Introducing....

SAWYER DAVIES MANSDOERFER

7lbs 7oz 19 inches long

Seconds old...

Meeting our son for the 1st time

Mommy and Baby

Nothing makes my heart happier than seeing this
Birth Story: (Sorry for the long post!) We had our 38 week Dr.s appointment Tuesday morning and found out I was 2-3cm dialated, 90% efaced, baby had dropped and was ready to go. The Dr stripped my membranes and said I'm guessing you will deliver sometime this weekend. This being my first, and knowing that my sisters have stayed at 3 cm for several weeks, I thought I would still be pregnant for at least another full week. I wasn't convinced anything was happening anytime soon. Boy was I wrong! By the time we got home I was having regular contractions but they were not strong at all. In fact my braxton hicks throughout the pregnancy were stronger than these so I didn't think too much of it. David and I went on 3 long walks, I cleaned the house...I felt fine! I finally wore out and decided to sit down and put my feet up and the contractions didn't go away. In the past once I sat down my contractions would stop and they were not stopping! I called my sister (who  was due the day before me!) and asked her what she thought. Her exact words were "You need to hang up now, call mom and dad and get them on the road ASAP" I was SHOCKED! I didn't want to make mom and dad drive up in LA traffic for nothing but she convinced me to just give mom a call and let her know it was a possibility...oh ya and to start timing the contractions. 
David started timing them and they were 2 minutes apart consistently. I kept thinking I was doing it wrong!I thought there was no way my contractions could be only 2 minutes apart and I would still feel fine! I was talking and walking through all of them! I called mom and told her and she said "GO TO THE HOSPITAL. If you are anything like your sisters this is going to be a FAST labor". I did NOT want to goto the hospital until I was convinced it was actual labor, I hate hospitals and didn't want to get all hooked up and poked and prodded just to be sent home so I fought David tooth and nail about going. Finally once the contractions reached 50 seconds apart I knew I couldn't fight it any longer (in hindsight this was ridiculous of me hahaha but in my mind during that time it made perfect sense!) I made David stop at the grocery store and get me an apple and some juice b/c I was hungry and knew once we checked in they wouldn't let me eat anything! David was so mad! He just wanted to get me there and I sent him to the grocery store instead! Once we got to the hospital they hooked me up, checked me said I was still at a 2 and to expect to be here all night. I was so mad at David (poor guy!) for making us come in so soon! I kept saying, "we could be at dinner right now and laboring at home", I did not want to labor for hours in the hospital. As I was saying all this to David the Dr broke my water and withing 15 seconds my contractions picked up and I was in excruciating pain. From that point on it was go time. The contractions were right on top of each other with no breaks in between. The nurse said she was going to check me again in 4 hours to see my progress and I just started crying. I was in so much pain and couldn't believe it was going to be like this for hours and hours and hours. Thankfully my mom and dad arrived just then, my mom convinced the nurse that Brookshire women have extremely quick labors and she should probably check me again fairly soon.After a little convincing, the nurse checked me and was shocked to see I was at 5cm. With in less than an hour of her checking me I started shaking uncontrollably and she said "you are acting like you are in transition labor but there is no way you can be" She checked me again and I was at 7 cm. She started getting panicky and called the Dr, told him he had to come back ASAP. The Dr was saying don't worry she's a first time mom we have hours I'm going to get dinner and she was saying "no, she is going to have this baby soon! Get here now!" She was frantically getting the room ready for baby while I was moaning and shaking trying to decide if and when I should get my epidrual. Finally at 8cm I got the epidural, and it was the best decision I have ever made! I was very surprised at how much pain and deep deep pressure I still felt with the epi. I was expecting to be laughing and pain free and that was not thecase. I was actually happy about that b/c I was able to feel what was going on and know when to push.It took ALL my concentration and energy to push out my little "sunny side up" baby. I was at 10cmwithin 20 minutes of getting my epi and the pushing began. I pushed for 30 minutes with the WONDERFUL encouragement and help from my sweet sweet hubby. He was a life saver through the whole labor and delivery. He never left my side, locked eyes with me and counted me through every contraction. He was my rock! After 30 minutes of pushing our beautiful, precious, son arrived screaming his head off. As soon as he heard our voices he calmed right down and started looking for us. When they took him away to clean him he screamed and screamed then calmed right back down when they put him back on my chest. It was the most amazing experience in the world. I still cannot believe I have given birth. It went so fast I barely had time to wrap my head around it. It was under 5 hours from the time we arrived at the hospital! We went in with the expectation of C section being a very real possibility since he was estimated to be a big boy with a giant head. He was neither to our surprise! We could not be happier with how our delivery went and are praising God for a beautiful healthy baby! We are absolutely in love. I cannot believe it is possible to love someone so much. We are exhausted but so happy. I finally have my baby! He is a spitting image of his Daddy which just melts my heart! Love my boys! If you have made it this far, I promise my following posts will not be as long! Oh by the way, did I mention my sister Laura (who was due the day before me) was in labor that day as well and delivered her son Luke 2 hours after me! We were both 2 weeks early and delivered within hours of each other! What are the chances...good grief! Now we are just waiting for my other sister's baby boy to arrive in about 15days and my brother's baby in about 5 weeks! We are so blessed!