Tuesday, September 30, 2008
My Own Reality Show
Just a quick note to my 5 readers.....my wife has re-entered the blogosphere. Check her out at My Own Reality Show. I love her and my boy more than anything and she is just going to be putting down her thoughts about the baby and herself and our life on this blog.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
I'm a wuss
....and I really and truely mean that. Any man in this world who tries to tell me they are tougher or have a higher tolerance for pain than a woman is absolutely NUTS. If you are one of those who thinks you are I beg you go and watch a woman in labor and your opinion might change.
I start this post in this manner because the most common question Crystal and I get is how was labor? I can only give you my perspective because other than being a little tired she did ALL the hard work. I was there with her in every contraction and push but it was her body not mine doing it physically. But I can honestly say it was the hardest and more rewarding thing I have every had the opportunity to be a part of. Let me give you a brief run down of what and how everything went down.
First things first....Crystal came to me within the first 3 months of finding out she was pregnant saying she was thinking about delivering naturally(ie. no drugs). Now at first I was thinking she was nuts but after reading and researching I to agreed that I thought it was worth the try if that is what she felt was right. So we did all the classes (Bradley Method of Childbirth), learned how to work with her body, learned how to relax through all stages of labor, etc. Needless to say we felt prepared. I say "we" because the Bradley method is also known as husband coach childbirth. This means I was an active part of the labor. You could say I was the substitute for the medications. So I was there for her to put pressure, makes sure she said hydrated, make sure she ate, keep hotpacks on her back(cause she had back labor), and just be there to support her as she brought our child in to the world(and no Im not forgetting who actually brought Sawyer in to the world and I praise God everyday for the blessing).
Now for the good stuff(with out to much gross imagery). Crystal's contractions actually started on Monday the 8th. This is known as early 1st stage labor. Her contractions would come every 10 to 15 minutes for a while then they would quit or drastically slow. This type of labor can go on for a very long time and in Crystal's situation it did. This happened until Thursday morning. Her contractions started to be more regular. They came every 10 - 12 minutes and they were consistent(meaning they didn't stop) and the intensity grew. These are all good things. The only problem was she stayed here for a long time. Finally, after a basically restless night Thursday the 11th, friday night about 9:30 her contractions sped up to 7 minutes apart and again the intensity grew. Then things began to pick up till finally about 2:00 am Saturday morning she was contracting 3 minutes apart lasting 1 minute. This is an almost dead giveaway of 1st stage labor. So we packed up and headed to the hospital only to come back home because she was not as far progressed as we thought. So Crystal labored with contractions coming between every 3 - 7 minutes until finally about 8pm Saturday when things REALLY picked up. This time they went to 3 minutes and stayed there for nearly 2 hours. So off to the hospital we go and when she is checked she is 8 cm dialated and 100% effaced. This basically means she could enter transistion and be pushing at any point. Needless to say we were overjoyed. But this is where everything changed.......
...Crystal progressed nicely with in 2 hours to 9.5 cm dialated. But this is where normal labor completely changed. Instead of most labors in transistion where contractions last a minute coming 2 minutes apart poor crystal's contractions lasted 1 minute 45 seconds coming 2 minutes apart......meaning she was getting about 15 seconds of rest between contractions. This completely wore her out when combined with no sleep for nearly 3 days. Finally about 5 am she tried to push at the advisement of the Dr. only to be disappointed when she was still 9.5 cm dilated. So she picked her self up by her boot straps to gear in to finish this off and trudged along in this pattern of labor until she couldn't bare it anymore. Finally at 7am she was checked again only to be disappointed because she was still 9.5 cm. At this point we are on hour 33 of active labor!!!
Crystal's body simply gave out. She couldn't do it anymore due to simple lack of energy(food, water, and sleep). The midwife knew that Crystal in the very least wanted to deliver instead of a C-section so she advised Pitosin to help the body get to 10cm. This would have been a great idea except that pitosin makes contractions even harder. So the only choice that Crystal had was to take the medicine for pain. From here it was clock work. She got a bag of fluids, took the pain medicine, slept for 3 hours, woke up and 45 minutes later Sawyer entered the world. I have never been more proud of my wife than I am right now. She is the most amazing woman I know and I will never forget everything she went thru to bring our beautiful baby boy in to the world. I love her dearly and realize I am a total wuss when compared to her!.
I start this post in this manner because the most common question Crystal and I get is how was labor? I can only give you my perspective because other than being a little tired she did ALL the hard work. I was there with her in every contraction and push but it was her body not mine doing it physically. But I can honestly say it was the hardest and more rewarding thing I have every had the opportunity to be a part of. Let me give you a brief run down of what and how everything went down.
First things first....Crystal came to me within the first 3 months of finding out she was pregnant saying she was thinking about delivering naturally(ie. no drugs). Now at first I was thinking she was nuts but after reading and researching I to agreed that I thought it was worth the try if that is what she felt was right. So we did all the classes (Bradley Method of Childbirth), learned how to work with her body, learned how to relax through all stages of labor, etc. Needless to say we felt prepared. I say "we" because the Bradley method is also known as husband coach childbirth. This means I was an active part of the labor. You could say I was the substitute for the medications. So I was there for her to put pressure, makes sure she said hydrated, make sure she ate, keep hotpacks on her back(cause she had back labor), and just be there to support her as she brought our child in to the world(and no Im not forgetting who actually brought Sawyer in to the world and I praise God everyday for the blessing).
Now for the good stuff(with out to much gross imagery). Crystal's contractions actually started on Monday the 8th. This is known as early 1st stage labor. Her contractions would come every 10 to 15 minutes for a while then they would quit or drastically slow. This type of labor can go on for a very long time and in Crystal's situation it did. This happened until Thursday morning. Her contractions started to be more regular. They came every 10 - 12 minutes and they were consistent(meaning they didn't stop) and the intensity grew. These are all good things. The only problem was she stayed here for a long time. Finally, after a basically restless night Thursday the 11th, friday night about 9:30 her contractions sped up to 7 minutes apart and again the intensity grew. Then things began to pick up till finally about 2:00 am Saturday morning she was contracting 3 minutes apart lasting 1 minute. This is an almost dead giveaway of 1st stage labor. So we packed up and headed to the hospital only to come back home because she was not as far progressed as we thought. So Crystal labored with contractions coming between every 3 - 7 minutes until finally about 8pm Saturday when things REALLY picked up. This time they went to 3 minutes and stayed there for nearly 2 hours. So off to the hospital we go and when she is checked she is 8 cm dialated and 100% effaced. This basically means she could enter transistion and be pushing at any point. Needless to say we were overjoyed. But this is where everything changed.......
...Crystal progressed nicely with in 2 hours to 9.5 cm dialated. But this is where normal labor completely changed. Instead of most labors in transistion where contractions last a minute coming 2 minutes apart poor crystal's contractions lasted 1 minute 45 seconds coming 2 minutes apart......meaning she was getting about 15 seconds of rest between contractions. This completely wore her out when combined with no sleep for nearly 3 days. Finally about 5 am she tried to push at the advisement of the Dr. only to be disappointed when she was still 9.5 cm dilated. So she picked her self up by her boot straps to gear in to finish this off and trudged along in this pattern of labor until she couldn't bare it anymore. Finally at 7am she was checked again only to be disappointed because she was still 9.5 cm. At this point we are on hour 33 of active labor!!!
Crystal's body simply gave out. She couldn't do it anymore due to simple lack of energy(food, water, and sleep). The midwife knew that Crystal in the very least wanted to deliver instead of a C-section so she advised Pitosin to help the body get to 10cm. This would have been a great idea except that pitosin makes contractions even harder. So the only choice that Crystal had was to take the medicine for pain. From here it was clock work. She got a bag of fluids, took the pain medicine, slept for 3 hours, woke up and 45 minutes later Sawyer entered the world. I have never been more proud of my wife than I am right now. She is the most amazing woman I know and I will never forget everything she went thru to bring our beautiful baby boy in to the world. I love her dearly and realize I am a total wuss when compared to her!.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
What a Rush!!
HOLY COW!!!!! That is all I can say. This past week has been one of the highest and lowest weeks of my life! Watching my God fearing, beautiful, and tough wife be in labor for almost 40 hours was so hard. She came thru everything like a champ. I can't even talk enough about her right as I am so proud of the way she handled herself in all of it. But I will be working on a blog post here soon with the birth and labor story because this post is about my BOY (the Highs!)!
Almost all of you are aware of the arrival of Crystal and I's first son Sawyer James. He was born on Sunday Sept. 14th at 10:55 in the morning. As all parents say but it won't feel right to not say it...I think he is the most beautiful boy i have ever seen. I told Crystal that dang we made one cute kid:-P. that isn't ment to be offensive to anyone else but would you think anything less of the blessing that God has given you in this world. I can honestly say at this point nothing I have experienced has been like the first time I held Sawyer at the hospital. I was so nervous and yet so excited all at the same time. I was nervous because I was holding a baby that was 5 minutes old and I was excited because I realized how awesome the blessings of our God truely are. He entrusted this new life to Crystal and I to raise and bring up in His ways and that challenge isn't to be taken lightly. I didn't know if I was ready for that challenge until he was born. Now I know I am ready!!!!It has been God giving Crystal and I the strength, comfort, and heart to walk down this road and say that we are ready to do the VERY best that we can. That does not mean that we aren't going to fail cause we will and it doesn't mean that we will do everything right but what it does mean is that Crystal and I realize this is a blessing that God gave us and we are giving it back to Him because we can't do this on our own and to be honest with you I don't want to do it on my own. I want God to guide my family's steps.
Now for an update real quick. Sawyer is home as of Tuesday and doing very well. He is a little Jondus so he has to be on this little UV live blanket to help clear that up but with time he will be perfectly normaly. He is taking to the breastfeeding which is an answered prayer for Crystal and I as that was something we both are very passionate about. He isn't sleeping much in the night and sleeping alot during the day which is very normal. He was born at 7lbs 5oz and was discharged from the hospital at 7lbs .09 oz but as of yesterday he was already back up to 7lbs 2oz which is awesome that he is gaining weight back to soon. I will be posting photes on the web very soon on my Picasa Web Album. Final note......Thank you all SO MUCH to everyone for your prayers and support and I apologize if I didn't get to call you. We had a phone tree of people to call but with everything that went thru I wasn't mentally enough there to make the phone calls I needed to make and I am sorry. Just know that your warm words and encouragement has been felt by us all!
Almost all of you are aware of the arrival of Crystal and I's first son Sawyer James. He was born on Sunday Sept. 14th at 10:55 in the morning. As all parents say but it won't feel right to not say it...I think he is the most beautiful boy i have ever seen. I told Crystal that dang we made one cute kid:-P. that isn't ment to be offensive to anyone else but would you think anything less of the blessing that God has given you in this world. I can honestly say at this point nothing I have experienced has been like the first time I held Sawyer at the hospital. I was so nervous and yet so excited all at the same time. I was nervous because I was holding a baby that was 5 minutes old and I was excited because I realized how awesome the blessings of our God truely are. He entrusted this new life to Crystal and I to raise and bring up in His ways and that challenge isn't to be taken lightly. I didn't know if I was ready for that challenge until he was born. Now I know I am ready!!!!It has been God giving Crystal and I the strength, comfort, and heart to walk down this road and say that we are ready to do the VERY best that we can. That does not mean that we aren't going to fail cause we will and it doesn't mean that we will do everything right but what it does mean is that Crystal and I realize this is a blessing that God gave us and we are giving it back to Him because we can't do this on our own and to be honest with you I don't want to do it on my own. I want God to guide my family's steps.
Now for an update real quick. Sawyer is home as of Tuesday and doing very well. He is a little Jondus so he has to be on this little UV live blanket to help clear that up but with time he will be perfectly normaly. He is taking to the breastfeeding which is an answered prayer for Crystal and I as that was something we both are very passionate about. He isn't sleeping much in the night and sleeping alot during the day which is very normal. He was born at 7lbs 5oz and was discharged from the hospital at 7lbs .09 oz but as of yesterday he was already back up to 7lbs 2oz which is awesome that he is gaining weight back to soon. I will be posting photes on the web very soon on my Picasa Web Album. Final note......Thank you all SO MUCH to everyone for your prayers and support and I apologize if I didn't get to call you. We had a phone tree of people to call but with everything that went thru I wasn't mentally enough there to make the phone calls I needed to make and I am sorry. Just know that your warm words and encouragement has been felt by us all!
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