My sweet Bummy is 8!!!

My sweet Bummy, Hyrum Craig, is 8 today!

This little boy is so precious to me.

My lucky #13!

How blessed I was the day he joined our family.

I cannot think of his birth without thinking of the spiritual experiences

that came with the pregnancy and birth.

I am amazed at all that I learned about faith, about growth, and about a love

that seems to start long before this life began and one that will last

long after we are gone...

We had our 12th baby and thought we were done.

We had planned on a dozen...

and after 7 c-sections,

a dozen sounded like that was as many as we would be able to have.

And then I started dreaming about a little girl,

that seemed to haunt me every minute of the day.

I heard her name, Kami Dene,

over and over in my mind, and in my dreams.

And we decided that 13 must be our lucky number.

I was worried, and concerned for some reason.

It didn't really make sense,

but I was scared.

But I felt that the little girl that continued to haunt us was meant to be

and in a hurry to get here.

Imagine my surprise when the ultrasound said

we were having a boy.

I was so sure that Kami was on her way that I told them to look again,

that I was supposed to have a girl!

I cried for days!

Not because I didn't want this little boy...

because I did! Oh I did!

But I was truly scared that something would happen and how would that little girl

get here? It really makes no sense now...

but at the time I just couldn't function for fear.

And then one Sunday,

sitting in church I was struggling to understand why I felt so strong about a girl

and we were having a boy.

And I felt Hyrum sitting next to me, crying.

I felt the person who was supposed to be my son,

aching for my heart ache

but feeling sad that I didn't want him.

And suddenly I was sobbing.

I wanted him!!!!

In that instant I knew his spirit, and almost saw in my mind a friendship

that had started long ago...

and I asked him to forgive me for my fear and promised him that I would have faith.

And I knew that he would always be my friend.

That he would always protect my heart and love me unconditionally.

And I felt absolute JOY over being able to be his mom!

It wasn't that I didn't want a boy,

it was just that I knew that little girl needed to come and I was afraid that my body

would fail.

There were several circumstances that made it necessary for me to stay in town

to give birth.

Something that I did NOT want to do but we felt we had no choice.

Looking back, I am not sure I would do it any different

because I feel that what I was supposed to learn

could only have happened here.

The female doctor was fine,

but her partner was a monster.

I still can't hear his name without cringing!

The night before I went to the hospital to have the c-section

Thayne and our friend Tracy gave me a Priesthood blessing.

I remember at the time thinking that I wasn't sure I liked the wording.

In the past I had blessings before my deliveries and they always left me feeling

certain that it would be easy, that I would heal quickly, that all would be well.

This time however, I felt peace, but I did not feel completely at ease.

It told me that through this experience,

I would gain a greater understanding of what the Savior went through for me.

That I would understand His love for us, that He not only suffered our sins,

but also every pain we have felt.

That he experienced every emotion...

and that I would come to appreciate, with a great understanding

the atonement...

My nerves were on edge as we sat at the hospital preparing for the surgery.

I walked to the operating room with Thayne,

anxious to meet my little man,

but scared of the surgery that the monster doctor had made out to be a life or death

experience!

He had told Thayne that he would leave with the baby immediately after

he was born. Because I may or may not live through it all.

Yes! He said that!!!

Funny, my prior c-section was a breeze and my awesome doctors had no problems

and no real concerns at all.

I wished at that moment that they weren't 4 1/2 hours away from where I was!

I had told the dr that I didn't think it was a good idea to let me get so close to my due date

because he would be big and I knew he was stuck sideways.

He told me I didn't know what I was talking about!

He made the normal horizontal uterine incision,

only to realize that this big boy (9 1/2 pounds and 23 inches) was stuck sideways,

in a position that was making it impossible to even grab anything to pull on!

So he then made a sloppy vertical uterine incision.

Our pediatrician, who was in the operating room

said it was the strangest thing to see them pull an arm out, or a leg,

only to stuff it back inside.

Several people were now pushing, almost laying on me trying to dislodge this

very stuck little boy.

I was bruised... black and blue from my ribs to my thighs!

Finally they got him out.

And I heard him cry... which made me cry!

They rushed Thayne and sweet Hyrum out of the room

and I was left there alone.

Worried, and scared. Trying to have faith...

but the doctor was so rude, and made so many inappropriate comments.

He was angry because I wouldn't let him tie my tubes.

HOW could I do that knowing that I had another daughter waiting for us to have her?

I was so scared that my blood pressure rose to very dangerous levels.

The anesthesiologist told me that I was at risk of having a stroke and that he

didn't want me to crash but he had to give me meds to lower it immediately!

They finally took me to my room after I was stable enough

and Thayne handed me my little man.

He opened his eyes and looked right at me

and I felt heaven surround me

and I knew that he was my friend...

and that anything and everything was worth having him there with me!

There had been moments I thought I would die, or at the very least

lose my ability to have another child.

But we had made it and I felt so content having him in my arms.

I was in love again.

Funny how that always happens.

My world stopped just looking at him,

and I knew that I would have never been complete without him!

The care in that hospital however was horrible.

I was so bruised and hurting,

and the nurses just never got around to bringing anything for the pain.

I usually jump right up and heal so quickly

but this time I couldn't even stand up straight.

I asked them to please bring me some medication.

9 hours later I finally got some.

I remember that first night...

I felt pain unlike anything I had ever felt before.

I have a really high pain tolerance and this was something that I had never,

ever felt before.

I tried to get comfortable, tried to find a position that didn't literally take my

breath away.

It was so dark in the room and I was holding my sweet little man

in so much pain that I couldn't even get up.

I started praying to please make the pain go away,

that I couldn't breathe because it hurt so bad.

As I prayed I remembered the words of the blessing,

that I would learn through this,

in a small way

what the Savior felt, and suffered for me.

And for just a moment my mind was open,

and I can say that for just that moment I understood things that I never did before

and I saw the Lord

and I started to cry.

But not for me...

the pain seemed so unimportant as I learned the things that

the Spirit was teaching me.

I look back at that time and can still feel the pain.

But I learned more through that pain that I could ever explain!

And even today....

I look at my sweet little man,

who has the kindest heart, and the most tender spirit,

and I thank my Heavenly Father for giving me the opportunity to be his mom,

and to have had the experiences that gave me an appreciation unlike anything

I had ever felt before for the Savior.

I know that I was blessed to know about Kami

to give me courage to get pregnant again....

It was truly scary!

But I wouldn't trade anything because I learned more than I could have

any other way!

I love my sweet boy...

He has told me since he was old enough to talk that he is mommy's boy.

Thayne would ask him who he loves the most

and he always answered,

"Mom! And you dad, but MOM!"

He promises that he will be a momma's boy forever!

I told him that I wrote it down...

so that he will remember it when he is a teenager.

But he swears that it will always be this way,

that he will always love me the most!

I know there will come a day when I have to move to second place.

But I know that he will always be my buddy...

and that he will always protect my heart!

And he is so excited for his baptism coming up!

I love you sweet boy.

Thank you for loving me,

and for all that you have taught me.

Thank you for being my buddy!!!

Happy Birthday!

Brothers and sisters were so excited to meet little Hyrum!

It was funny because Tanner was sitting in the room with me while

Thayne went to pick up the other kids.

The nurses were signing a new contract and the newspaper was there

to take pictures and write an article about it.

They came in and asked if they could take a picture of the nurse taking my blood pressure.

The nurse had set me up.

The reporter had asked Tanner how he felt to have a baby brother.

Tanner looked at her like she was crazy but kind of shook his head and said fine.

She started making comments that made it obvious she thought this was only my second baby.

The nurses were laughing.

I finally asked them if they had set me up and obviously the reporter didn't know

how many kids I had.

They just kept laughing and asked if they could tell her.

What could I do???

Sure... go ahead.

Well, the little blip in the newspaper in the business section of the Saturday paper

announcing the nurses signing the new contract

suddenly became a full color front page news story

of the nurse, Hyrum and me...

and the fact that he was our 13th baby of the same mom

and the same dad!

Hyrum was famous!!!

Blessing day!

One year old... with such sweet curls.