Sam - first 2 weeks

Sam is finally here with us! Tomorrow he is 2 weeks old. We named him Samuel Henry. Sam was the only name both of us could agree on (so hopefully our next one is a girl...) and Henry is a name I have always loved, mainly due to my favorite artist of all time, Henri Matisse.  He was 7 pounds, 7 ounces. He arrived on my due date, Dec 21st.

 The second I saw him, I fell in love! Every little inch of him is scrumptious. I think Steve is going to have a mini-me. But he looks like Isla did a lot too, but with more of Steve, like his eyes.

 We came home on Christmas Eve. I had wrapped all the gifts before Thanksgiving so they were just waiting to be put under the tree. Isla got to have a wonderful Christmas morning....Steve made his traditional bananas foster french toast with bacon and then my mom helped make a prim rib dinner too!

 We got a little snow on Christmas day, but our 1st real snow came about a week later. 

 On the way to his 1 week weigh in appointment

 

 Isla has been great, just a little bit of jealousy/insecurity going on but not much. I am trying to be extra sweet to her. She loves 'baby Sam' and thinks he is so cute.

 This is a picture I took a few hours before I headed to the hospital. We were on our way to the grocery store. The contractions got painful and less than 5 minutes apart while at the store. We were excited but didn't know if they would suddenly go away, again, since I had been having contractions, sometimes regular, for weeks.

I tried to have a vaginal birth instead of a repeat c-section. The main reason I had a c-section with Isla was because of no epidural working and it being an induction and back labor and then I stayed at 9 cm for hours and couldn't take it anymore and I was getting pre eclampsia which made it even harder, I felt like I was on fire. This time, I just wanted something easier and less of a nightmare! So I decided to try an epidural again and if it worked, great but if not to just do a c-section again. With Isla's, even the spinal block did not work on my left side so they had to put me all the way out for surgery. So this was a worry I had too.

My contractions were excruciating by the time I was admitted into the hospital....and I was only a 1cm! I think I was maybe a 2 when I finally got the epidural. The anesthesiologist looked about 70 years old, definitely very experienced. I was in heaven for a little while....no pain....relaxed and just so excited it was happening how I had hoped. But then, my left side started hurting....and it quickly got more and more painful until I was back to the same pain as before and barely getting through the contractions. Oh it was back labor again! I was so confused....they offered to re-do the epidural, but I was dilating so slow again this time and I just knew nothing would make it work on my left side. So we went ahead with the c-section. Once again, my left side wasn't getting fully numb so they had to give me this drug that knocked me out.

My wonderful mother was here to watch Isla. So Steve, Sam and I just enjoyed our little hospital stay, the food was actually really good and the nurses were all super nice and would watch Sam if I needed sleep.

Sam is just perfection. He is so calm and serene. He looks like Steve. He is just a doll and I have been so happy and thankful these past 2 weeks. My mom was so helpful while she was here, cooking and cleaning and caring for Isla and me. Unfortunately Steve caught a cold and so I have been on my own with Sam, so I am very sleep deprived! But I still feel pretty good! Right now I am just figuring out how to care for both Sam and Isla (and me!) the best I can and letting my body recover and heal. Hopefully I can get some pictures soon on here of me and Sam and of our family of 4 all together. :)