One week ago today our little man burst into our lives. He came right on his due date, something that doesn't happen often, but he came when he was ready and in God's perfect timing. And now that all is said and done, as much as I hoped for an August baby, I am so happy to share a birth month with my little man.
I feel like Bean's birth story started long before the night labor started. I had been itching to meet this little boy for about two weeks and since I was SURE that he was going to be born in August, you can imagine my disappoint as the end of August came and went with no little man. This was only intensified by the fact that I went to my OB the Friday before he was born and found out that I was 3-4 centimeters dilated and 80% effaced. After hearing that news I was sure I would have baby by the end of the weekend, but the Lord had a much better story planned for our birth and for Sawyer's first day in the world.
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| Holding him for the first time. |
So as August turned to September I slowly began to let go of the control I never had. Trusting the Lord to bring us our sweet baby in his timing, whether it met up with mine or not. Shawn was so great during this time. Reminding me to cherish the time we had as a family of three and telling me that no matter how much I walked, and I walked a lot in that last week, there was nothing I could do to "make" myself go into labor, but trust in the Lord.
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| Biggest little guy in the NICU |
On Wednesday morning, the day before my due date, I had an OB appointment. With little change from the week before, I told myself that it was OK to go past my due date. That I was stubborn as they come, so why wouldn't my kiddos be. I left the OB and headed home to my sweet hubby and daughter, made Mac and Cheese and decided to sit on the couch and do nothing all day. And then as fate would have it, a little after 1pm, contractions started. They were spaced apart and not very intense, but they were regular, so in my mind there was a flicker of hope for not going past my EDD.
The afternoon went by with no real change in the intensity of my contractions. They came every 15-20 minutes and I was able to nap through most of them. Once Em woke from her nap we took her for walk, made dinner and put her to bed like normal. In my mind I thought that this could be it. The last night as a Mom of one. With contractions getting a bit closer, we put in a movie, "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," and I timed contractions.
By 9pm with some prying from my Husband and a dear friend I called my Mom to come and stay the night at the house. I knew that labor was progressing, but I didn't want to alarm the entire family. By the time she arrived I was having contractions every 8 minutes and they were starting to get increasingly painful. At midnight Shawn and I went outside to walk. We walked 2 miles and as contractions went from 8, to 6, to 3-4 minutes apart, I knew that it was time to head to the hospital. We walked inside, went up to our girl's room, kissed her and then started our drive to the hospital. Even now I can't think about that moment without it bringing tears to my eyes. I wanted to hold her all night long. My first baby, my first love at first sight. To let her know that she was so loved, but Sawyer was indeed coming.
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At the hospital they checked us in. It was 1:40 in the morning, I was 5 cm and contractions were coming every 3-5 minutes. After some initial monitoring, I was hooked to the portable monitors and my body started working our little man out. I spent my time in labor walking, listening to worship music, praying and at times literally calling out to the Lord for His mercy to ease the pain of childbirth. My sweet husband and Mom were with my the entire time, rubbing my back and applying pressure to my hips as we worked our little man out; Sawyer's labor was intense. The doctor came and broke my water and Sawyer quickly moved down the birth canal, so much so that Shawn sent my Mom to get the doctor and my nurse as I literally jumped in the bed, knowing that he was coming. One push and they too knew that delivery was near and as my doctor was trying to prepare for delivery I was being told not to push, which felt impossible, as he literally held Sawyer in place with his hand. After a few pushes, Sawyer came into the world and Shawn announced that we had a son.
At this point I wish I could say that he came out screaming, but he didn't. He came so quickly that he didn't have time to work out the fluid in his lungs and the cord was wrapped around his neck. So, after what seemed an eternity, he did finally make his presence known, but not enough for our delivery team to be satisfied. He was grunting and although his color was returning he just wasn't turning around as quickly as they had hoped and because of that he was taken to the NICU.
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| This about sums us up. |
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| Mom of Two |
Initially the NP returned, letting us know that they were going to start an IV because his blood sugar was low and that he needed a chest x-ray to try and discover the source behind his grunting and respiratory distress. At this point we sent my Mom, who I am so thankful was there with us during delivery, to tell the rest of our family what was going on. They, as well as me and Shawn in our hospital room, started to surround our little man in prayer. We were scared, but we knew that God was already and had been working in our little man's life to prepare him for this big day. Not 5 minutes later, the NP returned telling us the by the time she had gotten back to the NICU that his grunting had resolved. He was breathing fine. His color was normal. He was oxygenating his blood well and although he was going to have to stay in the NICU to monitor his blood sugar, that he looked perfectly healthy. The Lord worked a miracle and immediately healed and turned around our little man's condition. HE was already in the works of protecting and shattering my real Mom fears about sickness, showing me His strength in the life of my son. The Lord is good.
Little man spent about 12 hours in the NICU and then was in a room with us by the evening. We were so thankful to have him back by our side and when Saturday morning came we couldn't sign the discharge papers quick enough to get back home and start our adventure as a family of four.
Sawyer's birth story wasn't what we thought that it would be, but that's why we're not the ones writing the story for our little guy. God has big plans for our strong man and I know that he is going to continue to show us HIS goodness through the lives of our children.
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