Sadie Kathryn Farwell

The story of Sadie's birth...

Each of my pregnancies have gone past their estimated due date. Anticipating this fact made it much easier to pass by July 10th with nary a glance. But the big date was just around the corner...

We scheduled with our dr. to be induced on Thursday, July 16th. Heading to the hospital that morning was a relief - to not be told to call back later because the labor floor was too busy, to be done with this pregnancy, to meet our little girl, to have the boys taken care of.


Once we arrived and were getting settled into our labor and delivery room, a nurse peeked her head in and I said with great enthusiasm, "Are YOU our nurse???" She replied that she was not. I explained that she, Beth, had been our nurse when we delivered Isaac and she was awesome. You know how you usually take a picture of the happy family and the dr.? Not us, we really only wanted a picture of Beth and our family. She has been a L&D nurse for over 20 years and frankly could have delivered Isaac herself. We loved her! After telling her our tale of affection for her, she said that she could switch things around (since she is a head nurse as well) and be our nurse if we'd like her to. "Oh, please...that would be awesome!"

After a few baby and mama checks, Dr. Perry came in to see where we were at...still 3.5cm and 60% with baby's head engaged. We opted to have her break my water to see if that would jump start labor without the need for pitocin (as we have had in the past). But we also knew that we weren't willing to wait around all day for things to get going. Dr. Perry broke my water at 9:30am. My mom arrived around that time as part of our support team. And then we started walking...for about 2 hrs. with only 3 contractions the whole time. A little disappointing because I was hoping contractions would come more frequently. We decided that I would eat a light lunch and start a small dose of pitocin to get things moving.


Well, maybe it was lunch that stirred things up or maybe the little extra time, but around noon we started walking again to give some time for my lunch to digest and contractions started coming about 2.5 minutes apart. This lasted for about an hour until Beth asked me to lie down for a bit to see if the contractions continued in that pattern. At 1:00pm, I laid down and much to our dismay, contractions slowed to about 6 minutes apart, then 5 minutes, then stayed at 4 minutes apart. My contractions were coming at a slower rate, but they were way more intense than when they were coming at 2.5 minutes apart. Around 2:30pm, Beth asked what we wanted to do. We agreed to have Dr. Perry checked me to see if we'd made any progress before we made any decisions. Hooray...we were 5.5cm and 80%. Both Dr. Perry and Beth thought that things would progress quickly from that point. And did they ever...oh, my!!!


I'm not really sure how many contractions I had from 2:30pm to 3:00pm, but we're guessing maybe eight or so and with that seventh and eighth, I knew delivery was imminent. This is the point in each of my labors where I seriously question why I don't take pain meds!!! Dr. Perry came back in the room on the eighth contraction and quickly put on her scrubs and gloves as the baby's head was crowning. Two contractions with one prolonged push because she was just sliding right out and Sadie was born at 3:05pm. Oh my, the burn...no time for massage or stretching...I think it was the most painful of my four deliveries because she came so quickly at the end. Thankfully, I came away with only one stitch and six days later, I feel as good as new. And, after all is said and done, I'm so proud of myself for delivering without pain medicine and this time, pitocin-free as well!!!

Just minutes old, laying on my tummy...Little Sadie really IS a girl!!!

July 16th - 3:05pm - 8lbs 4oz - 19.5"

Beth, our RN and Dr. Perry, our young, lively, very competent doctor!

Daddy and his little girl!

Mama and her heart's desire!

Our first family photo...although missing a few smiles...

Grandpa and Grandma Farwell have been with us during each of our labor and deliveries - well, Dad waits out in the hall:) . They missed Sadie's birth by about 20 minutes. Mike had called them around 1:30pm saying that things were not progressing very quickly, so there was no need to rush. If only we had known! When they arrived, Mike met them in the hall and said that the baby had already been born and they thought he was joking! It was wonderful to have them be one of Sadie's first visitors!

Grammy Potter and her first granddaughter

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, you eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

Psalm 139:13-16