 ounces, so he won. I can't believe he was so big! He now weighs almost 9 pounds and is 21.5 inches long. Well, that was a week ago, so he is probably bigger now. I was in labor for 23 hours, and pushed for 2 hours. It was the most exhausting thing I've ever done. I don't think there is anything in this world to prepare a woman for childbirth. It is just one of those things you have to experience to understand and appreciate. It was by far the hardest thing I've ever done. At 12 hours into labor, I decided to get an epidural, and I'm glad I did, because I can't even imagine the pain I missed with pushing for so long and hard. I threw up 3 times, and blacked out quite a few times. I can't remember half of the pushing process. The biggest thing I remember is, when I pushed Hesston's head out, he came out purple and wasn't crying. This freaked me out, because I knew he was supposed to be crying. He had the cord wrapped around his neck, so the doctor hurried and got the cord off from around his neck, but then Hesston's shoulders were stuck. He was a rare case where the shoulders are wider than the head, and they get stuck in the birth canal. It is called shoulder dystocia. Anyway, so I was spent, all my energy gone, and I couldn't push any more, but Hesston was stuck. So, the nurses started yelling at me to push. It was intense. I had about 6 nurses in the room by then, and they were going crazy. So I pushed with all my strength, which was crazy, because I was done a long time before that, and Hesston finally made it into the world fully. The nurses whisked him away and began resuscitation because he wasn't breathing. On the epgar scale, he was at a 2 at 1 minute, which means he was close to dying. Then, at 5 minutes, he was at a 9. Hesston is a little fighter. He fought back for his life, and is doing well now. But, the birth was quite traumatic. It took a whole day before he actually woke up from a deep sleep and ate. Everyone kept telling us how lucky we were. But, we know we were blessed and watched over by our Heavenly Father and Guardian Angels (our ancestors). We didn't realize at the time how serious the situation was, but Ted's mom, Karleen, who is a NICU nurse, took Ted to the side later and told him that Hesston was close to being sent to the NICU if he didn't bounce back like he did. We are so blessed.
But, at 3 1/2 weeks, Hesston is doing excellent. He is eating well, and growing great. It is way different having a child in the house. I never realize how I wouldn't get any sleep, but still be able to function. The Lord must bless moms with extra ability to live with no sleep during the first few months. Hesston is starting to put himself on a schedule, which is nice, and he's already slept through the night once. That was the biggest surprise, going to bed at 1 am and waking up with the sun already up (at 6:30 am). That was an awesome night. Hope we get some more of those soon. He is fussy in the evenings, around the time he was born, which is normal since it was traumatic. He doesn't cry very much (so far), and is an excellent baby. We feel extremely blessed to have him in our lives. He brings such a great spirit into our home. Now our home truly is a home.
