Boys names are always hard, I have a list of girls names I love but I can never find a boy name that I absolutely love. Throughout the past nine months I had a list that was always changing. I would like a name for a week or two and then not like it anymore. Names that grew on me, Jared vetoed. Names that he suggested, I vetoed. Naming a baby is hard.
Back in August we went to the Temple. The last name of the lady I was doing work for was Carter. It stood out to me. I remembered that we had thought of that name as we were naming RJ. He was almost Carter Jared and we were going to name him CJ. Once in the Celestial Room, I asked Jared what he thought of Carter, he liked it. At home we mentioned it to the kids. They all liked it. As the weeks went on I started having second thoughts. I returned to my list of names, But everyone was set on Carter, they wouldn't accept any other name I came up with. As the days got closer to my due date, Carter started growing on me again and so I gave in to the decision and stuck with it.
Now for a middle name. RJ discovered that both his and Zachery's middle name started with a J and so was determined that we come up with a J name. I reminded them that both boys were named after their Great Grandfathers (Rex and James). And so we looked at family names. There was a Joseph on my mother's side, but I knew nothing about him and wasn't sure I liked the name. The kids liked the name Jacob but it wasn't family. We were trying to decided if we should go the J route or the family name route or just pick a name.
Back in June we visited Ohio and made a trip to Kirtland where we learned a lot about LDS church history and a little bit more of an ancestor named Lyman Wight. We knew Jared was a decent of his, we knew he was an apostle during the early church, we knew he was chastised in the scriptures, and we knew he was excommunicated following Joseph Smith's death. But that is all we really knew of the man until we went Kirtland. We walked some of the paths he walked, we stood close to the area that he preached in, and saw from a distant the river he was baptized in. We learned that he had a vision of the Savior, we discovered his strong testimony of Jesus Christ and the restored Gospel. We learned about is strong character of self sacrifice and all he did to help move the work forward during times of trouble and tribulations. We had a biography on our shelf of his for many years and and after that trip we read it and enjoyed learning about his life, his character, and his devoted friendship and service to the Prophet Joseph Smith. We decided that if we were to pick a Grandfather to name Carter after, it should be Lyman. He had a rich history of standing up for what he believed in no matter what the cost.
An so that is the story of naming our fourth son on to his birthing story.
I have been induced using Pitocin with my first three babies. I also had an epidural with the first three. The medicine wore off with RJ and there wasn't time to inject more when it was time to push. I remember the pain, I remember having a hard time breathing and being put on oxygen because his heart rate was dropping a little. I remember them having to suction him out and I remember not wanting to hold him right away because I was still feeling so much pain. Savannah was easy, I didn't feel a thing and I couldn't wait to get my hands on her. I don't remember much of Zachery's delivery other then my body started contracting on its own a week past his due date and then stopped once at the hospital and so the Pitocin was given after my epidural was already administered. All three were born in Idaho. Here in Virginia, every doctor said they would not induce me unless I was past two weeks due. I didn't like that idea. Thinking my body couldn't do it with out the Pitocin and I didn't want to wait two extra weeks. My mom was flying in and could only be here a short time. I needed to have the baby while she was here. I found a doctor that agreed to induce me, so we scheduled it four days after my due date in hopes my body would go on its own. I tired everything, to get labor started. Nothing happened.
I was scheduled to call the hospital at 6am on Sunday, Nov. 3rd to be told what time to come in for an induction that day. But at 2am I woke up with contractions. They continued every five minutes for two hours. I woke Jared up at 4 and said lets go. I think I was only admitted because I was already scheduled to be induced. I was still only 3cm, which I had been at for three weeks. My doctor wasn't on call till 7am. But the nurses got me settled and waited. The contractions slowed down. Once my doctor arrived I had him break my water at 8am. I asked that I try and see if my body would do what it was supposed to do without medicine for a few hours before we resorted to the Pitocin and the epidural. The contractions continued to slow down. And so we walked the halls and bounced on the ball. Things started to pick up and Jared learned of a pressure point between the web of the thumb and pointer finger. We tried it and within minutes the contraction became intense. We walked some more and things got harder. I couldn't handle it and asked for my epidural. The nurses came and tried to get fluid in my IV but had trouble and as they worked on it the contraction got intense. I was finally check and was at a 6. It was about noon and I could feel the pressure. I knew it was too late even before my nurse said it was. I was going to do this naturally.
I learned that I am a screamer. I close my eyes to pain, I can't look ( I have always done this, but it just became apparent to me). Once Carter was born the doctor told me I can open my eyes and look. It still took me some time to open my eyes, as the pain was still real. I have to be put on oxygen because of low blood pressure. And I can't form words, just scream with the pain. Jared learned that I not only can squeeze his hand off, but I can also squeeze his nipples off. Apparently my hand reached up and grabbed his chest during a contraction, he didn't like that very much. But he had to endure the pain as well. I learned that I do not like birthing without an epidural. I was tired and achy and wasn't ready to hold the baby when he appeared. I am glad that I only had to push three or four times and it was only an intense half hour because I don't think I could have handled more. The last little bit I thought I was going to die, I was having a hard time breathing and I understand how women do die during childbirth. I learned that I thought the drugs wore off with RJ but I now realize that there was still some in me then. This time around hurt far worse then any other time. I learned what real child birth feels like and that my body can indeed do it on it's own. I just need to learn a little more patience. But even though it was not fun at the time, the recovery has been better.
Carter was born on November 3rd at 12:30 pm and weighed 7 lbs 11 oz. I am grateful I was able to experience the birth. Not sure, I want to do it again. But I am grateful to say that I have done it and I understand the sacrifice of the women before me better then I understood it before. I see the miracle of birth more clearly then I saw it before. I am grateful for it. I am grateful for a healthy baby boy who is by far the best baby I have had. He has been a great sleeper and predicable eater. We all love him and the kids adorable having a baby around the house. Looking forward to teaching this newest spirit and watching him grow and mature. Can't wait to see what life has in store for our little Cater Lyman Wight.
