More Visitors

Shannon and Patty came to visit yesterday after school. It was great to see them.

Cute Sammy Pictures

bJust some random pictures of Sammy!

Sammy Meeting his "Aunts" & "Uncles"

"Aunt" Shelly

"Uncle" Matt

"Uncle" Mike

"Uncle" Mike & "Aunt" Gina

Sammy and his new buddy, Tanner

One Week Old

He weighs 9lbs 8 oz now :)

Random Samuel Pictures

Cooper meeting his little brother



Wearing his robot outfit

Sleeping in his rocker


Cooper checking on Sammy & Daddy

Sleeping in the Cradle

Samuel taking a nap in the cradle Grandad made

One Happy Sleepy Family

Visitors at the Hospital

Grammy


Gramma


Grandad


Grandpa


Mommy's Uncle Bill (Uncle Nut) & Aunt Jani

Samuel Wayne

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

This was my due date…..no baby!

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

I had a doctor’s appointment today and still not much change. She wanted me to get an ultrasound later that week to check the baby’s size and everything. Then as long as the baby wasn’t huge we’d be induced on Monday, April 21.

Jeff’s parents came down to make sure I was still pregnant :) And we went out to eat at Texas Roadhouse. It was very yummy. I LOVE their salads! The rest of the night I just didn’t feel “right” but I thought it was nerves about the ultrasound and everything later that week.

Thursday, April 17, 2008 & Friday, April 18, 2005

I didn’t sleep very well last night. I woke up a lot thinking about the ultrasound, about being induced, about possibly having a c-section, etc. Around 5/6am I started having some pain which I thought could be either contractions OR I could have slept wrong. Well, Jeff got up and I told him I didn’t feel well and that my back hurt. He told me I’d probably slept wrong. Before he went to work I told him I wasn’t convinced I’d slept wrong, and thought I might be having contractions, but I’d call him at work if anything else happened.

Around 10am I started trying to decide what to do. I’d had contractions all morning between 5 & 10 minutes apart. Also, I had my ultrasound scheduled for noonish. So, I called the Maternity floor and asked them what to do … they said go ahead and go to the ultrasound and call them back when my contractions got between 3-5 minutes apart.

We went to the ultrasound and the tech did some measurements – her estimate was that the baby was going to be about 9lbs. 6 oz. She talked to a doctor and they said to just plan on things for the induction on Monday unless things happened sooner.

We came home and I told Jeff I’d call him if my contractions got to be 5 minutes apart (or less) for an hour. I started getting nervous towards 4pm, and called him and we talked, and decided he should try to finish out the work day. So, he came home and he ate leftover steak from the night before and he made me eat, so I had half a bowl of chicken noodle soup. It was okay; however, I kept having contractions through it so it got cold before I could finish it.

While eating dinner his mom called to see how we were, and I insisted on answering the phone because otherwise she’d think we were at the hospital or something. Yes, I talked to her in the midst of contractions. I didn’t want to tell any family/friends until I was actually admitted in the hospital….I didn’t want to get hopes up if I was going to be in labor for a while!

Well, around 6:00/6:30 I decided to call the hospital and they said it was up to me if I wanted to come get checked out. Finally, Jeff said, let’s go get checked out. So, we packed our bags, took one last picture of my pregnant belly, and I cried and said bye to Cooper (he had NO CLUE what was going on!)

So, we drive to the hospital and go up to the Maternity floor and they take me to the triage room for observation. We meet our nurse, Paige, and she gets us all set up. She had me drink some water because she said that I was dehydrated which can make contractions hurt EVEN worse. So, we hang out there for an hour to see if there’s any progress. While there, another couple comes in – she was TOO perky for me. Needless to say, she WASN’T in labor, but that’s a whole other story for a whole other day! After an hour, Paige checked me and I was 3 cm. dilated so that meant we got admitted.

Paige went and got room 5 ready for us. Jeff went and got our bags from the car and we settled in for the evening. After a while, Paige got me some pain meds which made me feel kinda loopy. I was still in pain, so after a little while, the anesthesiologist came to give me my epidural. His name was Dr. Kohl. We did the typical small talk to keep me preoccupied while he gave me the epi and ended up he knew someone from Tarkio – yes, it’s a small world. Anyway, the epidural made things feel A TON better. So, I enjoyed that and Jeff enjoyed watching my contractions on the monitor (since I couldn’t feel them!). After a while I could start to feel my contractions again… the epidural wasn’t totally working. So, Paige checked me and I was only dilated to 6cm. She came back and checked later and I was still at a 6, so she talked to the doctor and they started me on Pitocin to see if that would help. An hour passed and I was still at a 6, so that meant we got to start thinking about a c-section. After some discussion, we decided to go ahead and do the c-section. So, they got the doctor’s and nurses ready for the c-section and Jeff robed up and I got more medicine. It was at this point that I started getting nervous, but didn’t want to break down crying in front of the doctor’s and nurses so I tried to stay strong!

I was wheeled into the c-section room and they continued getting everything ready. Finally, Jeff was allowed to come in. He came in and Dr. Kohl told him that he could watch the procedure – Jeff wanted to make sure I was okay before he watched it. I was fine, so he watched the procedure – yes, he loved watching it! So, at 4:31am on Apirl 18, 2008 our “little” boy was born. They told me he was a BIG baby. They took him to get him cleaned up and I could hear the nurses talking to Jeff and I can hear the doctor’s talking about stuff as they cleaned stuff up and sewed me up. The nurse took our “little” boy to the nursery to finish cleaning him up and get him weighed. The doctors & nurses were “taking bets” on his size. As they’re sewing me up, the phone rings – they called to tell us how big he was --- 10 lbs 1 oz! Now we know why I wasn’t progressing any more.

I had been hot the entire time I was in labor – I mean, Jeff was in his coat at one point. After the c-section I was FREEZING, so I was covered in warm blankets and eventually got warmed up. Paige thought it was funny that I FINALLY got cooled off!

We still hadn’t decided on a name for our little boy. I wanted to see him before I gave him a name. It was a couple of hours before I got to see him – they were checking his sugars (due to his size) and they were also checking him because of a heart murmur. Luckily, by the end of the week, the doctor said that he didn’t hear the heart murmur anymore! Anyway, when he did get to come to our room, Jeff was holding him and we decided to perform an “experiment.” Jeff would say a name and wait for a “response.” The only name that he opened his eyes for was Samuel Wayne. So, Jeff and I discussed it and thought we really thought he was a Sammy. So, we decided we’d name him Samuel Wayne – and he could be called Samuel, Sam, or Sammy! :)

Friday, April 18, 2008
The first day after my surgery I had to stay in bed ALL day. That was boring but I’m sure it was a good idea. I would have been in HORRIBLE pain if I had got up. The next day (April 19) I was able to get up and walk around and go use the restroom. I finally got to take a shower! That was exciting. Wow, I didn’t know that all these muscles existed. Our evening nurse taught me how to get in and out of bed, which helped. We had the same evening nurse the entire time we were there -- she was great. Actually, all the nurses we had were wonderful!

We were in the hospital 3 nights, by the last night we were the ONLY people on the floor. They'd joke around about who was calling if I ever called the desk. The next morning when they got ready to dismiss us I think a couple more people came in.

April 21, 2008
Samuel’s weight was down to 8lbs 15 oz when we got ready to leave – he’d lost 11% of his birth weight, so the doctor wanted us to supplement until my milk came in.

We were dismissed. It was nice to get to come home! Jeff was a GREAT help – basically waiting on me hand and foot. :) Since we’ve been home, I’ve slowly been able to do a little more! I’m not supposed to lift anything except for Sammy and I can’t drive for 2 weeks. I’m also supposed to take it easy with stairs (they aren’t the most fun thing to experience!)

My feet had gotten REALLY swollen by the end of our time at the hospital. The nurses said they’d get worse before they got better. I think it was just because of all the IV fluids I’d had. Man, they hurt – that was the hardest thing about walking up the stairs to get into our house – my ankles would hardly bend.

April 23, 2008
We had an appointment with the lactation consultant today. Samuel had gained some weight and was up to 9lbs. 2 oz. That was a good sign, he had gained some weight. After our appointment we went to Target to get some things and to get Samuel some pants (he only had a couple of pairs!) Man, I was WORN out after that outing! :)

April 24, 2008
Today we had our FIRST bath. We did this in the kitchen on the counter. We have to give him a sponge bath until everything is all healed. I brought an extra washcloth to catch any pee. Well, needless to say, he moved just right and peed all over the cabinets as well as our spoons/spatulas that were on the counter. Jeff & I learned that we need to clean EVERYTHING off the counter before we do a bath. Hopefully, we can do the baths in the bathtub eventually (once I can bend over better!) This afternoon, we went to JC Penney’s to get Daddy some pants and Sammy did good unitl the end of the trip and he needed a diaper change, so that woke him up and he was cranky and ready to go home.

April 25, 2008 -- One week old!
We have an appointment with the pediatrician today. His weight was up to 9lbs. 8 oz. So, he's gaining weight which is good. We go back next week to do a weight check again. Jeff goes back to work next week -- we'll see how Sammy and Mommy survive! :)

I'm Bored!

I'm bored...so, I decided to try my luck at making a video of my belly pictures. This is the first video I've ever made....I'm impressed that I figured it out! :) Also, there's a minute of music at the end with no pictures....I didn't realize that until I'd already saved the video. Maybe my next video will be better timed! :)

Cooper and Momma

Cooper wanted to get in on the pictures; however, he didn't want to look at the camera! :)