Talmage's Birth Story

Happy Birthday to our cute Talmage! Talmage was my only baby where my labor was induced and the only one not born in the middle of the night.

Here's the story:

A few weeks before Talmage was born, people liked to tell me how big I was looking. I was in a craft store, and a woman called to me from about 30 feet away, saying, "You poor woman! Are you having triplets?!!!" It took me a second to realize she was talking to me. About that same time, I had to go in for jury duty. But it didn't take them long to excuse me since they really didn't want me going into labor during the trial.

Talmage was due on June 18 but wasn't born that day. The next day, I had a doctor appointment where the doctor decreed me ready to deliver. He suggested that since my previous delivery with Susanna was so intense and fast that the doctor completely missed it and I had no opportunities for pain relief, maybe we should do an induction. I agreed and they told me to go to the hospital in a few hours.

I showed up at the hospital around 1:30pm and it took a couple of hours to get an IV, get an epidural going, and start some Pitocin. My labor started at 4cm and 2 hours later, I was at 10cm. I couldn't push until Dr. Judd showed up at 6:10 and our sixth son, Talmage, was born one push later at 6:14pm. I had known for a while that I wanted to name him Talmage since I had heard the name referred to in General Conference and immediately liked it.

A few hours later, my parents showed up with all of our other children. Susanna, Everett and Garrett had colds and croupy coughs but fortunately Talmage didn't get sick. It was a tender mercy that he wasn't born in the middle of the night like our other babies because Everett, not quite 4 years old, woke up that very night with a bad case of croup and needed help breathing. If we had left David, age 12, in charge, he wouldn't have known what to do (or even woken up for that matter). But Scott was home so he was able to care for him.

Age 4 months

The first several months after Talmage was born were pretty challenging for us. We had seven children 12 and under and Susanna was just 20 months old when Talmage was born. Mealtimes felt especially difficult. We went on a trip to Mexico when he was 6 weeks old where everyone got food poisoning except for Talmage and me. It seemed like the only time Scott and I could talk to each other was at bedtime. He wasn't the happiest baby but when he was 3 months, he started sucking his thumb which helped a lot. Eventually he turned into an easy-going boy who enjoyed his siblings and friends.

We're glad Talmage is in our family! Happy birthday, T-bone!

Comments

Our Cousin Drew

This last week, my brother and his wife lost a very precious son, just 13 years old. He collapsed while running with a cross-country team and passed away before he could be revived. Everyone that knew Drew is broken-hearted at this loss. He was the happiest, most agreeable kid we knew. I remember him being at my house without anyone close to his age to hang out with, so he found our Duplo blocks and started building even though it is a toy that boys his age don't usually enjoy. He was so content. He didn't complain that I ever remember. His mother always called him the perfect child. He will leave a big hole in not only his immediate family but our extended family as well. Here is a poem my aunt shared that seems fitting: Leave Taking How I would have liked to wave goodbye and watch until you turned and smiled and disappeared on the horizon. You who taught me to dance and let me teach you, who laughed at my stories and winked at me when I was sad. I can just see you trav

Remembering Drew

This weekend we celebrated Drew's life. On Thursday night, we gathered as an extended family and had a dinner then sat in a big circle and talked about our memories of him. I took some notes and here is what people said. Grandpa (Gary Hansen): The last time we saw Drew was last week on the 4th. I remember all the cousins on the trampoline, bouncing up and down and playing basketball. Grandma (Susan Hansen): I asked Drew to come over last winter to teach my Activity Day boys how to make origami stars. He was very patient in working with them even though they were pretty clueless. Eventually they all went home happily with their stars. Paula: This last winter we invited Bruce and Michelle over for dinner and we didn't have anyone his age for him to hang out with. I remember that Drew found the Duplo blocks on his own and played with them all by himself, quite cheerfully entertaining himself. I asked him if he wanted to play with a different toy--maybe something more sophistica

Drew's Funeral

Yesterday was the viewing for Drew and then today was the funeral. There were a LOT of people at the viewing. Bruce and Michelle greeted people for almost four hours yesterday and then again this morning before the funeral. Bruce said that if weren't for Drew's death, it would be the best week of his life with so much love being shown to them. Friday actually began with a family run in Drew's honor. We started at a church by the new Lindon temple and ran to Bruce and Michelle's house with breakfast following. Friday night was the viewing. There was a very nice display of all things Drew. This was one of the pictures displayed and I recognized someone I know: We stood in line and the paramedics who worked on Drew stood in line behind us so we got to talk to them. Here's a fun fact: They cover both Orem and Vineyard but Vineyard gets a lot more 911 calls than Orem per capita. It's a younger population and they are quicker to call. They said it's hard when the

Search This Blog