Sawyer's Birth Story

I forget more and more details each day older Mr. Sawyer gets, so I wanted to go ahead and get this down in writing. It was such a sweet, difficult, sometimes painful, surreal, incredible experience to deliver this little thing that had been living inside of me for so long!

Thursday morning, March 25 Jeremy and I returned to the hospital for more antepartum testing, same as what they did the previous Monday. First they hooked me up to some monitors measuring his heart rate and contractions. He was a "happy baby" as the nurse said, and she also said I had a couple of small contractions (which I wasn't feeling). Then she did an ultrasound to check my fluid levels, which was the whole reason for the testing. She measured my fluid at 4.9cm, and anything under 5cm isn't considered healthy for the baby. Additionally my placenta had some calcification, which apparently is consistent with an overdue pregnancy (I was still 1 week+ from my due date of April 3). The nurse asked, "So is today a good day for his birthday?" After the first testing on Monday, we were more prepared to go into the hospital, but I was so sure I wouldn't have to be admitted. And even if I did have to be, my doctor had said I could probably leave and just be back by 5pm. But the nurse said my fluid was too low to even go home and I had to be admitted to labor and delivery right away. She spoke with my doctor and they were still trying to decide if I'd be induced that afternoon or the following morning. We went down one floor and got all checked into labor and delivery and waited for a room to be ready. While we waited Jeremy's parents came to sit with us, and we sent out mass texts and emails letting everyone know what was going on. I was so excited! We were ready enough and I was glad to at least know by the following day, it would all be over and we'd be able to see our son!

In my room, all hooked up!

By the time we got settled into the room and I'd changed into hospital attire and gotten my IV for fluids, it was mid-afternoon and I was starving. They did decide just to keep me overnight and induce Friday morning, so all I had to do was hang out. Jeremy and his parents picked up lunch for me from Au Bon Pain and Judy sat with me while Jeremy and his dad went to his previously scheduled GI appointment. We were already in the Med Center, why not? I must take a moment to brag on all of my nurses I had. Thursday afternoon it was a sweet girl, Audrey, and a TWU nursing student. I think great nurses really make all the difference and I appreciate them SO much! That evening my doctor came by to check on me and had the nurse check to see how dilated I was (2cm) to know when to start the Cervidil (to "ripen" my cervix). They also started me on a Vancomycin drip because I'd tested positive for Group B Strep (not a big deal for me, just a precaution for the baby during delivery). Jeremy left to pick up our bags from home - I did have them packed but didn't think to even bring them to the hospital that morning. He also drove his car home and got his parents to drop him back off since we'd driven 2 cars that morning in anticipation of both going back to work. He and his parents got dinner in the cafeteria while I ate my room service dinner in the room with Amanda and my mom, who came down to see me before things got crazy the next day. At 7pm I got another great nurse, Summer. She examined me a couple more times, talked to an on-call doctor from my practice who was there, and they decided to start the Cervidil at 11pm. I was a little worried about it because she said it could cause painful cramps, but she reassured me they could give me pain medication if I needed it. Luckily it never bothered me. She also gave me an Ambien to help me sleep, but apparently it only has a 15 minute window in which you must fall asleep? I missed that window and we were up pretty late! I didn't sleep well anyway because I was hooked up to fetal heart and contraction monitors and an IV the whole time, and each time I moved the nurse had to come back in to adjust the monitors. She kept asking if I felt contractions - I was having them regularly every 4-5 minutes. Finally I realized I did feel a movement in my belly when it said I was having a contraction, but it never hurt and I thought it was just his booty moving around. At 5am on Friday morning, March 26, the nurse removed the Cervidil and a little later in the morning, I vaguely remember my doctor coming in to break my water, along with a new nurse (whose name I can not remember at all). Right after that my pain really started to intensify, it felt like really really bad cramps. I went to the bathroom one last time (since I would soon be unable to walk!) and had Jeremy let the nurse know I was ready for my epidural. I only had to wait about 5 minutes for the anesthesiologist to get there, praise the lord! They sent Jeremy out, and the nurse held onto me and tried to help me relax so they could place the epidural correctly. I was slightly nervous but I think it helps you can't see what they're doing in your back (helped me, anyway). At first she placed it and then said, "If you feel any pain, don't move but just tell me" and I felt a lot of pain on the left side of my back. It hurt but she fixed it quickly and placed the epidural correctly the second time. I had always planned on getting one but oh boy, that thing is a miracle! I immediately felt relief from the pain. I could still feel my legs and move them some but I felt all numb and warm and pain-free. I napped really well the rest of the morning! I also got more Vancomycin and started a Pitocin drip. I can't remember the exact details or times but I was dilating relatively quickly, which was great! A little before 2pm another doctor from the practice checked on me and I was 9-3/4cm dilated. She moved the baby's head to be a little straighter for delivery and in doing so basically got me to 10cm. Ready to push!

Last picture as a family of 2!

Right about 2pm I started pushing with Jeremy and my nurse in the room. I could feel the pressure of the contractions when I needed to push, but with the epidural I felt like I wasn't doing good pushes. I pushed through several contractions (3 pushes each) and each time his heart rate would drop when I pushed. After 30 or 45 minutes they decided I should take a break and they called a doctor to come be in the room (they said just to be safe because of his heart rate issues). That was (almost) the worst part of labor. The pressure was really intense during my contractions and almost painful - extra pumps from my epidural didn't seem to take the edge off. I really really wanted to push and just be finished! We ended up waiting over an hour for a doctor. I also started throwing up during the wait, but I really think it's because I hadn't eaten since the night before and I was starving! A little before 4pm, an on-call doctor from the practice and a new nurse, Cherie (by far my favorite!), came to help me continue pushing. They said they'd hoped during the wait the baby had moved a little farther down and the doctor wanted to use the vacuum to help him get out quicker since he didn't seem to like my pushing too much. That would have sounded terrifying to me before I was in the middle of birthing a child, but I just wanted him out quickly (for my benefit) and healthy. I pushed a few more times and eventually they told me they could see his head. Let me tell you, those next few pushes were really hard and really painful, but the relief I felt once his head was out was amazing. The doctor only had to use the vacuum for a second, so he really didn't have a noticeable mark on his head (the vain mom inside me says, thank goodness!). So Sawyer Henry was born at 4:06pm, weighing in at 6 pounds, 6 ounces, 19.5 inches long. How anyone has a baby larger than this...you are a super woman! Pediatrics was in the adjoining room to check him out, so they sent him over there while my doctor finished working on me. This part was particularly uncomfortable - delivering the placenta kind of hurt, and then I got stitches for a second degree tear. I was so focused on myself that I was too scared to look beyond my doctor and nurse working on me into the room where the baby was! I kept saying, "I don't want to look, I don't want to look." They quickly brought our son back over to me where we met for the first time. That definitely made me feel better!! He was so, so, so cute and was making the cutest little cooing sounds. Jeremy said my first words to him were "Hey pumpkin!" Jeremy held him for a minute while I got kind of situated back in bed and then Jeremy went out to the waiting room to announce the news to our family!

Hi Pumpkin!

Everyone came back to meet Sawyer - my mom, her husband Jim, my brother, my sister, my dad, his wife Heather, Jeremy's parents and his Aunt Pat were all there! We ended up getting to spend a lot more time than normal with him in my room because 3 women all delivered at the same time right after me and they were pretty crazy out there. We took lots of pictures and passed him around and my guests were then treated to a vomiting show courtesy of me. I was so hungry and so exhausted!

HUNGRY!

Introducing Sawyer to his grandmothers (Lolly and Mimi) and aunt

Aunt Amanda, Uncle Tyler and Mimi

And two becomes three!