Sawyer Mortensen

Sawyer Destroyer Mortensen (ok he still doesn't have a middle name) arrived on Friday night December 5th, at 7:22 p.m. He weighed in at 7 lbs. and 10.5 oz. and was 19.5 inches long, and he has huge hands and feet. He is so sweet and such a good baby. He had to spend a couple of hours in the nursery after he was born because he had a little trouble breathing, but everything is fine and he is doing so well. We are loving every minute and feel so blessed to have such a healthy little guy.
Now, regarding labor, it did not go exactly as planned. Let's just say that all the hypnosis in the world would not have saved me. A good idea in theory, but not quite in practice. I guess I was just not man enough for that pain!!! They started me on Thursday night at about 10:00 p.m. with Cervadil. I had pretty mild to moderate contractions through the night and into the morning. They started Pitocin at 8:00 a.m., broke my water at 10:00 a.m., and that is when the fun began. I fought through the pain for a few good hours, but they kept increasing the Pitocin which would bring the contractions on even stronger. By 3:00 p.m. I was dilated to a 6 and completely effaced, but I was barely holding on. The pain was seriously insane! The nurse told me she had to up the Pitocin again and I was sure I did not have it in me. She informed me that I probably had about four more hours of labor as generally you dilate one cm per hour. I finally conceded and got the epidural, which took another hour before the doc showed up and the pain wore off. The sweet anesthesiologist was so great and explaining the entire process to teach Nate as he prepared for the epidural, and I was holding my breath and ready to cry and scream, "just stick the damn needle in" but I bit my tongue. By the time they checked me an hour later I was dilated to a 9. It's amazing to watch a contraction on a monitor and feel nothing after feeling like I was on the brink of death just moments earlier. Okay, I'm being a little melodramatic, but seriously I underestimated this. I pushed for an hour and a half, and out popped baby. Wow!
It's been more emotional than I anticipated. I am crying all of the time because I just feel so lucky. Nate has been unbelievable. He's all about changing poopy diapers and getting peed on. We're laughing all the time. It's awesome!

Tonight's the night!

So, December 2nd came and went with no baby. My first problem is that I jinxed it by telling myself and everyone around me that I would not be going late. I kept thinking that I was so uncomfortable (can't sleep...or walk...and my stomach feels like it is being ripped apart from the inside out) and I could feel him sitting on my pelvic bone just a waitin' to come out, so there was no way that he would come after my due date. My ob seemed to think the same thing like two weeks ago, which did not help. My whole fam was here for Thanksgiving last weekend, and I was sure we would have a baby by the time they all left. They tried to give us some "alone time", and make me walk, and rub my ankles, and eat spicy food...anything to induce labor. Well, alas, here we are and still no baby. So, I've decided to give in and get induced....tonight!

I really did not want to get induced. I am going to try to have a natural birth, and induction does not help. But, my doc will only let me go a week over and it's better if Nate does not have to miss much school, so we committed. Nate and I took a hippiebirthing... no j/k... a hypnobirthing class to prepare, and they are all about avoiding introducing synthetic chemicals into our bodies during labor because our bodies are built to naturally go into labor when the baby is fully developed and ready (I thought hippies were all about drugs, but I guess the times have changed). Hypnobirthing is all about getting into a calm and relaxed state (self-hypnosis) and through breathing and visualization techniques, you are supposed to be able to minimize or diminish the pain of childbirth. Induction meds heighten the contractions and make them come closer together, and so yeah, we'll see if I make it. I hope getting induced does not sabotage my hopes of having a natural birth, but if in the end we have a healthy baby then I guess it does not much matter.

So, onto a more interesting topic.... eating the placenta. Yeah, I know it sounds disgusting. My little bro said if this is something I am seriously thinking about then I should not share it with anyone. Since when have I been a private person? Never. So here goes... in our birthing class a woman came and taught us about a process called placenta encapsulation. The premise is that during pregnancy, the placenta starts regulating hormones instead of the hypothalamus, and a woman's body has 3-4 times the normal level of hormones just before childbirth. Within four days after childbirth the hormone levels crash and it takes a few weeks for the hypothalamus to kick in and start producing hormones again. This is why 90% of women experience some level of the baby blues. So, someone came up with the idea of eating the placenta. Apparently, we are the only species of mammals that do not eat our own placentas. This woman will come to your house after you give birth and steam the placenta, put it in a dehydrator, and then comes back the next day and grinds it into a powder and puts it into capsules. You are then supposed to take three capsules per day for the first few weeks or months after birth. This is a way to use your own hormones to supplement while your body adjusts. It is supposed to help give you energy, help to produce milk, and help to avoid getting the baby blues or postpartum depression. Nate thinks that it makes complete sense from a physiologic standpoint, and he is all about it. Anything to keep me with a sound mind. So, I'm still a little undecided but I'm thinking we may try it. I'll keep you all posted. Now I just need to get over the idea of a placenta cooking in my kitchen...umm yummy!

FUTURE DR. MORTENSEN

The white coat ceremony

A couple of weeks ago we attended Nate's white coat ceremony. Both of our families came down from Salt Lake (we have the greatest and most supportive families we could ever ask for), and crammed into our little two bedroom apartment for the weekend. It was such a cool experience. I'm so proud of Nate for everything that he has been able to accomplish so far, and all that he sets out to accomplish. I know that he is going to be such an amazing physician. Anyone that knows Nate knows that he puts all of his heart into everything that he does (he lives by the words of the great Ricky Bobby "if you're not first, you're last"). This is certainly no different. He's always telling me that he feels such enormous pressure because he knows that people's lives are going to be in his hands one day soon, and he owes it to those people to be the best. So, keep truckin' babe! You're almost there, only 30,960 more hours to go!

Prego pics and a few words on being a momma...

I finally posted some pics for you all to enjoy. It's tricky getting a halfway decent photo of the belly without highlighting the three chins that I currently have. I thought about posting some headless shots, but I didn't think that would fly. So, here are a few at the nearly 7 month (and plus thirty pounds) mark.

Okay, I'm nearly 28 years old and so clearly well into my child bearing prime, so can somebody tell me why I still feel so unprepared for this?

Although this baby was not exactly planned, it was not exactly unplanned either. I guess we sort of thought that we'd been together for 10 years, so it was probably time to get the ball rolling. We wanted to give ourselves some time in the event of a possible biological malfunction. So, we decided to roll the dice. . . and it sure did not take very long at all. . .

Now don't get me wrong. I've always wanted to be a mom. It just wasn't at the top of my list. And now that the doodle can't be undid, I can't stop thinking about all of the things that I haven't done yet or won't be able to do any more. I know it's dreadfully selfish (I don't have to feel as bad because I am typing this instead of saying it out loud, so he can't hear me).

I can attribute much of this anxiety to my dear niece and nephew. Sethie and Mia are two of my greatest loves, and that is in great part because of the fact that I can hand them back over after a few hours. Watching my sis, I've come to learn the huge demands of parenthood. At least Brittany can drop the babies off at my mom's any day of the week for some reprieve. I will not be so lucky, unless it's bad enough to ship him on a plane.

So to my dear baby, I am sorry. I'm sure that once I can smooch your cute face it will all be more than worth it, but until then I am going to continue to lament the carefree life I once lived.

Our year in a nutshell. . .

Here's a little sneak peak of our last year. With a med student for a husband, this year might not be quite as eventful as the last(baby aside).

Nate and I at the Yankees game on the Fourth of July. I surprised Nate for his 28th birthday, and didn't tell him we were going to New York until we got to the airport. He wanted to see Yankee Stadium before it gets torn down. It was still priceless even though they lost both games!

New Orleans!

Our trip to New Orleans for the anatomy convention. Nate's favorite sign (only in New Orleans....or Vegas).

The swamp tour in the Louisiana Bayou(breathtakingly beautiful). Yes, that is a gator that swam right up to our boat.

Nate and I hiking out of Havasupai(one of the most beautiful places in the world). We're only on a few miles in, so we're still looking pretty fresh.

Nate indulging in one of his favorite obsessions. I say obsessions lightly, but if you know the kid you realize the weight of that word.

Nick and Meg's wedding in May. Cutest couple ever!

The delicate arch with the Mortensen fam. We finally got them out of the house.

Saying goodbye to our condo

Yip, I'm a blogger!

Well, I could say that this is Nate and I's blog. In fact, it's named Nate and Marci's blog, but really it's just Marci's blog where she can rant and rave and post pictures of her cute hubby, and adorable pooch, and growing appendage that will soon be a mini-Nate. We all know Nate is never coming close to this blog, in fact, I'll be lucky if he ever reads it. And yes, I did refer to myself in the third person. I'm sorry, but sitting in a house all by yourself every day will do that to a you.

Anyways, I'm glad I got this son of a b*&*%ing blog done. I am what you would call technologically inept. I skipped over the whole myspace era, and so I am still figuring this shiz out. It has taken me two full Saturdays to get this up and running. So, for this reason I am happy to be posting my first blog, or blogging my first post, or whatever!