Sawyer Makes Five!

Now that he is 23 days old, I better get to his Birth Story!



Well, let me say I felt like I was in 'labor' for weeks! At 37 weeks I went into L&D with contractions 5 minutes apart that lasted alllll day, I was dilated to 4 cm, but of course, they stopped. So, I went along my way having contractions at all sorts of different times of everyday there after, but of course, nothing to send me back to L&D, until Sunday June 9th. We had my parents over for dinner that day, my back was hurting so horribly bad, and I was tired, emotional, cranky..all of the above. My Mom did the dishes and they offered to take the kids home with them for a sleepover, so they headed home with my parents and I sat myself down in the recliner to rest. Around 9pm, my friend and I started having a conversation on Facebook, back and forth for about an hour. I wrote her towards the end and told her, ''Ive been having contractions 5/7 minutes apart this whole time'' but, I didn't want to get too excited. Once it was an hour and a half, I told Sean we should probably head towards town, if all else fails we could get an ice cream cone right!? So we went at about 10:30 towards town. Still having them, not very painful, but they were there. We stopped at the Walmart by the hospital and walked around, Sean bought an energy drink, I got a water. I remember a very distinct moment of pain that almost took me to my knees, but it ended as quickly as it came. So, we got in the car and drove into downtown Puyallup. Neither of us really wanted to go into L&D just to get sent home again, so I was waiting for some pain, or for the contractions to get closer. Sean decided he was hungry and went thru the drive thru at Jack in the Box at midnight..YUK and we drove to the hospital and sat in the parking garage as he ate his meal. By this time, there was no difference. Sean says, Lets go home and get some rest. I tried to talk him into going to my parents who are only about 20 minutes away, not an hour, but he wanted to go home. So, after a couple more stops, so I could go pee and also to re-check  my contractions and see if by chance they were getting closer (they weren't) we finally got home around 1:30am. I went directly to bed, I was tired. Sean stayed up. Around 2:50am I was awaken by the most painful contraction ever, I looked at Sean who was still awake playing on his phone, threw off my covers and said "ITs TIME TO GO!" He flew out of bed just as fast, good thing he drank that energy drink, and I grabbed my pants, threw them on and raced for the car. I forgot my contacts so Sean ran back inside for them and by that time, my contractions are 2-3 minutes apart. OH NO. Seriously, I dilate SO fast, I began to panic. 'SEAN GO!' I spent the entire drive there with my eyes closed, breathing thru the very painful contractions, and praying that God would keep the baby until we arrived at the hospital. Sean got us to Good Sam in 35 minutes. I later found out part of the way he was going 95! YIPES. But, that was part of his plan on going home that night I think..he wanted an excuse to drive fast! Anyway, its 3:30am, we go in thru the ER, the guy looks at me and says you're in labor! I say, yes! They bring the wheel chair and he gets on the phone with L&D, I swear it felt like he was moving at a turtles pace, especially the walk from the ER to L&D, I wanted to tell the guy to RUN but figured that wasn't appropriate. They take me to Triage where no one is there waiting, I know whats going on, Im going to have this baby and Im sure its going to be very soon. I start undressing and putting the gown on, Sean is looking at me like ok, what do I do?! We have never had a baby come naturally, I had been induced with the first two. Finally the nurse comes in, I let her know that the baby is coming, she slowly gets me hooked up the machine and says she needs to check to make sure Im in labor..lady, I KNOW im in labor! She checks, "Oh dear, youre at 8cm!" well, DUH..I told ya! (I didn't say that) So she hurries and unhooks the wires, and we rush over to a delivery room, at this point I tell her I would really like an epidural if possible. We go thru the process of answering questions, hooking me up, monitoring me, and Im thinking..water, please don't break- I want an epidural, my Dr had me nervous the baby was going to be large because of my size. Needless to say, the anesthesiologist comes thru the door- wearing a BATMAN do-rag..how awesome- especially since one of my nurses was named Robin..I couldnt wait to tell Silas (who is obsessed to say the least), and starts his process of getting my my epidural. This is around 4:30am, finally, I am relieved of the intense pain. They break my water, which didn't gush as much as I thought, since I had double the fluid I was expecting a bursting damn affect(that came later!) and I relaxed as best as I could.
After about 45 minutes, I felt the urge to push, I called the nurse in, she checked and sure enough I was ready to go! I didnt get much use out of my epidural now did I? haha, The Dr came in, and after 4 pushes the Dr asked me to laugh, he said it would ease the baby out. I remember thinking, how am I supposed to laugh right now?! So I tried, a fake little laugh, and the nurse told me, 'What kinda cheese is not yo' cheese?! NACHO CHEESE!' But the way she said it made me genuinely laugh, so hard that I snorted, which then thru me into a laughing fit, and bam, he was out, it was the quickest out of all 3, and I cried and so did baby. That is one of the best sounds, a screaming baby after you've just delivered. I was so nervous at the end of my pregnancy, and all of that washed away when I heard that cry. The Dr that delivered him was wonderful, after he stitched me up, he came up and gave me a hug and told me what a great job I did and how beautiful my boy was. I thanked him, I was also nervous about not having my own Dr, but he was wonderful, I couldn't have asked for a better substitute than my own Dr.

Sean set the camera on the counter and turned the timer on, hehe

I couldnt wait for the kids to come see their new brother. Once we were moved into the Mommy/Baby unit I sent Sean out for the kids.

Yep, they loved him. :) Not too much later, my Pastor came and we prayed for Sawyer, which was so special. I was so glad he came, I love my church. Then came the grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins..we had a great amount of visitors who were so excited to meet him- I love my family, we all agree, children are a blessing. 

We stayed in the hospital for two days, I actually loved being there and could have stayed a couple more days..is that weird? Anyway, it was such a wonderful experience. I was sad thinking it was probably my last time experiencing it. But then Sean keeps throwing me for a loop talking about moving into a bigger house and having another baby in a couple years. I said, for one, Im not quite ready to think about it, but for two..dont play with my emotions like that! HAHA! :D 

Well, thats about all I can get down for now, little Mister is calling from the other room :)

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Ambulance Ride

These last few months have been so crazy for me.

First, my Dad being sent to the hospital for chest pains to find out he has multiple blood clots in his lungs, then two weeks ago my BIL fell asleep at the wheel on the off ramp from i5 and 272nd. Amazingly, and thank God, he is doing good.
He fell asleep coming off the freeway, bumped into another car on the side (didnt do much damage to that car, air bags didnt even deploy, the woman walked away from the accident) crossed thru the 272nd intersection and slammed into a pile of rocks on the other side of the road. My friends family towing company actually towed the car, so she snapped some pics for us. The officer told him, 'How did he survive this?' Especially crossing that famously busy intersection during prime morning traffic time. (My BIL works nights 3-8am as a supervisor at UPS.) The only injuries he sustained were a fractured L2 Vertebrae , Broken Cheek Bone, Orbital, Pallet and his nose, plus he bit his lip to the point that is sort of hard to explain, just imagine a huge chunk of it had to be sewed back on. He just had plastic surgery and has gone back for two checks and they think he is healing well. He will be out of work for 2 months. This whole thing scared the crap out of me. I rushed to the hospital to see him and instantly burst into tears seeing him on the bed there, he looked SO bad. Thankfully, he wasnt AS bad as we initially thought. Thank God. The other part is the Friday before his Monday accident, he was given a ticket for not wearing his seat belt, for whatever reason he wouldn't wear it all the time (GRR) but thank God he was pulled over for it, and was wearing it during this accident..how different it would have been.

I had a wonderful Mother's Day, Sean spoiled me rotten. He made me such a wonderful dinner of King Crab Legs, BBQ Marinated Tri Tip Steak, Fresh Fruit Salad, Huge Green Salad and a Milkshake for dessert. I was SO full..but it was SO good. My mouth is watering thinking about it. Then he cleaned the kitchen and let me sit on my butt and be lazy all day, it was so nice..I even got to enjoy a long nap, which at this point is more refreshing than the beginning of my pregnancy. haha.

Then Monday morning, I had one of the scariest moments of my life. I was sitting in our recliner watching Bubble Guppies with the kids, trying to wake  up myself, when I started to feel a pain in between my shoulder blades. Oh great, here comes the heartburn I thought, so I got up and took some tums and sat back down, because just that little walk from my family room to kitchen took my breath away. As Im sitting there, the pain really starts to intensify and begins to wrap around to the front of my chest. Ok, Im starting to get scared  here. I get up and grab the kids some clothes, since, for some reason I think Im going to drive myself to the Dr..ha, great idea, not. By this time (8am), the pain is gaining, and quickly. I grab my phone and call the hospital nurse to seek advice, after a couple of quick questions, she tells me, Im calling the EMT and hangs up on me. By the time she calls me back, they are in my driveway and walking up to the door. Ive NEVER had to call 911, (for anything medical, Ive reported a few people I thought were drunk driving) and by this time Siara is by my side, what is going on and scared..I start blacking out, the pain is almost an 8..which, after having children that pain scale thing sure changes, haha. Quick side note, my Dad was having horrible headaches while he was in the ER for his chest pains and he said his headache was a level 10, my mom and I teased him that he didnt know what level 10 pain was, obviously he was in joking spirit so it was ok to tease him. :) Anyway, the super sweet EMT lady hooked me up to the EKG and started asking me questions, and asking me to call someone to grab my kids for me. (By the way, Sean was headed to the hospital from work to meet me there) they kept telling me to call my neighbor, so I called my neighbor, but Sean had already called my friend, and sure enough they both burst thru my door at the same time to grab my kids. They brought the stretcher in to take me to the hospital and Im scared, thats all I remember. I cant tell you what my friends were wearing, or saying, just that they were there and my kids were going to be ok. Im praying to God, I want the baby to be ok, please let the baby be OK, don't let my older children be scared, and of course protect me, Im not ready to go anywhere yet.  I dont remember much of the ride there either, she kept waking me up to ask me questions. How many pregnancies have you had? I say 2..no wait, 3..actually 4 (including my miscarriage) so of course she had to ask me again later to make sure. Anyway, I do remember being wheeled into the ER, and immediately telling them to find the UPS man he would be there waiting. Then a whole flood of people came in, including a lady to monitor the baby, and what a sweet sound it was to hear my little mans heart beating strong. I hadnt felt him move all morning, and what a relief  I swear he could hear the monitor cause he started kicking as soon as he was hooked up. At this point Sean comes in and I can close my eyes and try to relax since he was by my side. The pain started to lessen, but not by too much, so they ran a wide variety of tests. Problem is, I didnt want a CAT scan, the ER Dr said if my pain didnt go down to a manageable level within an approved time period he would do it anyway, but he also wanted to stray away from that. So, there I lay, falling in and out of sleep as they do various things, ultrasound my legs, xray my chest, at about 1:30pm the Dr came in and told me he didnt see any clots in my legs, but being as my Dad has clots, and his did not come from his legs, they could be genetic, he wanted me to connect with my Dr after the baby was born to get a CAT scan and check for them. My pain had dropped to about a 2, which is where Im at today, so the ER Dr was pretty sure if I had a clot lodged in my lungs that I wouldn't have started to feel better, especially within only a few hours. Of course, gave me strict instructions to return immediately if the pain started to rise even slightly. So we were sent home, not really knowing what was going on at all. :( 

I saw my OB that Thursday and he has a theory to what he thinks happened, which I hope he is right, but my Uterus grew 6cm in 2 weeks (also found out im 2cm dilated and baby is head down!)..he is pretty sure little mister has grown to the point of squishing my diaphragm, causing me to basically go into a hyperventilation(my shallow, light breaths), and I cant catch my breath cause I have no room to expand and take a deep breath. I go to the Dr today to check up, and if I grew like I did last week, I will have an ultrasound..big baby or excess fluid? But he also wants me to check with my regular Dr after the baby is born, because of my family history. So now, Im on basically bed rest, I cant get too active since I obviously cant breathe to keep up with that type of activity. So needless to say, Im getting bored. LOL. But, Im also trying to enjoy the fact that I can relax, my little brother is here to help me with my kids during the week, and so that Im not alone, just incase. My family is an hour away at the least, Im so thankful I have great friends to count on though if I need them. All I know, is Id rather not ever ride in an ambulance again, nor have that chest pain ever again..I felt like someone put a belt around my chest and pulled it tighter than tight. 

Anyway, Im having lots of braxton hicks and LOTS of odd various pains, my little man is getting ready. But he cant come yet, Im only 36 weeks, 37 on Saturday..Id really like him to wait until atleast June 1st..is that too much to ask of him ;-) I wanted him to be late, but doesn't look like he is going to allow that. :D Im excited to meet him, see what he looks like, smooch those baby soft cheeks and hear that newborn cry. Im only sad thinking that I wont be pregnant much longer, I really love being pregnant. Im pretty sure that's what God created me for, to be a Mama. I cant picture doing ANYTHING else. Even though there are days I get hard on myself and feel like I messed up, more often do I feel that this is the only thing Im actually GOOD at. 

I am always nervous that the ultrasound tech was wrong, so based on HER knowledge of reading ultrasounds, here is my little Sawyer, a feeling I will miss after he is born. :)

Long over due update

Wow, I havent blogged in over a month! I better do this bullet style :)

• Back in March, my poor Siara got sick with the pukey thing, only lasted a day for her, and I didnt get it, or anyone else...that we thought! After a whole day of her not being sick, I was decorating the baby's area of the boys room when I started to not feel good. So I laid the kids down for a nap and went to try and take one myself. I woke up feeling hot, so I grabbed a bowl and ran into the bathroom anticipating this awful stomach flu that was going to come. And I was right. I wont go into too much detail, but I was throwing up every 20 minutes and I couldn't keep anything, not even a tablespoon of pedialite down. This was at about 2pm. All I could think was, Oh I have at least 5 hours until Sean gets home, what am I going to do?! When the kids woke up, I turned on cartoons and told them they could have any snack they wanted, that Mommy would be in her bedroom, or the bathroom, and left Siara in charge of my cell phone. I have taught her how to call Sean or 911 in case of an emergency. Sean called to check on me as often as he could, and thankfully he got home at 6:30 that night. He took over the childcare and I tried to rest, get some fluids in, but, every 20 minutes running to the bathroom wasnt allowing it. Around 10pm, I started thinking if this didnt end soon I was going to need to call L&D and see if I should come in. The next time I puked there was blood in the toilet so I threw on my jacket and said lets go, Im not taking any chances. My Mom came and got me so Sean could stay home with the sleeping babies and gave me a ride to the ER where I was whisked away immediately to L&D to be checked out. Obviously, I was severely dehydrated so they pumped me with two bags of fluids and some nausea medicine and hooked me up to monitor the baby. Thankfully, he was ok. His heart rate was high, as was mine, but after resting and the IV it went back down to normal. It took me a good few days to fully recover from that. My body hurt so badly, that much frequent puking with a baby growing did a number on me! (The trip to the ER was on a Thursday) 
• That Sunday, my Dad called me and said, 'When you were sick, did your arms go numb? Mine are going numb all the way down to my middle finger' I said, NO, go to the ER at St Francis! He told me, oh Ill see how it goes, so of course I got upset at him and said to go, arms going numb isn't normal!! My Mom texted me at 11:30 that night and said, ok we're going. So, I stayed awake, waiting for an update. Found out, my Dad had recently had a heart attack so they were going to admit him. I slept as much as I could, and when the kids woke up the next morning we headed to the hospital, where I found out my Dad had pulmonary embolisms, multiple blood clots in each lung, with one large one in his right lung. UGH! Just what I needed to hear! My Dad ended up staying in the hospital for 5 days, and we visited each day. The kids loved eating at the cafeteria, haha. During that time my Dad quit chewing tobacco..Thank God! My Dad had to start on blood thinning meds right away, and then had to continue to give himself shots at home for another week until his blood levels got between a 2-3. He will continue to take Coumadin for the next until his next cat scan to check the clots, so my Mom ordered him a medical bracelet stating that he is on blood thinners in case he falls or gets hurt at work. Its actually a really nice one too! 
• Now we are in April, my Dad went back to work this Monday, after 3 weeks off and we are finally getting our lives back in order. :) The kids both have snotty colds, but otherwise we are doing great here. Baby boy is keep active in my belly, which I love.I registered Siara for kindergarten  man Im going to be one emotional wreck on the first day of school..why does time have to be so cruel?! Siara also started TBall so twice a week we have practice and games on Saturdays and some Thursdays. SO much fun. I asked Silas if he wanted to play when he was bigger, his response, Yea, Ill play but Im gonna play Hockey too. Im not too sure where he picked up on the Hockey, haha. He is such a fun little boy, I sometimes cant stand it..he has such an imagination, I love watching him play with his toys and listening to the things he says as he plays. My kids give me such joy. :) Well, I guess thats all I have time to write about today..hopefully Ill be able to update more in the near future instead of in another month! :)

Love Being Pregnant. Hate The Varicose Veins

Ok, so first, I better start off with an update on the kitchen remodel, which is all done(actually, almost, we still have to buy the toe kick which goes under the cabinets to finish off the look, like a molding) and I am sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo(does that show enough emphasis?) happy about it. My old kitchen was, old, non-functional, and just didn't feel like a kitchen (where I spend 98% of my time) so having a drab kitchen that is just so blah, is not very good for the morale.
Anyway, its done now, my husband is wonderful, we both love the new layout which is so much more practical. I don't have to unload my dishes from the dishwasher and then onto the counter and then put them away, now I can take them from my sink right into the dishwasher and away I go. It looks so CLEAN all the time, which is another huge thing I struggled with. I had white counter tops..gross, nasty, looked dirty no matter how hard I scrubbed..now I have a beautiful dark color that I can wipe once and they're clean. My nice HUGE sink that I cant wait to bathe my newest baby in :) Ahh, so happy.

Before and After, the before picture is extra messy from unloading cupboards and starting the remodel, but you get it :)

Here is the boys favorite place to sit while Im getting breakfast ready, cooking or anything else Im doing in the kitchen :)

Onto the pregnancy update. Mister is a busy bee in my belly, and I will especially miss his movements after he is born, my other two were active, but I don't remember this active. That does make me nervous, slightly haha. Silas is so very excited to have a baby brother. We are working on potty trainign right now, he is associating his high chair with his baby brother, so Im trying the angle of diapers being a baby thing, so far its working ok for him :)

 My only complaint is the varicose veins. I've never had them, and they are painful if Im too busy or on my feet too long. I've been going to the gym for a while now, and by the end of my workout I have to go home and put my feet up or my legs just throb :( I got some thigh high compression socks, but Im not sure if I got the right size, but I try those as well when I can get them on, haha! They are tough to put on, and with my growing belly that doesnt help since bending over is getting to be about a thing of the past. My feet have also been freezing lately, which Im sure is part of the cirulation issue. I like to be active, which I know I need to be with the varicose veins, but I also have to make sure Im sitting down and relaxing. I have another check up tomorrow that I will talk to the Dr more about this and show him my legs..behind my knees it almost looks like Im bruised.. I've never had these before so I just want to check :) I took a picture of my leg, but wont be sharing that, no one wants to see bulging veins on an especially white leg that hasn't seen the sun since last summer and possibly wont this summer ;-) 

Baptism and Remodel

Sunday we went to Holy Disciples Parish here in Puyallup to witness my little cousins baptism! How fun! I had never been to a Catholic Mass, other than for Sean's Grandfathers funeral. This mass, was a bit different than that one. His Grandfathers church was gorgeous, beautiful solid wooden pews, stained glass, stone building, kind of dark actually, but not in a bad way. This church was brighter, no pews just chairs, and instead of kneeling we stood and sat. The Priest or Father, I'm really not sure what to call him because I heard both..but I think Father I heard more, anyways, he delivered a great message, added some humor into it and made it a lot of fun for my whole family- who none of us had been to Catholic Mass, except my Dad who grew up Roman Catholic, he said this mass was different than he grew up with too.
My cousin asked me to take pictures, which I tried, but because we could use no flash, and because there was a wall of windows behind them shining light on their backside, they didn't turn out to my standards..so we are doing a little mini session this week of him in his Baptismal outfit with his bible and things. :) Anyway, it was a great day, I enjoyed their church, and the most special event we got to witness!

We have been working on our kitchen..I have been in prayer for Patience because let me tell you, having a dis functional kitchen and a large mess is just rough for me. 

Ill include some pictures so you can see for yourselves. Im so excited for the finished product. Im enjoying how open my kitchen is without the top cabinets, we had custom cabinets that came with the house that were just HUGE..my new cabinets will be drop so I have a little space between the ceiling and top of the cabinet, creating a little more openess.

The start

Kids helping Vacuum up the mess :)

 No more top cabinets..now on to painting and removel of bottoms this weekend when Seans vacation starts!

My brother helping me paint..and talking on the phone..

 Before

After

 Still have lots of work to do, like painting the ceilings  that Im not doing the boys are, and painting my dining room. Our house is painted in a color called Navajo White, but against WHITE it looks DIRTY and its driving me NUTS! And let me say, I absolutely despise Knockdown wall texture!!!!