The birth of Harvey Dean

He's almost ready to make his appearance!

The first time I held him in my arms

He looks so much like Abbey did
What a beautiful baby boy!

Getting all checked out

Weighing in at 7 lbs 6 oz.
20 inches long

Sweet little man!

Skin to skin

Harvey's stats

From the beginning of this pregnancy, I was pretty sure that this baby boy was coming early. At 36 weeks, I was dialated to a "2" and baby was LOW. This was exactly how I was at 36 weeks with Makayla, and she came two weeks early, so I was so excited. He was coming soon! At my appointment the next Friday, I was a "3" and 70% thinned. Dr. Ott {and myself} thought he'd probably come this week. He stripped my membranes and sent me on my way. I started having contractions that evening, so RJ, the girls and I walked around the circle for awhile and kept them going. They continued to come pretty regular, even after I laid down for the night. I woke up at about 3 AM to a few painful contractions, that lasted for about an hour. Next thing I knew, it was morning...I had fallen asleep {guess the contracts stopped...} I was pretty bummed, I thought for sure he was going to come that night. So, Saturday was pretty low key, Abbey had a birthday party and then a soccer game {at 3:00 PM} I sat/sweat through that...it was sooo hot! But my contractions had pretty much stopped. We went straight to my parents, after the soccer games, to cool off and swim. I swam a few laps and walked around the pool and the contractions started up again. By 6:00, they were pretty regular. We sent RJ off to the priesthood session, with strict instructions to keep his phone close by. At 7:30, my mom and I headed home to put the girls to bed and by 8:00 my contractions were very regular {every 2-3 minutes} and starting to get pretty uncomfortable. RJ made it home and we decided it was time to go. They monitored me for an hour, and my contractions were huge and regular the entire time. They were getting painful, but not excruciating yet. In the hour I went from a "4" to a "5" , they called Dr. Ott and he said to admit me . The nurse came in and said "We're gonna have a baby tonight!" I couldn't believe that it was actually happening. I got my epidural shortly after and never really had "to die for" contractions. I felt really spoiled. It was great. I wasn't progressing super fast, so Dr. Ott came down and broke my water at about 12:00 AM. Finally at probably 12:30 my nurse hooked me up to some pitocin. I went from a "5" to a "10" in about an hour after that. I pushed through three contractions and at 1:46 AM my sweet little Harvey man entered the world. He was perfect and pink! {His coloring was so perfect!} He came out looking so much like Abbey, I think it surprised us all. I couldn't believe I was holding my son in my arms. The name that instantly came to my mind was Harvey. He was my little Harvey man... It was so fitting. I had forgotten that feeling, that overwhelming love you have for that wonderful little person sitting in your arms for the first time. That same baby I carried inside of me for nine months was now here, and there are no words to describe the way that feels. I held him skin to skin for about an hour before they took him and cleaned him up. I have never been able to just sit with my baby for that long, it was awesome. He was all mine for the first hour of his life. We are so blessed!