Greyson Michael Hillyard: Birth Story

Greyson Michael Hillyard is 4 weeks old now and we have been loving every, single second with this guy! He has a ton of dark hair, blue eyes, and long toes and fingers! He is a big eater and gaining weight fast. I have loved being home with him and just cuddling all day long. Michael was home for a week after we came home from the hospital which was really nice to be able to spend some time adjusting as a family of four.

He knew exactly what to do, such a special moment. He definitely loves to eat.

 

Skin on skin for the first time with daddy.

He has the longest feet!

 

She kept holding his face, saying “aw love you bud”

 

She couldn’t wait to hold him. 

Taking pics of baby brother. 😉

So protective over her brother. 😉

She loved his little nose.

 

 

Blankets and Swaddles c/o Aden & Anais // Grey’s outfit Old Navy

Photography by Morgan Foitle

Sutton is absolutely smitten over Grey. My most favorite moment, aside from Grey being born, was when they first met. I was so anxious over how Sutton would react and I’m not sure why because the connection was instant. She marched right into the hospital room, came right up to the bed, and wanted to hold him immediately. She was almost protective over him, as Morgan (our dear friend and photographer) captured the moment. She wrapped her arms around him and my heart grew quadruple the size, seriously! The blessings they are to us and what they will be to each other…there are no words. Greyson had a gift all ready for Sutton when she arrived 😉 He gave her, her very own camera. It takes real pictures and shows them just like a real camera does. She loved it and started taking a ton of pictures of her baby brother and us. We counted 70 images on her camera after she left. Which reminds me, I need to download and save those!

As for his actual birth, I had a doctor’s appointment early that week and decided it would be best to get induced Wednesday, since we needed to plan when my parents could come watch Sutton while we were gone. Both of our parents live out of town, so getting someone to stay and watch Sutton for several days could have been difficult. Since the induction was planned last minute, I had limited time home with Sutton. Knowing it would be our last time together, just the three of us, was bittersweet.

We arrived at the hospital late Tuesday evening to get settled in. After checking in and getting all the IV’s and whatnot, they inserted Misoprostol to start progressing my labor. Wednesday morning, they then started to administer the Pitosin. My contractions started to become stronger and more consistent, however my pain level was not horrible. My doctor broke my water around 10AM and it felt like I let out gallons and gallons of water. With Sutton my water broke on it’s own and it did not feel like that much! After that it felt like the longest waiting game…especially when you can’t eat and are STARVING!

I knew at some point I would be getting an epidural but wanted to wait as long as possible. I did the same with Sutton’s delivery. The nurse would check me every few hours and it seemed to be taking forever to progress. Around 1:30 I asked for my epidural as my pain level was getting much higher. I was getting so anxious for baby! My doctor was working until 5pm so I needed baby boy to arrive before then!

Around 4:40 my doctor had called over and asked the nurse to check me and amazingly I went from 6cm dilated to 10 cm in less than an hour. I was ready to push and just in time! The nurse told the doctor to head on over and had me push a few times to get me ready. At 4:50 the doctor arrived and had me started pushing. After about 10 minutes of pushing he was almost here and this time I actually could see him coming out of me (sorry if this is TMI, but this is my birthing story;) I starting crying with happiness, but knew I had to compose myself to make the final push. At 5:01 Greyson Michael Hillyard made his debut. I was crying, Michael was crying, and we were so, so happy he was here and healthy. I was so much more emotional with this delivery…I think it was because this was my second and I knew what a blessing and joy babies really are. Throughout my pregnancy, my sister who has a boy, kept telling me how different the love between a mother and son is, and the second they placed him on my chest I knew and felt exactly what she had been saying. It was by far one of the best moments of my life!

We stayed a couple nights at the hospital and now we are home and loving every single second with this guy. He had already peed and pooped on my like 20 times. This boy thing is all so new to me! He has been a sleepy, content newborn and it’s been really nice cuddling with him all day long. I have even been able to work some. Sutton is still in school, so that has been nice to be able to get some one on one time with Grey, just like she got as a newborn.

My favorite part of the day is when we all are home and snuggling with baby Grey. It’s been amazing. Sutton loves to smell him and I don’t blame her! I can’t wait to watch him grow up and especially to watch him grow up with his big sis!!!! Love my babies so so so so much!