Living a tasteful life

Thursday, July 19, 2018

Sawyer's Birth Story


Sawyer Jones Smith, born on June 21st at 4:35 am, weighing 6 lbs and 4 ounces, and 19 3/4 inches long! This little boy is by far my greatest accomplishment yet. I've been trying to write this post for a while now. If any of you reading have a new born, you will totally understand why it has taken me so long. I'm writing this as I continuously glance at the monitor to ensure he's still napping. 
For those of you that followed along on my pregnancy journey, you may recall me mentioning that my Dr. scheduled an induction for June 21st. I was given specific instructions to not eat past midnight and arrive at the hospital at 6:30 am. We alerted all of our family and arranged for everyone to be at the hospital. My bags were packed and I was as ready as I could be. I decided I would work from home the day before, not wanting to waste any time off. Fast forward to the early morning on June 20th. I woke up around 2 am to use the restroom for the millionth time per usual. I climbed back in bed and felt the need to immediately get up again. This happened several times throughout the night, leaving me with a suspicious feeling that something wasn't right. However, I didn't want to be the girl that goes to the hospital thinking she's in labor and is told to go back home. So, that morning I began to go down the dark rabbit hole of googling things, which left me unsettled and eventually lead to a phone call to my OBGYN. I wasn't in any sort of pain, but without getting into too many details, I had a suspicious feeling my water may have broken. I left a message with the nurse to call me back. I finally spoke with her two hours later and she asked me to come in at 2 pm to meet with my Dr. to see what was going on. My anxiety kicked in as I watched the clock, patiently waiting to leave the house, so I decided to take a nap. At this point I had only told Whit that something seemed weird and I was going to the Dr. because I didn't want to alarm him. The next thing I knew, my Dr. was telling me that my water had in fact broken and that I needed to go to the hospital. I asked if I could run home and grab my bags and was told "No. You need to go straight there." So, I drove myself to the hospital, calling Whit on the way to tell him it was game time. I never envisioned driving myself to the hospital or walking right into labor and delivery to check in as if I were checking myself into a hotel. Whit arrived not long after I got settled into my room. Our family was alerted and they all began preparing to make the trip to Charleston one day sooner than planned.

I had decided that an epidural would be non-negotiable because I'm a big baby when it comes to pain. I asked the team to make sure everyone taking care of me knew that I wanted one so there was no miscommunication. They told me to just say the word and they would make it happen. Around 5 pm, after starting to feel contractions (enough to say I knew what they were),  and at 3 cm dilated, I decided it was time to call in the team for an epidural.  I  hate needles and was honestly pretty terrified.  Whit held my hands as I endured the unpleasant sensation of the needle followed by the fluids that entered my back. And then the waiting game began. 
Family started to arrive and drift in and out of the room, keeping us company while we waited. The epidural set in and I couldn't feel my legs at all. I also started shaking uncontrollably, an effect of the epidural that was nothing more than just annoying but unsettling for others to see. I was so thirsty but wasn't allowed to have water. Popsicle's and ice chips are the only things that saved me. I must say that the hospital team was the absolute best, especially my delivery nurse. Everyone was so attentive, doing whatever it took to keep me comfortable and updated on my body's progression. 
It wasn't until around 1 am that I finally reached 10 cm. The nurse came in and said it was time to start pushing. Our families stepped out to find a spot on the couches in the waiting room and sleep until the next update. With every hour of pushing that went by, I became increasingly worried that I was going to have to have a c-section. The nurses said that after 24 hours of your water breaking you then become at risk for infection. That's all I could think about as I watched the clock on the wall tick. I knew I had to make it happen so I gave it my all and a roller coaster of emotions set in. There were times I was determined, I was mad, I was frustrated and I was sad. No workout could have prepared me for what I went through.  
At 4:35 am, and 3.7 hours of pushing later, we finally met our sweet baby boy. I am so thankful that I was able to deliver him. I had the best labor nurse that never left my side, coaching me through it and never letting me give up. She was actually told that she could go home early that evening but decided to stick it out with us. The compassion and dedication that she displayed is something I will never forget. She also wanted to find out what his name was. We had decided to wait until he arrived to choose. It was between Sullivan and Sawyer, and the minute we saw him we both knew his name would be Sawyer.
As soon as he was born he was immediately placed on my chest. As I held our sweet baby I couldn't stop staring at him. I felt as though I had just won the Olympics. My body was exhausted and I was running on pure adrenaline. I wish I could have bottled up the feeling I had when I finally met him and looked into his eyes. My greatest achievement of all time, a love so unconditional and a day that I will never forget. That little boy stole our hearts the minute we laid eyes on him. I will forever be grateful that God chose us to be his parents.


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