William Duane Ellsworth

William's Birth Story and where the name came from.

Several months ago we had Stake Conference and one of the men who spoke from the stake talked about how he was named after his grandfather, I believe. His grandfather asked what he (the man speaking) had done with his (the Grandfather's) name. It got me thinking... our other two boys first names are names we picked only because we liked the sound of them. This time around I wanted our child's first name to be the same as someone significant so we could tell him stories of this person and how he (our child) could live up to this name. The name William first struck me after listening to I think a Mormon Message about William Tyndale. He was the main man in translating the Bible to English and was burned at the stake for it. We also had a friend in Med School who named their son William and nick named him Will. I liked it. 

In November, my Grandma Mickelson passed away. Her funeral was inspirational! She lived an amazing life of caring for and serving others as well as keeping a strong testimony of the Savior. After pondering the wonderful things she did in her life, my thought of naming our next son after a family member was solidified; the amazing people in our lives and those who lived before us to make our lives possible, should not be forgotten. After coming home from Arizona on December 1st, I pulled out all the family history books we have from ancestors and looked through the names and read many many stories of remarkable people. After going through many pages and learning of so many deceased family members, we stuck with William. Duane's, father's name was Edmund William Ellsworth. He lived a life of caring for others and thinking more of others needs than his own. This was apparent when at Thanksgiving he'd give all his turkeys away, saving none for himself. 

After having William set in my mind, I moved on to a middle name. Again I looked over the famly history books and names and couldn't decide on one name to go with William. After again pondering and thinking of the great family that we have and questioning, "Who do I want our son to hear stories about and who's example can he follow?", Duane's name came to mind. I love my husband. He is a great example of patience and charity to me and our children. I've always said that if our children can grow up to follow their father's example (as apposed to mine...) and to be just like him, they'll be set!

I ran the name by Duane and he wasn't apposed and so William Duane it is!   

I really do not see him becoming a Bill or Billy. Instead, we've come up with a few of our own favorite nicknames. The first was just moments after being born; One-Eyed Willy. Just after being born, they placed William up on my chest and for several moments he only opened one eye. We laughed at this. He sure is a cutie! (missed getting a picture of it at birth)

I've also called him Little Man and then Will Man.

Duane's called him Willy.

Kalvin says "Will" "ee" "um". Very cute!

Tristen is pretty good at pronouncing his name as well since Grandma Mickelson helped him with it while we were still in the hospital.

And on to the birth story!

For each of my other two births, I was induced. It's kind of a bummer to not know what it's like to go through labor without having drugs throwing your body into unnatural contractions. So, like the other two births, I was really hoping for a natural labor (but didn't want him to come till his scheduled induction date because we were so busy with getting the rest of the house ready before his arrival). Well, the night before  the scheduled induction, January 4, we all (Duane, me, my mom, Kalvin and Tristen) went out to Chili's for our last supper. We had a great time and I was feeling contractions starting at dinner and for the rest of the evening. Of course they were not very intense, but it was fun to feel them since with the other two I was pretty much strapped to a hospital bed while experiencing the contractions.

5 minute version of the birth:

* went to bed at 1 AM after finishing my blog posts about the attic (we had been working hard all day long and it took till 1 AM to get everything done that we wanted. No, that I wanted done).

* woke up at 4 AM with contractions that wouldn't let me sleep and timed them at 7-9 minutes apart and 1.5 minutes long

* got to the hospital at 7:50 to finalized paper work and insurance info

* talked to the nurse forever about my health history (didn't think I was an unhealthy person till I had to tell the hospital visits and surgeries I've had)

 * had the doctor check me and then she broke my water at 9:03 when I was dilated to 3 cm and 80% effaced.

* Soon after she broke my water, they started pitocin (about 9:30 probably)

* 10:00ish, Duane went to get some breakfast

* 10:15ish, contractions were getting very intense, I told the nurse I'd like to have the epidural sooner than later

* Resident OB doc came in and check me, she said, "you have to be at least 4 cm for me to give you clearance for the epidural. I crossed my fingers. I was at 5 cm and 80% effaced.

* The nurse called for the anesthesiologist who was there quickly (THANK YOU!)

* They gave me the epidural (Duane got back from breakfast about half way through them giving me the epidural) and before the anesthesiologist left I could feel the urge to push.

* 11:12, The resident OB doc seemed annoyed that we would call her in again to check me so soon, but then proclaimed I was at 10 cm and ready to go.

* We waited what seemed to be an eternity for the attending doc to come deliver. The scheduled attending OB was in a C-section so they wanted me to wait till the other attending came.

* 11:48 William was born! Apgar 8/9 (came out blueish) 

8 pounds, 10 ounces, 21 inches long

Moral of the story is, even if you've had two other babies where you've have to be induced, labor and delivery can go from 3cm and 80% to "ready to go" in just 2 hours and 9 minutes!

 He was born on his 41 week birthday! Being slightly over cooked, his skin was peeling off and even now, almost two weeks later, we are fighting peeling skin.

 He's got about as much hair as Kalvin had at birth. Then it all fell out at about 4 weeks. We'll see what William does with his hair.

 Tired Mamma!

 Duane was good to get a lot of pictures :-)

 First picture with Baby William.

 Sometimes I make myself laugh! You can laugh at this picture too. 

My nose is not so swollen now :0) so I look less like Little Miss Piggie.

 The boys coming for their visit to see their baby!

 Tristen was very enthusiastic about William at first asking to hold him.

 Kalvin was curious and almost afraid to touch him to start.

The whole clan, happy or not. 

 Then Kalvin warmed up to the idea of sitting next to William, but still didn't want to touch him right away. 

 Maybe William's flaking skin was a little intimidating... not sure.

 But he really wanted to see the umbilical cord (we had just looked through the entire book "A Child is Born" the night before that is VERY graphic and shows the growing baby from conception through birth. It's a very cool book, BTW.

 Tristen soon lost interest and wanted to watch Ratatouille instead.

 Grandma admiring her newest grandson.

 Kalvin wanted a turn all to himself.

 It was very sweet to see my mom with William she was talking away to him and he seemed to be talking right back with little coo's.

 Tired Daddy!

 William's skin was pretty red the first two days.

 Mommy loving her time with baby!

 William loves physical affection! I got up to go to the bathroom and William started crying. All Duane had to do was rub his tummy for a moment and he'd stop crying.

 The doctors had to wait for William to pee before they could do the circumcision and he didn't pee till almost 24 hours after birth so we had to wait longer than I wanted to go home and then just after they finished the circ. and we thought we were good to go, the nurse informed us that we were waiting his billy ruben (sp?) lab to come through. It was kind of nice because Duane being a doctor at the hospital was able to call the lab from our room phone and inquire as to the current status of the lab and ultimately was able to have it expedited. 

I was very anxious to get back to my own place and I really missed my boys! Kalvin and Daddy picked me up from the hospital.

 This is Kalvin's latest smile. It's so funny, he says, "Isn't this a great smile, Mommy?!"

 While we waited for them to let us go, Kalvin made use of the time by taking everyone's temperature.

Here is the Journal excerpt from the day after William's Birth:
(Basically a drawn out version to the details of the birth I have above and mostly for my own record)

My mom has been in town helping to prep the house for the baby that would soon come. She has been so helpful! The day before I was to be induced, she helped to sand the walls and paint them upstairs then we moved our furniture around. It felt so wonderful for it to look so great and to be organized. That night, we went out together as a family to Chili's to celebrate our Last Supper. I was having contractions through dinner and the rest of the night that were very mild, but encouraging that I was having them :-). We all had a good time. On the way home we stopped by Lowes to get some switches and outlets to finish up the upstairs. We didn't get home till about 9 and the boys weren't in bed till about 10 since Kalvin wanted to read the book A Child is Born. We talked all about how babies are born while looking at the pictures. Tristen had fun playing with his helicopters and airplane while we read.

After getting the boys down I went into the office to work on the blog (I really wanted to post about the attic updates before going to bed). I finished the posts close to midnight then went upstairs to see Duane finishing a show in bed. We went to bed close to 1AM. Then at 4 AM I was awakened to contractions. I started timing them at 7-9 minutes apart and 1.5 minutes long. I was in and out of sleep while timing them till 6:00 when I got up to go to the bathroom, put on my makeup and call the hospital to know what time I should come in. 

The contractions had to me too excited to go back to sleep after the hospital let me know to come in at 7:30. I had a long time to put my makeup on and my mom came out and talked to me a little bit and let me know that she had a dream about the baby and that his hair was long blonde (she showed with her fingers that it was about 1/2" long). She wasn't sure if it was a "real" dream or just one that she had on her own. (Still don't know her feelings on this after meeting William in person). 

Duane and I made it to the hospital at 7:50. We had to go over several things with registration before they sent us to our room. 

The contractions I was having at this point were strong enough that I didn't really want to walk through them so we stopped on the way to our room to allow me to breathe during a contraction. The nurse, Buffy, took several more minutes to go over more things with me about my health. After Buffy was finished we had an OB resident check me. I was 3 cm dilated and 80 percent effaced (two days prior I was 1-2 cm dilated and "still pretty thick". I was happy with hearing about the progress and I asked if she would break my water. She broke my water at _____________. About 20 minutes after breaking my water, they started the pitocin and about 20 minutes after the pitocin was started, I began feeling more intense contractions. I told Buffy that the contractions were getting pretty intense and that I'd probably want to epidural sooner than later. Within 5 minutes the resident OB doc. was there. She let me know that I had to be dilated to at least a 4 before they'd give me the epidural. I was at a 5 and 90% effaced. The nurse called for anesthesia and they were there and ready in just a few minutes. All this had happened while Duane left for some breakfast (he was gone 25 minutes). He came back in the room to see I was having an epidural placed. The epidural took 20 minutes to really start working, but it was a neat experience because I could still feel the contractions they just didn't hurt. Within 25 minutes of getting the epidural, the nurse asked me if I felt anything down in my crotch. At first I didn't, but I let her know seconds later than I thought I did. She called for the resident to come check me again. The resident looked slightly annoyed that we would be calling for her again so soon, but when she checked she let the nurse know I was ready to go! 10 cm and fully effaced! So, from the time they broke my water (3cm) to 10 cm it was only 2 hours and 9 minutes! 

Then I had to wait about 25 minutes for a doctor to get there so I could deliver. It felt like FOREVER! William. Dr. Bruce Clark came and William was out within 10 minutes. Just after Duane cut the cord, they put William up on my chest and I was able to hold him there for about 5 minutes before he got too cold and they had to put him under the heater. I loved this time we had together. I had been so excited to meet him. I loved listening to his cry. I'm not sure why I think newborn cries are so sweet. He is a tender hearted baby though and loves to be touched and spoken to. When he was just under an hour old my mom was able to hold and talk to him and she loved that as she spoke he talked right back.

All went well with the delivery. I tore only a little (a level one tear). The doctor said it was fairly superficial so I expect an easy recovery :-). 

I was so excited for the boys to meet their little brother, William and just after I nursed him for the first time, my mom was at the hospital with the boys. I had sent Duane out in the hall to meet them when they came up. From inside on the bed I could hear Tristen yell from a distance, "Daddy!" followed by quick pitter patter of feet running down the hall. Duane let them all in the room and the boys came running. Tristen saw the baby and immediately said, "Hold him?! Hold him?!" I had Tristen come up on the bed with me and he was able to hold him. After a short time Tristen wanted down. He ran to the other side of the room where he saw Duane's XOOM tablet and asked, "Ratatouille?" 

Kalvin was interested much longer. He asked, "Can I see his cute hands?" so we unwrapped William. Kalvin didn't really want to touch the baby for the first little bit. He asked questions and wanted to see my tummy. I showed him and he said, "but where did the baby pop out?" I explained that he came from my pee pee and Kalvin wanted to see that but I declined at his few attempts in asking for me to show him where the baby came out.

Kalvin was also very sad that I wouldn't be coming home with him and he posed the idea a couple times that they could take the baby home in the car seat. 

The boys soon left with Grandma who took them to pick out toys at Target and to eat at McDonalds. I hear that Kalvin got a monster truck and Tristen got a helicopter. I talked on the phone with Kalvin for a few minutes this morning. I asked what cool things his monster truck can do and he said, "it's a surprise!". Kalvin is such a sweet boy. When we first got on the phone together he asked, "So Mom, how are you doing at the hospital?". He has always been very thoughtful just like his dad. I hope that he grows to follow in his father's footsteps as well. Tristen was fun to talk to on the phone as well. When I asked about him being a big boy because he is wearing underwear and going to the bathroom in the potty he replied, "Ummmm... no." I laughed and questioned if he really was not a big boy. He soon changed his mind. 

It is now just 24 hours after giving birth and I am waiting to go home. We had to wait for William to pee this morning before the OBGYN was allowed to perform the circumcision. The procedure took only 10 minutes before Dr. Clark was back in the room and said that it went well. Now I am waiting an hour to see that the bleeding will stop and then the nurse will show me how to care for it before I am to leave. I have been very anxious to get home and to see my other boys as well. I miss them and their energetic personalities. I miss seeing Tristen's beautiful smile because he thinks so many things are funny. I miss Kalvin's creative mind coming up with games for he and Tristen to play. Soon I will be there with them though. I am also anxious to see how they do with William. 

Actually, this morning, my mom called to let me know that she is potty training Tristen. She said, "I'm sorry, I probably should have asked you first..." I am happy to have her try to potty train him. I just hope that the 6 days she has left here is long enough to get him fully trained cause it's gonna be hard for me for a little bit trying to be a good breastfeeder for William and a diligent at asking Tristen to go potty.