The Nursery

A few weeks before my due date I had one of my weekly prenatal appointments. While there, the doctor measured my belly as per usual. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, we were talking about the possibility of an eleven pound baby, a c-section, shoulder dystocia, etc. Apparently, I was measuring drastically large that week. Dr. Gatherum made it clear that I had the choice for delivery method. He wasn't going to force me either way but he did want to make me aware of the risks if my baby was in fact larger than normal. He had me schedule an ultrasound that would help determine the baby's size and decide my delivery fate.

The ultrasound was about a week away and sent me into panic mode in many ways but one of them was the baby's nursery and getting things washed and put away. You see, I never experienced any of that nesting stuff. None. I was aware of things that needed to be done but typically opted for relaxing instead. So the news of possibly giving birth to a gigantor baby two-ish weeks before planned sent me into forced nesting mode.

Things ended up being fine. The baby measured a normal size and my belly was actually smaller the next week. Still big, but smaller than before. So then plans went back to the normal waiting game.

All of that to say we finally put the nursery together a couple of weeks before the big day. Dillon did all of the painting and putting together of the furniture except for the dresser, I painted that bad boy a ridiculously bright blue that I love. I organized all of the baby stuff and got it put away.

Before- For the record that wallpaper border was a beast to remove. Bless my dear Grandma Baker's heart up in heaven. Every time we update part of the house, I shake my fist at her a little bit. The way she did stuff in the house was certainly meant to last. That border took hours, HOURS to remove.

After- We didn't go real theme-y for the nursery. We decided to use some pictures that Dillon and I had developed in the astronomy class we took together. We thought they were really cool and kept them, but never really had an excuse to hang them up. Nursery pictures for the win. You can't see them super well in the picture but they are of the moon, a comet, and a galaxy. I also stumbled upon the "I love you to the moon and back" printable on Etsy after deciding to use the space pictures; so that worked out perfectly.

Our Hospital Stay

A continuation of Sawyer's Birth Story for my own journaling purposes...

In the hustle and bustle of getting things cleaned up, the nurses let my mom pop in to see her new grandbaby (my dad had been with her but had to leave for a minute so he didn't see Sawyer right away). She loved on him for a bit and then it was time for him to try nursing (right when my dad got back..awesome). Trying to wrangle that business and keep it covered was not the easiest task so my parents decided to leave and come back later that night.

After nursing for a while, Nurse Cynthia was back with me and took Sawyer to clean him up more thoroughly, give him some shots, and all of that aftermath. He was completely content, as long as he was in the warm baby bed. Even while he got his shots he didn't make a peep but as soon as she took him to scrub him down he was not pleased.

After waiting for my legs to be a little more functional Nurse Cynthia decided it was time to get me cleaned up as well. We handed the baby to Dillon and the nurse told me we had to take getting up sloooowww so that I didn't get dizzy. So I sat on the edge of the bed for a minute. Good. I stood up and paused for bit. Good. Walked over to the bathroom with Nurse Cynthia. Good. Sat down. Not good. As I sat, I told the nurse that I was seeing stars. I leaned my head against the wall trying to get the spinning to stop. She had me lean over and put my head between my legs. "Better?" she said. "Um...no. Now I can't see at all." She hit the help button and my favorite nurses Carolyn and Phyllis rushed back in. This is where things get a bit foggy for minute. I remember Carolyn saying to come down towards her...then nothing...then her hair was in my face and I couldn't figure out why. I slowly processed that she was basically holding me up as I sat in my awkward stinkbug-like position.

Slowly they all lowered me to the floor. I laid there with a pillow under my head as they changed my gown and cleaned me up on the floor. Yup. Naked and dizzy on a hospital floor. The dignity of delivery and post-delivery. All modesty goes out the door and frankly, I didn't care. They were actually quite slick at sliding one gown under the other as they switched them out. 

They asked me whether I had had anything to eat since delivery. Uh....no. So they pumped me with some apple juice as I laid on the floor. I turned my head to look at Dillon and give him a weak grin. Poor guy was sitting in a chair, holding the baby and looking lost as to what to do.

The nurses got me up and into a wheelchair and wheeled me into a recovery room. They helped me into bed and brought Dillon and the baby in. It was decided I would try that whole standing up, walking, and bathroom routine later after I had eaten.

Dillon flicked the T.V. on and we found Jurassic Park, of all things, to watch. The channel was having a marathon of all three movies. We never felt like changing it and so, ended up watching each movie at least two times before we left the next day. 

We ordered dinner from the hospital cafeteria and about the time it was done, my parents came back with dinner in hand for Dillon. So Dillon and I split it and had a double dinner. Neither of us were sad about it. We were both starving. 

My dad finally got to hold Sawyer and was the first one to receive his tiny little baby smile.

They took off and it was just the three of us for a minute but then nurses switched shifts so Nurse Cynthia came in with Nurse Cathy to fill her in on all of the events of the day. Nurse Cathy and I figured out that I had taught her daughter in my class the year before and so talked about that for a little while. Then it was time for standing up and a bathroom trip again but I only made it as far as standing up this time and had to lay back down. Nurse Cathy suggested I drink water like crazy to hydrate to help with my dizziness. She then let me know that when she came back if I still couldn't make it to the bathroom on my own, it would be time for a catheter. (For the love! No, no, no, no, no.) Thankfully, the next time we tried I was able to maneuver successfully. Stiffly. Awkwardly. Painfully. But successfully.

Nurse Cathy was my nurse all through the night. She taught Dillon how to change a diaper (Which was about the cutest fumbling you've ever seen. Don't worry, he's a pro now. Probably due to the fact that he changed every single diaper while we were at the hospital. I didn't get up and down a whole lot). She was so sweet- a couple of times through the night, I heard her open the door but seeing that all three of us were peacefully resting she left and let us sleep for another hour or so instead of insisting it was time to do this or that. She also never kneaded my stomach like bread dough to "help" things go back to normal so she gets a thousand bonus points.

When morning came, things got busy. We saw Dr. Gatherum, Dr. Nielsen the pediatrician, a nurse who talked to us about Sawyer's hearing test, social security stuff, insurance stuff- all of the loose ends, the phlebotomist again, pretty much everyone. Our night had been so peaceful that the morning overwhelmed me and actually made me want to go home with my baby just so we could take a break again. 

Two of Dillon's sisters and his mom drove over from Delta and made it to the hospital just as it was time for us to check out. I'm glad they were there. It was helpful to have extra hands for everything we needed to carry out and get done. 

We got Sawyer dressed in his going home outfit. Which was way too big and that kind of made it even more adorable. Then we loaded him into the car seat which he thought was rather rude. They wheeled me and the baby out and helped us get situated in the car and that was that.

We were on our own as new parents. Things got really real. We drove home- on our way to a terrifyingly exciting, lifetime adventure.

Sawyer One Month

I blinked and Sawyer turned one month old!

I don't have his one month stats because he didn't have an appointment but here are some earlier stats I haven't yet recorded and want to before I forget...

At 3 days...

Weight: 6 lbs 15 oz (20th percentile).  

He had lost 12 ounces! Aaand bring on my first postpartum breakdown.

Height: 20 1/2 in (63rd percentile)

Head Circumference: 13.5 in (19th percentile)

At two weeks...

Weight: 7 lbs 10 oz (21st percentile)

Height: 20 3/4 in (56th percentile)

Head Circumference: 14 in (22nd percentile)

During his first month Sawyer:

• Outgrew most of his newborn jammies because he's too tall for one pieces but is still wearing normal newborn outfits
• Looked at me with a face that made me fall in love with him every day

• Threw up all.the.time. We're talking projectile. I don't see this one stopping in the next month.
• Proved that he is most content when his hands are by his face (which is exactly how he was on ultrasounds).

 

• Experienced his first bath and decided real baths are way better than sponge baths. There's something soothing about your bum sitting in a pool of warm water I suppose.

• Started to develop a hint of wrist rolls.

• Spent some time getting a little milk drunk.

• Didn't quite come to a verdict on tummy time. Toleration is where he seems to be at.

• Enjoyed some T.V. time with dad.

• Debuted his developing singing talent.

• And of course, stole our hearts.

Sawyer's Birth Story

A short version of the story illustrates how crazy fast Sawyer's birth was. The nurses made it clear that it was unreal for it being my first baby.

8:45 am Water broke and immediate contractions
9:30 am Checked into the hospital at a dilation of 4
11:00 am Received the epidural, was dilated to a 10 and ready to go
11:54 am Started pushing
1:11 pm Our baby was here

That made labor and delivery a total of 4 1/2 hours. Fast and furious. 

The longer version only includes the part of Christmas day because I'm convinced that my body was making major preparations that day. It wasn't actually part of my labor but I want to remember it all. Without further ado, Sawyer's birth story...

On Christmas morning I woke up around 2:45 am to some unpleasant contractions. I got up to use the bathroom and experienced other obvious indicators of upcoming labor. I started timing my contractions and they were consistently 7 minutes apart with the exception of the first few. I waited for about an hour and then decided to wake Dillon up.

"Don't freak out, but we may be having a baby today. I'm not sure how fast things will speed up so I vote we do Christmas presents now."

Dillon and I opened presents and checked out our stockings. Meanwhile, contractions kept coming at 7 minutes. They were unpleasant but not extreme yet. Dillon went back to sleep for a little while and I packed our hospital bags (cue the procrastination remorse). 

Around nine o'clock we decided to head to my parents house to do our present exchange with them. Contractions were still 7 minutes apart and hadn't gotten any worse. While at my parents, contractions slowed down and became very sporadic- 20 minutes, 6 minutes, 45 minutes. We relaxed with family and took it easy. By the time we returned home, around 5 o' clock in the afternoon, contractions were only showing up once an hour. The next morning they were completely gone. 

I didn't experience any pains or labor signs during the following day and started to think that maybe our little man was going to stay put for a while after all. Then things got real.

December 27th I woke up close to 7:30 in the morning and decided to start making breakfast for Dillon and myself. I threw a load of laundry in the washer and went about getting breakfast made. While cooking, I started to feel like I might throw up which was not uncommon for me during this trimester. I tried to hold it in but my body was having none of that. At 8:45 I turned to the kitchen sink as I didn't have time for anything else and threw up, hard. With every convulsion of my stomach, a gush of water ran down my legs. For a few seconds, I wasn't sure what in the world was going on but then I connected the dots and realized my water was breaking. As I cleaned up some, I noticed there was a green tinge to the water which I knew wasn't a good sign and meant there was meconium in there with our baby.

I woke Dillon up and let  him know it was the real deal this time. My contractions were coming every two minutes and they.were.mean. We took a little time to gather last minute things and put on actual clothes/get ready. We got in the car and I've never been more thankful that the hospital is only 7 minutes from our house. Three contractions sitting in the car was enough.

At 9:30 we walked into labor and delivery (me taking breaks along the way as I couldn't even walk through the contractions anymore) and checked in. I know the pain was making me more ornery than usual but oh the front desk nurse almost made me lose it. She seemed almost bored checking me in and took her time. "Who is your provider?" "How do you spell your name?" (Any freaking way you want lady!).

I got changed into a gown and paced the room waiting for the nurse to come in. Nurse Cynthia walked in with an exclamation of, "You don't look happy." Polite chuckle from me on the outside...screams of, "I hate you!" on the inside. (Not fair, I know. She ended up being a really great nurse.)

She had me sit on the bed which brought on a new level of hurt and checked me. "Well you're at about a 4/5 so you're a keeper." (Hallelujah!) First words out of my mouth, "That means I'm good for the epidural, right?" Because I knew from our prenatal class that 4 is usually the magic number to be okayed for an epidural. She smiled and let me know that was in fact the case and they'd let the anesthesiologist know. 

Nurse Cynthia went about getting things ready- my IV so they could get a platelet count for the epidural (which wouldn't give enough blood but thankfully the phlebotomist popped in and took it from a different spot), a few basic questions etc. My contractions were turning me into a noisy whimperer and being told to breathe through them almost sent me through the roof. Thankfully Dillon was there to let me squeeze his hand and to provide sympathetic expressions.

Around 10:30, nurses switched so I had Nurse Carolyn (a woman I've known my whole life and was from my home ward---I thought it would be weird but I was so glad she was there, along with Phyllis who came later.) She walked over and gave me the best, comforting hug. I had a few more miserable contractions and rather than just telling me to breathe she simply told me in a soothing tone that she was sorry that I was hurting so much (that is how it's done folks). She then mercifully suggested Fentanyl to help with the pain while I waited for the epidural. They plugged that into my IV and I still definitely felt the contractions but I wasn't whimpering anymore (all hail Fentanyl).

Close to 11:00 Carolyn helped me get into position for the epidural and talked me through how best to situate the curve of my back to make it easy for the anesthesiologist. My favorite person walked in and gave me basic step-by-step information on what he was doing as he was doing it. The initial place he chose wasn't working out after he gave me the numbing shot and I panicked for a brief moment thinking I wasn't going to be able to have the medicine at all. It was all okay though because he picked a spot one vertebrate up to try and it worked just fine. 

The relief I felt as the epidural started taking effect was unreal. There was literally zero pain. I was a normal person again who didn't feel like shooting daggers at any nurse that dared smile at me. 

Carolyn checked me again and let out a, "Oh, you're complete. She's complete!" (Say, wha?) My body doesn't mess around. I had gone from a 4 to a 10 in an hour and a half. All of the sudden the room was busy; people in and out bringing equipment and prepping. Then Carolyn checked the monitors and the room was busy with people muttering and being concerned. They called the anesthesiologist back to give me a shot of Ephedrine. Apparently, my blood pressure had dropped, like 70 over 40 (I think that's what I heard them muttering) dropped and that made the baby's heart rate drop. My body was digging the epidural a little too much. This made sense because I started seeing stars about the time Carolyn checked the monitors. But they were so quick with the Ephedrine (which causes blood vessels to contract, or in other words do the opposite of the epidural according to the anesthesiologist) and giving me oxygen that I bounced back quickly and so did the baby.

Dr. Gatherum came in to check me and decide if it was time for pushing. Sure enough, things were ready and I started pushing at 11:54. 

After the first few sets of pushes, my contractions weren't showing up on the monitor anymore. I was still having them but this made things difficult because I couldn't feel them and they couldn't see them to tell me when to push. They set up some other equipment that monitors contractions from the inside and we got back on track. After pushing for a while, Dr. Gatherum left and had Carolyn stay with me. She had me turn on my side to push because the baby didn't seem to be particularly enjoying things with me on my back. Dr. Gatherum came back and I pushed on my back again for a while. We repeated this cycle a couple of times. Toward the end I started being able to feel when I was having contractions; not so it hurt but I was aware of the pressure. Looking back, this made me grateful that things happened so quickly because I had gotten the epidural only two hours before and it was starting to wear off already. 

At 1:11 p.m. I gave my final set of pushes and Sawyer was here and crying as they laid him on my stomach and cleaned him off. Dillon kept saying he couldn't believe how purple he was. I think Dr. Gatherum got a kick out of that. Dillon was pressured into cutting the cord; something he had already told me he didn't want to do and I was fine with that. But the nurses and Dr. Gatherum weren't taking no for an answer and Dillon took care of it. He told me later it wasn't actually as bad as he pictured it.

While Dr. Gatherum finished taking care of me, Dillon and I smiled at our new little family member that had made it into the world. He was so new and so were we, in our own way. And now that he's here, it's like he was always meant to be with us. 

Welcome Sawyer. You're loved more than you know.

Sawyer Dustin Thatcher
Arrived 1:11 pm December 27th, 2014
7 lbs 11 oz
20 1/2 inches long

Nearing the Pregnancy Finish Line

33 weeks

• How far along are you? 35 weeks
• Movement: Still a mover. I'm pretty lucky with my longer torso; he doesn't really kick my ribs (yet). I definitely feel movement much higher nowadays but none of the miserable rib-kicking other women have told me about. That's not to say I'm not uncomfortable. There is plenty of discomfort to go around. Little mister does seem to thinks it's fun to take looooong breaks from noticeably wiggling-like the whole weekend, every weekend. It keeps me on edge for sure. He's always back to moving on Monday morning though, stinker.
• Belly button in or out? Um..flat. It's making its way out but I don't know if it will reach that "turkey is done" status before d-day.
• General Mood? Still pretty good. The discomfort level lately has made me pretty unforgiving of middle school behaviors at work. Poor kids.
• Thoughts: I'm feeling overwhelmed the closer it gets. There's just so much to do and the list keeps on growing somehow. I'm still pretty nervous about labor but I'm starting to get into the stage where my attitude is becoming more of a "whatever we've got to do" outlook. I'm ready to be able to move without letting out squeaks of pain.
• Doctor Appointments: Well these have actually been semi-exciting. I went in to take my glucose test with piqued curiosity about the infamous sugar drink. I was pleasantly surprised. It tasted just like orange Hi-C. I thought it was delicious. And I passed! Woop! I had a kind of random "appointment"due to our crash with a deer. Baby moved some after the crash but then didn't move for a good 24 hrs so we decided to go in. The nurse-Phyllis-was a lady I've known my whole life which I ended up being grateful for. She has a fantastic bedside manner. She hooked me up to the monitors and we basically chilled for a few hours. She did tell me and Dillon that the change in barometric pressure probably didn't help. Apparently babies don't like when the pressure changes and they tend to not move as much. Phyllis said they anticipated an influx of worried moms that day and sure enough, they were busy. The monitor showed his lovely little heartbeat and we could hear him moving but I couldn't feel it which they thought was odd (they being Phyllis and Dr. Gatherum who was watching the screen from his house). They sent me home with instructions to come back if I didn't feel him within a day. Baby gave me some feeble moves the next day but the day after that was back to his usual self. The last appointment worth mentioning is more just funny than anything. Every appointment they ask you to pee in a cup, right? So I was in the bathroom trying to get situated when my cup folded in on itself of its own accord (seriously, I think a ghost kicked it) and fell in the toilet. It fell in pre-business but still, "clean" toilet water doesn't really exist in my opinion. So then I had to fish it out which got toilet water everywhere which led to me cleaning up their floor etc. as best I could. Much too long of time later, I washed my hands and tried again (and then washed my hands again). I walked into the other room and told Dillon and the nurse about my predicament. The nurse got a kick out of it and told me she wondered what was going on in there. What can I say? I live to amuse.
• Baby: Baby is pretty much fully formed with all of the necessities and will now just keep on putting on fat for the next few weeks.
• Symptoms: Well my stomach looks like a super awesome tributary system of shiny pinkness. Dillon got to experience poking my swollen foot and having his finger imprint stay in my skin. Freaked us both out. My poor, pelvic region hates all movement- all.of.it. Throwing up has revisited the scene. And all of the other typical aches of the 3rd trimester. All worth it, though. Worth it.
• Cravings/Aversions/Eating: Dr. Pepper for the last week or so. This is really odd as I pretty much never purposely seek out that particular drink. Apparently this little guy digs those 23 flavors.

Starting With a Bang

Well November started out with a bang, quite literally.

Dillon and I were headed over to the annual hunt/craft show event in Delta. Dillon gets to bond with his dad, the dogs, and guns for a few hours while I get to walk around a gigantic craft show and spend too much money while wishing I had brought more. But not this year.

The morning of November 1st we decided to take the back road to Delta (maybe not the wisest choice in hindsight?). Everything was smooth sailing until we came over a hill and Dillon had enough time to yell, "Deer!" and then bam!

We pulled over to the side of the road, our car leaking antifreeze everywhere. Have you ever smelled antifreeze? I never had and I was convinced that it was the poor, mangled deer bleeding everywhere. THAT is what antifreeze smells like-death.

Not even a full two minutes later, a man pulled over to help us out. He actually lives in Cedar too but we didn't know him and will probably never see him again but shout out to Skyler! He was so helpful and had the best chuckle which somehow made the situation more bearable.

He checked on the deer (the poor thing was not dead but was struggling- soooo sad; it did eventually pass on its own) and called dispatch for us. He then lined up a tow truck for us while Dillon was on the phone with my parents to see if they would come get us so early in the AM.

After that it was mostly a matter of waiting. Skyler kept us company and told about his work on the pig farms. That work is actually what had him on the back road. He drives that drive twice a day most days of the week. 

My parents showed up, we transferred our stuff out of our car, then highway patrol showed up, then the tow truck- all in pretty quick succession. 

We got everything squared away with insurance and the dealership where we had our car towed to. $6,000 in damage (so glad we have insurance) and three weeks later we're looking at having our car back on Monday. Baby and I are so excited (side note: we did have to make a trip to the hospital to make sure everything was a-ok, it was). Dillon's jeep has a broken window and pretty much zero suspension. I'm kind of surprised this kid hasn't been bounced out of me.

To keep me content, these two albums arrived in the mail a few days after the crash. No let downs here, love them both. (Bad Blood from T-swift is a fav).

All Things October

October was a super busy and super fantastic month. During this month...

I completed some "conference crafts" while listening to conference. I have to keep myself busy or I fall asleep on the couch every.dang.time. My favorite talks focused on standing up for your beliefs while being polite. Unapologetic, but polite. I appreciated that because I feel like sometimes I'm being told that I'm offending the general public by believing what I do. That's not really fair. My intent with my beliefs is to better myself, not to offend others. So unapologetic, but polite it is.

Before

After

This isn't finished yet in this picture. I started this dang craft during April's conference. Ridiculous. But who knew it would take so many stinkin' pearls?! It's done and hung up now though so, yay.

I enjoyed some delicious drinks. The Nesquik was discovered by accident but was so yummy. Happiness in a bottle. The glucose drink was like a cold, orange punch. I really did like that one too. And I passed the glucose test. Boom.

We went up North and visited our friends the Britos. Lindsay gave our hair some much needed lovin' and we got to catch up with her and Rob.

Fresh looking with our new hairdo's

View 1 of the bump

And view 2

We also started our 6 week prenatal course this week. Most people already know this story but...our first week was interesting. It focused a lot on breathing and relaxation techniques during labor. My personality is not a "breathe through it" type so I had a hard time taking it seriously. Then during the video we watched it panned to a nice, blooming pink rose and the narrator said, "Imagine your cervix opening like a rosebud." Wha?? It's a good thing Dillon and I were in the back row. Covered up laughter definitely ensued. Prenatal class 1. Maturity 0. Other than that week though I've actually really liked the class. The instructor is even in her opinions and truly just wants to inform all of us moms-to-be as best she can.

My mom invited me to go see The Little Mermaid at Tuacahn with her. It was really fun and their effects involving creating the underwater appearance were pretty impressive. The only down side was the lady who sat down next to us and let us know that she was super sick with an intense cough but not to worry because she brought cough syrup. Thanks lady. Me and my baby appreciate your cough syrup. Some people's children.

My dad threw a family baby shower for me. He kept it perfectly easy. Food, hanging and chatting, then presents. Top notch. He did an excellent job. Pro-shower thrower. We loved all of the stuff people were kind enough to get us and are seriously so grateful. These are some of my favorites:

That same day Dillon and I headed down to Tuacahn with his sister and mom to see Thriller. I liked 90% of the show. It was a fun atmosphere but that Giggling Girl could giggle herself right off the program and it would be just fine.

Dillon and one of the roaming zombies

Our friends Amy and Dan invited us to their house to do some pumpkin carving.

Dillon working on our pumpkin. He did all the work. It's really just his pumpkin.

Dan showing his pumpkin who's boss

Amy with her and Dan's cute, new baby boy Sammy

Finished product

Mr. Gnome

And finally, we were invited to a Halloween party at my co-worker's house. It was a lot of fun. Heather and her husband Bart put lots of effort into the party for the kiddos and adults. Dillon and I aren't exactly dedicated dresser-uppers but I was still proud of our last minute costumes.

My homemade Solar System t-shirt

Baby Sawyer being featured as the Sun

Dillon as an astronaut..on leave because that's all we had...and because Dillon wouldn't be an alien as was suggested.