Dallyn's Birth Story

Dallyn's birth is one of the wildest, most unexpectedd things I have ever experienced.

It started on Sunday, the 27th of July. I woke up really crampy and REALLY hopeful because I was scheduled to be induced on Monday at 6am. Bryan's family, his mom and two sisters, were visiting from Rock Springs and so all day we hung out with them and had a fun BBQ during lunch time. Around 4 everyone was leaving so Bryan and I decided to take Jayda to Dairyland and get her an icecream cone with his youngest sister before they left town. We got there and before I could even sit down and enjoy it I had an amazingly strong contraction. It made me stop in my tracks and I couldn't even breath. I went and sat down after it was over and before I even licked my icecream cone I started to have another one. They were barely a minute and thirty seconds apart so I told Bryan to call my dad right then to meet us at the hospital to pick up Jayda. We got to the hospital at 5:00 and I was 4cm dilated. After the nurse checked me, she started rushing around calling more nurses to help her set up quickly and to get a hold of my dr to get in there right away. I was so confused, at 4cm I thought I still had a long labor ahead of me. All of a sudden the contractions picked up and were extremely painful. They had called the dr to give me an epidural and I was so anxious for him to get there. Anytime anyone came in the room I asked if it was Chris (the dr). The nurses were still rushing around and filling out forms and setting up all of the instruments. A half an hour later the nurse check me and I was 8cm, she was concerned that I was too far along to get an epidural, I had a COW!!! I did NOT take any birthing classes, so thank god my nurse was extremely sweet and helped me breath through the contractions and helped me relax. Finally the dr came to give me my epidural (at 6:00pm) and was done putting it in at 6:08pm. We had to stop a few times because my contractions were so strong. While I was getting it, I suddenly felt the intense urge to push. I never felt that with Jayda since I had an epidural that time so it was a very weird sensation. My nurse had to get into my face and talk me through my contractions because I couldn't NOT push. My dr was still about 8 minutes away and so they wanted me to stall until he got in there. He finally got there and so I started pushing, which felt SOOOO much better. I pushed three or four times and then my water broke (all over my dr and myself, lol). A few pushes later Dallyn was born! After my water broke Dallyn's heart rate dropped scarily low and so the dr and the nurse really pushed me to get him out really fast. When his head came out, he had the cord around his neck so tight the dr couldn't unwrap it so he clamped it and cut it quickly. So at 6:21pm, Dallyn Randall Griffin was born! He came out and cried right away. Even though his heart rate dropped and he was dark purple, the dr still put him on my stomach right away and they started to rub him and suck the gunk out of his mouth. He was absolutely perfect! I got to hold him for about 15 minutes and then they took him to the warmer to make sure everything was ok and he was 100% healthy.

My labor was so fast that my dad and Jayda were still playing at the park right down the street so they were able to come over and see Dallyn about 15 minutes after he was born. Everyone got to see him get weighed and measured. He weighed 7lbs 1.1oz and was 20 1/4 inches long. Jayda didn't take a nap that day so she wasn't really sure what was going on.

It was an amazing experience, I am sure that I will remember it for the rest of my life. I was so proud of myself that I handled a natural childbirth (since my epidural didn't even have time to take effect, lol) the way I did. I was loud and did my share of screaming while he was coming out but all in all I think I handled it well. Next time I will definitely be ready for anything. After Jayda's birth taking about 12 hours, I was sure that I was in for a least a few hours of labor with this little guy!

So even though he procrastinated, when he got busy he REALLY got busy!!

Here is Bryan cutting his cord after he was out



Getting cleaned off



First Family Picture



Checking out our new baby boy!



Dallyn getting weighed



Daddy Holding Dallyn for the first time



Jayda meeting Dallyn for the first time



My little sister and I while Dallyn was getting weighed. She was there through the whole labor....I am pretty sure she won't be having children for a while :)

Welcome Dallyn!!!!

Dallyn Randall Griffin has arrived!!



He was born at 6:21pm on Sunday July 27th!! We only spent an hour and a half at the hospital before he came flying out! He weighed 7lbs 1oz and was 20 1/4 inches long. He is absolutely the best baby ever and we are all having a great time enjoying him and giving him lots of love!!! I will write more later when things have settled down a little bit more!!

Passing Time

As the last few days of being a mother of one dwindle, I felt like I needed to take Jayda and spend some time with just her and I. A few days ago we hit the local dinosaur museum....you would think this kid had died and gone to heaven! I had no idea she was going to enjoy it so much! She normally enjoys anything as long as she is out and about but this was above and beyond. It definitely left me feeling great too, she was so happy. And of course having grandma buy her something from the gift shop didn't end the day horribly either, silly grandmas!!

Not Even Funny Anymore......

Well, I am 40 weeks and 5 days........5 days OVERDUE!! It's to the point where it's not even funny anymore. Haha God, you can send this little guy on down any time now........PLEASE!!!! I just got back from the dr and I am 4cm dilated, the baby's head is engage and we are ready to rock and roll......yet nothing is happening, lol!! Bryan is home, no one is missing so lets get this show on the road kid!

My dr just called with the time of my set induction date if I don't go into labor before then. It will be on Monday at 6am. Since I am so dilated, they will most likely just break my water and see if that will kick start things and if that doesn't help, I will be administered pitocin through an IV. I am really nervous about being induced, Jayda came on her own and my labor was wonderful. I am nervous that this birth won't go so well if it doesn't happen on it's own. I am so ready to hold this precious little boy in my arms!


Here the bump is at 40 weeks

4 days to go!!

I only have 4 more days until my due date, where did the time go?!! I can't believe he could be here any day!! Bryan will be flying into Casper on the night of the 20th (have I just repeated myself? I can never remember, I don't have enough brain cells left thanks to pregnancy!!!). So hopefully he will hold off until Daddy gets here. It's looking like he might. My contractions has slowed WAY down and I am not having any other labor symptoms. Even though I am extremely uncomfortable, I will be happy if he stays in there at least 6 more days. I think I can handle it so that Bryan will be able to welcome his son into the world!!



39 Weeks and 3 days

My Great Grandma, Nanny

On thursday of last week my mom, Jayda and I went to visit my great grandmother (Jayda's Great Great) in her nursing home in Worland. She is so sweet. She has alzheimer's so our conversations always run along the same lines but they are so sweet. Every since I can remember her she has loved stuffed animals, any kind really as long as someone she loves get them for her. When she moved into her "apartment" in the nursing home my family brought all of her favorites. Her first statement when we get there is how she keeps getting all of those stuffed animals from her loved ones. She doesn't really remember the specific of our lives, and most of the time I am my sister but it's sweet to see her face light up when she sees us. This time we took Jayda too and she had a great time playing with her. Jayda really enjoyed her too. I am really thankful that we get to spend some time with her, she won't be around forever. She will be 89 in August and her health is ok except for her disease. She asks every 5 minutes how many more days until the baby will be born, and then makes my mom and I promise that someone will either call or send her a card when Dallyn is born. Here are some pictures of Jayda loving on her! They really had a great time together!

Dr Appointment

Well, yesterday I had another dr appointment. It went well, I love my dr! He has a great sense of humor and makes it really fun! I am dilated to 3 1/2 cm and he stripped my membranes so hopefully he will be coming soon. Although not too soon, my baby shower that my mom is trying to "surprise" me with is on Saturday, lol!!

Maternity Photo Shoot

I never got nice maternity photos when I was pregnant with Jayda and I seriously regretted it. This time I made my sister go with me to the park and I explained to her how my camera worked and gave her a basic idea of what I wanted. Thank god for Picasa editing, they turned out WONDERFUL!! And the great thing is that they were FREE!!! Jayda was amazingly happy considering we had just walked a mile and it was super super hot! It turned into more of a photo shoot for her and I but I did manage to get a few cute belly shots too!












I have to give a shout out to Susanna for giving me the wonderful maternity shirt, I love it! :) Thank you!!

I DID IT!!

And it feels so good! I finally got the nerve to chop off my hair, YAY!! I went in there not really knowing what I wanted and so it was a surprise for me! It's short, but not boy short, I am not such a fan of those! Some people can pull it off (like Nat and Anna, I love her hair, but most just look gross!) I love it though, it makes me feel so much lighter and COOLER!!! Definitely a plus for a 9 month preggo! I am pretty excited too because it will be very low maintanence in the hospital. All of my pictures after Jayda was born are awful because my hair looks like a big pile of dog turd! NOT THIS TIME :)

4th of July Camping Trip

For the 4th of July we roughnecked it.......all the way to middle of Cody, Wyoming smack dab in middle of town! (we were right next to DairyQueen, PREGNANT WOMAN HEAVEN!). My parents took their big camper and we had a great time. We went up the night of the 3rd so that we could watch the 4th of July parade early in the morning. We stayed up late to watch the fireworks and it was amazing! Jayda had such a great time, much more enthusiastic than last year! She was really upset when they ended, she did NOT want to go to bed! The next day we took a trip out to the Buffalo Bill Resevior and Damn, it was so neat. They had a visitors center with some info about the construction. Then that night we went to an Extreme Bullriding Rodeo, it was AMAZING! It's going to be shown on ESPN in September.

All in all, it was a great trip. I had a lot of contractions that were getting closer and closer but luckily no baby decided to show up! Although i was so close to the hospital that I could have walked there (and picked up an icecream cone along the way)

Jayda and Grandpa going to breakfast


Wild Cowgirl





At the Parade
Horse riding in the back of the truck


Jayda and Grandma in their matching shirts


Yes, that is a woman riding a long horn steer!!!


My dad and I in our matching shirts







At the Rodeo

38 Weeks

Well, two more weeks and this turkey is ready to come out of the oven! I can't believe that he could come any day now! And with all this heat, I am hoping he does!!!! :)

Last Thursday I had a dr appointment and I got to have another ultrasound. I am still measuring 3-4 weeks smaller so he sent me over to get one. They estimated him at weighing 6lbs 5oz give or take a few ounces. Everything looked great, his measurments were not abnormal and YES, he is still a boy............thank god!!!






My new brother, Ben, LOL!!