The Adventures of Sawyer: The Day Has Finally Come!

     We arrived at St. Charles around 6:30am on Monday, October 17th. I had been in contact with our dear friend Elaine Gardner throughout the night (she is a labor & delivery nurse at St. Charles and scheduled herself to work this weekend, however her shift ended in a half our) I had called her when my water broke to tell her we were on our way and secretly hoped she would stay. She was the 1st person to know our news (sorry moms!) though on our way to the hospital we did manage to call our mom's (and the bonehead) as well as Paul & Marybeth and one of my best friends Shawn. We checked in through the ER and was wheeled to L & D where they were waiting for us. I changed into the lovely hospital gown and was waiting for the next round of contractions. Our nurse, Alicia, was asking the general questions and an IV was started...although they had a heck of a time getting the needle in the right spot...then it was time for the waiting game. Our mom's were beyond excited that I think they arrived 15 min. after we did! Throughout the morning I had numerous contractions and we practiced the breathing technique. We were pleasantly surprised when Marybeth and Maggie showed up to spend the day with us too! I did receive Nubane (sp?) at some point and that seemed to make me tired and kinda out of it. I still remember some contractions and squeezing my mom's and Marybeth's hands at different points...they both commented on how hard I had squeezed them! I can honestly say I don't remember a whole lot throughout the day...I was just plain out of it. I do remember getting sick a couple times (ugh!) and being asked if I wanted an epidural. I had gone into this with an open mind...I wasn't set on not having one yet I didn't want to rule out not getting one either...when the nurse talked to me about it I looked at Keith and he said to just get it (he didn't like seeing me in pain). I remember having that put in...it was no problem...I just rested my head on Keith's chest and waited for it to be over. I do remember how great it was to not feel anymore of the contractions and everytime Dr. Lemler (resident Dr.) and Dr. Owen came in to check me I couldn't feel a thing!! As the day went on they were having me lay in some strange positions due to the baby's heart rate decelerating. I wore an oxygen mask for a while to help too. Throughout the day I think I slept more than anything but did visit with Keith, Mom, Joyce, Paul, Marybeth and Maggie. Shawn stopped by after school and she shed a few tears because she was so excited but also scared to see me laying in one of the strange positions, knowing that we were having some strange heart rate issues.
     Our plan was to have a typical vaginal birth w/o Pitocin (I had read some info on Pitocin and the possible effects on the baby). Well, I was informed I needed to have pitocin due to a lack of dilating (I had stopped at 5) after the pitocin I finished dilating and was able to push. It was such a strange feeling to push because of the epidural I couldn't feel a thing! I was laying on my right side at this point and pushing in this position. Throughout this process Keith was watching the monitors closely and noticed the drop in the baby's heart rate. I was completely oblivious to any of this! He asked Jane and Dr. Owen about doing a C-Section and they said it was too early. We continued with the pushing and wasn't getting anywhere, except a very very nervous daddy! Our mom's were not in the room (a decision Keith and I made) they went to get something to eat and when they returned they were quickly ushered out because we were in the process of pushing. After 5 pushes I remember Jane Fraser (our Nurse Practitioner who we LOVE) leaning into me and saying we needed to have a C-Section! I was so upset and cried and cried. I was afraid I had ruined Keith's birthing experience...during my entire pregnancy I always said I couldn't wait for Keith to announce what the baby was. I thought with the C-Section that wasn't possible. I remember signing some paperwork and worrying that my signature wasn't very neat...but I couldn't see through all of the tears. I remember being wheeled down the hall and passed the nurses station and into the C-Section room. Keith had to wait outside until they finished prepping me. The room was cold and everything that you see on the baby shows is how it happens...my arms are stretched out and secured and the big blue screen is in place over top my chest. They said it was a good thing I had had the epidural already or they would have had to put me completely out. Thank God that didn't happen. The entire C-Section team was all woman, except the anasthesiologist (sp?) and Keith. The ladies were chatting away with each other and Dr. Z (The Anasthesiologist) was telling Keith and I what was happening the entire time. Keith was able to stand up and watch most of the procedure...and Jane kept reminding everyone that Keith was to tell what the babies sex was. It wasn't long before Keith said the words I will never forget "It's a big baby BOY"!!! I was so excited and amazed that he was finally here. It was now that Keith and the Dr.'s realized what the problem was...Sawyer's umbilical cord was extremely short and everytime I would push it would stretch and cut his oxygen supply off. Had we not done the C-Section and kept pushing we could have snapped the cord and Sawyer and I could have both bled to death. Thankful God was watching over us! Keith was able to tend to Sawyer at the isolet and be with him as he was cleaned and then Keith was able to cut the cord. Before long, they brought him over for me to see for the first time...an experience I will never forget! They stitched me up (that process takes longer than the delivery of a baby) and we were then wheeled out. We were finally able to see our parents and Paul, Marybeth & Maggie...everything happened so fast that we didn't see them before we went in (which was very upsetting)! Sawyer, Keith and I made it back to the room to get settled in, feed Sawyer and decide on a middle name. After a little while our families were invited in to finally meet our long awaited blessing...Sawyer Paul Mullen! Many more tears were shed and stories of the days events told as we celebrated this new life God so graciously blessed us with!!

Here is Keith's account of the day:
     First of all this was one of the best days of my life, it all started on Sunday with the start of the labor pains,then it went into the night, every time she would have a contraction I would keep track of it on a piece of paper, as the night went on you could tell I was getting tired by the way I was keeping track of the contractions,we went to bed and woke up at about 6am with Lisa saying that her water broke (to be honest I thought she wet the bed), so we got up and made our way to the hospital. Once we made it thru the check in process, we got our room, and began the laboring process. They would check for progress about every half hour. At about 1pm the doctors came in and were watching the baby's heart rate, I could tell they were concerned, and tried to get them to do a c-section at that time and was told it was to early. So after that they tried several different positions to get the heart rate up on the baby, after getting the heart rate back up and Lisa ready to start pushing, the doctors came in and we tried pushing 5 times. When the heart rate dropped dangerously low the decision was made to do a c-section,so we were off to the operating room, I was dressed in a scrub, I thought Dr Owen wanted me to help with the section,but she just wanted me in there to watch my little buddy be born, the c-section went well and it was not too long to see why his heart rate kept dropping, he had a very short cord and every time Lisa would push it would cut of his oxygen supply, once he was out they took him over to the table to clean him up, the nurses were working with him and the doctors were preparing his cord blood and tissue for the cord blood bank. We were then returned to our room after Lisa got stitched up with our pride and joy, Sawyer. Once in our room it was time for him to try breast feeding, it did not go well, he did not want to latch on and I think I was too hairy to try. We then invited our families in to meet the little man, I think Uncle Paul may have had a tear when he saw that his middle name was Paul. We then started to get nervous because we now had a very special little guy that was totally dependent on us. The first night we were up about all night with Lisa in pain and the little guy was trying to figure out his new space and freedom. We stayed at the hospital all week, the Grandmas were a great help all week, Aunt Marybeth and Cousin Maggie were also great. Over all it was a great experience, it was worth all the time and trouble, to finally have our little man.

Sawyer Paul Mullen was born on October. 17th, 2011 at 5:52pm. He weighed 7lbs 12 oz & was 20 inches long.