Introducing Wilson Duke Conover

The most exciting thing to happen to our family this past year was the birth of our third child, Wilson Duke. Duke was born on October 6, 2010 at 5:26 a.m. and weighed 7 lbs, 8 ounces. Here is his exciting birth story...

We were living in Idaho while Todd was going to Boise State University when we found out we were pregnant. I had a home birth with Cannon and LOVED it, but I didn't feel that our current living situation was the best option for us to do a home birth, so I found a birthing center near our home. I loved it and the midwives and I was really excited to birth there. I planned to have a water birth this time. We needed to have the entire service paid for by the 36th week and we didn't have the money on our student lifestyle. Since Todd was on break for the summer, we decided to come home to Arizona to make some money here and head back to Idaho before we were "grounded" from travelling due to advanced pregnancy.

So we packed up and headed to AZ. On our way home, we decided to take an opportunity that would send Todd to Pittsburgh for a month. The plan was for me to stay in AZ with family while Todd flew to Pittsburgh. I would visit for a week or so and drive back to Idaho with the kids and he was going to return to Idaho on October 6th which was about a week and 1/2 before my due date. Since Cannon was 2 weeks overdue, we figured we had plenty of time.

I did my visiting and started the long drive back to Idaho. Luckily, Tina was moving to Utah and we planned to caravan as far as Utah and then me and the kids would be on our own from there. We got as far as Flagstaff and the car totally died! Like not fixable died (it was fixable but would have cost more than the car was worth). I called my parents and the next day the came to rescue us and towed me back to AZ.

After much deliberation, I came to the conclusion that I should probably just stay in AZ to have the baby. I was heartbroken that I wasn't going to have my water birth at my birthing center with the midwives I had gotten to know. But, all things considered, I figured it was the best option. So I picked my hospital and OBGYN and prepared to have this baby here.

The plans changed with Todd and he was able to come home a little earlier than expected. I had contractions all through the night a couple of times, so I didn't really believe I was in labor when it happened. There was a huge thunderstorm on Tuesday that knocked over a bunch of trees in our area. My contractions started at 3 p.m. that afternoon. I just went about my day as usual because I just knew I still had a few weeks left. We had dinner and watched a movie then we all went to bed. That's when my contractions really kicked in. I couldn't sleep anyway so I got up to read my book. Just for fun, I started tracking my contractions using an application that I downloaded on my iPhone.

Todd came in a couple of times to check on me but I sent him back to bed because I knew it wasn't real labor. He came in somewhere between 3 and 4 a.m. I told him that I thought a warm bath would help so he came downstairs with me and coached me through my relaxation. Then he started suggesting going to the hospital. I kept telling him that we were not going to the hospital because I was not really in labor and I didn't want to get sent home. Besides, our babysitter was out of town and we didn't have a back-up.

By the time Todd convinced me that I was in labor and that we needed to go to the hospital, I didn't want to go, I wanted to have that baby right there in the bathtub. He loaded up the kids in the car and grabbed a small overnight bag I had packed. It really took some work to convince me to get out of the tub, into a robe and into the car. I left without even putting shoes on my feet.

We pulled up to the emergency room and Todd ran in and came back out with a wheelchair and 3 nurses running out behind him. The nurses whisked me off and Todd unloaded the kids and ran in. The woman that admits people looked me over and did not really believe I was in labor because I was so calm, so she took her time asking questions. Todd was very insistent that someone come check on me. The nurse in triage came to get me while Todd met Heather at the front to pick up the kids (thanks again, Heather-you were a lifesaver!). Meanwhile the nurse hooked me up and asked me the standard questions. She also did not know how far along I was. When she finally got around to checking me, she yelled over her shoulder "Call the doctor, she's at a nine!"

That's when I felt the urge to push, so I started to push. Some more nurses came in and they started to transport me to a L&D room. One of them told me not to push and I said "How do you not push?" She showed me how to breath, and I tried it, but it didn't work so I said "Nope, I'm pushing". So I got to my room and Todd was still hung up in admissions. I was starting to worry that he wasn't going to make it in time, but I didn't think I could wait. He got there in time, but the doctor did not, so the nurses delivered the baby. Wilson Duke was born at 5:23 a.m., exactly 15 minutes after we arrived at the hospital. We gave those nurses a run for their money! They said that it is very uncommon to have such a quick delivery, especially with a mother that is so calm.

This is the nurse that delivered Duke.

This is the triage nurse.

Duke was born with blonde, curly hair and he was this red for weeks.

Prepping for his surgery. He was such a brave boy!

Meeting Grandma and Grandpa Conover for the first time.

All dressed up to go home.

He looked so tinsey in his seat.

Duke has been such a cheerful and good baby and he brings such joy to our lives.