Labor and Delivery, Hospital food, Todd's TV debut, Visitor's, and Big Brother Dillon

We started our induction at 1:00 AM on Aug. 9th. I had been having regular contractions (10 mins) for a few hours, but like all the others I'd had all week, they just weren't strong enough.

I started out at 3 cm. and 50% effaced, and after all the paperwork, IV, and monitors were in place, we started the pitocin at 2:15.

My contractions quickly went to 2 minutes apart, but still weren't strong enough because when the Dr. arrived at 7:30 AM to break my water, I hadn't progressed at all. I tried to sleep, and listen to my Ipod for a distraction, but the contractions were painful enough that I couldn't get comfortable.

Dr. Heath broke my water and inserted an internal monitor to measure the strength of my contractions, and by then I was ready for my epidural.

It was a perfect epidural. The pain was gone, but I could still feel the pressure, and I could even move my legs and roll over by myself.

After I got the epidural, I finally started to dilate. At 9:00 I was 4 cm. and at 10:00 I was at 5.

This is when things started to go fast. I could tell by the pressure that I was dilating with every contraction. When they finally checked me at 10:50 I was a 9+ and they called the doctor who arrived in record time.

It only took three pushes, all during the same contraction, and he arrived at 10:59 with zero complications. It was by far my easiest delivery. I asked the doctor if I had torn, and he said, "Not a scratch" which made things even better.

They placed him on my belly, rubbed him down with a towel, and I started nursing him. After that, they weighed him, and I got to hold him for an hour and a half before the nurse gave him his first bath, right there in the delivery room.

While Justin had his bath, Todd and I got lunch. I had to take a picture of my food because it's not like any hospital food I've ever had. I got shrimp over fettuccine, and

Todd had steak. The next day I had grilled chicken with artichoke and sun-dried tomato sauce over penne pasta. It was better than the meal I had at Applebee's on Saturday night!

We stayed in the delivery room until my epidural had worn off enough for me to walk to the bathroom (about 3 hours). Then I was wheeled into a regular room. It took another hour before the epidural really wore off. I can't believe how long it took! I'm glad I didn't get a second dose.

Our experience at the hospital was wonderful. Aside from the "Anaconda blood pressure cuff" that left my arm bruised and battered, I don't have a single complaint. We were pretty much left alone for the rest of the day. Justin spent a total of 40 minutes in the nursery the entire time we were there. They took him once to check his weight and do his PKU test, and once for his circumcision.

I don't know if it's just how this hospital does things, or if it's because he was my fourth baby, but there wasn't anyone telling me how long or how often to feed him, or asking how much he or I had peed. It was really nice. After having Dillon in NICU and having to weigh every diaper and report every detail, I appreciated the "normalcy". We dressed him in his own clothes, and just "did our own thing".

Things were so calm that we had no idea they life-flighted seven people out of the hospital that night after a Japanese tour bus rolled on I-15. We did hear sirens, and Todd heard one helicopter, but that's it. When we left the hospital there were Japanese news crews everywhere, and they caught Todd on camera after he took luggage to the van. Too bad we won't get to see his TV debut.

My dad has a cousin who lives in Cedar, and even though Todd and I have only met them twice, I tried to get in touch with them during the week we were "waiting" so we could go visit. It turns out they were on vacation, but they arrived home on the day Justin was born, and she (Debbie) called me. They had been driving for 12 hours, but still took the time to come to the hospital and visit. When we checked in, I didn't even bother to listen to the visitor rules because I didn't expect anyone to come, but there's just something about having family around that makes everything better, and I'm so glad that Debbie and Rusty came to see us.

So far Justin is eating and sleeping great. I only had to get up once to feed him last night, and he went right back to sleep afterwards. I know he's still a tired newborn, but I sure hope this continues! My other babies all cried for the first few nights.

I never planned on having a 5 1/2 year gap between my kids, but I have to say that it's been a lot of fun. I've been able to spend so much more time preparing and pondering, and now enjoying this baby. The older boys can pretty much take care of themselves, and have already been a big help.

Dillon is thrilled to be a big brother. While we were in St. George shopping last week, I found a "Big Brother" shirt at the OshKosh outlet for $6. I bought it and Dillon has worn it for two days in a row now. I think I'm going to have to pry it off of him! Whenever he's holding the baby and you ask if he's finished he replies, "No! My baby."