The Bowens: Update: Our last year!

Brett and I got married January 8, 2010, it was an incredible day and we couldn't be happier! We went to Las Vegas and California for our honeymoon where we walked the Vegas strip, went to the Aquarium of the Pacific, and Knottsberry Farm, and saw Avatar for the first time in 3D.

About two months after we were married I started getting nauseous all the time and Brett says "Babe, I think you might be pregnant." My response was "There is absolutely no way that I am pregnant!" Well he was right. After 5 home tests and a hospital test I was certain I was pregnant. Brett and I were so excited to have a baby on the way, even if it wasn't in our plan. Ready or not our daughter was coming, due on Halloween 2010!

With our family already starting it was time to get Brett squared away and into the National Guard. After a couple of months of getting all the paperwork and everything done Brett was able to get all signed up and started training for his basic November 2010. He was really excited to hear that they weren't going to send him until after the baby was due.

Finally, the last month of my pregnancy came after 9 months of carrying what I was sure was going to be a 8 & 1/2 lb baby I was ready for her to come. Wednesday October 27th I started having regular contractions 20 minutes apart. By the end of the day they were only 15 minutes apart and I was frustrated! The next day Brett and I went on a walk and I took a hot relaxing bath to try to move my labor on. I finally worked up the courage and put a tbs of castor oil into my sherbet and ate it! About 2 hours later my contractions started getting closer and closer! I wasn't nervous about bringing our baby into the world until they started getting close. So I just kept letting them go and go and go.... My mom called and asked how far apart they were I told her less than 5 minutes and she yelled at me to go to the doctor, but I was scared now and didn't want to go. My sister then called and told me I had to go now or I would be having a baby at home. So reluctantly I told Brett it was time!

We arrived at the hospital at quarter to 5 on the 28th where I was checked into a triage room for monitoring. Within 45 min my contractions went from 3 min apart to 1 and 1/2 minutes apart and were getting really strong. My water broke and they carted me to labor and delivery and got me my epidural right away! At 6:30 I had progressed to a 9 and an hour later we were ready to start to push, unfortunately we had to wait for antibiotics to get pushed through me so although we were ready to go they had me wait until 10, while monitoring the baby's vitals closely. Finally our little angel Sawyer Elise Bowen arrived at 10:22 pm October 28th 2010. Weighing in at 6 lbs 14 oz she was beautiful! And long! 22 in!

We got to go home from the hospital October 30th, after all we'd been through it was nice to be able to go home and sleep in our own bed! We got a full week and a few days with Brett before he had to leave. It was so great that he got to see and get the feel of being a daddy for a little while before having to go.

He has done extremely well in his Basic Combat Training, ranking top ten in his platoon and passing all of their qualification tests with some of the highest scores. He is a squad leader in his platoon and has done a great job being a leader. We are so proud of him and all that he has been doing! And we have missed him terribly over the last month and a half.

Luckily he got the opportunity to come home for the holidays and is home for 18 days til after the new year. Then he will go back for the last 5 weeks of BCT in South Carolina, then it's off to AIT to do his MOS training for apache mechanics in Virginia, where he will be gone til sometime in June.

Sawyer is now almost 2 months old time feels like it has just slipped right by. Although my days and nights feel long it makes the weeks go by fast. She isso cute and her personality is starting to show. She doesn't stay awake at 1 in the morning wanting to play anymore, and she stares at her mobile go round and round in her swing. she still sleeps most of the day, but those few hours she is awake she is happy (mostly). We are so glad she was sent to us!