Talon Sanders Keddington 12-12-12

 I really wanted to have this baby on 12-12-12.  I was due on the 17th, so it wasn't too far of a reach!  But of course, the hospital was full of inductions that day, so they put me on a waiting list.  I decided that I would just have to go into labor on my own.  I had an appointment on the 11th, so I had my doctor strip my membranes to see if that would do anything for me.  It sure did!  I had contractions that whole day, with some every two or three minutes for a couple of hours that night.  The next morning I woke up early and took a bath with some drops of Clary Sage oil which is supposed to start labor in the late weeks of pregnancy.  Then I got the kids up and ready to walk Jace to school.  I had some pretty good contractions the whole time I was walking.  Then I cleaned my house, took a shower, and got ready for the day.  I was having contractions this whole time, but they weren't very consistent.  They were anywhere from 6-10 minutes apart, and they weren't very painful.  I was starting to get worried that it wasn't going to happen.  My doctor told me the day before that my water would probably break because it felt "bulgy", so I was wishing and hoping that it would hurry and break!  My dad text me at 12:12 pm and wanted me to take a picture of what I was doing at 12:12 on 12-12-12.  I took a picture of myself and said, just trying not to be pregnant!  This is that picture.

 After that, my contractions started getting a little more painful, and I decided that if this was going to happen today, I needed to get to the hospital!  I called Brock to see what he thought, and he told me to call my doctor.  I did, and she said to go ahead and come in and they would see if I should be admitted. I got the kids all ready, and took them to my grandpa's condo in Salt Lake where my parents are living. I told Brock to meet me at the condo, and we headed to LDS Hospital.  When I got there, they said it was really packed and that I was getting the last room.  I was glad I went when I did, although, I wonder what they would have done with someone who came in after me who's water had broken, or was truly in labor.  Anyway, I got all hooked up and started being monitored.  I was dilated to a 4, and still having contractions.  They said they'd check me an hour later to see if I had progressed.  Well, Brock and I started getting nervous that they might send me home, so I called my doctor again.  I just said that I was having contractions about every 7 minutes, and even though they weren't super close together, they were a little painful, and that I really didn't want them to send me home just to keep having contractions and come in 5 hours later.  She agreed with me, and broke my water!  Yippee!  This is happening!  I told Brock that he should go get something for dinner at this point, since he probably wouldn't be able to later.  He left, and within about 15 minutes my contractions really started hurting, and getting closer together.  My nurse said I was a 5, and asked if I wanted the epidural.  I did, but I really wanted Brock to be there when I got it, so I told her I'd wait.  I called Brock, who had just sat down to eat, to come back.  He hurried back, but the anesthesiologist was nowhere to be found.  After what seemed like forever, they came in and told me that it was shift change for the anesthesiologists, and that it would be another minute.  By this point I thought I was dying!  The contractions were right on top of each other, and super painful.  A little while earlier Brock and I heard a poor lady down the hall doing this with no medication, and she was literally screaming in pain!  I was starting to get scared that by the time the anesthesiologist made it, it would be too late!  He finally walked in the room around 6:20pm or so, and got to work.  Oh boy do I love the epidural!  I immediately felt better, and was able to relax!  They checked me afterwards, and I was a 7.

Here I am before the contractions got bad

And here I am in the middle of a horrible contraction.  I was trying to be strong and not scream!

The nurse then told me that she would come back in about an hour to check me again.  I thought that was probably too long since I was a 10 within a half hour of the epidural with both Nixon and Leila, but I didn't say anything.  After about 30 minutes I started feeling the contractions again, and they were getting painful.  Now I was nervous that the epidural wasn't working and I was going to have to do this natural!  My legs were pretty numb still though, but man, my stomach and back were in so much pain with every contraction!  When my doctor came in about 15 minutes later, I told her that I was feeling the contractions and it was super painful, so she checked me and said that maybe it's because I was a 10, and the baby was right there ready to come out!  Unfortunately for me though, since the hospital was packed with moms trying to have their babies 12-12-12, my nurse was in with another delivery and we'd have to wait a minute.  Lovely.  Well, that minute turned into 10 and then 15, and my doctor called for another nurse twice in the mean time.  Finally one walked in and told me to push on the next contraction!  I was so excited that he was almost here!  I pushed through a contraction, and when his head was out, my doctor told me to stop pushing.  She did some things that I couldn't see, and then had me push with the next contraction.  Then he was here!  They wiped him off a bit, and put him on my chest.  I just love that moment!  It turns out, that when she had asked me to stop pushing, it was because the umbilical cord was wrapped tightly around his neck twice, and she had to cut it off before I could push him out.  Scary!  I'm glad she didn't say anything!  After a few minutes, they wanted to make sure his oxygen levels were okay, so they took him to check him out.  His face was a little pale, so they watched him for about 10-15 minutes.  Then he was just fine.

Here they are checking him out.

You can see here that he is a little pale in the face

After they decided that he was fine, they weighed and measured him.  Another big baby at 8 pounds 3 ounces, and 19 inches.  He takes 3rd place in our family though.  Jace 8 lb 11 oz, Leila was 8 lb 5 oz., and Nixon was 6 lb 14 oz.

I love seeing Daddy with his babies.  

 He was born at 8:27pm on December 12, 2012.  We did it!  And he was perfect!  By the time he was all checked out and I had fed him and everything, it was pretty late, so Grandma and Grandpa K were the only visitors that night.

There was a long line for the bath, so they waited until they did our vital check at about 2:30 in the morning to bathe him.  Brock was good enough to wake up and take pictures.

They did his foot prints too.

Well, that was the first day of our baby Talon's life.  I am really happy that everything worked out to get him here on the 12th, but I am even more happy that he is healthy, and perfect!  Not only are Brock and I totally outnumbered now and forever, but Leila and I are surrounded by boys!  Lots of handsome boys.  What an amazing miracle this is, and I feel so blessed to be the mother of 4!