1 Week Old

It is hard to believe that little Sam has been in this world an entire week today. Our first night at home went great! They told us before we left the hospital to make sure we fed him every four hours until we went for his two-week checkup so I set an alarm last night to get up for his feedings. He was a good eater though and went straight back to sleep every time.

We got up this morning to find a cute friend in our front yard sent to us from LiLi and Shuffie

We spent the rest of the day being lazy and catching up on some sleep!

All clean after his bath

Goodnight!

Welcome Home Sam!

Adam and I made it through our first night alone with Sam at the hospital and were discharged around 11:30 on Sunday morning. We were almost out the door but were quickly stopped when all the doors locked because they had not taken the security band off his leg. We weren't going anywhere very fast!

Mom and Sam getting in the car

Adam and I had wondered for a while how our first baby, Rusty, would handle the new person living in our house. He is such a sweet dog so we were pretty sure he would love him. As soon as we got out of the car at the house Rusty was waiting for us at the window.

SO happy to finally be home together!!

Once we got inside, Rusty wanted to sniff all over baby Sam. He was very sweet and followed us to Sam's room to see what was going on.

Since we hadn't gotten much sleep at the hospital the night before, we were pretty tired when we got home and I found these boys snoozing away not long after we got home.

Then Aunt Amanda was nice enough to come by after work and help us give Sam his first bath. He loved it when she washed his hair and gave her a high five when she was finished!

After his bath, Sam was ready for a snooze. I am sure he didn't get much rest in the hospital with everyone messing with him and he has lots of sleep to catch up on!

It sure is hard for a little boy to find a hat that fits these days!

Rusty was worn out from all the excitement

We had a wonderful day bringing Sam home and appreciate ALL of the wonderful prayers. He is doing great and is as healthy as he can be. It is hard to believe that Sam is finally here and home with us. We are loving every minute with him and just trying to take it all in. He is a wonderful reminder of God's miracles and Adam and I feel so lucky to be his parents!

Week in the NICU

Because Sam was 3 1/2 weeks early there was a good chance that his little lungs had not quite finished developing. After he was born, he spent a few hours in the nursery where they monitored his breathing and then decided he might need to take a trip down the hall to the NICU. Once he got there they hooked him up to a CPAP machine that helped him breathe easier and not have to work so hard. The doctor talked with us and said everything looked great except his lungs were slightly underdeveloped and that he would probably spend about a week in the NICU until he got stronger. The hardest part about this news was that we wouldn't be able to hold him since he was hooked up to oxygen monitors and the CPAP machine. This was the pitiful face we saw Monday through Wednesday.

Late Wednesday afternoon he was doing so well that they removed the CPAP and just left him with a nasal oxygen cannula. We were so excited about this improvement but even more excited that we would get to hold him!!

I was set to go home on Wednesday but they let me stay one extra day since my baby was still in the NICU and it was much easier to walk down the hall and visit him anytime instead of having to drive back and forth. Thursday afternoon I was discharged and had to leave my sweet boy at the hospital, but they couldn't keep us away very long. Adam and I went back for most of
his daily feedings and much to our surprise we found this sweet oxygen-free face on Friday afternoon!!

We were so proud of this progress and the doctor said everything was going as expected. This left us thinking that we would at least have the weekend to finish getting everything ready for him at home. Saturday morning we went to his 8:00 feeding to give him his breakfast and found out that our sweet boy would be going home on Sunday!! The hospital gives all of the parents a chance to "room-in" with their baby the night before they go home and the baby stays in the room all night with the parents for good practice. After hearing this great news we rushed home, packed a bag and cleaned up a little and headed back up to the hospital to stay with Sam. We have had some really sweet nurses taking care of our baby and they have been extremely patient and understanding when I would call during the night to check in on him. We are grateful for the good care he received and are so happy to finally get to take him home in the morning. Hope everyone has a good night and I'm sure you will get more rest than we will =) I will leave you with a few pictures of our first night alone with our boy.

Are YOU Ready?

He is HERE!

What an eventful day it has been!! We got to the doctor this morning at 9:00 and quickly found out that not only was my blood pressure sky high but I was in labor! Dr. Cole said to go straight over to Woman's hospital and get checked in and she would see us in a little while. Around 11:30 she got there and broke my water and the pace definitely picked up then. It seemed like forever waiting on the anesthesiologist but she finally arrived and boy was I glad to see her face. I got my epidural around 12:30 and Samuel Edward Milner entered this world at 1:29 p.m. He weighed 6 lb. 10 oz. and was 20 inches long. It was absolutely amazing and I was so happy to see my sweet boy's face and hear his cry. There was no stopping this little guy and I was so thankful for a quick and easy delivery.

Welcome to the world sweet boy!

Sweet kisses

The face of a PROUD daddy - I love these two boys!!

Weekend of Bed Rest

I have been in the bed since Thursday following doctor's orders so nothing very exciting has happened. Adam and I tried to get a good bit of rest since we know sleep will be scarce in the coming weeks. It has been hard for me to stay in and do nothing but my sweet husband and the rest of our family have been nice enough to try and keep me entertained and comfortable!

Friday was fun because Adam only had to work a half day so Rusty and I and slept in and then didn't have long until Adam was coming home to spend the rest of the weekend with us.

Rusty thinks bed rest is great!

Dr. Cole also stressed how important it was for me to keep drinking lots of fluids over the weekend and being the good nurse he is, Adam showed up with....

Friday night Aunt Amanda and Banks stopped by for a visit. Amanda and Eric had just gotten back from their cruise and were sweet enough to bring Baby Sam a gift from the Cayman Islands.

What a cute little turtle!

Sam also received a gift in the mail from Great Uncle Bobo.

His very own wooden blocks!

We will update tomorrow after our doctor's appointment at 9:00. Goodnight!

Trial Run

Well, for a while this morning we thought we might meet our little Sam today. I had my weekly appointment but I was scheduled for an ultrasound first. They estimated he weighs around 6 lb. 2 oz and is measuring 36 weeks and 1 day. Then they sent me upstairs to see the doctor and when they took my blood pressure it was extremely high. The doctor was not excited about this so she sent me across the street to Woman's Hospital where they hooked me up and monitored my blood pressure for a while to make sure it still wasn't elevated while I was resting and that the baby wasn't under any stress. I was having regular contractions during this time but they discharged me after about an hour and sent me home on bed rest until Monday morning when we go back to the doctor.

I have to say the best part of this morning was the sweet nurse at Woman's that told me she thought a little sugar wouldn't hurt me after all these weeks of eating so good because of the gestational diabetes. She didn't have to tell me that good news twice!! I went straight from the hospital to Corner Bakery and ate the delicious brownie I had been dreaming about since May! =)

We are hoping that Sam can stay put for at least another week and we would really appreciate your thoughts and prayers for an uneventful weekend and a good report at the doctor on Monday. I will update on Monday after our appointment.

Nursery

Sam's nursery is ready and waiting for him to come home..almost. I have a sweet friend who is painting a big canvas that will go over the changing table but it should be ready soon and then that should take care of it. Thanks to both of our moms and grandmothers for helping us get everything ready, we could not have done it without you!!

Also, a special thank you to Adam's grandmother Mimi for making all of the bedding and the window treatment. She is such a talented lady when it comes to ANY kind of handwork and she was so sweet to take up so much time to do this for us. She did a beautiful job on it but it is extra special knowing that she made it.

Hope you enjoy some of the pictures below. As you can see, big brother Rusty is getting extremely curious about this new room in our house. Poor thing, he just doesn't know how much his life is about to change.....

Mom and Dad's hand prints from when we were little! Mine is on the left and his is on the right.

What a pitiful face....