My little boy is two and a half today!
I guess it's because we're only TWENTY-FIVE days away from another new baby, but I have been thinking a lot today about the day Sayer was born. I have been remembering a lot of little things that I don't want to forget about that day (and some that I really do) so I decided to write them down :) If you don't like reading labor stories you can stop reading here, but I always like to read about other moms' experiences.
It was July 11, 2007, and I was exactly three weeks away from my due date. I'd quit my job about a week and a half before, so I didn't have a lot to do. I'd woken up early that morning (on the couch, because for the last month it was the only comfortable place I could find) and hadn't had the energy to get up and shower yet. I wasn't feeling all that well. My mom called me and asked if I'd go to Idaho Falls with her. My grandpa Gene was having surgery and she was going to sit with my grandma and wanted me to come along. I agreed, but didn't feel like showering so I just threw my hair in a pony tail and went.
It was a weird day because having Sayer early was the last thing on my mind, at least consciously. Everyone I knew had to be induced with their first babies or went past the due date, and I didn't expect to be any different. My first weekly appointment had been canceled two days before due to the doc being called into surgery, so I didn't even know if I was progressing or anything. But I think subconsciously I knew it was happening and I'd been preparing. We'd bought a camera a few days before, just to make sure we had it when he came. I got impatient waiting for Jake to put the crib together and put most of it together by myself one day. I even had my bag mostly packed.
We were at the hospital for three or four hours with my grandma, and I was still having Braxton Hicks regularly (isn't that an oxymoron?) and they were starting to get a little uncomfortable. My mom kept telling me I should go up to labor and delivery and get checked just to make sure, but I told her the doctor told me they'd feel like this or that and that wasn't how they felt. She told me, "How many babies has he had?" My uncle at one point during the day looked at me and told my grandma I was in labor.
We left the hospital and my mom bought me lunch at Bajio's; we joked about how maybe it would put me into labor :) We went to Kohl's and while we were in line there, I said to my mom, "Wouldn't it be cool if I had the baby today? Then I'd have a seven-eleven baby!" We also went to Joann Fabrics that day and got some cute fabric for my mom to make the baby a blanket.
Driving home I was really tired and not very talkative. I called Jake and had him put hamburger in the microwave to defrost and potatoes in the oven for dinner (I remember this because in our hurry to get to the hospital, we forgot to put the hamburger back and it was ruined :). We made plans to go to the movies after dinner, because Harry Potter 5 had been released that day and I was dying to go before the baby came! (In fact, that was the first thing to pop into my mind when I realized I was in labor: I wasn't going to see Harry Potter!) My mom dropped me off at about 5:30 and I went in and sat down on the couch. I felt a contraction-a little painful this time, and stood up: I'd read that if the contraction goes away when you change positions, it's not real. As I stood up, I felt a huge whoosh!! and said to Jake, "my water just broke!" He didn't even look in my direction because he thought I was joking! He kind of caught on when I ran back to the bathroom, frantically dialing my mom. She didn't answer so I called Kandice, who had the common sense to tell me to call the hospital.
It happened really quickly after then. I changed clothes while Jake got our stuff together, both of us trying to get a hold of our parents. My mom hadn't even made it home from dropping me off when I called her, and Jake's parents were out of town for a volleyball camp. We got to the hospital and went straight to labor and delivery, where they quickly got me into a gown (my clothes were soaked again) and checked me. I was dilated to a four and eighty percent effaced, but by the time the doctor got there a half an hour later I was a "cheap eight" (yes, those were his exact words!). My mom and dad got there really quickly and my dad and Jake were able to give me a blessing, which calmed me down a lot.
Things relaxed for awhile after I got the epidural; we just sat around and talked for awhile with my parents and the doctor. He told us how lucky we were to have the baby, because he was leaving for vacation the next morning and I would've had to use another doctor. He joked about how he was going to deliver my baby in his Hawaiian shirt (yes, he was actually wearing a Hawaiian shirt and shorts!) He checked me again and told me it was time, but we needed to check the baby first. He put a monitor on the baby's head, talking and joking the whole time.
That was when it got scary. I remember watching his face as he looked at the monitors, and seeing how serious he got so quickly. He was very quiet and no one else noticed until he said, "Something's going on here." It went dead quiet in the room and I turned to the monitor. The baby's heartbeat would be at 140, then it'd drop clear to 70, then bounce back. We all sat in dead silence for a few minutes until he told us he thought the baby might have the cord wrapped around his neck and there was a possibility we'd have to have a C-section. I didn't even hesitate; I totally trusted him and knew that he wouldn't suggest the possibility unless he thought it was necessary. I told him to just do it and he immediately starting barking orders at the nurses. I remember him saying "Come on, guys, we don't have a lot of time here" and everyone was pointing out that the baby's doctor hadn't shown up yet. He told them to find another doctor in the hospital and said he'd deliver the baby by himself if he had to. One nurse started prepping my stomach and another was giving me a huge dose of medication through my IV and another in my arm.
I was crying at this point but trying to stay calm. My doctor is a really easygoing, goofy guy (any of you who've used Dr. Larson know what I'm talking about) and it scared me more than anything to see how serious and tense he was. I remember watching Jake step out to call his parents, and I could hear him crying in the hallway. My mom was holding my hand and then Jake came back in and the nurse handed him some scrubs to change into for the surgery.
When we got into the OR, things relaxed a lot. The baby's doctor had made it, and they turned on some music, asking me if it was okay if my baby was born to Pink Floyd. The anesthesiologist was sitting right by my head and Jake was next to him, and I kept telling him not to let Jake look because he'd probably pass out! He talked me through the whole thing and told me when the baby was out (I immediately had Jake check to make sure he wasn't blue. That was very important to me, apparently). It seemed so anticlimactic, but he was there! Sayer Jacob Lilya was born at 9:07 pm and was a whopping 8 lbs 9 oz, even though he was three weeks early. I had my 7/11 baby.
I was really sick for the first day or so. When I left recovery I'd all ready been throwing up, and when they wheeled me into the room, it was full of people, mostly family and a few nurses. They tried to hand Sayer to me and told me to try to nurse and I had to make them take him back because I was so sick. Jake was a pro from the start. He kept the baby with us that night, and because I was completely useless, he did everything! It really amazed me how quickly he caught onto everything. The nurses came in and asked if it was okay to feed Sayer some formula since I still couldn't sit up enough to try nursing, and Jake fed him. It was really sweet.
We had a lot of visitors over the next two days in the hospital, and all I could think about was how much I wished I'd taken a shower that morning instead of being lazy! I looked terrible and the constant nausea didn't help. But luckily I was able to shower the next day, which made me feel much better. Jake's mom got there the next day and made him go home to shower, since he'd barely gotten home before me the night I went into labor and hadn't showered or changed from work. It's amazing what being clean can do for your attitude!
We were sad that Jake's parents were out of town when the baby was born. His mom called Bethanie to come in and she got to meet Sayer that night! Maybe that's why Sayer has always loved "Aunt Beffie" so much :)
Jake was a pro once we got home. He did everything for the first few days; I don't even think I changed a diaper for the first week. He had to do everything for me: help me shower, help me stand and sit and lay down, help me pick up the baby. He had to drive me everywhere I went for the first two weeks because they wouldn't let me drive. It was completely fitting to give Sayer his name.
Whew! That was really long, but I think the little details are the most fun to remember. I love my little boy and I love how close having Sayer has made Jake and me. We are excited to meet our little girl and start all over again!
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