Owen Paul

After a very easy pregnancy(and labor), Owen Paul Winterton was born on July 22nd, 2008. He was 7 lbs 3 oz and 20 inches long born at 9:17 pm.

Mom's pregnancy was everything she could have hoped for. We got pregnant in October and decided not to tell people until Christmas. We told each of our families Christmas morning and all were very excited. I had no morning sickness so there was no suspicion.

As the months went by, everyone asked me how I was feeling and the response always was, "I don't really feel pregnant, I'm not sick or anything." With that response, I got a lot of angry women who had hard pregnancies. I am just not one of those people.

We found out that we were having a boy in February and both parents were very excited. Terrell said we had better have a boy since I had gone out and bought a whole bunch of boy clothes already. I know Terrell wanted a boy to raise in doing sports and was very excited. I wanted a boy for my first child so my little girls could have an older brother to watch over them.

Being a dancer before I got pregnant had made my body small. In doing so, I started to show very soon. There was no where for Owen to go but out. So from about 16 weeks, you could tell I was pregnant. Since he went straight out, if I turned around you could not tell I was pregnant. That was nice.

My due date was July 29th so I made my last day at work the 24th of July to prepare for him to come. I had a doctor's appointment on the 21st and the nurse said it would be a while. I asked her to strip my membranes to get the process going. My mom said that when they did that to her she had the baby within 24 hours. Hopefully this would be the case with me!!! I came home from the doctor with little hopes that it had worked. I woke up the next morning with contractions about 10 minutes apart. They were not horrible and I didn't know what was going on so I just went about my normal day and headed off to work. I started to keep track of my contractions and they were very consistant every ten minutes. The doctor says not to call unless they are 5 minutes apart, so I thought nothing of it. All of this time I was frequently on the phone with my mom asking questions and telling her that I was a wuss from the pain. She also was making fun of me because I had nothing ready. The carseat wasn't in the car, I hadn't packed a bag yet, I didn't have a lot of things. By the time lunch came, we had decided that I would go to the hospital and get checked, I was in a lot of pain(or so I thought). Mom came to my house at about 12:30 and we got a bag packed with a few things for me and the baby, during frequent contractions. I had not eaten so we went to Wendy's on the way. I also had not gotten a nightgown or a nursing bra so we thought we could stop by Mervyn's and get those on the way to Utah Valley Hospital. I wasn't much help to my mom in picking out what I wanted, because I was on the chair breathing through my contractions about every 6 minutes now. We finally made it to the hospital and I was checked in at 2:30.

While getting hooked up and checked in, I called Terrell to tell him I was there. Terrell works in the Operating Room at that hospital so he was in a surgery. He told me to keep him up to date and he would come up in a little bit. The doctor came in at about 3 and checked to see how I was doing. He said I was a little more than 3 cm dilated and about 80% effaced. He also broke my water then. That REALLY hurt. They told me they would check me every hour from then on. The doctor on call that day was Kent Gammett. He was not Mine and Terrell's favorite doctor, but there was another doctor that would be there after 5 who was Scott Rees. We asked that Rees would deliver.

Terrell came up to my room a little before 4. The doctors soon after came in to check me again and I was 4 cm this time. They then asked me if I wanted to recieve my epidural and I kindly said, "I WANT IT RIGHT NOW!" Being an employee in the Operating Roon, Terrell knows a lot of surgeons and anesthesiologists. So he felt more comfortable with someone he worked with on a day to day basis, so he called downstairs for someone to come administer my epidural. The next day they told us that he heard me screaming in the middle of a contraction and dropped the phone to RUN upstairs. Terrell said that my epidural was the best and quickest he had ever seen, it went really well. I can tell you that was the best thing ever. No more pain!!!

They told me to get some rest so I tried to take a nap. I have always slept on my side so that is where I found a comfortable spot, all until my meds went to that side so I could feel my contractions on the other side. I didn't like that.

It was then 6:30 and they came in to check my progress. Their response was shocking. I was 9 cm dilated and 90% effaced. An epidural usually slows labor progression, so I was very suprised. So I called all my siblings and told them to head down to the hospital so they could be there when Owen was born. I didn't know that the last cm do dilate was going to take another 2 and a half hours. The doctor came in every 30 to 45 minutes after that to see how I was doing and at about 8:45 they said I was ready to go. He told the nurses to start getting things ready. They set up all the supplies and by that time it was about 9 pm. the doctor came in and checked me one last time. He said, "Wow, he is crowning already. Terrell, get ready." So then they knew he was coming fast. Everything was ready and Dr. Rees told me to start pushing at 9:10. Dr. Rees said he was coming fast so I needed to push with each contraction. I pushed for a total of 7 mintues during 4 contractions.

Everything went very well. We were transferred downstairs for recovery and the whole family came to visit. They were all amazed at how alert Owen was. He had his eyes open from the very begining. We let the nursery take Owen for the night so Terrell and I could get some sleep, well, Terrell anyway. But maybe not very good sleep. The beds they have for the dads are not very good.

I had my discharge papers the very next day but Owen had slight jaundice and had to be tested more than the normal so we stayed in the hospital 'till Thursday morning. We came home at about noon and relaxed for the remainder of the day. We had not planned meals and I was feeling pretty good, so mom and I went to the store for a few groceries.

Recovery for me went very well. I was out and about the next day and felt great. Owen had to go to the hospital everyday until the next Monday to get tested for his jaundice. He is over it now and looking great.

Terrell was able to get some time off from work and it has been wonderful to have him home with me. He is a wonderful dad. I don't think I had to change one diaper in the first couple of days. Terrell went back to work yesterday and it was a hard adjustment for me. Owen was happy to see dad when he got home though!

Owen is three weeks now and mom and dad love him so much.
Owen will be blessed on Sept 14th at 1 pm. Everyone that would like to is welcome to come. Call me for the address to our church.