Sawyer Leigh Kelly

A few days before Saywer arrived.

I never go into labor naturally.  I was so sure that I would need to be induced with Sawyer as well, but, he had other plans.

I had an appointment on March 12th in the AM.  I was prepared to beg/cry/bribe....do whatever to set a date that they would induce me.  I was worried about how big Sawyer might be and they scheduled an ultrasound to determine the size, only to cancel it with out me knowing.  They said since everything was normal and healthy at 20 weeks, there was no medical reason to do another ultrasound.

It wasn't hard to produce the tears.  I was done and I was so worried about Linda arriving and leaving and not having the baby.  I did convince Courtney, the midwife I have been seeing, to check to see if I was dilated.  I was already at 4 cm, so she went ahead and stripped my membranes.  Upon leaving the appointment I started having contractions, that felt much stronger and more frequent then I've ever felt before.

I went about my day.  Went and got my hair cut.  Got a chicken sandwich from Chick-fila.  Went and picked up some things from Lowes.  Picked up Macey from preschool.  Talked to dad on the phone.  When it was time to pick up Loraya and Isaac from school I was having pretty regular contractions and was even having Isaac time how quickly they were coming.  It was about every 5 minutes.  I was nervous to admit I was in labor but realized I better start making preparations.

I packed a hospital bag.  Called the hospital and told them I thought I was in labor.  Called Jacob and told him he better get home so he could take me to the hospital.  Called Sharleen and had her husband come and pick up my kids.  I was still unsure this was really it.  I have never got into labor naturally and this was all new to me.  I felt like a first time parent and questioning what I should do and how I should proceed.

I will be forever grateful that Reagan, who also happens to be the bishop in our ward, suggested Jacob give me a priesthood blessing.  The spirit was strong.  I didn't know how much peace that blessing would bring me and how much it would be needed that night.

I still can't believe how things progressed.  We checked into the hospital around 5:30.  My contractions were getting stronger and continued to be every 5 minutes or so.  They called my mid wife and she agreed I needed to stay and have Sawyer that night.  Yay!  After a while I told Jacob to go and get something to eat since he hadn't eaten dinner yet.  He joked that when he got back make sure I would be ready to push.  Haha.

Jacob was gone about 20 minutes.  Things changed while he was gone.  My contractions were getting crazy painful and I was getting desperate to get an epidural.  They hadn't hooked up my IV yet and hadn't done the proper blood work.  The epidural never happened.  I can't describe the experience of having a natural birth. It was pain I never thought I could live through.  When it came time I told the midwife that I needed to push.  No one needed to tell me I was fully dilated, I knew what I needed to do.  Oh the pain was so intense.  I was screaming, acting completely crazy.  Sawyer's shoulders got stuck while pushing.  That was another whole realm of pain I don't know how to describe.  Then suddenly he was out, and the pain was immediately gone.

I was stunned as to what I had just done, what my body had allowed me to do.  To top it off Sawyer was a big boy!  9 lbs 9 oz.  20 inches long!  I was really in shock.

Sawyer was/is a beautiful baby.  He was very swollen and bruised from dropping and being pushed out so quickly.  Heaven was close.  I loved Sawyer completely and felt that my world was full.

I had him at 8:54PM.  Jacob left by 9:45 to pick up the kids and get them in bed.  Little did I know the excitement wasn't over for the night.

To be continued....