Brooks's Birth Story

December 17, 2018

I had my 39 week checkup on Monday, the 17th, with Dr. Houpe. I was 39 weeks and 4 days along. At the appointment everything looked great with baby boy and I was dilated to a 2. I had my doctor swipe my membranes, like we did at my last appointment with Stockton, in hopes that it would put me into labor.

While at my appointment I asked if we could set up an induction date as a back up plan. (I was really hoping to have baby boy before Christmas.) Dr. Houpe said she'd put me on the list to get a date set up, but that I probably wouldn't get anything before the 27th of December. I decided that if I couldn't get an induction date for before the 25th that I would just let my body do it's thing and not get an induction unless it later became necessary.

About an hour after my appointment I got a phone call.

"Hi, is this Nicole?"
"Yes, it is."
"Would you like to have a baby tonight?"
"Umm..."

I was taken completely by surprise. The lady told me I could either schedule an induction for that night and head to the hospital at 8 p.m., or I could schedule one for the 27th. I decided to schedule it just in case since I was already starting to feel more "crampy" from having my membranes swiped earlier.

I got off the phone and instantly called Nathan to tell him the news. He was shocked and nervous. I was too, but I was also excited! We were going to meet our baby boy soon! I also liked knowing I wouldn't go into labor in the middle of the night and have to worry about Stockton.

When Nathan got home from work, we all went out for a family walk to try and help my body go into labor. It was a hard walk. I waddled the whole time and I had to stop often. I was sure I would go into labor from it. (Just like I had with Stockton over two years ago.) But after the walk I felt fine, so we went to Chick-fil-a for dinner to support a friend's fundraiser.

Several people were there from our Ward and neighborhood. Everyone asked us if the baby was going to come that night. We just smiled and said, "Yep, he is." But we didn't mention that we had set up an induction.

At 7:30 p.m. we left Stockton at home with my brother and sister-in-law, who live in our basement. We gave Stock a big hug and told him we were going to go have baby brother and that he would get to come see him tomorrow. He just kept saying goodbye and was ready to play with his Aunt and Uncle.

On the way to the hospital I got a little emotional. It was our last day of being a family of three. My last day of it being just Stockton and me playing all day together. Stockton wouldn't be my baby boy anymore. I was nervous to officially be a mom to two little boys. But I was also emotional because I was so excited to finally meet my baby. I was excited for Stockton to be a big brother and get a little best friend.

We checked in at McKay Dee Hospital just after 8 p.m. and were put in delivery room 4508. By 8:30 I was changed and hooked up with IVs. At 9 they started oxytocin and penicillin. (I tested positive for Group Strep B, so I had to be on the antibiotic for at least 4 hours before delivery.) Then we just had to wait. Nathan and I tried to get some sleep, but those beds and couches really aren't the most comfortable things in the world.

By 11 p.m. I was dilated to a 4. I felt fine with the contractions and decided to keep breathing through them on my own and not get the epidural right away. We continued to try and sleep between nurse visits.

December 18, 2018

The nurse came in after midnight asking how I was doing with my pain level. I still felt fine working through the contractions on my own, but she suggested I get my epidural while the anesthesiologists was on the floor because he might not have been able to come back later when I would want an epidural for the pain. I got the epidural at 12:45 a.m. and was dilated to a 5 at 1 o'clock.

A little later I was told that Dr. Houpe would not be there for the delivery and that Dr. Diaz would be the one to deliver my baby boy. I was obviously hopeful for my doctor, but Dr. Diaz seemed very nice and I was fine with not waking up my doctor super early in the morning. Dr. Diaz broke my water at 2:20 a.m. and then we waited some more.

When the nurse came in to check me again at 3:10 I was dilated to a 7. I was going to call the birth photographer, but the nurse assured me we probably had another hour before we would need the photographer to come. She came in to check me 30 minutes later just to make sure we didn't miss the window to call the photographer, and was shocked to find that I was fully dilated... We quickly called the photographer and she rushed to get to the hospital. I was then told that Dr. Houpe was at the hospital for another delivery and that she would be the one to deliver our baby boy. I was so excited to have her there!

As everything was getting set up for the delivery, my body started to get the shakes. I couldn't decide if I was freezing, or if it was all the adrenaline, but I was shaking uncontrollably. It made me a little nervous that I couldn't calm my shaking down. Nathan was so helpful in holding my hand and shoulder trying to help me feel calm.

At 4 a.m. Dr. Houpe came in the room and I started pushing. With each push Dr. Houpe kept saying, "Just one or two more! You're doing great, Nicole!", but my baby just wasn't coming out. His heart rate was starting to drop, so Dr. Houpe did a quick episiotomy. Our baby came right out at 4:12 a.m., but he had the cord wrapped tight around his neck. It was so tight that Dr. Houpe wasn't able to unwrap it. As she quickly grabbed the scissors to snip the cord, she apologized to Nathan that he wouldn't get to cut it.

Once the cord was off of our baby he was placed up on me and I got to see and hold him for the very first time. He was perfect! It really is such a magical moment when you get to hold your little baby for the first time. Something you've been waiting for for nine whole months.

A few minutes later Devry, our photographer, walked through the door. We were grateful to have her there and felt bad we made her rush super early in the morning. She was able to capture all of the special first moments so that we could focus on each other.

After lots of first snuggles I handed over my little boy to be weighed and measured. He came in at 7 lbs and 10 oz and 20.5 inches long. Nathan was able to cut off the excess cord and then got to hold our baby after he was swaddled.

I loved seeing Nathan's face light up when he held our son for the first time. He is such an amazing dad! We spent the rest of our time admiring our sweet boy and trying to decide what his name was. We debated between Brooks, Lincoln, and Everett, but still weren't sure which one was a good fit.

While we were taking turns holding our baby, I decided to do some more skin to skin time and try to nurse. I had such a hard time trying to get Stockton to latch in the hospital, that I wanted to try right away to make sure we could figure it out. I was completely shocked and overjoyed when our little boy latched right on and instantly started to nurse. But we also noticed at this time that he had a severe tongue tie that made his tongue heart shaped. We were going to make sure to bring it up with the lactation consultant and pediatrician when we would see them later.

At 5:40 a.m. we were transferred to our new room, 4117. We tried to get some more rest before having Stockton and family come, but with all of the nurse and doctor visits it was a little hard. We did however get to witness a beautiful morning sunrise.

Finally, around 9 a.m. after lots of back and forth, we decided on a name for our baby boy, Brooks Nathan Ballard. We couldn't wait to have Stockton come and meet his baby brother for the first time.

(Funny story, right after we finally decided on Brooks's name, Nathan found a penny in our room with the Lincoln side up! We both laughed and wondered if it was suppose to be a sign his name was Lincoln, but decided he really did look more like a Brooks so we left it as is.)