Sayer Joel Olson

Sayer Joel Olson 

(pronounced Say-er, just the way it looks!)

...was born on March 2 2008 at 9:13pm. 

He weighed in at 5 lbs 15 oz and 18 1/2 inches long. He is beautiful, with dark brown hair and sweet little eyes. He is so tiny, though not tiny enough to believe that he has been inside of me all this time! He was born one day shy of 37 weeks, so he is pretty much full term, although they are still treating him like he is under 37 weeks, doing some special car seat test, and other stuff along those lines. His lungs are fully developed, and he is very healthy. My Father in law says that he looks great, which is always great to hear!!

For those who like baby stories...

Those familiar with my last labor, know that I got to the hospital fully dilated and ready to go. So needless to say, I was very nervous about knowing when to go to the hospital for this little guy. On Sunday at about 2:30pm, I started noticing "regular" contractions, and a little more pressure, although no pain.  If I hadn't been paying attention, I wouldn't even notice them  So I started keeping an eye on their timing, and they remained about 2-3 minutes apart for about 4 hours. Still no pain. At about 6:30pm, we called all of the people that we had lined up to watch Asher, only to find virtually everyone out of town, gone to SLC, or just not answering their phones. Luckily some friends in our ward (who are due with their first baby one week before my original due date, so we felt a little guilty calling them) were willing to come over until Nate's dad could make it down from Sandy. 

I was still very skeptical about whether or not I was in labor, 'cause like I said, no pain. We got to the hospital and checked in, and they were so great about everything, which surprised me. I expected them to look at me and not believe that I was in labor and not really take me seriously, but they were on top of it. They got me checked and I was only about 4.5 cm dilated, so they decided to keep me for an hour to see if I progressed. When they checked me again, they said I was still about a 4.5, but my cervix was VERY soft, which I guess means that things move pretty quickly once things get underway. So my wonderful Dr, Dr. Thorpe, didn't feel comfortable sending me home, knowing my previous experience, so they decided to break my water. That was surprisingly painless, which is always good! When he broke my water, I was at a 6 and it was about 8:15 pm. After that, things started to intensify pretty quickly. My pain level was starting to increase, and the next time they checked me I was at a 9. My sweet nurse said that this was the time to get an epidural if I wanted one. I couldn't decide, as, if it was going to be as fast as last time, I thought it would be a waste, but it sure was sounding nice, and I was very nervous about the pain when pushing him out. I never really made a decision, and she didn't press me, and about 15 minutes later, I was ready to push.  (I just have to say as a side note, that the body is so amazing, how it just knows when things are ready to go.  Birth really is an amazing process, and I understand so much better this time around, when people say in response to the much asked question of how will I know... that you will just know!)  Now let me tell you, this is the worst part of the whole affair. Nate and I were by ourselves, and I felt it all of the sudden, so he called a nurse and she came in, but my Doc was downstairs, so I had to wait. Wow, that was torture! Finally he came in and I could push which was a relief, but then of course came more pain, and it seriously felt like he was never going to come out. I pushed a couple times, then he gave me an episiotomy, which I was grateful for, as it made him come out faster! After that, it was pretty much just one or two more pushes, then he was out. I have to say, that that was an amazing feeling. Don't get me wrong, it did not feel good, but it was so great to be so much more involved in the whole process, and to feel what was happening, and then to have this amazing sense of accomplishment once he was out. It was so much more emotional for me than last time, where I felt so distanced from everything, and really had no idea what was happening. My Dr was seriously so great, he talked me through everything and was so encouraging. I always had the feeling that Doctors didn't like it when women didn't have epidurals, as they clearly have to be more concerned about the mother and her pain level and what she is going to feel, etc. But Dr. Thorpe was so compassionate, which was so wonderful. It was overall, a much more pleasant experience than last time, as we were in the hospital a little longer and it wasn't as stressed, and we could relax and prepare ourselves.  I guess now we know that with my labors, we can't just wait for the pain to come before we act.  But I feel much more confident that I will know whether or not I am labor for the next time!

He came out crying and kept at it for quite some time, which was a good sign to all that his lungs were in good shape! Everything went really smoothly after that, they got him all cleaned up, I got to hold him, he nursed, my sister Jill and her boyfriend came to meet him, and I got to get up and walk around and get all cleaned up, etc. Then we came down to the mom and baby ward, where we are now! Thanks to wireless internet, I am able to write this post from my hospital bed while Sayer is getting some tests done, and Nate is with Asher at the park. Asher came in this morning to meet his little brother, and while he was very excited about the little baby, all he wanted to do was sit with me and Sayer and touch him, in a not so gentle manner. So we'll see how that goes when we get home! 

I've been feeling great... a little tired, and my back is killing me, but nothing a little ibuprofin won't fix! We will be home tomorrow afternoon, and then my mom will be flying in in the evening, which will be great! We don't have any great pictures yet. We took a picture with me, Nate and Sayer, but it is not on my camera anymore, which is very weird. So I will try to get some better ones and post some more. He looks a lot like Asher did when he was born actually. We'll have to do some comparisons in the next little while. But he is a cutie, that's for sure!