Sawyer's Birth Story

The weekend of Sawyer's arrival, my BFF came into town for a quick visit. She was 26 weeks pregnant and we really wanted to see each other before Sawyer came so that we could get a belly pic together. She came into town Saturday and left Sunday evening. Meanwhile on Sunday morning I passed my plug and had a little bit of blood as well as contractions. I knew Sawyer was close...just didn't know how close. To the left is my last belly pic, taken 1 day before I went into labor.

We dropped my friend off at the train station at 7:30 p.m. and headed home. I sang to Grayson and tucked him in, cherishing what I figured was either the last night, or close to the last night, that it would be just us.

At 9, we headed to bed to watch True Blood before we went to sleep (we are early retirers at night, don't judge). As i headed up the stairs I felt some leakage. It wasn't much, but enough to change my underwear. As I climbed in bed I told David not to get too comfortable, that time would tell if it was my water starting to leak or not. It happened 2 more times in the next half hour and some mild contractions began. So, I texted the sitter arranged for Grayson and called the doc. She said to come on in to the hospital, so I got out of bed, tried to do something with my hair and makeup and made sure everything was in the hospital bag. Before we left we both went in to peek in at G sleeping and appreciate that last moment of just us 3. Amazingly enough I didn't cry...I was more excited than sad at that point.

By 10:15 sitter had arrived and we headed to the hospital. Unfortunately we hit a good bit of traffic on the way. (Brake lights pictured on right....not a sight a contracting girl wants to see) So it took us about 15 extra minutes to get there - and my contractions were starting to hurt by that point. So that was really annoying.

We were at the hospital before 10:45 - I got all checked in, and went to triage for them to check my water bag. I was 5cm when we got to triage and my water still hadn't ruptured, was just leaking. I encouraged them to hurry up and start my IV so I could get my epidural sooner rather than later. Contractions were coming close and were really hurting. They started my IV and sent me to my Labor and Delivery room. On the way, we saw my family in the hall (my younger sister, Mom, Grandma and Dad).

The next hour or so I just spent making it through each contraction as they got worse and worse waiting for the epidural. The anesthesiologist was in an emergency c-section so I had to wait. Finally he came in, and I breathed a sigh of relief that the pain was about to be over. I'd gone way past the pain level I was at with G's labor before getting the epidural and was ready to be done. Unfortunately he had a booger of a time finding the right spot to put it in. He dug around my spine through 2 contractions before saying he'd have to switch to another vertebrae because the space was too tight. It. Was. Awful. Numbed or not....someone digging around your spine is painful. Finally he got it in and relief came.

At that point they checked me and I was at 7cm. They broke my water the rest of the way and guesstimated that I'd be ready to go in about an hour. At this point the family came back in and we had a fun little party for a bit while we waited. My in-law's arrived by this point too.

Sure enough, an hour later my cervix was gone and I was ready to push. Everyone left the room at this point except David, my mom, my grandma and my sister.

I only had to push through 5 or 6 contractions over 20 minutes. This is a HUGE improvement over last time. Towards the end, Sawyer's heart rate was dropping just a bit (to about 96), so they wanted to get him out. The doc used the vacuum for 2 pushes at the end to help out a little.

At 2:56 we finally met Sawyer. My first thought was that he looked just like Grayson, minus the forceps horns. They let me hold him right away which was amazing. Somehow I didn't cry - I just smiled and laughed and was so happy to meet him. They took him away to clean him up and do his weight (8lbs 13 oz - a whole lb bigger than G) and 20.5 inches long (a half inch bigger than G). Once all the formalities were done, he came back to my arms all wrapped up in his cute little hate and blanket. We cuddled a bit, then passed him around to Daddy and the other visitors. It was so nice to have that experience. I have all the happy pics of this moment that I didn't get to have last time.

After the family had all met Sawyer and gotten their photo op, they all said their goodbyes and left us alone. I put Sawyer to my boob to see what would happen and he began eating like a champ. No latch issues or anything. The boy was a natural eater! (Not surprising since I am too!).

At 5:30 a.m. we were finally in the post-partum room and it was time for some rest. I was soooo exhausted. David went home to relieve the sitter, and was coming back with G when visiting hours began around lunchtime.

So from start to finish the whole labor only lasted less than 6 hours from the uncertain start to the finish. Not bad.

And we have a beautiful healthy baby boy. I am one extremely thankful mama for an experience with Sawyer that was smooth and exactly as it should be - from 2 pink lines to "it's a boy!".