Birthing Little Baby Otis

I had my baby and today he is actually 6 weeks old! I had him 2 weeks early and he was 7 pounds 10 oz and 22 inches long. My biggest baby by a lot!! We kind of wondered if I calculated the due date wrong with such a big baby so early. But I just think he has the most Cook side in him. He has the dark complexion like the Cooks, a mini Weston Cook nose, weighed a lot at birth like the Cook babies. Weston was just under 9 pounds when he was born. I will share my birth story. Something inside of me actually knew he was coming early. Everyone kept telling me I had more time because both of my other babies were born pretty much on time. Sage was born at 39 weeks + 6 days and Reuben was born right smack dab on his due date at 40 weeks exactly. But I was in serious nesting mode and felt in a hurry to get everything done that I needed to get done and checked off my to do list. I usually clean out my car within a couple days of my baby being born and my car was clean, haha! The weekend Otis was born, Weston's Dad invited Weston to come to Fountain Green and go hunting with him. This of course made me nervous, but with everyone assuring me the baby was not going to come early, I decided at moments to believe them and I told Weston he could go, but luckily, probably out of inspiration, Weston decided to stay home. I had also gotten highly discounted tickets to a pumpkln patch called Cornbelly's up in Lehi, Utah and I wanted to use them before the baby was born because I knew they would go to waste if we didn't use them before he was born and plus we have been living with my parents and really needed some time with just our little family. So on Saturday October 21st, we packed up our family and we went to Cornbelly's. Since I had a few things left to get on the list of homebirth items my Midwife gave to me, we also took the opportunity to get the last few things which made me really happy that it was all checked off! We live in a rather rural area and so anytime we make it up to the city, we have to take advantage in getting the things we need. We had a really nice day at the Pumpkin Patch, playing lots of games they had there, going through a corn maze, and just having family time. We left probably around 6 in the evening and started to head home which would be around a 3 hour trip. When it hit around 7pm on our trip home, I started to feel contractions that were pushing my baby right into my colon which was SUPER uncomfortable. I just figured it was just the baby dancing on my colon mixed with Braxton Hicks contractions. I had been having Braxton hicks contractions pretty much every single night for the last month or 2 which actually was a blessing in my mind because I used them as an opportunity to practice my hynobirthing breathing exercises. So anyway, once we got home from our trip, I felt exhausted from the day and I was so glad to be out of the car from feeling so uncomfortable for the last 2 hours. I went right to my room and locked myself in there because I wasn't in the mood to see anyone. Weston had been sleeping in a different room anyway because when I am pregnant I snore, and he can't sleep through the snoring. I just laid in bed and was getting annoyed because the "Braxton hicks" still hadn't gone away, when it suddenly hit me, maybe these aren't Braxton hicks, maybe I am in real labor. I then googled the difference between false labor and real labor (I know I know, this is my third baby, but yes, every single time I have a baby I end up doing this, lol). It said braxton hicks will usually go away when you go to the bathroom or change activity, and that braxton hicks didn't get stronger over time and real contractions did. Well these were getting stronger and I had definitely been to the bathroom and changed activity. So I believe it was now around 11pm and I decided to text my midwife and tell Weston that I might be in labor. I woke him up and he was pretty exhausted. I just told him that I wasn't sure, but was possibly in labor and asked him if he was up for giving me a blessing, but also letting him know that my Dad was still awake so I could ask him too. Weston was pretty out of it and told me I better ask my Dad. I went upstairs and told my Dad and my Dad gave me a blessing which made me think that I wasn't really in labor. I went back to bed to try and get some sleep and continued to have contractions or "waves" as we call it in hynobirthing. I was listening to my hypnobirthing CD and doing the breathing and relaxation I had been practicing which helped a ton and took away any discomfort. My Dad later told me that he felt to say different things then he told me, but felt weird saying them and so he didn't. At 1AM I decided that this was the real thing and I went to wake Weston up again and asked for another blessing. This time Weston was full awake and his blessing blessed me that I would know the baby was fine, everything would go smoothly with no complications, the Lord was with me and very happy with my choice to bring this sweet spirit into the world and raise him. He also blessed me with a pain free comfortable labor which made me really excited because even though I had a pain free labor with my previous hypnobirthing experience, I was a little nervous that it wouldn't be. I just wasn't having as successful practices with my braxton hicks as I did with my previous labor. Next time I am definitely going to take the class again. For whatever reason, I need the classes to feel the most confident and not just go by my memory. After the blessing I got really really excited because this time I knew I was in real labor!! I was going to have my sweet baby in my arms soon! My midwife had not responded to my text message and so I called her letting her know that I was in labor and if it was okay if we came to her home soon. We decided with me living a couple hours away and living with my parents that the best thing to do would be to have the baby at her home instead of my parents. I didn't really want everyone there while I was laboring and she was nervous traveling so far away when there were other babies due right next to mine. I took some final pics of my 38 week pregnant self, and then packed the rest of the things we would need. Weston jumped in the shower and then packed up the car. Once again, each time while I had a WAVE, I let my body go loose and limp and I slowly breathed to relax through each one. Also once Weston got out of the shower, I would lean against him during a wave, and he would push against my hips which believe me when I say, BEST FEELING EVER during labor!!! He learned it from my midwife and her midwife assistant doing it to me each time I had a wave in my last labor. Love that pressure so so so much. We left around 2AM and this time the trip was much more comfortable. We still hadn't decided on a name so we talked about the name on our trip. I grew to love the name Otis over the past year or two from the movie "Kate and Leopold" and from a baby name list article that kept popping up on my FB newsfeed that had a few boy names with one of them being Otis. Otis was Weston's favorite of the names I liked and I finally decided on that one, and Weston really liked the idea of Abraham as his middle name. We got to my Midwife's house around 4AM and they had prepared a tub for me to sit in and labor. I got my swimsuit on, got in, and Weston read to me hypnobirthing scripts which helped me relax. This go around we didn't practice near as much together and he was reading the scripts really really really slow. It was making me laugh and I asked him to read them faster. Oye, next time we need to practice everyday again, we were just much more relaxed with practicing since last time went so perfectly. But it still helped a ton, his voice calms me a lot. As I had more waves, I continued to go loose and limp and breath through them which caused them to not be painful and just feel like pressure. It was kind of weird this time because the other two times I would feel the wave move all the way up over my whole belly and this time I only felt it at the bottom of my stomach and then towards the end of the wave, I would feel the baby's body push against my cervix or colon. I often had the feeling that I needed to go to the bathroom. After a while I wanted to get out of the tub and walk around in hopes that things would move faster!! I was just still so so excited I was in actual labor and I wanted to meet my baby boy so fast. My Midwife could see that I was pretty comfortable and since I was her third birth that week, she asked if she could go take a nap for a little while. I told her yes and she had 2 midwife assistants that were there to stay with me and help me. We had talked about prior to my birth, that I LOVED the hip pressure, so each time a wave came, I relaxed on Weston and they pushed on my hips. One of the midwife assistants actually was there at my previous birth and the other one was brand new in training. If I could change anything, I would have told her to push harder or asked my main Midwife to stay, but I was trying to keep everyone comfortable. But seriously, her pushing against my hip didn't really do anything and I later asked Weston if he would push against my hips because him alone was much better than than the other two, with one of them not really pushing at all. I told my midwive's that it felt like I needed to go number 2 every time I had a contraction. I knew I didn't actually because sometimes the baby's head position just does that, but I did go to the bathroom often and it would feel so good to sit on the toilet so I would just stay there for a while through multiple waves. Also at one point things were slowing down. My midwife's told me that it would be a great time to lay down and rest at that point. Honestly during labor, whether or not things are crazy or not, my mind is going and going and so I can't sleep anyway, but I took their advice and rested. Everyone laid down when I did. I just laid there and then things started to get even stronger and I was having a harder time breathing through them. I didn't know why it wasn't as easy as the time before, but it just wasn't. I woke everyone up except my main midwife who was upstairs and I kneeled down with my arms resting on Weston who was sitting on the bed. One of my Midwife's (the more experienced one) then put pressure on my hips. She also would feel where I would tense up and touch it saying relax which I am so glad she did that!!! I would immediately relax in that area remembering how to relax in each place of my body as I thought about it and the pain would go away. Once my main Midwife joined me again, she told me since it felt like I needed to go to the bathroom during each wave, the baby would have been born hours previously if I had my water broken and wondered if I wanted my water broken. I told her that I didn't because I knew that once your water breaks, the wave's increase in pressure and can cause it to be more painful than it has to be. At that point things were getting pretty strong and I couldn't imagine it getting stronger. I remember just sitting on the bed with no one by me as things were really strong and one wave right on top of the other. I told my Midwive's I was having a hard time doing the hypnibirthing breathing right and relaxing at this point. My Main Midwife assigned one of the other midwife's to help assist me (the less experienced one). She came close to me with each wave and breathed with me. Oh my goodness, she was no good at the hip pressure, but I am forever grateful for her breathing knowledge. That assistance helped so so so much!!! I was able to breath correctly as she helped me. Both of my other kids were born around 9:30AM and I figured this baby would too, but 9:30AM came and went and my Midwife once again talked to me about breaking my water. She told me that my bag of water was pushing against my colon and that the baby's head wasn't able to get into the right position to move things along faster because of all the water between his head and my cervix, but if my water was broken then it would be moved to the right place. I told her No and then went and sat on the toilet to have waves there. I really really liked sitting on the toilet this go around, it just was really relaxing and less pressure. A few minutes after sitting on the toilet, my water broke all by itself!!!! My Midwife guided me to the tub which they had prepared for me once again and made warm and then during each wave at that point my Main Midwife had me do a low hum during my breathing. Oh my goodness, the pain 100% evaporated at the point!!!! I wish I had been doing that hum for the past hour because that helped so so much. None of the Wave's were too bad during my whole labor, but I little pain was always present at the bottom of my uterus which hadn't been there during my last pregnancy. And with the deep hums, the pain completely completely vanished!!! One of my midwife assistants said around the time of me getting into the tub, "I am going to rub your back okay?" I replied, "No, I don't want anyone to touch me." I felt bad after the labor was all done for telling her No, but I always hit a certain point at the end of Labor where I don't want anyone to touch me and I don't want anyone to ask me questions!! Always a sign that the baby is coming so soon!! After my water broke, I only had a few waves, and then I felt the urge to push!!!! You know, having the urge to push during each pregnancy really really really excites me because I know at that point my baby will be in my arms within minutes!!! I had never actually done the hypnobirthing method of breathing the baby down and I really wanted to this time so each time I had a wave, instead of pushing, I would just breath downward and I could feel the baby's head moving down, it was so exciting!!! But then My Midwife checked the baby's heart rate and urgently told me to no longer do the hypnobirthing breathing and that the baby wanted out and I needed to push as hard as I could. It hurt, but I stopped the breathing and pushed the baby as hard as I could. After 2 or 3 hard pushes and I will admit, lots of pain, the babies head popped out really really quick, then I pushed again and his body followed with Weston catching him. Weston pulled him out of the water and I heard his cry. He handed me the baby and I calmed him down almost immediately as I hugged him. He was born at 11:19AM, 7 pounds 10 oz. I can't describe how it feels exactly to have my baby in my arms for the first time. My heart seriously feels like it is growing and growing and growing. I just stared at him and could immediately see a resemblance between him and my other 2 kids, especially Reuben. I just stared at him with such joy, thinking about how sweet he was and I wondered what kind of person he was and also thought how glad I was to finally not be pregnant anymore and have my little baby boy in my arms!! I then started to feel a burning sensation and my midwife pulled on the cord and assisted the birth of the placenta. She told me that the baby first scored an 8 on the apgar test and now was a ten!! They helped me and the baby get out the tub and boy oh boy did he want to suck. So I nursed him for the first time as my midwife pushed on my stomach to help with the after birth contraction pain. They need a whole hypnobirthing class just for those. Those are worse for me than during the labor. I appreciated the pressure she put there a lot while I nursed my baby. This labor wasn't as easy as my previous hypnobirthing experience, but there were also a lot of things I did different and better with my pregnancy with Reuben: I kept up my exercise routine my whole pregnancy, I was able to workout just as hard at the end as I did at the beginning because I never stopped. My nutrition was better. And I took the hypnobirthing classes and practiced every single day with Weston. This time: I fell off my exercise routine and mostly just walked everyday, even though I walked, I was losing my muscles I had and was a lot weaker. I hate horribly, right now I live with my parents and let's face it we eat a frozen pizza every other day with hardly any fruits and veggies in my diet. And I didn't retake the hypnobirthing class, just did the breathing from my memory (3 years ago was the last time I had a baby, I should have retaken the class) and I practiced by myself and rarely practiced with Weston. Oh, and also the pressure on my hips wasn't as great as last time either. But even though, it wasn't as perfect as last time, it really wasn't that bad at all with what I was able to do. And can I just say once again how much I LOVE NATURAL BIRTH!!! Such amazing experiences and each of my births bring a smile to my face each time I think or talk about them. <3 Love, Becky joy

Isaiah sees the Latter Day Temple.

I have another blog where I post my scripture study.  Here is today's post.  If you want to read more posts than you can go to my website: www.writtonforourday.blogspot.com
Book of Mormon: 2 Nephi 12

 2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, when the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it.

 3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

 

       So first of all, verse 2 is describing the Temple.  Have you ever noticed how many of the Prophets in the scriptures would go up on a Mountain to talk to God?  Well that symbolizes the Temple being the closest place to Heaven on this earth, or in other words, the Temple is the closest place to Heaven on this earth. 

     I love it how it says in verse 2, how all nations shall flow unto it.  When President Gordon B. Hinckley (I named my son after him :) was acting as a Prophet on this earth, he established many Temples throughout the world and today many Temples are continuing to be built and dedicated.  What a wonderful thing that "all nations" will be able to go to the Temple. 

 

    But why do we need to go to the Temple??

 

    Well in verse 3 it talks a little about why it is important to go to the Temple.  It says, "he (the Lord) will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths".  So we can learn.

    My favorite part of verse 3 though is when it says "for out of Zion shall go forth the law".   What does Zion mean?......Well peace.  Do you want peace in your life?  Well then you need to go to the Temple, learn the laws that equal peace,  and then walk in His path!  How cool is that?!

   ***Just a side note.  It reminds me of science.  When there is a law in science it means that whenever you do a certain action, it will always create the same reaction.  This is no Theory.  The Temple teaches the law of peace.  Sorry, I never realized I was a science nerd but I guess I kind of am.

    So to really answer the question, "why do we need to go to the Temple?"   .....Peace.

 

Love,

    Becky joy

 

 

Spoiled but not Rotten.

     I got down on my knees and began to pray.  As my mind offered words that plead for Zion like peace flowing inside and out of me, it was as if someone touched my heart and the stress that grasped it so tightly lifted and peace immediately took over as the next beat succeeded the last one.
     It was one of those days again, Weston was gone at work, and I was with the kids feeling overwhelmed.  Every day I was waking up with a goal to be a better Mom, one who never raised her voice and only talked sweetly and waited patiently on her kids while teaching them to be good citizens in this world by example of course.  But once again, I was about to fail.  I sent Sage to her room and remembered the words from the blessing my husband gave me counseling me that the Lord wanted to help me, but couldn't unless I asked.  It was the second time  a blessing shared those words of advice with me.
     I was so confused by them.  Help with what?  I didn't have a performance, I wasn't trying out for anything, no big decisions were coming up...so I just brushed it off, but in that moment I suddenly realized what the Lord wanted to help me with.  As a Mother I was trying to do it alone.  I was waking up each day, sending my husband off to work and then trying to conquer ABC's, naps, fruits and vegetables, teaching my child to clean up after herself or to be nice to people, and trying to be patient with it all ALONE.
     I recorded in my journal, " There are things I need help with though.  I need help in my marriage, I need help as a Mother, I need help as a friend and servant.  I need help when I am babysitting other people's kids.  I need help trying to stay motivated to exercise, I need help keeping my house cleaned and organized, I need help with budgeting, etc...the list goes on and on.  Why am I so emotional? I have tears coming out of my eyes right now.  I just realized I have been trying to do these things all alone and I REALLY DO NEED HELP.  I feel overwhelmed everyday and I don't end up getting anything done because my overwhelmedness makes me want to hide from it all.  It would be so nice for some help.  I am going to get on my knees and start praying for help!! I am not going to be afraid anymore.  Well actually I do feel a little afraid, I just don't want to bug the Lord with my burdens.  I know this sounds dumb but I feel like I was annoying to Him because I used to ask for so much and so I backed off.  I need help even praying for help, sheesh!"
     As I reflected on this experience and how the Lord saved me in that exhausting moment with my daughter, I realized, He spoils me.  He gives me pretty much everything I have ever asked for (including the LONG list of things I prayed for in a future husband).  I remember praying that my roommate would be  free to go to Salt Lake with me and her plans opened and we went together.  
    When I had Reuben, I prayed that my neighbors living downstairs would be quiet, I wouldn't have heartburn during labor, my midwife would come on time, and my husband would be there and each of those things played out the way I hoped they would during my labor, it was wonderful. 
     I prayed that I would be able to lose weight on my own without being constricted to a diet and he healed my mind from the food addiction that I was chained to.  
      I prayed each time we moved that I would make friends and I have every time.  I prayed for comfort and He sent me peace, I remember praying to be able to find my church shoes when I was a little girl and He took me right to them seconds later (they were lost for weeks).  I guess what I am realizing is that He wants to help me, He wants to spoil me with things that matter and with things that don't matter.  
      I feel bad for anyone who doesn't believe He is there.  I wanted to share this experience because I know I am not alone.  I have felt His love so much in my life and it's because I have included Him and I NEED to include Him.  He takes time out of His busy schedule for me, when I take time for Him.  He has improved me.  I love Him.

Love,
     Becky joy

I had this picture by my mirror as a young women.  I love Him.

I love you to the moon and back!

 Some of my favorite things: hearts, the color pink, holidays, family, love,...so basically to sum it up:  I Love Valentine's Day!!!  I like to think of it as Valentine's month actually because I like to spend the whole month doing activities centered around the holiday.

 Some of the things we did this month to remind us of this fun holiday:

I made and put a heart garland up.  I think I am going to leave it up for March, April, May...well forever!

Sage and I made chocolate covered strawberries and we took Valentine's to all of her friends around the neighborhood.

Every year Weston gets a little gift for Sage and this year we decided that I would get one for Reuben too!

Also every year I make pink pancakes for breakfast and try and make all of our food heart shaped!  We had a heart pizza for dinner.

I made Weston heart shaped scrambled eggs since he couldn't eat the pancakes.
I also made him chocolate shaped chocolate hearts that are sugar free and safe for him to eat.  They are made with coconut oil and stevia.  I made the heart pancakes pink using beets.

And of course we all dress up in Valentine clothes!  My little Love Monster.

After breakfast we went on a family hike in Maple Canyon and we had a picnic.  While Weston and I were in college we went on a hike there together.  We started our hike as just friends and ended our hike holding hands (so I guess you can say we didn't leave as "just friends").  After we got back I made the heart pizza and we got a babysitter for Sage while Weston and I (along with Reuben) went on a date.  This is going to sound lame but we went to dinner and then we went to Walmart.  I love walking around Walmart with Weston.  I don't know why but it is one of my favorite things.  We used to do it all the time before we had kids.

Weston let me borrow his coat.  What a gentleman.

Yes we did indeed hike through those huge rocks up there and Sage was a little trooper.

You can't see it under my coat and jacket but Weston got me this cute heart shirt as a gift and I got him all the Dominion games.

Love,
    Becky joy

Reuben's baby blessing outfit that I made!

     Today was Reuben's baby blessing day!  I am not sure why but minutes before Weston took Reuben up to the front to bless him my heart was pounding, I was so nervous!!  I think it is kind of funny how I get so nervous about these things when I am not even the one blessing the baby.

Post Church/Blessing family picture.  This is the best we could get of Sage.  Also we are at my friend Audrey's house for our luncheon with family.  Thank you so much Audrey!!

I decided about a month ago that I should make him his little baby blessing outfit so I got on pinterest and found this tutorial (since you know how much I love tutorials, you can see some dresses I've made for Sage using tutorials here) and Weston and I thought it was such a cute little white sailor outfit that it was the one!
Sorry the pictures aren't that great (white on white) but all my walls are white and I didn't know where else to take it.

Front

Back
I improvised and made his have long sleeves and pants since it is winter time.

      I used white material with a paisley design on it since my husband loves paisley so much!  Also I am a bit of a procrastinator and I didn't start making this one until Friday and finished it last night around midnight.  

      This one was the second one I made because the first one ended up being way too big and it actually fits Sage around the neck so I had to start over.  When I realized I was going to have to start over I called my Mom and asked if she would come and help me with the kids while I sewed!  She thankfully said yes, I wouldn't have been able to get it done without her help.

I may just add some sleeves and a skirt to make a dress for her.

And here's my cute boy in his cute little sailor blessing outfit!

He is getting rather chubby these days.

Sibling love!

Cute little Reuben Hinckley.  P.S. he has been holding his head up like this since he was born.  He is crazy strong.  In fact his kicks while I was pregnant would stop me in my steps and make me want to cry.

Also, last night Weston, Reuben, and I got to participate in the Fountain Green, Ut live Nativity as Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus.  Mary is my biggest role model.  When I think of her I want to be a better person.  I want the Lord to find favor in me like he found favor in her.  I love it how Nephi in the Book of Mormon describes her as the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.  I love it how she was worthy to be chosen as the Mother of the Savior.  I want to be like her.  This was a wonderful opportunity and it gave me time to reflect on how she must of felt and who she was.  Also I thought of Joseph and how special he was and how strong of a man he must have been.  And I watched my little baby boy and thought about how special he is and also how wonderful it must have been for Mary to look at her new baby boy. It also reminded me of this special video as Reuben would hold my fingers. It was such a neat experience that I will cherish forever!

Love, Becky joy

October!!!

  This month has been a crazy one!  I had a baby, celebrated my daughter's 3rd birthday, family came and went, and of course Halloween!

     Last Monday for Family Home Evening we carved pumpkins.  I love Weston soooo much and seeing him as a Daddy makes me love him even more.  I called him while he was at work to see if there was anything he would like to print out to help him carve pumpkins and he brought home an Ariel printout so he could carve Sage an Ariel pumpkin.  How cute is that?  Plus Weston is super talented with carving, seriously I never knew real people (real people:  people who don't work for a magazine)  actually carved things more than faces on pumpkins.

Just in case you were wondering who carved the beautiful masterpiece ghost, that was me.  Yes I come to learn that I am a natural when it comes to this carving business.  

Weston's Eeyore pumpkin from Halloween 2010.  He drew the picture himself and then carved it.  Seriously amazing.

Tonight for Halloween, Sage and I dressed up as Angels while Weston and Reuben were Devils. I was telling my friend Audrey about all the different things I was planning for us to dress up as and she stopped me and told me that my family needed to do a theme.  I am glad she did because it was so fun to do that.

 

I had to make this cute little sign because apparently this time of year you can only find red onesies that have red and green sayings on them about some guy named Santa.

Reuben ended up sleeping through the whole trick or treating process.  I think this little devil is trying to convert to Angel but don't tell Weston.

Silly girl!

Love him even with the horns.

Tonight when we got back, Sage and I made Mummy Dogs and ate LOTS of candy.

She kept calling them "Mommy dogs" and then asked, "when are we going to make baby dogs?"

We also celebrated my Sagie girls 3rd birthday!  I can't believe it has been 3 years since she was born.  It seriously seems like yesterday.  Time moves too fast.  I just love her so much and I am so thankful to be her Momma.  She has been there for me during hard times, she is seriously the only thing that got me through and brought me a smile during them.  She is so protective of me and she makes me forget about my problems (even if she is the one who caused them) in seconds.  I love her with my whole heart.  

She is helping me make her pink cake with pink frosting, pink pearls, pink candles, and pink writing.  She had to have pink everything.

I have to say I am quite proud of myself.  This is a huge leap from what her cake looked like last year.  This year I made the cakes way in advance before frosting.

She got super excited just like this about every single present she opened.  It was so fun for me to see her light up like that.

I got her a Doctor kit because at all of my midwife appointments she loved helping my Midwife listen to the baby's heartbeat.  She kept saying, "it sounds just like a drum".  Love her.

Love,

   Becky joy

Birthing my sweet little Reuben

     He's here! He's finally here!  I was just thinking the other day how I had (had!) been pregnant for so long and I was so ready to hold my baby.
      So yes he is here: October 5th right on his estimated due date
                                   9:44 am                                
                                   6 lbs. 11 oz
                                  19 3/4 inches long
     So it all began on October 4th.  We woke up that morning to General Conference and we did our traditional crafting around the table while we listened (I love traditions).  I was a little surprised to not have a baby yet because I had been thinking since the last conference in April that by the next conference I would have a brand new baby to watch it with.  I am not really sure why I thought that now but I did.  Nothing unusual happened during conference though, Sage and I painted our witches boot, Weston laid on the couch looking like he was about to fall asleep, and we just listened to the messages.  Sage would get excited when she saw the Prophet or one of the apostles because we had been teaching her about 1 or 2 of them each night during scripture study.  It was fun for her to see them on the computer talking.  And she kept asking what they were talking about. It was cute to see her involved like that.

     After conference was over I headed to the laundromat to do my laundry in Manti and still nothing unusual until I got home.  I sat on the couch folding laundry when all the sudden I felt a surge around 8pm (surge comes from hypnobirthing).  For the past few weeks every time I got into bed I would feel a few surges but then they would just stop and that was the end of that.  I expected the same thing to happen here, just a few sensations, and then for it to stop all together, but it didn't.    Around 9 I got up and went into the room Weston was in and told him what was happening and I was wondering if it was the real thing because they hadn't stopped.  He said, "well that's happy" and all I wanted to do was have him hold me and let me cry a little.  I am not sure why I was emotional, I just was and I fell into his arms and he held me.  After a couple minutes I told him that I wanted to go on a walk to see if they would continue or go away (a sign it is false labor is when you change activity they stop).  Although we would usually be putting Sage to bed at this time, we put her in the stroller and went on a walk.  The surges continued and after only 2 blocks I had 3 or 4.  I would just pause walking and meet each surge with my breath as I relaxed my body.  Weston was really good to stop with me and keep Sage happy.
    After walking for 20 or so minutes, we decided it would be good to go to Walmart and pick out a funny movie.  In Hypnobirthing we learned that watching a funny movie is good for labor because it brings endorphins.  We went to Walmart and I continued to have a few surges there but they were much more spread out than they were when we were on our walk.  We got home, put the laundry away, vacuumed the floor, and then we put the movie (Despicable Me) in.  I texted my Midwife around 11pm and told her that I had been having surges since 8 and that I wasn't 100% sure or not if I was in labor because they weren't very consistant on how far apart they were.  Sometimes being 5ish minutes apart and sometimes being tenish  minutes apart.  She said that it was strange and it may not be the real thing but to try and get some rest.  At this point I decided she was probably right that I should try and sleep, I wasn't really paying attention to the movie anyway because of all my thoughts being focused on what was going on with my body and whether I was having a baby or not.
     We were letting Sage stay up and watch the movie with us because it was sort of special family time together as she was no longer going to be an only child for very much longer.  Weston started getting her ready for bed: brushing her teeth, putting her in pajamas, and reading her a story (I started reading her a story every night since she was 4 months old, now it is usually Weston who carries on this tradition with her).  As I could hear them reading the story, I started crying and I went in there and Weston immediately read my mind, I am not sure how he did it but he just did.  He got up and let me read the story to Sage.  I cried the whole story but took in every second and loved it.  I felt a surge or 2 during her story.  After that Weston came back in and gave Sage and I both priesthood blessings.  I remember Sage's saying that she would love her little brother and become friends with him.
  I am not sure why I don't remember very many things from what they said but I remember mine talking about labor the whole time and the one line I specifically remember was that my Heavenly Father was taking care of me.  Another thing I remember from another blessing is that it said I would be in tune with my baby and his body as I was birthing him (more on this later).
     We tucked Sage into bed, kissed her goodnight, and then we got into bed.  I could not sleep, I had too much excited energy in me and my thoughts would not rest.  Weston went to sleep and I got in the bathtub and watched "America's Funniest Home Videos".  After some time in the tub I finally felt relaxed and tired enough to sleep so I got into bed and fell asleep around 2 or 2:30 in the morning while listening to my hypnobirthing rainbow relaxation and birthing affirmations on my ipod.
     Around 4 in the morning I was awakened by a strong surge.  I realized that I would not be able to sleep through the surges at this point and I got up and made myself a smoothie.  I continued to meet each surge with long slow breathing while I relaxed every single muscle in my body.   I texted my midwife and told her how the surges were stronger now and she texted back and said she was going to come now.  She lives in Springville, about an hour and 15 minutes away from my apartment.  I drank my smoothie and woke up Weston around 4:30 am and he stayed by my side the rest of the time.  He read me hypnobirthing relaxation scripts while I took a bath.  I thought it was weird though because while I laid in the bath tub the surges slowed down.  My midwife arrived around 6 in the morning and checked my dilation at my request.  She said I was a 6 and a half, I was so glad to hear that.  Her assistant (a girl who is in midwifery school) showed up soon after and they set things up such as shower curtains on the floor, plastic coverings over the pillows, towels, etc... what ever they needed during the labor.
     After they were done setting up, my Midwife came into the bathroom told me that she would like to encourage me to get out of the tub since it caused me to lie on my back and to walk around.  At this point I was ready to get out anyway.  The surges picked right back up as I walked around my apartment.  At this point I figured out that sitting and laying down pretty much slowed down the surges a ton and every time I was walking around they came much faster.  I liked the idea of things moving faster so I tried to walk around and stay upright for most the time after that.
     Every time I had a surge, I would say "Weston I need you" and I would relax into him as he supported me.  Also my midwife and her assistant would see I was having a surge and they would immediately come to me and apply to my hips or back.  This helped ease pain and tension so much!!
     Soon after getting out of the tub my Midwife told me it was time to do the vaginal wash which meant I needed to lie on my back for ten minutes. The vaginal wash would kill strep b if it was present.  As I was lying there a surge came and it was the most uncomfortable one of all.  I immediately turned to my side and the midwife came to apply pressure to my hips.  Being on my back was the worst position ever.
       After awhile of walking around, I sat on my birth ball (an exercise ball I purchased from wal-mart) with my legs sort of strattled, Weston sat on a chair behind me, and the midwife and assistant each sat on the sides of me.  Each time I had a surge I would fall into Weston and the midwives would push on my hips.  This was amazing.  Seriously amazing.  No pain, just pressure most the time.  Every so often there was a surge that was uncomfortable and I would have a hard time relaxing but most of the surges were pretty comfortable in this position on the birth ball, relaxing onto Weston, and the pressure being applied to my hips. Also my Hypnobirthing Relaxation cd was playing on my computer at this point which helped a ton with helping me relax.  The surges were coming on probably every 2-3 minutes.   I also remembered my blessing from before, the one that said I would be in tune with my baby's body during labor, every time I felt a surge while on the ball, I also felt the baby's head.  It was so cool.  It seemed like he was moving down.  I was feeling so excited to meet him and I was just amazed I could actually feel his body and know exactly where he was while I was having surges.
       I would often get up to go to the bathroom and so I stood up to go to the bathroom and had a surge while I was on my way to the bathroom.  I asked my midwife if she would check how dilated I was because I was wondering if I was fully dilated since I could feel the baby's head so well.  She said she didn't want me to worry about dilation but she would check me.  I was dilated to a 9 which was a little disappointing to me because I was hoping to be at the point of pushing (I really just shouldn't have worried about it and just left it alone). I went to the bathroom would just stay there for a few surges.  At this point I was wondering how much longer this was going to take and I looked up at the midwife and asked, "what time is it?"   The assistant said it was 9:24 and then my midwife told me not to worry about things such as time and just focus on relaxing and that I was doing an amazing job.
     Seconds after I asked what time it was, my water broke and I felt a little urge to push.  They helped me move to the living room and I began breathing the baby down as I hung onto Weston.  I started to feel the urge to push and I just went with it.  I quickly changed positions to kneeling on the floor and Weston knelt in front of me and once again allowed me to hang onto him as I pushed.  In between pushes, the midwife told me the baby's head was close and to go ahead and feel his head.  I did and it made me so excited!!  After a couple more pushes his head came out which made me really happy because I knew after the head came out, the body almost instantly followed.  I reached my hand down and caught the baby as his body came out and brought him right to my chest (my midwife told me at my appointments that she encouraged her Moms to catch the baby and that made me super excited and I looked forward to that moment for a long time)!  I asked my Midwife later how long I pushed for and she said 9 minutes.
     So much joy filled me and I was so glad to be holding my new baby boy in my arms.  I instantly started falling in love with him and I don't think I stopped smiling for an hour...or three.  He cried kind of a lot after he came out and he just looked right up into my eyes crying at me.  I finally got him to calm down by singing, "I am a child of God" to him.  He seriously stopped crying the second I started singing.
     I think it is kind of funny because he came 20 minutes after I started to wonder if this was ever going to end and the same thing happened with Sage.  With her I remember looking at Weston and telling him that I wasn't sure if this was ever going to be over and then she was born within a half hour. Good to know.
    The Midwife checked him out and  at first he scored an 8 and then he scored a 10 on his apgar test!!  Woot!  He looked good according to everything else she checked too.  She said his hip may be out of place and so we are going to take him to a chiropractor to make sure he is okay and in place.
      P.S.  My Mother in Law came and picked Sage up around 6 or 7 in the morning.  She kept her for most the day so we could all rest.

So in love and happy.

Weston weighing the baby.  He weighed 6 lbs 11 oz

Sage meeting her little brother for the first time. 

Our cute little Reuben Hinckley 

My midwife Richelle Jolley is on the left with her assistant on the right.  They are showing me the little bag that held my baby, the amniotic fluid, and the placenta.  Sorry kind of gross but I thought it was kind of fun to see.  

Love,
    Becky joy