**Zack and Tara Wilson**

The pregnancy and birth story of Damon. (Warning: extremely long story and I go into a lot of detail)

We found out I was pregnant on the 5th of July while we were visiting family in Utah (we were living in South Dakota at the time). I cried and laughed with excitement and couldn't believe that it finally happened. We had been trying for the past 3 months and even though for a lot of people that wasn't a lot of time but for me it kind of was. Leading up to the time we actually got pregnant I cried every time I got my period because I wanted to be pregnant so badly. Zack was very supportive and helpful and I am so lucky to have him as my husband and partner. He was with me when we found out we were expecting and he could not of been happier either. It was difficult to keep this big of a secret from our family and friends for the first few weeks but I have had too many friends announce it and then miscarry and we just didn't want to have to go through that if we didn't need to. It was especially hard to keep it from our friends in Vermillion since I had morning sickness the whole first trimester. I didn't throw up everyday, but felt nauseous almost constantly and retched about 3 times a week. We waited till I was 12 weeks along and we heard the heartbeat and saw him/her in a ultrasound all till we announced it.

We told my parents a few weeks before so I could get advice from my mom and all but we waited to tell the rest of the family and friends. We called and told the family and close friends that we wanted to tell before we announced it on Facebook and other social media sites then after a week or so announced it on Facebook. Here is how we told the social media world (since sadly enough that is now important in our society)

We weren't really sure if baby (we didn't know the gender at the time) was going to be delivered in SD or not but I thought it was clever and fun 😄

Everything went smooth sailing after I got over the morning sickness. I will never forget the first time I felt the baby move (well realized it was the baby, it feels a lot like gas to tell you the truth). It really made it real since I was barely showing. I felt a little bad for Zack since he couldn't feel the baby kick yet, but the bigger I got the kicks and movements became more prominent and he finally was able to feel the movements.

I really liked my doc in Vermillion. Untill i was farther along I went in every 4 weeks to hear the heartbeat and check my levels (pee samples). I had to get over my fear of shots pretty quickly because my first few appointments I had to get many shots.

The big 20 week appointment came around and we were finally going to be able to find out the gender! We were so sure that it was going to be a girl. I don't know why but We were certain it was. So when we were in there and the guy told us it was a boy we were pretty shocked but so excited nonetheless. Now we could finally figure out a name which we found out was extremely hard. We were set on 3 different names: Liam, Carter, and Damon all of which we liked for different reasons. Liam was our favorite but it was one of the most popular names of the year and we didn't really like that. Carter and Damon we liked but were just not sure which name he was going to be.

We had no big complications other than I had really bad back pain the bigger I got and he was breach for a long time. I think the back pain is because I have such a small torso that he put a lot of pressure on my lower back and it was very painful the bigger he got. He was also kicking my cervix like crazy which is extelremely painful and is also how we found out he was breach because I was freaking out thinking something was wrong so we went in and got an ultrasound when I was about 5 mo along. I looked up exercises to try and flip him like laying upside down on a ironing board leaning against the couch. Not really sure if that helped or he just decided to finally flip but when I had a ultra sound at around 7 months we found that he finally flipped and was face down.

When I was about 6 months along we moved back to Utah and I went back to my OBGYN doc that I had before we moved to SD. By that time I was going to the docs office every other week. We were very anxious for our little boy to get here.

While Zack worked I was busy getting our house set up and his room done. I have to admit I might of gone a little overboard with all of the decorations I did but I had a lot of fun doing it.

(I made this when we finally figured out what his name was about a week or so before I delivered)

The closer the d day was getting the more anxious we became. My aunts threw me a awesome family shower, my old YW leader Kristen Southwick threw me a ward shower and my high school friend Klary threw me a friend shower. We were pretty set after that and only had to get a few essentials. My parents gave us the crib and my mom made a couple blankets and zacks mom have us the dresser and rocking chair.

Finally the due date came and I was not dialating at all, I wasn't even a fingertip my doc said. It was very frustrating because I felt ready to pop and just wanted to hold my sweet baby boy in my arms. My doc said that if I didn't come on my own by a week over my due date, they would induce me. The week dragged by rather slowly as each day we expected him to make his appearance.

(40 weeks and 3 days along)

Finally Friday the 14th of March came around with no change and so that night at 10:00pm we went in to be induced. That night before we went in we had cafe rio with my family and right after, hospital bag in hand we headed to McKay Dee in Ogden.

When we arrived I was full of jitters. I didn't really know what to expect as I put on my hospital gown and sat down on the bed. After they Hooked me up with heart monitors on me and my belly, They first put a pill called cytoec up by my cervix to efface me all of the way and to possibly start getting me to contract. That lasted for a few hours as I tried to get some sleep but failed miserably. Around 3:00am ish I started feeling contractions which left me pretty dang miserable. I was not against the epidural at all and so I asked them to give me it because if I could deliver pain free I was all for it. The anesthesiologist came in and after two attempts the epidural was in place. After a few minutes I started to feel it kick in along with some nausea. I felt so sick that I actually threw up and Zack was quick that I mostly got it in a bag (a little got on my gown but that was the least of my worries). As soon as I threw up the monitors started going off like crazy and some nurses came in to check what was wrong. Damon's heart rate dropped down significantly and so they threw a oxygen mask on me and rotated me on my side to try and get his heart rate back up on his own. I was freaking out. I was so scared and I could tell the nurses were nervous. Zack put on a good face which he claims was to help me feel calm but it just freaked me out more. I felt so helpless and frustrated that I didn't know what I could do. They broke my water and put a fetal heart monitor up by his head (which I later found out that they slightly screw in his head so it stays in place which they thankfully didn't tell me till afterwards because I would of freaked out). Eventually after rotating from side to side a few times his heart rate came back up to where it was suppose to be. I started to relax a little but was still scared out if my mind that his heart rate would drop again.

I started slowly dialating which made me happy and they put me on pitocin which I was happy I already had the epidural because I have heard it pretty dang miserable if you have it naturally. I tried sleeping some but I think I was just too wired to sleep at all. Around 7:30ish my doc came in and we were talking about the possibility of doing a c section (I was dilated to a 5 but I was progressing too slowly for her liking). I was completely fine with having one, I would of preferred having him vaginally but I didn't care how he came out as long as he was healthy. His heart rate was inconsistent after each contraction and that is a sign of distress. It didn't drop that far each time but enough that we were a little worried and thought a c section might be best. While she was in the room with me, his heart rate dropped down to 50 (it was suppose to be around 135ish and that is the lowest it has ever got) within minutes we were in the operating room prepping for a c section. I was pretty much in shock the whole time. I remember holding zacks hand and just praying over and over again that our baby boy was alright and that it would be over soon. I don't think I have ever been more scared in my entire life. The anesthesiologist was really nice and I think could see my scared face by trying to make me relax by telling jokes and I just remember laughing halfheartedly because I was afraid to move because they were about to cut me open. They put the curtain up and all I could see was Zack holding my hand while the other hand was strapped down to keep my shoulders flat against the bed. I was gripping his in one hand and the strap in the other as I stared at him while he sort if talked me through it. They started cutting and I was surprised how much I could feel them moving me (and my layers of skin they cut. No pain just pressure) around.after a while I heard them say to each other if they were ready to cut my uterus because after that everything had to move very quickly. As soon as they made the cut (What I hear from Zack since he was watching) there was a ton of movement and I could feel my doc practically getting on top of me and pushing right below my ribs to get him out. I thought they would of just cut and pull him out but they make as small a cut as they can and one person pushes on him on the outside while other pull him from the inside out. He came at 8:08am. Zack said it was so cool seeing him come out of me (although right after they pull him out and hand him away they pull out the placenta which he said is one of the most disgusting things he has seen). They showed him to me real quick then wisked him away to be cleaned up and looked at. Zack went with him so all I could do was stare at the clock and wait for them to close me back up. After a few minutes Zack came in with Damon (because that is what we finally said we would name him) and put him on my shoulder. I was impatient for them to sew me up so I could fully see and hold him. Finally around 8:30am I was wheeled in to a recovery room so I could hold my sweet perfect baby boy.

Damon James Wilson weighed in at 7lbs 4oz and 20 inches long born on March 15, 2014. He was perfect. I couldn't believe that he was finally here! We were so happy and proud and thankfull that he was happy and healthy. I tried breastfeeding and he latched on perfectly which of course I didn't have milk yet but I think he got enough colostrum to satisfy him.

My parents were there when I came out of the OR so it was nice having my mom around to help out. The time in the hospital was nice. I was still numb from the waist down for the first few hours but once that wore off I started to feel the pain. The nurses were nice to keep up the pain meds but if I laughed or moved wrong I'd feel the pain. Damon was the perfect baby. He had the sweetest face and a perfectly round head since I didn't have to push him out. He had the biggest feet and hands that all of the nurses commented on them. He was very content unless he was hungry or poopy and Zack was nice enough to change him each time since I couldn't stand or lean over a changing table. We had many family and friends come and visit and meet Damon. I had food brought to me 3 times a day (if not more) and the second day in the hospital I was finally able to take a shower and walk around for a bit which was definelty needed and although it was painful it was worth it to move around a while.

By the third day in the hospital we were starting to get a little restless and decided to leave for home (bad choice! Next baby I will stay as long as I can!). Over the next few days it was pretty much a blur. I think we were operating on autopilot just revolving our time around him and his feeding and sleeping. I was still in pain and was trying hard to not to move around too much. My milk finally came in and I had so much that he didn't even drink half of it. We tried to get in a schedule and started to get the hang of things. We did take a random trip to the ER because I was having sharp abnormal pain that my pain meds didn't help with. (which they just told me I had a buildup of fluid on my incision and it would eventually go away which it did a few days later) after that the days went by rather quickly. I was still trying to get in a schedule and get use to being a momma. Breastfeeding was a lot harder than I would of thought, I had a lot of pain and my nipples were cracked and bleeding for a long time. After I started to feel mostly back to normal (around 7 weeks postpartum) I think I finally got the hang of breastfeeding. He was such a happy and good boy. He slept great, he even gave me a few nights of 8 hours of sleep!

We blessed him on May 4th 2014

He rolled for the first time when we was about 4 months old on the 24th of July. And crawled for the first time when he was around 6 mo old (it was a slow progression, first scooting, then finally started moving his arms and legs and now that he's 7 mo old he has it down to a science). He babbles and laughs and is the sweetest happiest boy. He's a little bit of a mammas boy and loves to be held but is so wonderful that I could not imagine our lives without him. He still doesn't quite sleep through the night and I just can't stomach letting him cry it out yet especially because he is teething (I think at least it seems he has been teething for months now). One of these days I will do it and just let him cry it out. I have hundreds of photos but here are some of the past 7 months of his life.