Part 2

We got to the hospital just before midnight. They had several women check in just before us and were short staffed for the holidays so we waited around quite a bit. I was having pretty steady contractions but was staying pretty comfortable. Just annoyed that we had to wait so long to be seen. My Dr. was the Doctor on call starting at 7am. So Basically they decided to get us a room and we would wait around to see what he said when he came in. I was at this point dialated to a 5. I knew there was no way we were headed home. My Doctor had already predicted a New Years eve baby and he is always right! Brent and Joanne were home with our kiddos. Coop still sick. My parents still on their way. 

Scott and I got a little bit of sleep. And sure enough as soon as Doctor Haskett came in he ordered the epidural. Ahhhh this was probably the worst part! He could not get the epidural in! It was so painful and soooo frustrating! The anesthesiologist felt so bad… and I was in pain. But I think on the fourth try he got it. At this point we were at about 9:30 in the morning. Dr. then came in broke my water and we waited. Contrary to what the doctor thought… my contractions actually slowed down at this point. Because of my c-section with Abby they have to be careful about giving pitocin. But they gave me a tiny dose and that seemed to do the trick. It was around this time they told us that no children under  14 were allowed in the hospital because of flu season. I lost it. I couldn't believe that my kids were not going to be able to be there. How was I going to break the news to Abby? How was I going to have a baby in the NICU (I was totally convinced) for a week or more and not see my kids! And over Christmas!!! Not ok. I literally bawled like a baby for an hour. But we broke the news to Abby and she was so mature about it. She was just so excited this baby was coming! 

My dear friend that I grew up with, Shelby Patterson (formally Shelby Eynon) came in at noon! It was perfect! She was my nurse and we had so much fun catching up while we waited! As we were chatting I all sudden felt a ton of pressure… she checked and I was at a ten. She looked at me and said "we are having a baby!" Is it weird that with my last two kids it is only at this point that it truly hits me? Its so hard for me to believe that we have these amazing kids. That we got pregnant all on our own. I seriously can't believe it. What a blessed girl I am. 

I fully anticipated having the same scary situation that we did with Cooper. They were only two days apart gestation. So I requested that we have the nursery and respiratory there. I was convinced this baby was going to have some pretty serious issues. 

Even though our pervious experiences have been so hard… I love the whole process. I love that its something Scott and I do together. He is such a great support to me through the whole thing. Its such a beautiful moment between husband and wife. 

The Delivery was so amazing. It was so perfect. You have to know that with Abby and Cooper they rushed the babies away immediately. I didn't see Abby for 3 hours.. Cooper was sooner but he was having so much trouble breathing I only saw him because they were about to intibate. So this simple, easy, beautiful birth was more than I could have ever hoped for. I pushed through about 5 contractions. Just for about 14 minutes. He was posterior and  Dr. Haskett kept trying to turn him. But I ended up delivering him that way. Dr. Haskett was pretty shocked that it went so fast because it should have been much harder. 

They put Bennett on my chest right away. It was such an amazing feeling to be holding this sweet baby. Straight from our Heavenly Father. A Miracle in every sense of the word. After a few moments the nursery and respiratory took a look at him. They said he was perfect! Great lungs, Breathing perfect! I could not believe it. They literally were there for ten minutes. Then everyone left. They told us they would come check us in a while but this was our time with our baby. Scott and I both thought this was crazy! But so beautiful. Here were were, on Christmas Eve, holding a perfect baby boy. I have only ever received two other gifts so precious as this one. Three babies. I was told we would never conceive on our own and we did… again. Best Christmas ever. 

He was 7lbs 13 oz. 19.5 inches.  A very big baby for being a month early. His name was Bennett Scott Wood.  He had the most perfect round head, a decent amount of medium brown hair, and looked just like his big Sister. 

I was there for his first bath. It was a joy. 

Our hospital stay was different. Scott had Christmas responsibilities to fulfill… though I had everything completely ready… He still had to be there to do it. So my sweet sister stayed with me. She left early to be there on Christmas morning. We did it all over FaceTime. It was for sure a unique Christmas. And honestly… for how important it was for me to be there. I honestly didn't even care. When Bennett came  early, yet so healthy, so perfect. I  was just so happy I didn't care about anything else. I just snuggled my little Christmas gift the whole time. They were able to send us home the afternoon of Christmas. It was snowing. It was so special. We opened presents with the family when we got home. All of my family was there as well as some of Scotts. It felt so surreal to be holding our baby as we opened our gifts. It was a perfect Christmas.

Bennett is such an amazing baby. I just knew from the beginning he was going to be a calm sweet baby. And he really has been. Abby is amazing with him. Just like having a second mama. Cooper is actually a really great big brother. Pretty careful with him and so adorable. I will never forget when Cooper opened up one of his presents and he brought  it over and said "I want to show my brother!" Brought tears to my eyes. Ahhhhh! I love it! I just know these two are going to be very close. 

I have always believed that they greatest gift you can give your children besides marrying someone wonderful… was to give them siblings. It was so hard all those years that we were unable to do that. But I wouldn't change a thing. I know this is how our family was supposed to be. This is all part of Heavenly Father's plan for us. And though it took a while, we have done just that… given them siblings. I hope they will always love each other as much as they do now!