Sawyer's Birth Story

I've been MIA for awhile. But don't worry, I have a good excuse… Baby M was born! Settle in for our little man's long story!

The story really begins on October 7. I was scheduled to be induced on October 8, and was supposed to go into the hospital on the night of the 7th. Just as we were getting ourselves together, getting ready to leave, the hospital called and told me that they are too full and my induction has been postponed. I was devastated. I balled. That ugly body shaking cry. It was horrible. I was so set on getting to meet my baby, I was so excited to have a plan, and now I didn't have that anymore.

I also had a lot of family already on there way into town, thinking there would be a baby coming the next day! We spent the next few days trying everything to put me into labor. I ate spoonfuls of siracha, walked for miles on the treadmill, ate tons of pineapple, castor oil, nipple stimulation, accupressure, even jumping on the trampoline. If someone told me it could start labor, we tried it. But nothing worked… he was determined to stay put.

Finally, Monday the 13th we got to go to the hospital. They had room for us and we showed up right on time, ready to be induced! We got checked in and settled in our room and the nurse checked to see my progress. Starting from my 37 week appointment I had been checked every week and remained at 1 cm and 60% effaced, so when this nurse checked me and told me I wasn't dilated or effaced, at all... I thought I was going to lose it. I was so disappointed. The nurse also started me on a medicine called cytotec that softens your cervix. It's a little pill that they insert and then it dissolves. The plan was that I was supposed to get 3 doses of that throughout the night, and then I would be ready to start pitocin in the morning.

Well that's not what happened… The cytotec started contractions! Great! But because my contractions were already getting so close together (about 3 minutes apart, but not too strong) they didn't want to give me another dose. They decided to start me on the pitocin instead, which is administered through an IV and is much easier to increase or lessen depending on how things are going. I was thrilled with this plan, thinking it could only mean I would be getting to meet my baby even sooner!

They started me on the pitocin around 1:00 am on Tuesday the 14th. I had contractions through the morning. When my doctor came to check me around 9:00 they were 1-2 minutes apart and lasting about 1 minute long, and my cervix had dilated to 2cm, and I was 80% effaced. I was thrilled to finally hear that I was making a little bit of progress. He also broke my water at this point.

Our plan going into labor was to try to go naturally. I wasn't opposed to an epidural, but I wanted to see what I could do, and what my body was capable of. By 1:00 pm I was really having some rough contractions. I found a little bit of comfort in the rocking chair. I was really laboring in my back and sitting in the chair put just enough pressure on my back. I was working on all of my breathing techniques I had learned, and I was doing ok.

Around 6:00 my doctor came back to check me again. I had made a little bit of progress, I was now at a 5. But the doctor said that the baby was posterior and that was why I was having such bad back labor. He tried his best to rotate the baby, and then they wanted me to stay in bed to try to keep the baby in the right position. That was not working for me. I couldn't handle the pain in that position.

At this point Justin kicked everyone out of the room so that it was just him and I because he could see how much pain I was in. I really started struggling at this point. I wanted to be done, I wanted to rest, I wanted my baby. We tried every position. We tried the tub, the yoga ball, all fours, standing, sitting, I just couldn't do it anymore and at 8:00 we decided to go ahead with getting an epidural. 

It was so nice to be able to rest. After dealing with contractions for almost 20 hours I was ready for a break. Once they did the epidural I took a nap. When I had been asleep for about an hour the nurse came in and told me the baby's heart rate had dropped. She put me on oxygen and stopped the pitocin drip. His heartrate went back up again but she kept the pitocin off for about 30 minutes. When they started up the pitocin again his heart rate dropped again. This time a team of nurses came in. That was pretty scary. They got me on all fours, which was quite the chore since I couldn't even feel the bottom half of my body, stopped the pitocin again, and put me on oxygen again. They also called my doctor to let him know what was going on and to see what he recommended. We were getting a little nervous and scared at this point.

After they got the baby's heart rate normal again the extra nurses left and our nurse let us know that our doctor might recommend a c section. She said it wasn't for sure, but she wanted to bring it up so we knew it was at least a possibility. Fifteen minutes later our doctor came in and checked me again. At this point I was only at a 6. He said that if I was closer to 10 that he might be ok with letting me wait it out and start pushing, but with 4 plus hours left of contractions before we could even think about pushing, he thought that was too much time for our baby to be in distress. We agreed. And at this point I wanted to do whatever was going to get our baby here as safely as possible.

At that point everyone started prepping for surgery. They brought Justin in scrubs, the anesthesiologist came in to get everything ready, and 15 minutes later they were rolling me into the operating room. The medicine they gave me for the operation made me so sleepy. I had to keep telling Justin to talk to me and tell me stories because I was so afraid I was going to fall asleep and miss my baby's birth.

We went into surgery around 10:45 and at 11:06 Sawyer Jay Minert was born. He came into this world screaming his little head off, and it was the best sound I have ever heard. I couldn't see him so I was just clinging on to that sound. Justin kept going back and forth between looking at him and coming back to me to tell me little details. "He has dark hair!" "His eyes are blue!" "He's so skinny!" "Ten long fingers and toes!"

He had a little bit of fluid and mucus in his lungs, which I was told was told is pretty normal in c section babies. They took him to the NICU not to admit him, but just to work on getting that fluid out while I finished up in surgery and went to recovery. Justin went with Sawyer and I went to recovery, which was the longest hour of my life. I kept falling asleep and waking up thinking I must have slept away that hour, but really I had only slept for about 5 minutes. That happened about 20 times. Finally they told me they were taking me back to my room!

Once I was back in the room Justin and Sawyer joined me. I finally got to hold my sweet baby!

Sawyer Jay Minert
Born October 14, 2014 at 11:06 PM.
He weighed 7 pounds and was 20 and 3/4 inches long.

Today he is already 1 week old! I can't even believe it!

37 Weeks! Full Term Baby!

Woohoo!! Let's do a little happy dance shall we! We are now officially full term! Our hospital bag is packed, our little nursery is set up, we're taking our birthing classes! Baby M can show up any time now!

How far along: 37 weeks
Gender: Boy!
Weight Gain: 30 lbs
Maternity Clothes: Yes. #imafan
Stretch Marks: Yep. #imnotafan
Belly button in or out: Shallow, but still in.
Sleep: My precious husband has been quite congested lately, and in his congested state he's become quite the snorer. Between that and my uncomfortableness I am not getting much sleep. But hey, that's just getting me ready for his arrival right?!
Best Moment This Week: Getting to 37 weeks! So happy to be full term!
Miss Anything: Quite a bit. But at this point I'm more concentrated on wanting him here than I am on things that I'm missing.
Movement: Yes! So much! And much stronger movement too! He's getting to be quite strong and his kicks and punches are actually starting to hurt a little bit!
Cravings/Aversions: We made a stop at the grocery store last night to pick up that ice cream with the potato chips in it, so there's that.
Queasy or sick: Luckily I haven't had too much sciatic nerve pain this week! But Baby M has definitely started to drop and is putting more and more pressure on my lower back and bladder! I'm not in pain, just starting to be quite uncomfortable.
Looking forward to: Our next ultrasound on the 18th! I will find out if I'm dilated at all, we will get to see our little man again, see if he's head down, get an estimate on his size/weight, it's going to be an exciting appointment!!

35 Weeks

First I would like to say thank you to everyone who sent me encouraging words after my 33 weeks post. It's nice to know I have so much support and I really appreciate everyone's kind words. It's whats going to get me through these next 5 weeks. For Real.

How far along: 35 weeks
Gender: Boy!
Weight Gain: about 30 pounds... I'm finally leveling out and had no weight gain at my last appointment. #thankgoodness
Maternity Clothes: Yes. Plus anything else that I can find to cover this big ole belly.
Stretch Marks: Yes
Belly button in or out: Shallow, but still in.
Sleep: I have been working so much lately that by the time I go to sleep I am absoultely exauhsted and I sleep super well. So that's been great.
Best Moment This Week: Seeing my belly move! Justin and I both saw huge movement this week and it was so exciting!
Miss Anything: Doing things comfortably. And I could really use a beer this week, but I'll refrain. =)
Movement: Yes!!
Cravings/Aversions: Nothing new… still could eat a whole watermelon to myself. Which I almost did on Labor Day.
Queasy or sick: Was feeling a little sick after that watermelon consumption, but generally I'm feeling pretty good.
Looking forward to: Our next ultrasound on the 18th!

33 Weeks: Bumps Ahead

*Disclaimer: If you are struggling with infertility or if pregnant people in general annoy you, you may want to skip on by here today. No hard feelings.

Holy moly guys. Growing a human is pretty hard. I am starting to feel pretty humongous and uncomfortable. Every day tasks are getting harder... Getting in and out of the car, getting out of bed, finding clothes that cover my big belly, and let's be honest here… even taking a deep breath.  Last night after being in pain (back hurts, stomach hurts, achey all over) all day, I found some new stretch marks on my side and I broke down. Thank goodness for my sweet husband. He calmed me down, reminded me that this is all for Baby M, and how it will all seem like nothing when he gets here. Then he drew me a bubble bath. It was just what I needed.

I'm pretty much just ready for Baby M to get here already. I know that all of this makes me sound like a big complainer, and I'm sorry for that. I am very very thankful to be pregnant, and I know what a blessing this is. I'm just trying to document my real feelings here, and I'm not about pretending it's all rainbows and roses when it's not.

But now on to the stats!

How far along: 33 weeks
Gender: Boy!
Weight Gain: about 30 pounds
Maternity Clothes: Yes. Plus anything else that I can find to cover this big ole belly.
Stretch Marks: Yes, please see above. End of conversation.
Belly button in or out: Pre-pregnancy I had a super super deep belly button. Now... it is still an innie, but it is definitely growing outwards. Quickly.
Sleep: I am mostly uncomfortable when I try to sleep, but once I'm asleep I sleep pretty well.
Best Moment This Week: All of the movement, and Justin getting to feel it!
Miss Anything: Doing things comfortably. Please see above paragraph full of complaining for more details.
Movement: Yes!!
Cravings/Aversions: Today I simultaneously was craving potato chips and Skittles. And I dont even really like Skittles. So that was weird. And also delicious.
Queasy or sick: Kind of. Mr. man is moving around so much that sometimes it makes me feel like I'm constantly going up and down on an elevator.
Looking forward to: October 6th =)

Baby Shower

What a wonderful weekend I had you guys!

My shower was on Saturday and all of my sisters, my mom, two of my very best friends, and one of their moms,  came into town to celebrate Baby M.

Time spent with Erica and Karissa is always so wonderful. I don't get to see them nearly enough, but we always pick up right where we left off and it makes me so happy to spend time with them.

It was also so great to spend time with my mom and to get to share my pregnancy with her. She spent a lot of time with her hands on my belly feeling my little man move around, and I just cherish that time.

My sisters, mom, and MIL, all did an amazing job putting together this shower.

Thank you to my MIL for opening up your amazing home for yet another party for me, and letting me invite all of these people over, and make such a mess. =) Which you know I'm good at. You're the best.

Thank you to my mom for fixing my loofah crisis.

Thank you so my sisters who planned the games, got the prizes in order, decorated, and put up with my sometimes indecisive, sometimes emotional, a lot of times picky self.

And thank you so everyone who helped with the food! There was so much amazing food! I couldn't get enough!

And Karissa thank you for snapping some amazing photos! #prostatus

I am so very lucky to get to call these women family, and that our little Baby M will get to too! Thank you all so much. I love you guys.

Party Favors

Game Prizes

The guests wrote advice to me on these little onesies.

I created a predictions pool at this site, and we had guests enter predictions at the shower! Friends and family who couldn't make the shower, feel free to enter now!

Erica and Karissa <3

Some of my Mommy to Be friends! Can you believe I have two other preggo friends that aren't in this picture!?

Playing one of the games: Blindfolded diaper changing! 

I am just blown away by the amount of love and generosity we have been shown. We are very blessed to have such amazing people in our life. All of the gifts were so wonderful and thoughtful and seriously made my heart swell with love for the women that came out to celebrate us. I also feel much more prepared to have a child now! So that's good!

Week 30

I am so happy to be at week 30! This feels like such a big milestone. Now we are on the downward slope… I feel as though the end is in sight!

How far along: 30 weeks
Gender: Boy!
Weight Gain: about 30 pounds
Maternity Clothes: Yes. On Wednesday I'm going to go shopping for something to wear to my shower and also for maternity pictures!
Stretch Marks: Just those first couple still.
Belly button in or out: Still in.
Sleep: I've been sleeping pretty well. I'm up once or twice to go to the bathroom, and I usually wake up achey or sore in some way, but I feel rested and I'm able to sleep comfortably.
Best Moment This Week: Hanging out with my brother! Easily one of my favorite people, and he was in town yesterday and today and we got to hang out a little bit, which I loved.
Miss Anything: Beer.
Movement: Yes!!
Cravings/Aversions: Watermelon. Yum.
Queasy or sick: I had my first experience with random vomiting. I was just in the middle of eating, feeling normal and great, and all of the sudden felt so nauseous and had to run to the bathroom. Not fun. I'm hoping that that is not something I will be continuously dealing with for the next 10 weeks.
Looking forward to: My little sister coming on Wednesday!

29 Weeks

How far along: 29 weeks! Into the 3rd trimester! Woot woot!
Gender: Boy!! We were a little unsure as of our last ultrasound! Our Dr. was doing a double check for us because people were giving us a hard time about the size of our little man's equipment. They were saying that what we thought was his manhood, was actually the umbilical cord! How rude!! We decided to ask the doctor to double check. And when he did, he said girl! Today was the triple check, and it is confirmed… We have a little boy growing in there!
Weight Gain: Oh geez you all… we are getting up there. We are now at 29 pounds of weight gain. Geez. La. Weez.
Maternity Clothes: Yes. And I'm looking for a cute maternity romper to wear to my shower. If anyone sees any floating around on the interwebs please let me know!
Stretch Marks: Just those first couple still, and they're still pretty light.
Belly button in or out: Still in.
Sleep: Oh sleep. I mostly sleep well, but I have to get up to pee about 3 times per night. It's not fun.
Best Moment This Week: The ultrasound today. Confirming that we are indeed having a boy, and seeing his cute little face and he already has hair!!!! And seeing his already chunky little thighs!
Miss Anything: Bending over comfortably.
Movement: Yes!! People can feel him now!!!!!! Oh my goodness this has been so so fun and exciting! My sister and Justin have both felt the baby move and it is so great.
Cravings/Aversions: No specific cravings or aversions. Still loving watermelon though.
Queasy or sick: Nope! Feeling good!
Looking forward to: My shower in a couple weeks!

Also, I passed my glucose test so we celebrated by going out and getting these delicious desserts! Yum!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

I know it's Wednesday evening but a late WIL post is better than none at all right?

I'm loving connecting with friends. I get so busy and wrapped up in my own life, and then when I have a day off I just want to sit and do nothing. But I love to spend time with friends, and I love catching up. I spent some time with my friend Cara and her darling 2 month old today and it was great. I really need to make it a more regular occurrence. 

I am loving that I am now in my third trimester! At 28 weeks, statistically my baby would survive if it were born now. That is just insane to me. I'm feeling a little lazy and haven't redone the chalkboard since the 4th of July, and Justin is out of town this week so I have no photo to show you guys. But I promise an update soon. 

Speaking of baby, I am loving that my sister felt our little nugget the other day! We were at work waiting for the kiddos to show up for the day. I told her to come lay on the giant bean bag with me because the baby was moving around a ton. She put her hand only my stomach and after a minute she felt something! She thought maybe it was just my stomach gurgling but I assured her my stomach had not been gurgling and that she did indeed feel the baby. It was very exciting. 

I am loving this:

Just yes.

I am loving my new blog design. I was needing something new and I think it's just wonderful. What do you guys think?

I am loving this watermelon drink my friend introduced me to. Frozen watermelon, a tablespoon of lemon juice, a tablespoon of sugar. Blend. You can mix it with vodka like my friend did, with sprite like she did for me, or just by itself. It is delicious! And I just can't get enough. 

This dad's response to the song Rude. I think it's hilarious. 

I am loving that after 2 weeks of weather in the high 90's next week will be in the low 80's. And for this pregnant mama that sounds like the most wonderful thing ever.

I am loving that Justin will be home in just 4 more sleeps. I need him to come back here to help me make the bed, fix the chromecast when it's not working, and do the cat litter. And also because he makes me laugh, and I love him like crazy. A week is too long to be separated.

I am loving that I got a Petunia Pickle Bottom bag for 48% off yesterday. And the outlet sale is still going on now. Go check it out.

I hope you're all having a wonderful week! Happy Humpday!

25 Weeks

I probably shouldn't have skipped week 24. It seems without realizing it I missed a week with huge growth! I was at a friend's baby shower this weekend and I took a picture with the Mommy to Be and another pregnant friend. I was surprised at how large I looked in the picture! Especially next to a Mommy 5 weeks ahead of me! But I'm claiming that it was just the dress, and that I have not doubled in size in the last two weeks. But you can decide for yourselves.

How far along: 25 weeks
Gender: Boy!!
Weight Gain: I haven't been on the scale this week. But I bet we're around 17 pounds now.
Maternity Clothes: Of course. But now that I'm not working everyday I am really living in sweats, yoga pants, and stretchy tshirts. It's working for me.
Stretch Marks: Just those first couple still, and they're still pretty light. My boobs are starting to grow now though, so I'm hoping the stretch marks don't move up there as well!
Belly button in or out: In. Wide, but in.
Sleep: Oh sleep. My back hurts when I sleep and I almost always wake up with my arm asleep and awkwardly pinned underneath me. But a friend graciously lent me her body pillow and I'm going to see if that might help me a little.
Best Moment This Week: I was laying in bed a couple mornings ago and was feeling my belly. I could distinctly feel a body part! I don't know if it was his head, his bumb, maybe just a knee, but it was there!
Miss Anything: My body. Ha. I am watching my body change before my very eyes.
Movement: Yes yes yes!
Cravings/Aversions: No specific cravings this week.
Queasy or sick: Nope! Feeling good!
Looking forward to: I get to see my Ama and Doppy (my grandparents) this weekend! I haven't seen them since my wedding, and I am really looking forward to it!! And for them to see my belly!

23 Weeks Preggo

Here we are at 23 weeks! I am getting close to my third trimester and I am feeling pregnant. Which is good I suppose. Now don't get me wrong, there are a lot of things about being pregnant that I absolutely love:

Being able to eat until I'm full and not being worried about the number on the scale. For the first time in my life seeing that number go up is not freaking me out. I'm not gaining a crazy amount of weight (yet) and everyone knows that chubby babies are cute.

And on that note… not having to turn down whipped cream on my coffee. Yum.

Baby clothes shopping. I cannot walk past the baby section at the store without going in. And I cannot go in without buying something. It's a problem. But just look at this adorable little turkey hat I picked up today!! And it was on sale… so I basically had to.

People finally commenting on me being pregnant and or touching my belly. I think I am finally to the stage where people can tell I'm pregnant and feel positive enough about that to comment on it. It's fun and exciting. And I think it's great when people touch my belly. Granted I haven't had a total stranger do it yet, but general acquaintances have, and I think its great.

Felling that little guy move around in there! He is constantly doing summersaults, or jumping jacks, or who knows what else. He is especially active at night right when I'm getting ready to go to sleep or lying on the couch. I am convinced that Justin should be able to feel him now, they totally feel strong enough. Justin hasn't been able to feel him yet but our doctor says it should be any day now!

There's also some things that I am really really missing:

Being able to comfortably paint my toenails or put on shoes. It's still possible. But it's hard work. I need Justin to help me if I'm wearing shoes with clasps or buckles. And changing my toe nail polish used to be something I could do in about 5 minutes, it's now quite the ordeal.

Clothes. Thank goodness it's summer so I can wear a lot of sun dresses. But most of my closet is untouchable. And I keep seeing all of these cute little rompers that I'm dying to be able to wear… yea, thats not going to happen this year.

Hotdogs slash lunch meat. We were going to go camping this weekend, but we got rained out, but regardless, I was so sad that everyone else would be getting to eat hotdogs and I wouldn't be. I know I know poor me. Also, I love sandwiches and it's so annoying to have to ask the people making them to heat up the lunch meat for me.

Tanning my back/laying on my stomach. I don't know how that's going to work this summer.

Being able to walk/stand for an extended period of time. My feet hurt, and I get tired so much easier. And I fear that's only going to get worse before it gets better. But I'm ok with that.

Ok, now to the stats!

I'm aware that my hair looks atrocious in this picture. Sorry about that. 

How far along: 23 weeks
Gender: Boy!!
Weight Gain: OK, this is starting to be a bigger number. But like I said before… I'm ok with this right now. I've gained about 15 pounds so far.
Maternity Clothes: Of course.
Stretch Marks: Ahhh…. I thought maybe just maybe I was going to miss this little pregnancy symptom all together, but no. I found a couple the other day. They are really little and light, and I'm hoping to keep them that way. I've been lathering on the lotions and oil.
Belly button in or out: Still in… but growing wider by the day.
Sleep: I sleep pretty well when I'm asleep. But It takes me quite awhile to get to sleep, despite how tired I am. I think part of that is because Baby M chooses this time to jump around and I like to lay there and feel him. But because I have to sleep on my sides now I almost always wake up with one of my arms twisted underneath me and tingling.
Best Moment This Week: Hearing his heartbeat at our Doctor's appointment on Wednesday!
Miss Anything: See above!
Movement: Yes yes yes!
Cravings/Aversions: Gummies. Especially Starburst Gummies with the liquid centers!
Queasy or sick: Not really! Feeling pretty good on that front!
Looking forward to: My doctor told me that after our next appointment we will start going every two weeks!! That is crazy to me! We are almost to the downward slope!!!

22 Weeks!

How far along: 22 weeksGender: Boy!!
Weight Gain: About 11 pounds
Maternity Clothes: Of course.
Stretch Marks: Not yet. I spent about 20 minutes lathering coconut oil on my belly the other day. Let's hope that helps.
Belly button in or out: In
Sleep: I have to get up around 4 usually to pee.
Best Moment This Week: Feeling him move around!! The other day he was moving so much I swore Justin could have felt it, but not quite yet.
Miss Anything: Being able to comfortably paint my toe nails.
Movement: Yes!
Cravings/Aversions: Oreos! I know that might fall under the sweets category that I've been avoiding, but for some reason Baby and I agree on this one. Also, watermelon!
Queasy or sick: Nope!
Looking forward to: Our next appointment on June 11!