The Long Awaited Baby Post

Eli James Sylvester

The Birth

On December 29, 2010 at 6:55 a.m. we had our first baby boy. Eli James Sylvester weighed in at 10 pounds 8 ounces, was 21 inches long and had a 15 1/4 inch head. He seems small to me because my baby Shayla is two years old and compared to her he is tiny, but really he is a big boy.

After a false labor about two weeks before and a lot of hard braxton hicks contraction I finally went into labor at about 3:00 a.m. Wednesday morning. After about 45 minutes of contractions I knew this was real and started waking people up to help me. After getting Josh up to start setting up the birthing tub and giving my midwife a call to let her know I needed her my contractions quickly and intensely started coming about every three minutes apart. Which was a pretty sharp contrast to my labor with Shayla. I am so thankful that my sister was here because Josh needed to set up the tub and I could not get through those contractions alone. She made a great doula. The girls woke up a little and Shayla came out and had a snack around 4:30 a.m. and luckily went back to sleep for us.

My midwife showed up at about 4:45 a.m. and shortly after (I really have no concept of time after she got there) the tub was full enough that I could get in and not only ease the contractions but also rest in between. I was really tired after an hour of contractions so the relief that getting in the tub brought was so nice! I was able to get really comfortable in the water and was doing great with the contractions. Josh was there with me holding my hands and it was so comforting to be in tub and have him there supporting me both emotionally and physically. What a blessed woman I am to have such an amazing man for a husband and father of my children.

I know that I was pushing for what seemed a pretty long time, the boy was a little on the healthy side. It took a really long time to push out his head. I was trying to take it nice and easy because I didn't want to tear or do any unnecessary damage, he got a little impatient and tried to help out which was actually pretty painful and I yelled at my midwife the first time he did it because I thought she was the one causing it. Sorry PJ! After his head was finally out my midwife checked for the cord which was up around his neck, not tight but also not pulsing too strongly so she helped me quickly get him out the rest of the way. It took a few moments for him to start making noise and show us that he was okay but we kept him close to me and rubbed his back and he cleared his lungs and did just great with the cord still attached and now pulsing strongly again. It could have been a tense moment but because of everything that we have learned and with the knowledge and experience of the midwife and her assistant (who is actually also a midwife) everything was very calm and worked out very well and now we have a beautiful, strong, healthy baby.

The whole labor and delivery ended up being right around four hours long. I would definitelyopt for the slow and steady route but it still went really well over all. I am glad it is over though and now I have a gorgeous baby boy to snuggle and love. He is a great sleeper and eater and his sisters adore him. They love that they have a new baby brother. My recoveries are usually a little long and slow and this one is following suit but I think I have reached the down hill side of it all and now I just need to take it easy until I can get around like I used to.

It always amazes me to think of how difficult being pregnant and having a baby can be. It is also one of the most amazing experiences and worth every moment to have that sweet baby. I love all of my children and I love being a mother. Love at first site is definitely possible when it comes to having your children. I think I will forever remember seeing all of my babies for the first time. Each experience has been very different but they are all there permanently ingrainedin my memory; each moment sweet in it's own way.

This is me with Josh during a contraction shortly before I started pushing.

Me and my brand new baby! It was pretty dark still so the picture isn't great. This was a great moment for me despite how tired I was.

The Name Story

Eli was a name that both of us have liked for a long time. I think we had first talked about it when we were pregnant with Brya before we knew what we were having. We have talked about a lot of other names in between but Eli was the one that we both liked and after meeting him it fit him really well. We looked up the meaning of his name and it has a biblical origin, is Hebrew and means "ascend" or "my God." The only thing that I don't like about his name is that it is pretty popular right now, so hopefully he won't be one of five kids all named Eli when he is in school.

James is Josh's middle name which he was given after one of his ancestors that was one of the first members of his family to join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He was actually called to go down to settle an area now called Pintura, Utah. The town never really took off but it is still there. One of our previous posts on here has pictures of Josh and the Girls at the gravesite in Pintura where James was buried.

The more mothering experiences I have the more my testimony strengthens of my Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ. They are the foundation my life is built upon and I will be eternally grateful for all they have blessed me with. I couldn't imagine being a mother, responsible for the care and upbringing of His precious children, with out the divine guidance that I receive from them. God lives; he is our Father and Jesus Christ his son made it possible to have this amazing earthly experience. An experience that through the Son may be challenging and difficult while it is also possible and joyous.

I had to included a picture of my sister Kristin because she was an important part of this birth going so well. Thank you so much for being with me Kristin and for all your help.

I love love love you!

Kristin became "On" to Shayla while she was her because Shayla couldn't say Aunt and wouldn't even try to say Kristin. I think it was usually "On, help" whenever Shayla used her name. Our girls love their Aunt Kristin.