Baby Heber

Our baby boy was born on the 4th of July.

Saturday night we went to watch the Stadium of Fire fireworks in Provo. I was having mild contractions every 15 minutes or so for 4 or 5 hours that evening (but that wasn't anything new). We made it home around 11:00 and made it into bed around 1:00am.

I woke up around 2:00 with contractions coming about 3 minutes apart and with a little pain. I got out of bed and walked around for a few minutes. I was excited to finally be in real labor. I woke Ammon up saying, "I'm having contractions that hurt." He said "OK" and rolled back over. He was really tired, and I didn't mind letting him sleep for a little longer.

I got dressed and went outside to walk through my contractions. On Friday the 2nd we had the big Hatch family reunion, and we still had a full house of visitors. I didn't want to wake up the family and I found the night air invigorating. It was a beautiful night, bright moon and stars. I even saw a shooting star. It was peaceful and quiet. I called my mom, and my midwife. My midwife encouraged me to labor at home as long as possible, for my comfort. She indicated that if I could still talk through the contractions I probably still had hours ahead of me. I resolved to go to the hospital at 4:00.

At about 3:15 I went back inside and woke up Ammon. He heard me tell my mom to meet us at the hospital at 4:00, so he thought he had time. He hadn't shaved all weekend, so he quickly shaved and got dressed. Meanwhile, I was packing a few things, and the contractions became really intense. I had about 5 big contractions at home while Ammon was getting ready, informing his mom we were going to the hospital, and trying to maneuver the car out of the parking lot that was our driveway. I was getting a little discouraged by the pain, not knowing how much longer these contractions would continue. In the car ride over I had another contraction. After a word of prayer we hurried into the hospital. I had another contraction right outside the elevator, during which my water broke. The security guard in the lobby ran and got us a wheelchair.

The elevator opened and we got on. I told Ammon the 2nd floor (but I was wrong, the 3rd floor is Labor and Delivery.) In between the 1st and 2nd floor the baby was crowning. The doors opened on the 2nd floor. Ammon called for help and the Mother/Baby nurses came running out. 3 nurses jumped on the elevator and pressed the button for the third floor.

Ammon said, "I don't know what I am doing!" The nurse said, "I don't know what I'm doing! I'm not a Labor/Delivery Nurse!" Between the 2nd and 3rd floor the nurse delivered the baby, which involved pulling the umbilical cord from around his neck, and he cried a good cry. The door opened on the third floor with nurses ready to clamp and cut the cord. They transferred us both into a delivery room, and took care of us. My midwife came into the room about 10 minutes later!

The time of birth was declared as 3:40 am. The nurse that delivered the baby was excited to have been a part of Heber's birth. (Apparently she was famous for almost burning down the hospital when her unattended potpie caught fire in the microwave. She hoped this would give her something better to be known for.)

We had planned to name him Heber Taylor Hatch, but as we were filling out the paperwork, we didn't feel right about the middle name. Heber Taylor is my maternal grandpa's grandpa. So we reviewed the names of Ammon's maternal grandpa's grandpas. I found it incredibly ironic that the same generation on Ammon's side was George Washington Kearns--seeing as Heber was born on the 4th of July. So after some deliberation and fun we named him:

Heber Washington Hatch

We realized afterward that we gave both our boys the exact same initials: HWH.

I am so in love with my baby. Hyrum and Audrey are excited to have him.

When family asked Hyrum what he though of his new baby brother he said, "He has the same arms, same legs, same back and head as other humans."

We're taking it one day (and night) at a time, loving our tiny baby boy!