Sawyer's Birth Story

It’s wild how different pregnancies can be…and for me, it was all the more novel in the end. As you read in Remi’s birth story, my little girl arrived at 37 weeks with — not surprisingly enough for those that know our Remi — quite a bit of pomp and circumstance starting with my water breaking seemingly out of the blue followed by a 19-hour long labor, a need for pitocin and just under 60 minutes of pushing. 

Sawyer was a whole other story. I started having prodromal labor — often called “false labor,” as it’s known for starting and stopping pre-active labor — with my little boy at 35 weeks. At my appointment that week, I was hooked up to the electronic fetal monitor, which showed first hand that the 3-to-5 minute contractions I had been feeling weren’t B.S. 

“You’re on baby watch!” I was told and so I pulled back from work and focused on nesting. The joke ended up being on me though because my prodromal labor lasted another 4 weeks. Mmhm…you read that right. It wasn’t until 39 weeks and 3 days that my baby boy made his way into the world!

“This is what so many women experience, Laur,” my husband, Mike, reminded me daily. “This time around you’re going through an uncomfortable, frustrating, ‘Get this kid out of me!’ end of pregnancy so that you can learn and share your experience with Bump + Thrive.” He was absolutely right, although of course it was the last thing I wanted to hear at the time. It was almost as bad as the countless times people said, “Let him cook! The longer he’s in there, the better.” That made my blood boil — but again was true.

I remember waking up uncomfortable just after midnight the morning of August 27th. In fact, the day before my low back/hips were noticeably achy and tight, but honestly that was how it had been for weeks so how was I to think any differently. After a quick pee, I crawled back into bed praying tonight would be the night. Two hours later, my wish came true; I woke up to the seemingly familiar contractions I had been experiencing the past month but a touch more intense. Now remember: With Remi I never really experienced contractions — they were all artificial, thanks to pitocin — so it was hard for me to distinguish this time around prodromal labor contractions from “It’s go time!” active labor. Something intuitively told me to roll back out of bed, though, so I tip-toed downstairs to the kitchen where I was hit with another one. I looked at my phone. “2:36 a.m.,” I told myself. “I feel like I should start tracking these...” 

I opened my iPhone Notes to start jotting down times, swearing that if one had me keel over the counter, I would call my doctor as instructed. 2:48 a.m., 2:57 a.m., 3:06 a.m., 3:08 a.m., 3:10 a.m.…eureka 3:16 a.m.. Ow, 3:16 a.m. I called my doctor’s office, was patched into the on-call operator and told him the situation. Just as he said, “I’ll ring your physician,” I was hit with another wave of sharp pain. 3:19 a.m. This one had me bent-over with my hands on my counter, swaying my hips side to side. “Slow down your breath,” I told myself. “Ride the wave. Inhale, exhale.”

I decided to wait to speak with my doctor before waking Mike…the poor guy had been tirelessly trying to get our house up and running for our babies; He needed all the sleep he could get. Knowing another contraction was in my midst, I decided to focus my attention on fueling up for the journey ahead so popped two pieces of Ezekiel bread in the toaster and started sipping a coconut water. My phone lit up with my doctor’s private line. “Finally! You ready? Come on in,” my doctor’s head nurse practitioner/wife said surprisingly perky on the other line despite the un-Godly hour. 

After thanking/apologizing for waking her, I hung up, smeared almond butter on both slices of bread before quickly topped with sliced banana and a sprinkle of cinnamon. At 3:24 a.m., I made my way through another contraction before gobbling up the rest of my fuel. I knew I was going to need it. I made my way up the stairs, anxious with how Mike would react. Would he pop out of bed like he did when my water broke with Remi? Would he laugh, thinking I was crying wolf for the 100th time this month? “Mike,” I whispered. “MIKE. It’s time. Ooh, ahhhhh…!” 3:28 a.m., another one. Even through the darkness, I could see his eyes flutter open, quickly digest what was going on and spring into action. “I’ll call my mom!” 

That’s when I made my way into the shower, knowing I had to waste about 35 minutes until my mother-in-law could arrive to be with Remi. (Side bar: Mike's whole fam was at his cousin's wedding the night before so luckily they had JUST gotten home from the festivities and she was still awake. Good thing we graciously declined...I'm sure a night full of dancing would have sped things up on my end!) 

3:31 a.m., 3:33 a.m., 3:38 a.m. The warm water on my low back and belly soothed every surge that hit. The rain shower blanketed my every curve, while I continued to think about my sweet little boy and manifest the birth I had been so diligently preparing for. "Relax your jaw," I reminded myself whenever my body wanted to tense. "Create space in your pelvis and pelvic floor..."

As I dried off, I saw the glow of our car’s lights from my bedroom window. Mike was keeping himself busy loading his bag and our pillows into the trunk while Henry, my 9-year-old pug, became my shadow. (He did the same thing two years ago when he sensed Remi was coming. Animals are intuitive little buggers!) I threw on the comfy hospital set that had been collecting dust on my dresser the past month as another contraction hit. 3:41 a.m. 

I paced around our first floor, gripping our car keys (I conveniently couldn't find the wooden comb I had purchased for this exact moment...yes, the acupressure-inspired technique really works!) and squeezing the living daylights out of them every wave. 3:49 a.m., 3:52 a.m., 3:55 a.m., 4:06 a.m. Mike’s mom arrived in record time. We got in the car just as 4:12’s contraction struck. 

Mike drove cautiously, careful of pot holes and weaving roads. “This isn’t the most direct but it’s the easier, smoother ride. I did a practice run the other day,” he boasted. Three more surges came and went and we were at the hospital.After parking our car in the ER’s lot, we grabbed our essentials and made our way to the lobby. The woman working the desk rudely looked me up and down in disbelief when I told her that I was in labor. Lucky for her she caught wind of 4:37 a.m.’s powerful contraction as she was checking us in and her counterpart swiftly located a wheelchair for me. Before I could even blink, a sweet woman seemingly around my age was carting me down a hallway toward an elevator and up to Labor & Delivery. Somehow by 4:45 I was settled into my own room, wearing the same pink hospital gown I had sported for Remi’s birth and getting my vitals checked. 

The next hour or so was a blur. I was hooked up to an external fetal monitor and an IV was placed in my inner elbow (after my hand had been poked and prodded nearly a half dozen times unsuccessfully!) Note to self: Push for the hand, wrist or forearm IV...it's one more labor annoyance to have it in the crook of your arm. I was 2 cm dilated and overall couldn’t complain. I felt good — strong — and while the surges were intense, I didn’t feel like they were anything I couldn’t breathe through. (Quite a different experience from my labor with Remi…) 

While Mike had been incredible up until this point (he quickly set up my birth playlist, said all of the right things, kept trying to make me laugh/stay positive and kept in communication with our families...), even he would admit that he wasn’t the best with counter pressure. Luckily I had been blessed with two absolute angels for labor and delivery nurses, first Wendy and then at their shift change, Beata. Abdominal and low back pain nearly disintegrated when Wendy pressed methodically on my hips, as she coached me though contractions. It was like magic! 

With that said, I’ll never forget the sweet words of, “Do you want the epidural now?” come out of her mouth. “I mean…I can wait a little longer?” I remember reasoning, worried that for some reason it would wear off if I got it too soon. To my surprise Wendy said that if I didn’t get it soon, I would risk losing my opportunity so I gave the a-okay. Moments later, the anesthesiologist was prepping me. 

My biggest fear both births was getting a contraction as the epidural was being placed and to my luck, right before the anesthesiologist was getting ready to insert mine, I felt a surge come on. I’m not going to lie, this was hands down the worst contraction I had my entire labor because I had to get through it seated (and couldn’t do my heal-all hip sway), but the second it was over (at 6 a.m), my epidural was placed and I was able to rest easy and truly relax. It was at this time I also said goodbye to Wendy and was introduced into sweet Beata who I instantly had a connection with and will always be grateful to share this experience with.

A half hour later, I was 4cm dilated and enjoying the benefits of modern medicine. In retrospect, do I think I could have made it through labor without it? I think so, but there was a relief that passed over me knowing that the most painful part was over — that I would be meeting my sweet Sawyer so soon. It was around this point my back was oddly uncomfortable. I assumed it was the epidural adhesive yet no matter how I tried to subtly (with dead legs) shimmy, it was bothersome. I also could. not. stop. scratching. my. belly. I knew I needed to get this show on the road so asked Beata for a peanut ball and got into a side-lying position. By 8:30 a.m., I was 6 cm. and they broke my water.

My doctor, Dr. Richard Viscarello, came in shortly after to let me know he was there and offered some words of encouragement. “I know you’ve had a rough last month, I’m so excited for you!” he said. “This is going to go quick so I’m going to check in with the four other patients I have in labor and will be back for you to start pushing. You’re up first!” Mike and I couldn’t believe it…compared to my birth with Remi, this had flown by!  

At 10:57, I started pushing. "I give you 3 pushes," Dr. V. joked. My competitive nature took over and while I was close, I needed a fourth round of pushing to bring Sawyer into this world at 11:07. It was the quickest, most rewarding 10 minutes of my life. It felt almost, dare I say, effortless. 

The second I heard him cry and felt him be placed on my chest, I was overcome with emotion. Relief he was finally here and healthy. Comfort in knowing all of my hard work had lead to having a dream birth. Excitement for his big sis to get to meet him. Pride in myself and my body...and seeing Mike become a father for the second time. ALL. OF. THE. THINGS.

I delivered my placenta quickly and Mike cut the cord. After a bit of skin to skin, Sawyer began intuitively looking to latch did so right away. After Mike held him for a bit, Beata whisked Sawyer to the infant warmer for his first exam and measurements. 7 lbs. 13 oz. 19.5 inches long...almost 2 lbs. heavier than his sis when she was born! Before I knew it, we were making our way to my postpartum recovery room where we settled in for two days to soak in all of the newborn snuggles and let set in the fact that we were officially a family of four.