Surprise! I think there had been a time in the early in the year when birth control just hadn't been at the top of the list. So ... guess what. I remember taking the test and not being very happy about seeing the little double line. And in bed that night, and Grayson, sensing something was a bit off, asked "how are you?" and I replied "pregnant" ... after the last pregnancy being harder, and Cooper being a bit more challenging a child, I was quite stressed about another pregnancy, another baby.
Happily, this pregnancy was quite easy, although I never would have PLANNED a December baby! I had to switch doctors, as the insurance plan had changed. We had to change hospitals too. I didn't like this doctor as much, and Cottonwood Hospital was further away (Jordan Valley is practically next door). But we took a little tour of the birthing area beforehand, and it was really nice. The due date WAS Christmas, and as we were counting down, I had a couple nights were I would wake to painful tightening in my tummy, but it didn't continue. Still, I figured I should make some preparations. I packed a bag, and talked to our main babysitter Nicole, who lived next door. She told me she'd try to stay available, and that I could even call her in the middle of the night.
I had to call the babysitter in the middle of the night. On Tuesday, Dec20, I woke to cramping pain about 2:30am. I got up and walked around, and started to time the contractions. The contractions were 30-40 seconds long, happening every 3-4 minutes, so ... time to head in. I was able to get a hold of Nicole and she came over to stay with the kids as Gray and I hit the snowy roads to make the trek to the hospital. Things had happened so quickly with Callahan and Keaton, so we also called the parents and they headed out too. The roads weren't great, but at least there isn't traffic at that hour! I was at an 8, but they were able to get me an epidural quickly, and like with Cooper's delivery, it caused a drop in blood pressure which made me nauseous. Then ... the contractions slowed, and I had to be given Pitocen to get things going again. It wasn't until after 9:00 in the morning when our yet unnamed 9 pound 6 ounce little lump of Christmas coal arrived. We named him Colton.
I remember Grayson brought the boys, and Cooper was sleepy and Gray laid him in the hospital bassinet. He filled that right up! Clay and Courtney stopped by with their little baby girl born a couple months earlier. Newborn Colton was bigger than Addie!
We had our Christmas celebrations. There was a lot of sickness going around. Cooper had a fever, and I had a bad cough, then fever and chills. The baby felt warm too, and I took his temp; it was over 100. We ran him to the Kid'sCare, and they said he needed to go to Primary Children's Hospital. We were able to get a hold of our older babysitter Ashlee to come stay with the boys (it was 10 at night). They got us right in, they took urine (Colton offered some up freely, along with some poop), blood, a chest x-ray and they even did a lumbar puncture. My poor little baby! I was asked questions, "does he usually ...." or "is this normal ..." What is usual/normal with a baby I've only had in my arms for eight days? We were admitted, there was a little cot for a parent and a crib for the baby. Baby Colton was hooked up to monitors to have a constant read on his heart rate and breathing. Ironically, he never really seemed sick. I was sick. My folks couldn't come visit (we were there for a few days) because they were sick. Pam was sick. Even our pediatrician was sick. At home, Landon and Callahan were sick ... Keaton seemed to avoid the bug. We'd gone into the hospital on Dec28 and stayed through New Years Day (new insurance deductible!)
After that, it was pretty smooth sailing. Colton was a good and easy baby. We did end up back in the ER a year and a half later, with an allergic reaction (nuts/peanuts), and that was something he'd have to watch out for (not life threatening, but still good to avoid). He crawled and walked on a normal timeline, and I wondered if he'd beat Cooper on potty training (they did end up finishing up with diapers around the same time). Fast forward 16 years ... and Colton DID beat Cooper to getting his driver's license.
