Joseph "Joey" Alexander Holt

So here are the statistics- January 15th 12:42 A.M; 6 lbs 10 oz. 19&3/4". He was a blessing in many different ways. First of all, months ago we knew we would need to decide on whether Alanna should go to school or continue to push through to try and graduate. After fasting and prayer we decided she should push through to graduation just in case law school takes us somewhere other than Indiana, we won't have a lone semester of classes looming between Alanna and her degree. Our answer came before I had even heard of the internship at the Senate.

Since Alanna doesn't have classes on Fridays, we figured we would induce her Friday morning. That would grant her the largest amount of recovery time before going back to classes. We had forgotten that the due date was the week after MLK day. So on Wednesday the 13th we realized that there wouldn't be any school on the upcoming Monday and we should have scheduled the delivery the week before we did so she would miss one less day of school. But Wednesday at her doctor's appointment, the doctor said she wasn't ready for delivery for even her due date and that we would have to cancel it.

But God knew our situation better than we could have planned for it. And He definitely heard our prayers and blessed us all during the delivery. Thursday morning, Alanna woke up and said, "Its kind of crazy, but I dreamt that I had contractions all night." Then sure enough, she started contracting right then and there. All day long, she had contractions varying form 5-10-20-30 mins apart so we never called the doctor till after she finished class at 7:15. He said to come on in!

So Alanna came home and picked me and James up (8:00 p.m.). I was thinking they would send her home, but by the time she was in the door, they were strong contractions 1-3 mins apart. So, with kind and stern words for me to hurry, we were out the door and racing to the hospital! When we had James in New Mexico, it took them forever to give Alanna a room and even longer for her to get her epidural because she clams up when she gets strong pain. So I commented to here that she might need to scream and yell a bit to get some attention and quicker service.

When we got to the hospital, Alanna was wheeled inside while I drove James to Grandpa Head (he took James back home and Brad, Alanna's Nephew, slept with James). By the time I was back to the hospital, Alanna had been through triage and was being wheeled into a delivery room. She had been dilated to a 4 so they wasted no time. With plenty of feistiness and some screaming, the anesthesiologist came in and gave her a perfect epidural. Within minutes she was calm and without pain but felt just enough pressure to know when contractions were coming and still move and push without much problem.

Alanna tested positive for strep so she needed two doses of antibiotics. The first was given and we started to wait the four hours before the second dose could be administered. During that time, they broke Alanna's water and we got some rest. Alanna's mother also came from work and waited with us. It was great to have her there, especially since she was there with us in Albuquerque when we had James. At 3 1/2 hours they came to check on her. Just then Alanna felt Joey dropped into the birth canal. They gave here the second dose early, called the doctor in and started preparing for Joey to come. The doctor came in and sat on the edge of the bed and asked for a little push to see how Joey was coming, only to tell her to stop because he wasn't dressed for delivery! The nurse, Jordan, ran out and yelled to the nurses station, "This is going to be a one push baby!" Sure enough she was right. When the doctor was ready, he asked for her to push once more but only push half as much as she did with the first one.

And so Little Joey was born at 12:42 on the 15th. Healthy and strong momma and baby worked together great. Joey even gained weight his first week. Also, being born after midnight meant we could stay in the hospital till Sunday night if we wished. So we stayed after lunch on Sunday and returned home. Alanna's recovery has been fantastic and her big struggle is now getting enough sleep, time with her boys, time to study and do homework.

The ward has accepted us just like family and really been there for us. Alanna's visiting teachers have been so wonderful. They organized meals for us every other day for two weeks. They even did a diaper party where some sisters in the ward gave us diapers and some really cute outfits/blankets. Alanna's brother Adam even made some chili for us and brought over their pack-n-play so we can have Joey sleep in our room or in his.