It's a Boy!!

On September 30, 2009 at 9:22 AM, a little miracle, Myles Willard Dahle joined our family. He weighed 8 lbs. and was 19 inches long. He has a dimple in his chin, has the Dahle nose and looks like his dad. He also looks a lot like Parker. We are so excited to have him in our family! Here is how it went... Tuesday, September 29th I had a doctors appointment and 4:30. I was only dilated to a 2, but Dr. Craig asked if I wanted to be started tonight. She was going to be out of town the rest of the week and she gave us the option of getting started that night or waiting until the following week. She left us alone for a minute to talk and we decided to get started. I have gone over 40 weeks with the other two pregnancies and physically I felt ready to be done with this one. It was also a good time because the kids were out of school for UEA and Lynn had everything lined up at work so he could be gone. I was a little freaked out because I thought it was weird to be basically planning my child's birthday, however I also didn't want to go another week or so when we had the option to get it done. So Dr. Craig said to be back to the hospital in an hour and we headed home to pack. This is me right before we left for the hospital. Thirty nine weeks pregnant. Once we got to the hospital and checked in, they started me on the PIT drip at about 8:00 PM. Life was good and contractions started. I dilated to a 3, but seemed to stop there for what seemed like forever. At about 2:30 AM I was still a 3 and they raised the PIT drip, but said if I didn't start dilating they would probably take me off and send me home. UGH!! Now that I was in it and having pretty good contractions, I so didn't want to be sent home. I wasn't willing to go through that pain for nothing. Luckily at 4:00 AM I was dilated to a 4 and the contractions were really hard so I got the Epidural (Oh, the relief of modern medicine!). The only weird thing is that the anesthesiologist that gave me the Epidural was a guy I knew in high school. What a great way to see someone again when you haven't seen them for 15 years. I felt beautiful... ha, ha! At 4:30 AM they thought my water broke on its own and then at 6:00 AM Dr. Craig came in to check me and I was still at a 4. We even made the comment that there is obviously a reason both my other two kids were late. I'm just not meant to come early. Dr. Craig checked me again at about 7:30 AM and was surprised that my water wasn't completely broken. The nurses had told her that another doctor had come in and broken my water, but he never had. So she finished breaking my water and then went home. At about 8:45 AM I told the nurse I was maybe feeling some pressure so she checked me again. She got a surprised look on her face and said "OK, don't push and don't move, you are ready right now!" She called Dr. Craig and she got there about 9:10 and once she walked in and looked at me, her eyes got huge and she hurried to get ready. Once she was ready she just pushed on my stomach once and the baby started coming out. I didn't even have to push once. It was amazing. The room was totally silent and I was able to feel the baby slide right out. It was like it was happening in slow motion. Then we heard his cry break the silence and Lynn said "It's a boy!" Words can't describe the spiritual experience of witnessing the birth of a child. It truly is the most beautiful thing to go through and I feel so blessed that we have been able to bring 3 beautiful, healthy children into this world. Right after he was born, Dr. Craig laid him on my stomach and I was able to help wipe him off. Another great experience that my other doctor hadn't done with the other two kids. Lynn cut the cord and then the nurse took him to take all the vitals and get him measured. Lynn was able to be there helping the nurse through all of it and he was even able to see all the color come through Myles' body. He was a blueish/purple color and then all of the sudden the reddish color spread throughout his body. Lynn said that was one of the coolest things he has been able to see. It snowed in the mountains the day Myles was born. This is the view from my hospital room window.

The happy grandparents!! We also got visits at the hospital from Aunt Karen (Lynn's sister), Keely, Kady, Val, Lannis and Uncle Kevin and Aunt Candace. And Uncle Kirk and Aunt Janis were at Lynn's parents home when we got home. Unfortunately I forgot to get pictures of everyone that came. Thanks everyone for the visits and treats you brought.

Myles right before we were heading home from the hospital. He weighed 7 lbs. 4 oz. once we left and his bilirubin was right on the border of being too high. Unfortunately, the kids weren't able to come see us at the hospital. No children under 14 were allowed in the hospital at that time, because of the flu season. Lynn went home each day and showed them pictures and some videos of Myles, but they were having a ton of fun and getting spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa Dahle so luckily they didn't seem to care about not coming to the hospital. Parker was a big help to Lynn setting up the crib and was super excited. Once Madi was told about us having a baby boy, all she said was "Oh." Lynn also said she wouldn't give him hugs or talk to him or anything. Luckily by the time we got home from the hospital she was back to herself and excited to see the new baby.

Below are the pictures of the kids when they first met their new little brother. They were both pretty quiet and a Madi seemed a little unsure of him. Parker wanted to hold him right away and it took Madi a minute to warm up and then she had her turn holding him.

My Mom and the kids made this cute sign and hung up balloons for us. It was a nice surprise when we got home.

Unfortunately, when Myles got his bilirubin checked again on Sunday, October 4th, his count was at 17 and they like them to be under 10. So he had to start tanning on the Bilibed Lights. He is our first child to have jaundice and I got pretty emotional once I heard he had to be on the lights. I knew he would be fine, it was just hard hearing we wouldn't be able to hold him except for feedings and when we changed his diaper. He had to be on the lights at all other times. Finally on Friday, October 9th his Bilirubin was at 12.9 so we were able to take him off the lights. Yeah!! I think I held him that whole day.

We are so blessed to have Myles join our family. He is such a precious little guy. I love his 10 little fingers and 10 little toes, I love how he smells and I love staring at him and all the faces he pulls and his perfect little body. He is already very vocal with tons of grunts, squeaks and cries. He is sleeping pretty well during the night. Wakes up every 4 hours on the dot to get fed, but then pretty much goes right back to sleep. Our pediatrician says you can tell he is very opinionated and knows what he does and doesn't like. I'm not sure if that is a good or bad thing at this age, but we love him.