After nine long months of waiting and wishing, Sawyer Thomas Lake joined us on April 16th at 6:21pm. What a magical moment it was when we could hear him cry. We've been having lots of fun since then, too. I stopped working on April 10th as he was expected to arrive on the 21st. Mom arrived on the 14th. I kept saying that I didn't want him to be born on my birthday as I wanted him to have his own special day all to himself. So, as we were returning home after my birthday party at Peter's folks place, I said to Mom "Okay, my birthday is over, the baby can be born any time..." Sure enough, I started having labor pains at about 10:30pm. I woke Peter up at 12:01am to inform him that the party had started. He immediately started making sub plans on his laptop as I paced the floor and panted. After a while, I took a shower. That didn't make the pain subside at all but it at least distracted me for a spell. By 3:30, when the contractions were coming at smaller intervals, we called our doctor. Robin told us to head over to the hospital and we followed suit. I was relieved to be there for baby and for me. We let Mom know that we were off and that Susan would come to pick her up in a bit to bring her to the hospital. She couldn't go back to sleep obviously, so, she waited patiently for dawn to come. Molleman was sleeping in our den as there had been a soccer game that evening. It was a busy evening to say the least.It didn't take me long to demand an epidural. The pain of labor is second to none and I was convinced that they wouldn't have invented drugs like that unless they were safe and for use! After what seemed like an eternity, the anesthesiologist arrived and after he worked his magic, I professed my undying love for him. I think that I said something along the lines of "I love you, not like I love my husband, but I love you." Not sure of his response. I'm sure he gets that all the time from extremely uncomfortable, scantily clad, sweaty laboring ladies all the time.
Our sweet and supportive nurse kept assuring us that we'd have this baby and be able to go for a late lunch on Oak Street. However, that wasn't to be. After fully dilating and a few hours of pushing, the baby wasn't making any downward progress and his heartbeat was dipping more often when I was pushing. So, finally, Dr. Adsit came and deemed it time for a c-section. At that point, I just wanted him to be born. So, off we went. When we got to the surgery room, after dodging much construction debris, the anesthesiologist was there again. What a great guy! In all honesty, he was very thorough at discussing the method to his lovely madness and I felt no pain as the baby was born. As I said, at 6:21, he was born and Peter and I were just overcome with emotion and joy. Sadly, I had to rest in recovery for an hour or so. Peter took Sawyer up to the nursery where he promptly began sucking his thumb - Sawyer, not Peter.
We were able to come home on Monday and while that was a bit overwhelming, with the support of both our families, we survived with flying colors. Sawyer is growing and thriving and we are just marveling at his presence in our lives each moment. What an amazing joy it is to be a parent. We feel so lucky and blessed.
