Finally...

I can not believe it's already been a whole week since I had my baby. I can't believe I had a baby!

Samuel James Fears was born last Sunday December 20, 2009 at 9:17 pm. Here's the story, I'll try to make it short and sweet.

I saw my Dr. on Thursday the 17th - a day before my due date and there had been no progress since my appointment a week and a half earlier. He was on call at the Hospital that weekend and said that if I didn't hear from him on Saturday to give him a call on Sunday and he'd have me come in and see if there was any change.

Here we are just before we walked out the door. We took a picture just in case, but I was pretty sure I'd be coming home again before the baby came. (and so was the Doctor)

The doctor checked things out and still no progress at all. So, he gave me a little pill that usually helps things progress a bit. I had to lay flat for 2 hours and then walk around for 2 hours and then he was going to most likely send me home to let things hopefully progress. After the four hours, he decided to do a second dose. At 4:52pm, JUST after I was given my second dose, my water broke and the fun began!!! :) Up until that point, I was having irregular contractions but not really anything painful and strong. As soon as that water broke, everything seemed to happen really really fast. I was given my epidural somewhere around 7:00pm and by 8:00pm I was pushing.

The Doctor noticed that every time I pushed, the baby's heart rate went down quite low. He said it could be one of two things A) The cord is wrapped somewhere around the baby and is being constricted when I push or B) The placenta is being distressed with each push. Either way...it was affecting the baby's heart rate. Doctor wasn't SUPER concerned because between contractions, the heart rate went back up to normal and he seemed to recover totally fine, but warned me it could become a serious situation and to start toying with the idea that I might be needing a C-section.

Eventually, the Doctor had the nurse call in the NICU nurses as well as order a "KIWI"- basically a vacuum device. He laid out this thing that looked like a huge zip lock bag that he called the "Baby slip 'n slide" to catch the baby if he just so happened to come out that fast (which I guess happens quite a bit when the vacuum is used). Less than a minute later about six more people walked into the room. I know it was everyday life for them but I remember feeling a bit "exposed":) Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) Sam didn't come out quite that fast. It turned into a bit of an urgent situation because his heart rate was getting lower with each push.

Finally with the help of Doc. and the KIWI, Sam's head came out and the cord was indeed wrapped around his neck. Wrapped around so tightly that the Doctor couldn't even get it off. He apologized to Gary because he wouldn't be able to cut the cord because HE was cutting it. He had to cut the cord right away to get the rest of the baby out. What ended up happening was the cord was wrapped around his neck and each push only made it tighter and tighter. The section of the cord that was around his neck was very close to the Placenta so it was like he was anchored in which is why I was pushing for so long and he wasn't moving very quickly.

As soon as Sam was completely out, Doc. quickly handed him to the NICU nurses who worked for quite a while to get him to breath. It was a scary couple minutes for me. I saw a quick glance at the hand off and his skin color looked scary. Chandra said that he honestly looked like a dead baby. I couldn't see what the nurses were doing in the corner of the room (probably some strategic nurse placement there) but I could hear them talking to Samuel and telling him to breath while they continued to do whatever they were doing. Finally, after a couple minutes I heard a little cry and the nurses all cheered. From there things continued to get better.

After they got him to a point where they could take him to the NICU they put him on me for less than 10 seconds and whisked him away for almost four hours! I made Gary go with his boy while I hung around and got a few (more like hundreds) stitches. :)

Here is Sam in the NICU, look at the little IV they gave him in his head! Sad eh? They poked him all over trying to get a vein and finally opted for one in his head.

Finally after 1:00am they brought me my baby! Of course, like every mom does, I just thought he was the cutest most perfect baby EVER...and still do!

And Gary is the cutest Dad ever! He worries about him more than I do!

And of course, I think he just gets cuter with each passing day...I already feel like I'm missing so much but I can't stop staring at him. I love to watch all the cute facial expressions he makes when he sleeps and listen to the cute sounds he makes when he's nursing and watch how he moves his little tiny toes...I can't believe those little things can actually move!

Gary is the cutest dad. This experience so far has been so amazing and such a blessing. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband and look forward to the future adventures in parenthood with him by my side.

I really started freaking out a bit as my due date was fast approaching because I just had NO idea what it was going to be like to have a child, to be a mother and was I REALLY ready to let my life change forever? Am I really capable of being a selfless person and putting the needs of a little child ahead of myself and how in the world am I going to be a good enough Mom? - Well, I can't even imagine my life any other way! I have loved every poopy diaper, middle of the night feeding, even the aching sore body I've had this past week because it represents something so absolutely perfect in my life.

Need your help

So, I decided that I'd like to listen to Christmas Music while I birth this child. You know, for the REST of his life, he'll be hearing Christmas music on his birthday (and probably hate it, poor guy), I thought I might as well start the tradition the BIRTH day.

...but I need some GOOD Christmas music and I'm really out on the music scene. So, can you all pretty please share with me some of your most favorite Christmas songs (artists too, please) so I can put this play list together before it's too late?!? I'm still listening to Kenny & Dolly. Seriously! :) I'm sure a few of their songs might still make the cut, but I really need some new {a little more modern} stuff!

Baby Update: I went to the Doctor yesterday. He walked in the room and said "Now, I bet you're about ready to do anything to get this baby about now out aren't you?" and I said "Nope, this kid can't come until the 15th when my Mom comes" - He laughed out loud and said I was the first who has ever answered him with a "NO, I'm not ready" at 38.7 weeks. But after the {fun} appointment, he said he was pretty sure this kid isn't going anywhere for at least another week. Whew! (Of course, Doctors HAVE been known to be wrong a time or two. We shall see!)

You all missed out on this

Gary and I were quite amazed at how much 'stuff' we had when we moved a month ago and decided we needed to cut the 'stuff' in half. So, we've been diligently going through everything we have and trying to cut ties with some of the things we NEVER use, look at, and don't even remember we had.

Last Saturday we decided to have a garage sale. It was quite humorous...we even sold stuff (total junk and garbage) that was left in this house when we moved in, it was great! But by far, the best story of the day was this lady who pulled up in the van shown below. You probably can't even see it as good as I did but let me tell you, this thing was PACKED and as you can see, she's even got stuff tied on top of her van. I decided this was a story worth telling so I asked her about it. She told me that the garage sales were down in number that day and that ours was only her TWELFTH that she had gone to. I asked her if everything in the van was from garage sales that day...YUP! It sure was! Can you believe it?!? And, she cleaned us out too! NICE! So, next time any of you are planning a trip to visit us, let us know and we'll get a garage sale lined up for some great entertainment while you're here! :)

You know you're close when...

Your due date is BEFORE the milk you bought yesterday expires! Had a total freak out moment at Wal-Mart yesterday when I realized this.

I can't believe it

I'm still not counting down...but this counting up thing isn't making it go any slower! Time is going by WAY TOO FAST! I'm so not ready yet. I'm already 37 weeks...super excited, nervous, anxious...I really don't know what I'm feeling.

Other than the occasional (like hourly) jab in random spots that make me want to literally DROP TO THE FLOOR, I feel fabulous! I really don't even feel pregnant, I'm not miserable (subject to change)and am still doing a little bit of running, more like slow slow jogging and fast walking. I forget I'm pregnant half the time...except when I have to haul my body plus an undisclosed amount of extra weight up the stairs...and then have to huff for a few minutes until I can breath again. :)

I'm still having fun with the heart burn.

I eat bags of carrots at a time.

I've lost track of how many trips I make daily to the washroom. Me and that toilet, we're GOOD friends.

I wear the same pair of pants every single day. :)

Thanksgiving

Gary and I drove to Phoenix for Thanksgiving this year. A bunch of Gary's family all gathered in Phoenix where my sister in-law, Liz lives with her cute family. We all crowded in their home for four days and had way too much fun!

We woke up early Thursday morning and took a 45 minute drive to watch Brenna and Todd compete in a Triathlon. It was way fun to watch and I really wished I was able to do it too! Maybe if I was a couple months less pregnant, I would have attempted it!

... then we enjoyed a FABULOUS Thanksgiving Feast! Tanner and Corbin digging in

Little Ava sure did love that jell-o salad! This is Owen, the newest grandchild on the Fears side (well for another month anyways) - He and our little guy are going to be best buddies!

The grand kids showing off their turkeys they made.

After dinner, we had a Variety show...a tradition in the Fears family. I really need to come up with some talents for the next time we all get together.

Of course, after our show, we had desserts...way too many delicious things to choose from. I went with my all time favorite, Apple Pie.

After we got the little kids to bed, the Scrap booking began. Now, I don't scrapbook, but I try! :) My mother in-law brought us all these cute little books to put together to put our Thanksgiving Pictures in. I can't wait to get mine all done...and I better do it soon or I'll never have time! - I almost forgot to mention that Gary was the one that did my hair. :) He came over and rubbed my head while I worked hard at making my little book, and then decided to put it in pig tails.

The next day we went to the Zoo. - I have no pictures but have to also mention that Gary, Brad and Todd and I got up at 4:00am and went to Best Buy for the Black Friday sales! It was AWESOME! I LOVE doing that every year...for some reason I get such a kick out of watching all these crazy people (of which, I guess I'm one) sacrificing sleep to go spend all sorts of money! We did get a great deal on a video camera...so it wasn't all for nothing!

And then had a camp fire

Just practicing

Played games around the camp fire

Looked at Jupiter

Saturday evening we all went to the Mesa Temple to look at the lights. They always do such a nice job and of course, Gary noticed the perfect landscaping!

Sunday, we went to church and Todd blessed baby Owen. It was fun to be there for that. The kids were loving feeling my belly all weekend long, they thought it was so neat to feel him move or kick. So while they were taking pictures, they all came over and started telling me what body part they were feeling. It was funny...especially when Tanner told me he felt his PANTS!

Halloween...delayed

Jill and Jason (shown below) threw a fabulous Halloween Party this year. Lots of fun... And lots of fabulous food!

And Fear Factor...yikes! Basically, we all had to eat something and had no clue what we were eating...some of the objects were actually living creatures. It was pretty gross...but totally hilarious!

Don't mind my lame costume. I really wasn't going to dress up, but at the last minute decided to be bare foot and pregnant and had to search our packed up apartment for whatever I could find.

Balloon Fiesta

I think I blogged about the Balloon Fiesta last year and how Gary and I were going to attend the Glodeo but it just so happened that the weather was really bad so they canceled it. It was the last night, we missed out for a whole year! Well, we went this year! It was lots of fun and pretty neat. This Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta is a big deal guys. It's our claim to fame here in the Land of Enchantment. You all might consider coming to visit us next October during this fabulous event! The Glodeo is one of many events, in the evening all the special shaped balloons fill up with air (but don't take off) and then they all light up...as you can see below. It was pretty cool!

They let you in to walk around right up to the balloons.There were massive amounts of people there, but I don't think you can really tell in this picture

And then they have fireworks...but the BEST part of the whole thing (I didn't even know this until I got there) were the Tom Thumb donuts! HELLO!!! Bring back a childhood memory. I thought theses things ONLY existed at the Calgary Stampede. I wanted to buy four bags but Gary would only let me buy one and he made me share with him. Rude huh?!? Did I tell you that I don't even really like donuts? Just these.

I already can't wait for next year! -- I TOLD you you'd want to come visit for the Balloon Fiesta!!!