A New Chapter of Life

Elliott Scott Dickerson

Born: October 3, 2011

Time: 8:04 a.m.

Weight: 6 lbs 7 oz

Length: 19 in

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, 

but by the moments that take our breath away." 

- Anonymous

   This post was really intended for last week...but things have been a little busy lately :) We would like to officially welcome our son, Elliott, to our little, happy family!!! We're so happy that he could make it safe and sound. He's a tiny little guy with a lot of personality and strength. He already has the strength to lift his head up from time to time and try to kick himself off your lap. With all of this strength attributed to him, he still can't fit into his newborn clothes or diapers. We're grateful to anyone who has helped us through this time. It has been one of the most unimaginable and unforgettable experiences we have had on our journey. But of course, we have to share the story of how he came to be.

   Sunday, October 2, we took Trish to the hospital for her induction. After preparing ourselves for the hospital and taking a scenic walk through the BYU-I gardens, we got Trish into a hospital bed by 8:04 p.m. We had attempted to imagine how the night would unfold many times prior to arriving at the hospital; each imagination was different than the last. We did not know how long this night would actually carry.

   After getting connected to the IV and listening to the baby's heart monitor, it soon became apparent that Trish was already having contractions while being dilated at 2 cm. She didn't show any major signs of labor hours before, and I did not expect close contractions to be happening upon arrival to the hospital.

   After hours of back labor, she finally requested that beautiful advancement in medicine...the epidural. The nice anesthesiologist came in at about 4:30ish in the morning to give Trish the epidural that she wanted. At this point, she was at about 4 1/2 cm dilated. The pain started to calm itself so that Trish could actually fall asleep. I was able to get some sleep because Trish's mom was kind enough to come take a shift. Parents are the BEST to have around a delivery period.

   I fell asleep on one of those fold out bed chairs (I didn't even set it up correctly) and collapsed from a long night, that was still going. At about 6 in the morning, I woke up to our doctor inducing Trish by breaking the water. All I heard was that she was now at 5 cm. It all seemed like such a blur, and I fell back asleep because Trish's mom was still there to help her. I knew that it would take a while longer for Trish to be fully dilated.

   At about 6:30 a.m., I was awake and helping out however I could. Trish couldn't even feel the contractions any more and relied upon the monitor next to her to see if she was having one. She kept on mentioning a pressure that was coming from down below. The first thought was "she needs an extra dose of epidural". So, she got a boost in her epidural. After 20 minutes, she didn't feel a difference. The nurse decided that she should be checked to see where she was at. Sure enough, Trish was already at 10 cm (fully dilated) and ready to give birth to this baby.

   We called Trish's parents and sister to come up to the hospital. Emotions were running high and excitement was in the air. After some good hard pushing, for about 40 minutes, it seemed that Elliott didn't want to come out. The doctor finally made it, and within a few pushes, and with the help of a vacuum, Elliott Scott Dickerson was born at 8:04 a.m. on October 3, 2011 safe and sound! There were nothing but happy feelings and joy after seeing that little boy and holding him in our arms. I'll never forget the tears of joy in Trish's face as she looked at me and that little boy and said, "We have a baby boy!"

   We are now the proud parents of this little guy. He's got quite a personality and a calm nature about him. He very much has an appetite just like his dad, so he's beginning to chunk up little by little. There are a lot of other details of what went on in the hospital, but you want to know more, you can ask us. We're always open and excited to talk about it. It's hard to forget a miracle such as that. We know that Heavenly Father and the Lord were with us to bear us up and give us strength so that this little boy could come into our lives. He's already loved beyond imagination by more than his family. And with all the excitement, the greatest peace to the soul is knowing that our family is eternal and that Trish and I will be with our boy forever. 

   We Love You All very much and are ETERNALLY grateful for support through these crazy and difficult times! It was SO worth it in the end. And it's only the beginning...