Colby James

I'm still getting used to saying it, but I'm a mom now :)

Colby James Hays was born on November 19th, 2011 at 2:06am. He weighed 6 lbs 1oz and measured 20.5 inches.

I wanted to have a natural birth without an epidural, an induction, or an episiotomy.  But you know what they say about the best laid plans.  When my water broke at 2:14pm on the 18th and I wasn't having any contractions, all my fine plans kind of went out the window.  I was induced at 5:30pm and braved three hours of pitocin-induced contractions before deciding I was done writhing around in agony and opted for an epidural.

Colby's heart rate dropped every once in awhile with contractions, causing our nurse to hustle in to make me roll over or put on oxygen.  As the contractions grew stronger, his heart rate dropped lower and more frequently.  At 1:45am Dr. Savage came in and gave me a short, but compelling pep talk, "If you can't push him out really quick, you're going to need a C-section.  You need to push like your baby's life depends on it, because it does."

It took four long, hard pushes (with Dr. Savage hauling on him with a vacuum) to get Colby out. It turns out the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck four times, but besides a large purple bruise on his head from the vacuum, he is perfectly healthy.  My doctor later told me she felt there was some divine intervention involved with his birth.  I agree.  His very existence is a miracle to me and I am so grateful for this little red-head who gave a whole new level of depth and meaning to my life.

Two weeks left...

I read somewhere that babies only arrive on their due date 5% of the time, but in my mind I see November 28th as my finish line and I am hurtling towards it.  The nursery is complete (with the exception of a few wants, but all our needs are covered).

I can't wait.

I am lucky...

"We can do no great things, only small things with great love."

-Mother Teresa  

July and August in 50 words or less

It's been awhile since I posted last...so here goes two months in 50 words or less (and picture captions don't count...so if you're strapped for time, I suggest scrolling down really quickly and calling that good enough :) ).

July 

I got bigger (me at 19 weeks):

Camping trip to Bryce Canyon National Park:

 We celebrated another 4th of July together (click the link to see why we love this holiday :) ):

Ultrasound verdict:  It's a boy!!!

My amazing friend, Sanita, got sealed to her sweetheart:

Camping trip to Yellowstone National Park:

Grand Prismatic Spring

Old Faithful

Robb's birthday fell in the middle of our camping adventure, so I made cupcakes before we left and then hauled them around so we could celebrate.

Robb couldn't handle all 25 candles :(

Dragon's Mouth Spring

The Grand Tetons

August

Elder Rigby returns from Bangalore, India:

Jory putting on a brave face post surgery on his feet.

We moved to our new apartment and immediately set to work making it pretty:

And I reunited with some wonderful old roommates:

Congratulations on making it all the way through this ridiculously long post and I'll try to be a better blogger in the future :)

Update

What is the Hays family up to these days? Well, not much to be honest.

I stopped working at the nursing home in February, which means I am down to one full time position at the Utah Valley Specialty Hospital (and I'm still loving it). Our census has been down lately though, so I've only really worked 2 shifts a week for the past month. Robb tried very hard to find an internship after graduation, but in addition to hurting the job market, our economy made engineering companies less excited about extending intern offers.

So he's hunting for a job and I'm trying once more to fill up my free time, but I've decided that having nothing to do is much more enjoyable when you're doing it with your favorite person :)

The sun has finally come out, which means the remainder of our snow will melt soon and hiking season can commence. We attempted to hike up to Timpanogos Falls, but the trail was completely covered with the white stuff, so we settled for Bridal Veil Falls (it's about a ten minute hike...so it's a high reward, minimal effort combo).

And we're moving July 8th to an apartment five minutes away from our current abode. It's a tight fit here for two people and squeezing a third (albeit, much smaller individual) would be almost impossible. There's also a washer and dryer (*happy sigh*), so goodbye quarters and hello second bedroom.

P.S. I had someone rub my stomach yesterday, so my resemblance to Buddha must be pretty strong :)