(1) Landon ~ 09/07/1995
We'd been living in a duplex in Midvale, and as the pregnancy plans weren't panning out, we decided to buy a house. Grayson jokingly predicted "as soon as we can't afford a baby, we'll get pregnant" and sure enough, that's what happened! I had been going to Alta View Hospital for doctor visits, but switched to Jordan Valley, which was much closer to the new West Jordan home on Courtney Court. Spring of 1995 we moved into the new house. It was a hard move for me, as I was about four or five months pregnant. The pregnancy went pretty smoothly though. Some morning sickness here and there.
I had been working for AT&T (on the phones/customer service) but didn't care for the hours and switched employers, becoming an administrative assistant for a financial planner at Granite Credit Union. The AT&T job had been providing the health insurance for us, and paying out of pocket to continue (Cobra) was more financially feasible that insurance through my new work or Grayson's job. It was great insurance and paid for almost everything with the pregnancy, birth and delivery.
One thing I remember from the pregnancy was going in for the ultrasound. Grayson didn't want to find out the sex, but we were still anxious to "see" our baby for the first time. But when we arrived at the office ... I'd gotten the dates mixed up, and my appointment had been the day before! They weren't able to fit us in that day, and we had to make another appointment in a week or so. I was feeling stupid about it, and was upset, and on the way home (Gray and I had driven separately, he headed back to work I was heading home then to work) I felt sick. I had to pull over, open the door, and I threw up on the side of the road.
I had a few baby showers, family/friends and work, and started getting all the needed supplies and setting up a nursery in the new house. I was lovely and large for the family photos at Kolby and Jami's wedding. My sister Wendy was pregnant too, just a few months behind me.
This was before mobile phones, so I was a bit anxious about being able to contact Grayson when it was time (he was working for McMullin Homes and was on the go all day to various worksites). I remember we got a pager (provided by the insurance) but we ended up not needing it. The due date came and went, and we decided to be induced.
We checked into the hospital early in the morning. Things went pretty smoothly. Pitocin to start contractions, and I was given the epidural quite early, I don't know that things had even really become uncomfortable yet. But things progressed pretty slowly. I was fine with having additional people for the delivery, so in addition to Grayson, my mom, Gray's mom, my sister Wendy and my SIL Sandy (a midwife, she was interested in seeing a hospital birth) were all in attendance. I remember that my doctor had another patient in labor the same time as me, and they actually had another monitor in the room showing HER vitals (and mine in hers) so that he could watch both of us, regardless of which room he was in. It was a bit of a race to see who would deliver first. I can't recall who "won" though. It was evening by the time things were happening. I remember "Friends" had been on, and it was moving to "Seinfeld". It was Thursday "Must See TV".
There was pushing, and then he was out. It was a boy. But he wasn't really crying like a newborn should. My mom told me that Sandy looked at her with a very worried expression. They let us see him and have a little cuddle, but then they whisked him away to the NICU. He was 7 pounds 11 ounces, and he was quite large compared to the other little baby in the NICU. Landon had swallowed some amniotic fluid, and had pneumonia, and was in the hospital for a few days. Nursing did NOT go well, and he needed to be bottle fed, but I pumped, so other than a few formula feedings, he had breastmilk. At home, I'd get up in the night to feed him and have to warm up a bottle, get him back to sleep, and then pump, and by the time I was done and back to sleep it was time to do it again. I kept trying to get him to nurse, and finally he did, and I didn't dare give him a bottle again. I had a freezer full of milk (and was still needing to pump as I was producing more than he needed for a while until my body adjusted).
Being the first grandchild/nephew on the Blackham side, Landon was super spoiled. Lots of family visits on the Westra side, with several little cousins. I remember as Gray and I would try to put the sleeping baby to bed in his crib, we'd hope for a "successful transfer" and that was the wording we'd reply when asked how it went (if it had been successful). I don't know if Landon was just a good baby, but it didn't feel like a huge transition into parenthood. He did get high fevers with some regularity. After several trips to the doctor which didn't uncover anything, we'd just have to treat them, alternating children's Tylenol and Motrin.
At the Courtney Court house, the nursery had a Noah's Ark theme. He had his first bath in the kitchen there, his first haircut in the bathroom sink. He loved to press buttons on the big stereo system we had in the front room. He'd drop food off the highchair to the delight of the dog (we had our Samoyed Loki when Landon was young, but we ended up finding her a family that could devote more time and training, which was needed). There were train tracks just across the street, and we could see and hear the trains, and would often step outside and wave to the conductor (and would sometimes get a wave back). We moved from the Courtney Court house to the house on 8070 s when Landon was just one year old. I remember we had trendy "lever" door handles and Landon walked up to a closed door, pulled, and opened it ... and I turned to Grayson and said "well that could be a problem" and we had to switch to knobs on the doors we wanted a little more control over. Landon had his own room ... but he preferred the family bed. He had a little blue blanket that he loved, and needed to sleep.
Landon got to be an only child for three and half years ... then along came Callahan!
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