This is the Day!: Welcome to the World Sawyer

I was scheduled for a c-section on Monday, August 20. I think we actually picked that date at my second or third ob appointment so I was pretty sure that would be Sawyer's birthday. I had never gone early before and never had any labor signs or contractions before. I really didn't anticipate any of that the fourth time around. On Thursday, August 16 I got Baylor off to school and then the little boys and I took Baxter to the groomer. We then went to Mimi's house to visit and were going to go with her to the mall. When we got there I was completely worn out and exhausted and could barely keep my eyes open. I just didn't feel that great, but thought I was just tired from lack of good sleep. Mom decided I should stay home and rest so she took the littles boys to Greenwood and then was going to bring home lunch. I fell right to asleep in the recliner. I had been asleep for a little over an hour when I woke up with contractions so strong they took my breath away. I sat there for a bit because I wasn't sure what was going on and didn't want to rush into anything. I started to get hot and sweaty and feel nauseous too so I called Tom. At this point I was crying and just didn't feel good at all. Tom had me call my ob and of course they wanted to see me. It was around 12:30 at this time. Tom left work right away and the office wanted me there right around 2:00. I called the groomer and Bax wasn't done but she would get his face at least so Tom could pick him up. He drove from his office, got Bax and took him home, grabbed the camera, and came and got me at Mimi's house. By this time Mom had gotten home with lunch but thankfully I didn't feel like eating. I know Mom was nervous and when I called her she hurried home with the littles. We pulled into the hospital valet area around 1:55. As soon as we got to the office they hooked me up on the fetal heart monitor and started monitoring my contractions. I was having one between every 3 to 5 minutes. I was there for a little over 30 minutes. The lights in the room were really bothering me, hence the sunglasses in the picture and I had a hard time keeping my eyes open. I was still feeling nauseous too and just not right. They ended up sending us to the labor and delivery triage area for more monitoring. When I was hooked up on the machine there my contractions were between every 1 to 3 minutes and my eyes were bothering me even worse. My blood pressure was great which was a huge bonus. After more monitoring and looking at the pattern of the contractions they called Dr. Miser and she gave the go ahead and we were headed to the OR for a c-section. I'm usually over prepared and here we were with nothing and about ready to have a baby. Thankfully Tom was able to take video with his phone and we had a camera. Sarah hurried home from registering from classes and got the boys so mom and dad could come to the hospital. They worked together to get everything we needed ready. They really got things moving and Sawyer was born at 6:21 pm. It all went so smoothly and I was not as nervous as I had been in the past. Since it was all so unexpected it seemed to be less stressful. I didn't worry and fret the night before and by this point I was just ready to meet our new little guy.

My biggest fear of going into labor is always that Dr. Miser won't be on call. Thankfully she was in the office and was able to do the surgery! She has done all four of the c-sections and I just feel so much safer with her. The whole thing went really well.

Sawyer Joseph was born at 6:21 pm on August 16.

He weighed 8 pounds 15 ounces.

He was 21 inches long.

When he first came out he was a little lethargic and had swallowed a whole bunch of fluid. The NICU staff in the operating room did a great job of suctioning him out right away and got lots of fluid out and he pinked right up.

His blood sugar was really low at birth too but they gave him some formula right away and that really helped him. We had to continue testing this over the next several hours and the rest of the time his levels were great.

His due date was August 27 so he was 12 days early.

The first time I got to hold him.

The worst part of the c-section was the itching afterwards from the medicine. It was awful and I kept itching my face, eyes and nose. They came me several medicines to help, but one of them made me super dizzy.

As soon as Sawyer was born Pop went to go get Baylor. He was dying to meet his littlest brother. It was late by the time we got to the room, but we thought it was okay for Baylor to stay up late for such a special occasion.