Labor and Delivery

Beware: There may be some TMI here. I am obsessed with labor and delivery stories so I will tell all :) I was scheduled to be in induced on Sunday the 22nd of November. My doctor had been out of town for the 9 days before and to get me out by Thanksgiving if there were any complications, it had to be Sunday. I got a call on Saturday with directions to call L and D at 6:15 am Sunday morning to get my induction time. I called as instructed and they said to be there at 7:30 am. We got ready, got to the hospital, and were admitted. My nurse took 2 tries to start my IV (see picture) and it wasn't pretty! It hurt quite bad, something which I don't remember from having Ava. She then "checked" my cervix, but I am pretty sure she was trying to see if she could feel my heart. I have never had someone push up so far, or so hard, or for so long! It was seriously uncomfortable! I was a 3 and 80% effaced at this point. The nurse left and came back 10 minutes later and said there was a little problem. My doctor was scheduled to come in at 5 pm that night for her call. She had called L and D and told them to have me come in at noon. Her plan was for me to come in then, get started on Pitocin, get my epidural by 4 pm, and she would break my water around 5 pm. I was given the choice to hang out at the hosp for 3 hours til' noon or to leave and come back. Luke and I chose to leave and come back. We were coming back to the same room so we left all our stuff which was nice. We went home and put on our church clothes and went to our sacrament. It was actually nice to A: take the sacrament, B: listen to Kari and Brent speak in church, C: see Ava one last time since no visitors under age 14 are allowed in the hospital now, and D: Get some perspective on things after my fairly traumatizing start to the induction! (PS- I told them they had to hep-lock my IV so they didn't have to pull it out and restart it or I wasn't going anywhere!) We arrived back at the hospital at 12:30 pm and I was started on Pitocin at about 1 pm. My IV was pretty temperatmental and the nurse (thankfully, it was a different one by now!- come to find out I had a nurse who was brand new before......) kept having to move it around and pull it out a little. YUCK! My contractions were pretty steady, 3 minutes apart for the first 3 hours. I never had much pain, but got my epidural at 4 pm so that when my MD broke my water I didn't have to feel the stronger contractions (that's right, I am SO not a do it natural kind of girl, not at all ) The epidural: Holy cow! I didn't feel it being placed at all with AVA, but with Sawyer it was a total different story starting with the stinging lidocaine premed, continuing with feeling the needle enter my spine (OWWWWW!) and ending with the "shock" going down my left leg when the catheter was inserted. Ouch. I am definitely scared to do that again. (however- not scared enough to do it natural!) At 4:45 pm my doctor broke my water and then it was wait time. My progress was a little slower than expected, but come 7:30 I felt a total change "down under" and was totally ready to push. Sure enough- I was a 10 and it was time. Pushing: Wow- way different than Ava. I pushed for about 2 hours with Ava because she kept slipping sideways, but this time is was push through 3 contractions and he was out! It was so super easy What a miracle birth is. I can't get enough of it. What an amazing experience it is so see your baby you have waited for for 9 months and to push them out. I love love love it! My sister Kari was able to be with us for the short delivery and took some prime pictures. I loved having her in there because she truly appreciates the miracle of life. I looked over at her and she was bawling and in awe. I'm so glad she got to stand on the sidelines :) Anyway, so Sawyer was born at 7:45 pm on November 22nd. I didn't tear much and my recovery has been super easy. I feel so blessed to have easy labor and deliveries as far as the baby is concerned and to have easy recoveries. By far the hardest part for me is the nursing of a new baby. Thankfully- Sawyer is a total natural and has made it pretty easy. Sawyer: Is perfect! He doesn't look like Ava did when she was a baby. He has good brown hair around the crown of his head, but is pretty bald on top. It's sweet! He has a total male pattern baldness :) Strangely though, there is already some fine hair growing in on top. He is calm- until you change his diaper or he is hungry and then he screams! He's got some good good lungs. He has Jaundice and has been under the blue lights at home for about 3 days. His MD expects him to be off them on Monday. He lost 11 oz from Sunday to Wednesday, but promptly gained back 6 oz over the enxt 2 days (complete with going #1 and #2 a thousand times due to the bilibed!) We are so blessed to have him and love him to pieces!!! Ava: Is doing fabulous. There has been no signs of jealousy or misbehavior or anything. She's our little angel :) She loves her new brother and so far hasn't tried to feed him or pick him up. So far......... Thanks goodness for our good little sleeper who still naps 3 hrs a day and is pretty self sufficient.

Sawyers bed:

Shopping between feedings:

He seriously punched a hole through the bilibed cover!

A post pregnant mom's best friends:

Those of you who have had a baby know exactly what I am talking about! And those of you who haven't- well..... you will!

A: Mommy diaper

B: Tucks medicated pads

C: peri-bottle

D:Fabulous net panties from Victoria's Secret :) (um, ok- that's definitely NOT where they came from!)