We believe in Tiny Miracles

It's taken me a long time to write about this, but please excuse me as I have been soaking in every minute I get to spend with this little angel.... :)

Boston Hyrum Crandall

Boston joined our family on February 9, 2012 at 12:20am weighing in at 7lbs 5 oz, and 20 inches long!! He was almost a week late!! But boy was he worth the wait! And I think Heavenly Father knew I needed the extra few days, even though I was extremely anxious! :)

It all started on the 7th, I woke up at 3am with contractions! I was soo excited! I thought for sure he'd be here that day! I was having them consistently every 5-7 minutes for hours, so we loaded our bags, got ready, and headed to our scheduled appointment with our midwife, to get checked. I was dilated to a 2, and was about 90% effaced. She told me to go walk around for awhile, and if the contractions continued and intensified then we could go to the hospital and get re-checked.

So Andrew and I went to the Gateway, (we wanted to stay in Salt Lake because surely I'd be going into intense labor at any minute!) We walked around, got dinner, bought me some new boots :) all the while having consistent contractions. (Little did I know, there's no way I'd be able to be doing all of this once I hit ACTIVE labor) So we went to the hospital about 6pm, to get checked. I was still at a 2, they monitored me for an hour, I had no "progress" so they sent me home! I was devastated! Told me to come back when the contractions were 2-3 minutes apart.

I had contractions all night! I took 2 warm baths just to help with the ever intensifying pain. I tried to rest as much as possible, but it was VERY hard! We got ready again in the morning, ate some lunch, and decided to go into the hospital again, because even though the contractions were 7-10 minutes apart, the pain was REALLY bad. We got to the hospital and they said I was a 3, and they were going to monitor me for an hour and call my midwife. I was so afraid they were going to send me home again, but the nurse came back into the room and said, "Alright! You guys ready to have this baby?!?" Andrew and I were so excited! It was unreal! We could stay, and Boston was going to be here soon!!

They got me all hooked up to the IVs which ended up being more painful than the labor itself because they kept blowing my veins, and I had to be poked 6 times, it took 3 different people, and they finally got the anesthesiologist to come put it in my ankle, TONS better!! My Midwife came and broke my water to get things rolling, and boy did they start rolling after that!! I needed my epidural right after! Man, the epidural was heavenly!! I can't imagine going through all of that without the epidural. I could actually enjoy the experience, and my last moments just Andrew and I, because I wasn't in pain. After we were all set up we called our parents and they came to the hospital. It was great having them there for support. They helped ease the stress, and I was so grateful to have each one of them there. Of course Andrew was my right hand man. I couldn't have done it without him. He was so encouraging, and so brave! :)

 I was getting very physically and emotionally tired. So at 11:40pm when my midwife came in and said I was at a 10 and it was time to push I couldn't imagine how I was going to do it. I was sooo tired. I could barely open my eyes. I had been in intense labor for hours even though I couldn't feel it, and I had had contractions for 39 hours before that, so needless to say I was exhausted!! It was a literal miracle that I was able to pull it together for that last little bit! The nurse told me when I started to push, to not get discouraged because on first babies it could take up to 3 hours of pushing! Luckily it took me less than 30 minutes! Suddenly he was on my chest, and I could hear is little cry, and I could hear Andrew saying, "Oh my gosh, he's here babe, you did it!" It was so surreal! I couldn't believe this little miracle was in my arms. He had already been with me for over 9 months, but now I could see his tiny little fingers and toes, and look into his eyes, and kiss his head.

He's such a sweet boy. We are sooo blessed. You can't help but be filled with joy when you hold him! He's so handsome, you could definitely say we're proud parents! :) Everyone says he looks like a little Andrew, but we can't really see it quite yet. ha He has beautiful blue eyes (for now) and lots of dark hair!! Despite the late nights, and lack of sleep, we are enjoying every minute of being parents, and I am so grateful that I am able to be home with him each day! He's a joy, and a tiny miracle straight from Heaven. :)