Hunter

We had a new addition to our family.  Hunter David Law was born on August 31, 2013 at 9:15 a.m. He weighed 7 lbs and 6 oz and measured 20 inches long. He is a beautiful boy and I'm already obsessed with this kiddo.  Every time I look into his big, beautiful, blue eyes and can't believe that this little guy is my son and I am really a mother.  It is the neatest feeling, but extremely overwhelming.  Dayton and I feel blessed to be his parents and couldn't be happier.   I've never been a good journal writer so Dayton talked me into starting a blog to make into a family book every year.  So, here is Hunter's story.

Dayton and I were married last year. We didn't really talk about having children for a while because we agreed that when we did have children, I would stop teaching and stay home with them.  Dayton has quite a bit of schooling left, so we figured we would wait a few years before having children.  Heavenly Father definitely had a different plan.  It was around the holidays when I started feeling sick. There was a terrible flu going around and many of my students were out sick. I figured I had the same thing and didn't think too much about it.  Dayton started teasing me that I was pregnant, just as a joke.  One night, I started feeling even more sick.  Dayton looked up my pregnancy symptoms and as he read them, we both looked at each other and realized I had every single one.  I lay there in bed, paranoid that night.  At 12:00 that night I made Dayton go to the store and buy a pregnancy test. I took it that night and it came back negative.  We didn't think more about it until a few weeks later I was having cravings and certain smells were making me nauseous.  I took two more pregnancy tests and still both came back negative.  It was Martin Luther King holiday and Dayton and I went down to Murray for the weekend. I told my mom what had been going on. She replied, "Oh Brooke, you are so pregnant." I told her I couldn't be and that I had already taken three tests.  She then asked when I had taken the test and I had taken them all at night.  I then learned I was supposed to take them in the morning.  She sent my dad to Wal-mart that night to buy a new pregnancy test and told me to follow the directions exactly.  I was a little nervous when I went to bed that night.  Having children was not part of my plan and if I was pregnant I wanted to be happy and excited.  I woke up early the next morning and sure enough, I saw two distinct pink lines.  I climbed back in bed and Dayton asked what the test said.  I told him I was pregnant.  He didn't believe me so he went to look for himself.  We both couldn't believe we were actually going to be parents.  I have never been so excited.  

Dayton and I both secretly wanted a boy first so we were thrilled to learn about Hunter at our ultrasound.  From the beginning I loved Hunter and couldn't wait for him to come.  They day I found out I had the flu and stayed home from church. I spent the entire time reading pregnancy books, thinking about different names, and browsing anything baby on Pinterest.  The next few months were new and exciting.  It was definitely hard to leave my job and to stop teaching.  It took a HUGE leap of faith to rely on Heavenly Father to help take care of us so I could stay home to raise Hunter.

I feel blessed that I was able to have such a good pregnancy.  I felt pretty good and was able to exercise and stay healthy.  I spent most of the summer getting ready for Hunter to come.  I got the hospital bag ready weeks in advanced, just in case.  Everyday I would think, is this the day Hunter is going to come?  After I passed my due date, I was so upset.  It wasn't because I hated being pregnant and couldn't wait to be done (although I was ready to not a big belly anymore), I just wanted to meet this guy! I kept picturing what he would look like.  Waiting for him was worse than Christmas.  I went to my doctors appointments every week and left crying when I hadn't dilated anymore.  My doctor scheduled to induce me on Tuesday September 3rd.  I wasn't looking forward to that.  Friday night- August 30- I started feeling crampy and uncomfortable.  I went tutoring that night and when I came home I felt worse and worse. I started wondering if I was having contractions.  I didn't want to get Dayton's hopes up, so I kept it to myself.  Dayton and I played games and watched a movie and I was still having contractions.  I started timing them on my phone, still making sure that these were actually contractions.  Dayton noticed what I was doing and finally after 9:00 I let Dayton in on my secret.  He held my hand through the contractions until they were about 3 minutes apart for almost an hour.  We went to the hospital and they continued to monitor me for the next hour.  I was finally admitted around midnight.  I always thought I was pretty tough, but man the contractions were worse than I was anticipating.  At one point during my pregnancy I thought I would have Hunter naturally, but I am sure glad I got the epidural and can't even imagine why I ever thought I would do without any drugs.  After I got the epidural I felt like a million bucks.  It was amazing and the only thing I regret is not getting it earlier.  I was too excited and anxious to sleep that night.  Finally at 7:00 I was ready to push.  An hour and a half later I was ready for the doctor.  My doctor was out of town until Monday so I had another doctor from the clinic deliver.  Unfortunately, he was delivering a lady next door at the same time.  It was her third child so they anticipated her going quickly.  Well after 35 minutes of trying not to push and just breath through the contractions, the Dr. left the other room and delivered our beautiful Hunter 15 minutes later.  To everyone's surprise, Hunter was born in the posterior position and transverse (looking up and the side of his head).  I didn't realize until afterwards what that really meant.  I feel lucky that the Dr. didn't notice until he was born so I didn't have to have a c-section, even if it did make it harder to push.  Hunter's poor head was pretty beat up but we both got through it.  I got to hold Hunter right away and I have never been so happy in my entire life.  Holding that little boy for the first time is something I'll never forget.  It has now been over a week since Hunter came into our lives.  I absolutely love being a mom.

Here is something Dayton wrote in his journal the night Hunter was born...
"Today has truly been one of the happiest days of my life.  At 9:18 this morning we had the incredible opportunity of welcoming baby Hunter into our life and into our family.  It was a long night of lots of pain and pushing for Brooke but when I finally got to see her hold him for the first time, every second of the past nine months was worth it. . . . I can’t believe that we have been blessed with such a sweet little spirit in our lives and I truly feel like the luckiest dad in the world.  There is a sticker on his little hospital bed that says “cutest baby in the nursery” and I truly believe that.  I love to give him lots of kisses and hugs and I think it is hilarious when he thinks I am his mom and tries to drink milk from me!  I love this little guy more than anything in the world and Brooke and I are going to work our hardest to give him the best life possible.  I am so thankful to a loving Heavenly Father who is sharing one of His very special spirits with us for a while.  We love you little Hunter!"

Here are a few pictures of Hunter from the past week. He was lucky to have so many visitors!

I was so proud that he weight that much!

Sweet Little Hunter

Proud Daddy 

Feeling good with Hunter after a nice shower.

Uncle Bo

Uncle Alex 

Hunter and Papa. (Papa was sure glad to be there. Hunter was just waiting until he was safely home from Jordan).

Uncle Isaac

Abbey and Ken Carlson (his second family) 

Grandma Hunter

Our Little Family

Uncle Preston

Stretching out

I love it when he yawns!

Waking up!

Hunter's first bath.

Cuddled up and ready for bed!

Grandpa Dave

Grandma Shirlene

Aunt Mariah

Uncle Cayden

Hanging out with Hunter