It's a Boy!! Sawyer Dean Morrison was born January 7, 2014, 7:08 AM, 5 lbs and 10 oz, and 19"
Sawyer's birth story begins on Friday, Jan.3. I had a prenatal appointment with my perinatalogist (MFM, the high-risk doctor). It was a regularly scheduled appointment to check the baby's growth and my gestational diabetes management. My glucose levels were on target and baby was measuring at 5lbs and 10 oz. I knew something might be wrong when after checking the fluid around the baby I asked the sonographer how the fluid levels looked. She replied that the doctor would have to tell me and she rushed out without anymore small talk. Usually I have to wait 10-15 minutes for the doctor to arrive with her assessment. On this day, Dr. D was in my exam room in just a few minutes with the news that my amniotic fluid was low and she'd like me to go upstairs to L/D triage right away for further testing, mainly to see if my membrane had ruptured. I told her what I had also told the nurse, that I had experienced some leaking during the previous week, but it did not seem any different than urine or the typical stress incontinence that comes with third trimester pregnancy. I was definitely feeling bigger, fuller, and pressure on my lower region and bladder every time I stood up. She said for normal pregnancies that was all typical, but with my history it is really hard to tell. She would notify my OB/GYN and send my paperwork up to triage. I called my office to let them know I would be late, if not in labor. I also called Casey, who called his parents who were still in town from the holidays but leaving the next day. The running joke had been that the baby would come within days of them driving back to TN. They had hemmed and hawed about having Casey's mom stay a few days longer just in case.
Casey was clearly concerned. This moment was feeling eerily familiar to our experience with Gavin. I told him there was no need to rush away from work and meet me at hospital yet, let's wait to see what my test results were and that I would keep him posted.
Upon arriving upstairs, I was greeted at the nurse's station and admitted into my room. The RN had me change into a gown and prepared to administer a test that would determine if I was leaking amniotic fluid. As I was waiting on the test results I noticed a text from Casey, he was on his way. Casey arrived shortly before the nurse came back with the results, which were negative. We all breathed a sigh of relief. She told me I would be seen by the OB hospitalist and then discharged. We waited for quite a while and wondered why my fluid was low. The hospitalist arrived and went over my procedure and the results. I asked her why my fluids were low and she said that it could be I wasn't drinking enough water. I explained that I drink a lot of water throughout the day. I asked if she was going to check my cervix, she said she wasn't planning on it. I asked her to go ahead and check it and briefly explained the false labor experience I had with Gavin and that it would give me peace of mind if she could just go ahead and check it. She was clearly annoyed, but appeased me nevertheless. Her annoyance was validated when my cervix was indeed still closed and there were no signs of labor. She told me I would start feeling regular an painful contractions as my cervix dilated. I explained that the night before I had painful contractions and that I just didn't feel well. I also explained how I was dilated 10 cm with my first son and did not feel my contractions, which is why I was concerned. Again, she acted annoyed. She discharged me and told me she would send her notes to my regular OB/GYN. I had two scheduled appointments the following week, one with my OB/GYN and one with the perinatalogist.
Casey and I left the hospital and went to work. Later that evening we took Casey's parents to one of our favorite Tex-Mex restaurants, Gueros. When we got home I went into serious nesting mode, organizing the nursery and preparing my hospital overnight bag. The next day we said our goodbyes to Nana Cathy and Papa Rod and I ran some last minute baby-prep errands. Casey put the baby car seat and both mine and the baby's hospital bags in the car. We were all set, though we hoped to make it to 36 or 37 weeks, if not all the way to term.
By Monday, Jan.6 (three days after the false labor alarm), I was experiencing regular contractions, accompanied by subtle pain. At first, contractions were 5-10 minute apart. I went to work and monitored my contractions, which stayed the same all morning. However, by late afternoon my contractions were 4-6 minutes apart and more painful than before. I left at my usual time and picked up Gavin from preschool. I called my doctor's office on the way to the school and was told L/D triage would be waiting for me. By the time I made it home, changed into something more comfortable, and was in route to the hospital the contractions were 2-3 minutes apart. Casey and Gavin stayed with me in triage and once it was determined I was in actual labor, having dilated to 2.5 cm, we made arrangements for Gavin to sleepover at his friend Milo's house. Casey and I prepared for the long haul.
By 10:00 pm my contractions were 1-2 minutes apart and much more painful. I agreed to an epidural. While the administering of the epidural was by far one of the most painful experiences I have ever had, right up there with childbirth without an epidural, once the meds kicked in I was feeling so much better. Good thing, because unlike Gavin's 30-min labor and delivery, Sawyer's would last a much longer 12 hours. My contractions remained 1-3 minutes apart and I dilated slowly. At 6:45 AM, Tuesday morning, I was 9 cm dilated and my contractions were < 1 minute apart. I was hoping to hold out long enough for my regular OB/GYN to arrive, but Sawyer could not wait. The on-call doctor arrived around 6:50 AM and I started pushing. Sherah, the awesome nurse who had been with me for her entire shift decided to stay long enough to help me welcome Sawyer. Both she and the nurse who was coming on duty were both great, as was the doctor. Also like Gavin's L/D, the doctor had to break my water. I pushed 4-5 times and out came Sawyer, head first and squirmy. At first it seemed like he would be treated as a full-term healthy baby (we were so very excited about this, our hard work to stay pregnant longer was about to pay off in this very moment), but his breathing was labored too long and down the hall to the NICU he went. It would be 4 long hours before I would have a chance to spend any time with my new baby, and then another 24 hours before having a chance to hold him. This was very hard to endure and I've had more difficulty with milk production than I did with Gavin, which was also not easy. I am producing less milk than I did with an even earlier pre-term baby. Thankfully, because of the breast-feeding experience I had with Gavin I am not as devastated and had lower expectations for myself going into this. I don't make much, but I give Sawyer what I have and will continue trying through his homecoming and a little beyond, but if the milk doesn't come in a reasonable amount of time after that, then I will accept this and move on. I will be sad and disappointed, but I will not put Sawyer nor myself through the hellish experience Gavin and I had. It was far too stressful and marred our precious little time together.
The good news is Sawyer is further along than Gavin was, at 35 weeks Sawyer is much larger and stronger. On Thursday, his pneumonia diagnosis was accompanied with a 10-day prescription of antibiotics. Assuming he reaches his other breathing, temperature, and eating benchmarks he will be discharged soon after the 10th day. Our fingers are crossed and our hearts are full of anticipation to bring our newest family member home. Like big brother, Sawyer brought the warmer spring-like temps with his arrival. His hair is darker and much straighter, nevertheless we see a strong family resemblance between the two young brothers.
Welcome to our family and hearts Sawyer.
More pics to follow...
