Welcoming Dallin Bruce Koenig

Our sweet baby boy has arrived! 

I was having false labor contractions for the better part of a week. Every evening I was timing contractions for a couple of hours before they subsided. They were particularly bad the first early morning that I had them, on July 3rd. I was timing contractions at 7 minutes apart for three hours, but they never got painful enough to make me think we should go to the hospital. That day I was absolutely exhausted because I was awake from 2 AM to 5 AM. I felt really uncomfortable too, but I desperately wanted to get things done in case it was the last day before baby came, which to be honest I was a *little* bit hoping would not be the case because I didn't want him born on July 4th. I cleaned the bathrooms, did loads of laundry, and went grocery shopping. Needless to say, nothing happened that day. 

On the day of the 6th, which marked 39 weeks, I was really starting to get annoyed with the false contractions, so I ate almost an entire fresh pineapple because I had read that it can soften the cervix and lead to labor. We spent the day hanging out with family, because Crystal and her kids were in town visiting for the 4th of July holiday. That evening the whole family went to dinner at BJ's. It was yummy food and nice company! As we were getting ready to head back home at about 8:15 PM, my water broke! I'm pretty sure my eyes were bugging out of my head when I told Ryan. I couldn't believe my water broke in public! I shouldn't have felt embarrassed, but I was. I knew it was going to make a big mess when I stood up. 

Right away everyone started talking about a plan of action. After a few minutes, Ryan took the lead and said, "Everyone leave, I will go get a blanket out of my car so Chantal can wrap it around her legs to walk out. We will take our girls home, and Sims go home and get your overnight stuff and meet us at our house." 

Once we got home I took a shower because...ew. I called my doctor and she said that since my water was broken I should head to the hospital, even though my contractions hadn't picked up yet. After my dad arrived he and Ryan gave me a blessing and then we left. It was odd to be going to the hospital when I wasn't even in pain!

We got to the hospital around 9:45 or 10 PM and I was immediately admitted. I tell you what, having my water break was awesome because I didn't have to sit in triage waiting to find out if I was in true labor. I got all hooked up to the machines and tried to get comfortable. My contractions were slowly picking up, but I didn't feel like I wanted an epidural yet. Finally at about 12:15 AM my contractions were starting to get some power behind them and at 2 AM I got an epidural. I was at 4 cm at that point. 

Then I finally was able to try to sleep. I don't know if I actually slept or not (pretty sure not), but I was super comfortable! I decided not to let it bother me if I couldn't sleep - that's just how it was going to be. Around 3:30 AM I wanted more juice in my epidural, so I got checked and they gave me the button to get more medicine. I was at 5 cm. The nurses put a big jelly bean shaped yoga ball between my legs to help open my hips. I had to lie on my right side the entire time I labored because when I was on my left side the baby's heart rate slowed. Due to this, I could feel the contractions on my left side a bit more than I wanted to. But again, I embraced it and figured that's just the way it was going to be! 

For the next hour and a half I could tell my contractions were getting super intense. I couldn't feel them in all their glory, but I was having to breathe through them, even with an epidural. The nurses came in a little before 5 AM and said, "We should check you, you might be ready." I was at 10 cm and the baby's head was really low. They said that my doctor had just gone into surgery so I needed to hold off as long as I could before pushing. 

They sat me up (not sure why, but whatever) and told me to call them if I couldn't wait any longer but they would be back with the doctor in about 20ish minutes. Right after they left I told Ryan I thought I was going to throw up. He got me the plastic bag and held it by my mouth, after which I passed out, and then threw up in my closed mouth. Apparently. I wasn't conscious so I don't remember. I was only out for a few seconds, but I woke up to myself coughing and the nurse putting a cold, wet washcloth on my forehead. It took me a few minutes to recover. I was coughing a lot, was sweaty, and was breathing really hard. It was so bizarre! 

Once I had gotten over that weird episode, I felt like I needed to start pushing. Thankfully the doctor was available by then, and she came in and told me to push when I felt a contraction coming. So I did! After two big pushes his head was out. She told me to wait while she cut the cord from around his neck before pushing anymore. After that, one more push and our baby boy was born.

At 5:26 AM on July 7, 2017, Dallin Bruce Koenig entered this world. He weighed 7 lbs 5 oz and was 20 3/4 inches long. After he was born we had some wonderful skin to skin time and he was able to nurse for the first time - he was an instant pro just like his sisters. After he nursed Ryan held him skin to skin for a little while. An hour after he was born they took his measurements and then gave him back to me. They don't bathe them for the first 24 hours of life because the white cottage cheesy stuff on their skin is beneficial. They also don't have a nursery in the birthing center anymore, so he was with me our entire stay at the hospital. I loved it! 

After they took his measurements we were moved to our recovery room, which was tiny. Ryan and I were both entirely exhausted from pretty much pulling an all nighter. (Ryan's sleeping conditions were much less than ideal.) We wanted Maya and Brianna to get to meet their new baby brother that morning though. Holly had relieved my dad so he could go to work, so she brought them to the hospital at 10:30 AM. They both loved him right away and were so excited to hold him! Maya said, "We finally have our own baby!" and Brianna kept saying, "I'm a big sister now!" 

My mom, Crystal and her kids, and my dad also visited us that first day. We loved showing off our new son!

We got to take Dallin home from the hospital on the 8th and begin our new life as a family of 5. So far it has been great! Ryan was able to take a full week off and work part time this current week. He is a great help. He takes the girls to the pool most days, makes dinner on the nights we don't have it brought to us, and has taken them on a bike ride as well. Having him home has helped to make the adjustment a lot easier. I hope I don't go into shock once he's back at work full time. 

A quick explanation of his name:

His middle name was always going to be Bruce. It is Ryan's middle name, after his Grandpa Bruce, who was a great man. His first name took a while coming to us. We had a short list that we added and removed from throughout my pregnancy. Eventually we knew we wanted it to have two syllables and end with N because we feel like it flows nicely into the middle name. During relief society one week there was a quote by Dallin H. Oaks read. For the first time, I realized I like that name and later suggested it to Ryan. He really liked it too, and over the next few weeks it was continuously the one we felt was "right". And it is. :) I was surprised to learn that it is very low in popularity - it isn't in the top 3000 names. I like that his name is unique but not odd.

We are so thrilled to have this new little person in our family!