First Days

The very end. Trisha and Savannah just before going to the hospital. Almost 39 weeks along, who would have thought after all the scares and doubts? It's an amazing thing.

Trisha, Savannah, McKay, Michelle, Eli, Joleigh, TJ, Emmett and Me. The Cheney's came to spend some time with us the day before the baby came. It was so much fun to have them all here and play with them. They got to stop by the hospital and see us just after the baby was born, on their way back to Provo.

Sam came out screaming and fighting. He bit the doctor, then peed on him, then peed on the nurse and he continued to scream for the next 15 minutes. I don't think he liked being pulled from his comfortable and warm space...

Mommys first look at the baby. She was so happy to see him. She has spent a lot of time hoping that he would get here healthy and it was a rush of relief when that was confirmed.

He was trying to wiggle his way back into the womb still, I think. Just as I was leaving the operating room with him, all of the nurses were trying to predict his size. Most were saying in the 6-7 pound range. I knew he wouldn't be that big cause our last fetal growth ultrasound measured him at 4 pounds 13 ounces. I was really anxious to see what he weighed in at. It was a huge relief when I saw 5 pounds 9 ounces show up on the scale. I was pretty sure things were gonna be okay at that point. He is a short little man at 16.5 inches long.

He didn't like the nurses handling him at all, but once he got under the heat lamp he was pretty happy. As soon as we got to the nursery, Trisha's mom and my mom got to come in and see him.

This is me waiting by him in the nursery for Trisha to get out of recovery so we could go see her. I couldn't stop looking at him, he was so small and cute, even when he was screaming.

After all his health checks we got to take him back to our room. I love holding him and snuggling with him.

Trisha was still a little tired at this point, but we had to get our first family picutre anyways.

His Grandma Sorenson was so happy she could be there to see him and she loved holding him so much. We are so glad that she got to spend the first few days of his life with us!!

Momma is walkin up a bit and just loved holding our little Sam

The nurses got mad at us for giving him a binki before he learned how to latch on for breast-feeding but how could you resist, he is so stinkin cute when he has a binki in his mouth. It's amazing that he can actually keep it in his mouth, it's so big compared to him

TJ and Michelle got to stop by and see us for a minute. The kids weren't allowed to come back to our room but they did get to go to the nursery window and I was able to hold him up so that they could all see him. It was really fun

His little hair. I've decided that for now it is a dirty blond color with a slight red tint. He has a lot of it down near the bottom of his head and it bunches up when he moves his head or his oversized clothes bunch up on him. He also has a lot of peach fuzz on his cheeks and his shoulders and his back.

Trisha trying to nurse. This has been a huge challenge, as I'm sure it usually is for most first time mothers. He is getting progressively better but it is almost always a battle to feed him.

Sam sleeping in his hospital bin. He was actually awake almost the whole first day of his life. He only slept for a minute. The next few days he started sleeping more and now he is sleeping like an infant, almost all day long excpept when he is hungry or poopy.

His cute little sleeping face.

Nana Cheney holding Sam. We are so grateful for all the time before and after the baby was born that we got to spend with her. Now that we are home, she has been such a huge help for us!!

Our second family portrait. Day 2 of life.

He pretty much hates being naked cause it's too blasted cold for him. It is a rare moment if he doesn't scream when his clothes are taken off. Everytime we change his diaper he screams his face off.

We bought some caps to keep his head warm but I don't think they make them for small babies. He gets drowned by it but he loves to have it on to keep his head warm. One night I woke up and walked over to his bassinet to find the cap all the way over his head, down to his neck and he was happy as a clam.

We also found out that the hospital doesn't have any size diaper except size1 and Sam is way too small for that. The diaper is as big as him. So once we left the hospital we had to invest in some premie diapers and they fit much better on him. Hopefully he won't fit in them for that long, we want him to chunk up fast.

After only 2 days in the hospital, mommy and baby were released to go home! Trisha has done really well recovering. She was prepared for the worst and she did her best. About 8 hours after the surgery she wanted to get her catheter out and start walking around. The nurses were a little shocked but she has done good eversince. I am so impressed by how well she is recovering. She is gonna be back to her normal self in no time at all.

Baby also did really well. Besides the slow progress with feeding he was ready to come home with us. We put him in the car seat and he was just drowned out in it. Before you leave you have to show the nurses that you have safely fastened the kid in. It was a slight problem when all the straps were adjusted to their smallest size and still wouldn't hold him in snuggly. We ended up having to place blankets under him and around him to get him to fit in their safely. The good news is that everytime he has been in his carseat, he just curls up and goes to sleep. He loves going on drives.

I LOVE THIS PICTURE!! He loves to have his hands by his face and he loves to cross his feet. It's funny to know that this is probably the exact position he has been in for the last few months.

Our first night home, Trisha was ready for her favorite meal in the entire world. I went out and picked us up Cafe Rio and we had a picnic on our bed. It was delicious!

We are so happy to be home!! We are exhausted; we sleep very little during the night and take lots of small naps throughout the day. We love to stare at him and cuddle up with him.

Things that I have learned about Trisha:

1. She is Super Woman! I always call her a medical wussy, but this time she has been amazing!! She has been so tough and rarely complains. Seriously I am so impressed!

2. She is so patient. At times in the middle of night when I want to jump out of our window to escape the shrill cries, she just comforts Sam and keeps going.

3. She is going to be such a good mom. When things aren't going so well, she justs moves on. However, when things are going well and Sam is doing well she is loving and encouraging! Despite the very small amount of sleep that she is getting, she is happy and positive. She loves to cuddle him and stare at him (which is good cause then I'm off the hook lol)!

Other things:

1. This sleep thing is kicking my butt!!! I love to sleep and I'm not sure I will make it through this. I am really scared when I have to go back to work tomorrow after being up all night. My addiction to caffeine is about to jump to a whole new level!

3. A womans body is made to breastfeed. Why is it so freaking hard to make it work?! It is amazing how many hours go into learning how to get it to all work at the same time. I thought I knew everything, but I had no idea.

2. Today while Trisha was trying to change his diaper, he started peeing all over his face. As she was trying to solve that problem there was a loud squirting noise and poo started flying out of his butt. I laughed my face off for like 10 minutes. It was hilarious!