Welcome, Baby!

Let's get to the good stuff, shall we?

On Monday, February 24th, David and I prepared to head over to the hospital.  Nicole made a special power point presentation wishing us good luck, and Alison prepared a list of 20 or so riddles to keep us from getting bored while we waited for the baby to come.  Both gestures were so sweet they almost made me teary.  I was a little nostalgic about my babies at home and kept hugging them and telling them how much I would miss them.  My mom came over to our house around 8:30 am.  She and the kids wished us goodbye and watched us drive away.  Then, she took the kiddos to school and commenced operation hold-down-the-fort.

David and I arrived at Ogden Regional Medical Center at about 9:00 am.  Things went very smoothly and comfortably in every way.  We got situated in our room and met our nurses.  I got strapped into the equipment and answered a million questions, etc.  Pretty simple stuff.  The nurses offered to take a short list of our favorite baby names all around the floor and conduct a poll for us.  Quinton was the overwhelming winner.  But of course, by this time, we decided to meet him first before making any decisions.

At 11:00-ish, the nurse hooked up my IV (worst part of the day for me - I hate needles. I almost passed out.  Not kidding) and started the pitocin.  Boy!  That stuff really works on me!  I was in mucho de pain pretty quickly.  My doc came by to say "hello" and break my water.  I was nervous about having it broken before my epidural was in, but it didn't hurt.  The contractions were really kicking in by this point. I tried to act tough for a while, but then I decided that tough equals stupid, so I asked the nurse to call the anesthesiologist.  He came in and did his thing.  He wasn't really very friendly or talkative, but he sure was good at what he did.  And you know what?  When I'm in the middle of contractions, I don't really want a friendly, talkative person in the room with me.  I'll take competent and efficient any day!  He had me all set at around 1:15 pm.

Enjoying a pain-free minute.

After the epidural was in, I settled down and enjoyed about two or three pain free contractions.  Then, suddenly, the pain was back in a major way!  I told the nurse, who was surprised to find me completely ready for delivery.  She called the doctor and he arrived about 15 or 20 minutes later.  That was a long 15 minutes!  I wanted to push really bad!

The doctor arrived, made small talk for a minute or two while he got all prepared, then told me to start pushing.  It all happened so fast!  I pushed three or maybe four times total.  Man!  It was hard though!  I don't think I've ever pushed that hard before.  I know this was the only delivery I've had where noise actually escaped my mouth.  Not screaming or anything, but kind of grunting/groaning from the exertion - like a weightlifter or something.  It was tough!  Doctor Davis had to help twist his big shoulders out (another noise making moment for me), and then, at 2:05 pm, the baby was here!  Amazing!  From the time they hooked me up to my IV to the time I had a baby in my arms was about three hours!

That is his umbilical cord by the way.

Our little bundle of joy wasn't exactly little.  He was HUGE!  The doctor and nurses were amazed that we delivered him so quickly and smoothly.  We tried to guess how much he'd weigh, but none of us got close.  The biggest guess was 9 lbs. 3 oz.  Our baby tipped the scales at 10 lbs. 3 oz.  He was born with chubby, kissable cheeks.  I was madly in love in an instant!  Due to his large size, we had to watch his blood sugar levels for a while.  I guess big babies have a hard time maintaining their own blood sugar levels.  Sure enough, they dropped a bit within his first hour (down to 30 for you medical types).  After one bottle of formula, they came back up and stayed up for the rest of the time.

David started coughing a few days before, so he wore a mask around the baby.  Still does, for that matter.  

A few minutes after his birth, we decided to name him Quinton David - a name we had decided on early, then discarded for months.  Somehow it resurfaced right at the end and pulled ahead of the others.  We love our little Quin!

Quinton David Gee.  Since he's our fifth child, we named him Quin.

The hospital was a special, peaceful joyous place for Quinton and I for the next couple of days.  Due to a large number of deliveries that first night, they asked me to move to the c-section wing.  It was the best thing that could have happened to me.  The beds were better, the halls were quiet, and by the second night, there were only four patients on our whole floor.  It was very nice.  Thanks to my parents and David taking care of things at home, I was able to spend two nights resting with my new boy.  Dave spent as much time as he could with us, while also taking care of bed times at home and dentist appointments that needed to be met, etc.  My mom and dad kept the other kids happy, clean, on time, and well-fed.  Words literally can't express how grateful I am to them.

Megan and Katie came to visit us that first night.  

My favorite picture!

Sibling visitors!  Bronson was so excited, if just a tad rough in his affections.

Nicole and Quinton.  Josh didn't want to hold the baby for a day or two.  But he was just as excited as the others.  

Alison and Quinton.

Grandma Smith and Quinton.

Grandpa Smith and Quinton.

Grandma Church, Grandma Smith, Quinton, and Grandpa Smith.