I’ll be honest. I didn’t know how I could manage to have room in my heart to love another little person as much as Hayden. But in the last week my heart has grown 137,000 %. This tiny boy has completely taken over me. He’s so perfect and I can’t handle how much I love him. There is this little part of me that is already sad he’s a week old. His sweet little round head fits so snug under my chin and he has that intoxicating newborn smell that I never want to wash off.
Hayden is such a good sister. Even though she’s still up to her usual antics, like demolishing my houseplants with her toy dinosaurs and eating all 30 boxes of yogurt raisins in one day, she helps me so much already. I am convinced she thinks Reid is a dog though. She constantly asks to “pet” him and describes him as cute and fluffy. We’re working on it.
Without further ado, the story of how we welcomed Reid Philip into our lives.

I had been ready to pop for a while. I’ll leave out some of the details but for those that know the lingo, I had already lost my plug, baby had dropped and then dropped some more, was dilated to a 4 and was having regular contractions every day. This kid was coming, yet being a little stubborn. So after much discussion with Andy and my doctor we decided at 39 weeks I would be admitted and have my water broken, hoping that was the last little push I needed to get things finished.
We arranged for Hayden to stay with family for the weekend and headed to the hospital at 6 am last Saturday. The drive in was so pretty and calm, it was peaceful and a perfect start.

We got checked in and set up in our room, and at 7 am my doctor broke my water. The waiting began…

Now here’s the issue I’d been having all along. I would start having contractions 3-4 minutes apart, that were strong and almost up to my pain goal. This would continue for an hour and a half and then just vanish. Like my body was on that last leg of the race and decided “Eh, I could use a water break. I’ll catch back up later.” This continued on until 10:00 that night. “Alright doc, I gave it a shot on my own. Let’s get this baby out. Seriously.” I had been given Pitocin with Hayden and wasn’t opposed to it, just knew it would intensify it all very quickly and wanted to try to let my body do it on its own. I had missed the memo my uterus sent out though that it wasn’t going to stick to the agenda we had discussed. Awesome.
They hooked me up to the drip within an hour and gave word to the anesthesiologist she would be needed soon. Not soon enough my friends.
They ask you to set a pain goal. On a scale of 1-10 at what point do you want an epidural. I opted for a 5. At 4.5 I gave the nurse a jingle and said I needed some drugs thinking I’d get a jump on it before it started getting serious. What I didn’t plan for was contraction hopscotch. It went from 4.5 straight on up to 8 in a hop, skip and a jump. And at this point my singing started. When I really want to yell because it hurts so bad but instead my yells trail off into a little jingle. Finally, an eternity later, and the magical cart filled with drugs arrived. Sherri was the calmest person on the planet, which I appreciated and she began her work on my back.
After some hmmmms and huhs, she told me that trying to administer the epidural on me was like trying to sew leather with a small needle. “Are you a runner or exercise a lot?! Man, this just like solid wood. Look at this Bobbi, it just won’t give at all.” What should of been a compliment, that at least part of me was in shape, was useless to me at this point. I didn’t care if she needed to use a hammer, just get the damn needle in. What I imagined as an hour later, though I’m sure it was 10 minutes, Sherri’s work was done and they laid me back to let it go to work. Soon I was warm and cozy and was telling Sherri she was my absolute favorite person right now.
My nurse Mary Rose was explaining that I would now need a catheter and as soon as my contraction finished she would insert it. Only the contraction didn’t stop and I informed her “You know what? I’m just gonna push, because he’s coming. Right now.” She exchanged the catheter for her phone and rang the front that Dr. Harrison needed to come ASAP. Just a few minutes later she arrived and the magical dance of labor began. It’s all kind of a whirlwind at that point. Poor Andy held my airplane grade puke bag that I began hurling into and the baby garb was laid down on my bed underneath me. This sounds really awesome now doesn’t it?! Ha.
The nausea subsided and I just remember being told PUSH. I missed the first contraction, kind of gun shy on that one. Then ONE contraction, TWO contraction and THREE and that sweet release overcame me, and a gooey squishy little man was put on my chest.
It’s hard to sum up what you feel at that point. Exhaustion, relief, excitement. The human body is an incredible thing. The fact that you created this little being and watched him grow for 9 months and he’s now pink and squirming on your chest, it’s surreal and overwhelming.

I feel like they could have given him a more comfortable first weigh in. Sorry buddy.

The madness died down and we then just got to focus on our beautiful baby. He got cleaned up and checked out, and then it was all snuggles from there on out.
We had a small scare during labor and when his head came out, the cord was wrapped around his neck. He came fast and it was quickly removed and luckily it had happened on his journey out and didn’t cause any damage other than some small markings behind his ear. We were blessed with a healthy baby boy and don’t take that for granted one single bit.

Reid Philip Yochum. All 7 lbs 9 oz of him, born at 1:37 am on Sunday August 17.

We tried to get some sleep but it’s a lot to wind down from. Andy gave it a solid effort.

We finished out the day at the hospital, welcomed family and friends to meet our newest addition, and had Hayden dropped off that afternoon to introduce her to her brother. Unfortunately, she wasn’t real impressed. The balloons were more entertaining.
We stayed the night and checked out by 1:30 on Monday. We got home and got all settled in as a new family of four.

Looking back now, I don’t know how I ever thought I couldn’t love two even more than I love one. I remember being pregnant with Hayden and being utterly terrified and how I struggled that first year to find my place as a mother. All those fears and worries have just melted away and this little boy has brought so much to our family. Those scary moments when I thought I couldn’t handle two, have now transformed into a longing for another. Who knows when or if it will happen but when it does, I’ll welcome it with open arms. Because nothing can beat this kind of all consuming love. This can only be called heaven.