Koy Burton Hall

Well here he is. I'm sure this blog will be dedicated to him real soon, so I just put up a few of his pics. He was born Monday at 11:03 am and weighed 7 lbs 13 oz, 20 1/2 inches long. His head was/is banged up a bit from the vacuum. All things considered he is doing great. Sherrie said I would do a play-by-play of his arrival, so I guess I'll give it my best shot. In my defense, the details are still a little fuzzy at this point, but I'll give it a try.

Sunday morning at 6 Sherrie woke up and was having contractions. We were scheduled to go in Monday for an induction, but the contractions were pretty heavy, and pretty consistent. I didn't have any idea what to do or what not to do, so I offered support and back massages, then just sat around and waited. Church time came and she didn't think she could make it. I went to sacrament then decided to come home. She was basically the same when I got home, hard contractions every 5-10 minutes. I hadn't learned anything new at church regarding contractions, so I sat down for a day full of football. We spent all day Saturday watching football too, so we were all practiced up for Sunday. I told her before that I wouldn't tolerate being a woos, so she was pleasant as could be between contractions. I cooked, we ate, and she kept having contractions. We didn't really talk about going to the hospital, I think we both were afraid of them telling us to come home and wait for Monday. I fell asleep after the 2nd re-run of SportsCenter came on, and she woke me up at about 11 and said we needed to go to the hospital. Then I panicked inside. We're going to have a baby. We are really going to have a baby. What are we going to do with him? What do I take to the hospital? Will I come home, where will I sleep, how long will this take? Sherrie packed my stuff, and I made it to the car and managed to remember where the hospital was. We checked in, they checked her dialation status, and said she was moving along really well and we'd have a baby in no time. Then they asked if she wanted the epidural then or later. Sherrie is sitting there, can't even talk during contractions, looks like someone drop-kicked her in the testicles (if she had them) and the nurse thinks we might want to wait to stop the pain. "Yeah, she'll just wait till after the delivery and then order the epidural to help her recover quicker. Here's your sign." 

Epidural at 1:30 and everything seemed calm after that. Sherrie seemed more pleasant, and I found SportsCenter on the TV, all was well. After 3 more rounds of SportsCenter I was having a hard time wrapping my mind around what was going on. I don't know if I was more shocked that we were actually having a baby or that the Cardinals beat the Cowboys. Episode after episode I still couldn't believe they won. 

We started pushing at about 7:30, and the counting was wearing me out. I hated to see her hurt so much, so I tried counting faster, but realized that probably would prolong the agony. It really sucks just watching with no way to help. 10:45 they say we're ready for the Doctor, and then ask if it's okay for the doctor's intern, a lady from the corporate hospital, and an extra nurse to be in the room. So we have like 7 people plus me and Sherrie, and she wasn't even comfortable with her mom being there, so imagine how she felt with 7 strangers. I kept thinking that anytime you are in a hospital and they come to you and say, "We have 5 extra people that want to come and watch what is happening to you," it probably isn't a good sign. Everyone came in and got ready, except for Sherrie's doc. He was late, then had the nerve to come in cracking jokes and complaining about having a super bad cramp in his leg that he took some children's tylenol for. The nurses tried to shut him up, and the whole time I was thinking, "And you really were smart enough to get into medical school?" Genius. Then he wants to joke with me about the baby being a girl. I saw the ultra-sound. Twice. In cows and horses you don't even look for the sex organs, so seeing the family jewels in the ultrasound is about as sure as it gets. But just in case I told him we could still fill out the adoption papers.

After a few more pushes I thought she was going to pass out. I kept counting faster and faster, but the little sucker was coming face up and couldn't bend the corner. So, he hooked up the vacuum and finally got him out. HOLY CRAP!!! When I saw the vacuum I thought that was about how big his head would be. I was close, except it was about triple that size. It scabbed him up pretty good, but wow. I guess that will just get him used to head trauma. Being named after Burton and all he'll have a band-aid on his head most of his life I'm sure. Anyway, what a miracle! He started crying and his lip was quivering, and all I wanted to do was rescue the little guy. 

We didn't get much sleep that day or night. He decided to stay up all night, and all I had to sleep with was a sheet and a couch that is just short of 5 foot long. I was freezing, Sherrie was hot and wasted, and Koy didn't want to sleep. First night was great. Then they let us come home and he wanted to stay up last night as well. I think he just wants to stay awake and watch SportsCenter. 

We took him to the pediatrician this morning, and he is no longer a Gentile. He took that pretty well too. Now he's sleeping and Sherrie is trying to too. I just want to be Superman every time I hear him fuss or cry. It is amazing how quickly you can fall in love with the little guy. They say he looks like me, so ladies beware! He is a handsome little guy if I do say so myself. Keith Nicoll always said he hasn't ever seen a baby that didn't look like a lizard or a rat. I guess I'll have to show him this little guy. We think he's pretty special.