Zy's First Days

Zy's first few days were spent trying to get his bilirubin levels down. Too much biliruben in the blood causes jaundice, the yellow discoloration of the skin that is common for newborn babies.

He stayed one extra night in the hospital, after I was discharged (maybe one day we'll take a baby home when we leave the hospital?), and the next few with lights on him at home.

It was easy to leave him at the hospital after we left, knowing that we'd most likely be able to take him home the next day... much easier than not having a clue when that would be. Not to mention the fact of him not having any extra cords to get in the way. He was so cute and tiny.

Here he is the next day, ready to roll...

The day after he came home, his pediatrician checked his levels - and they had gone back up quite a bit from when he was released. He needed some home therapy, which didn't sound fun to me, but actually wasn't as bad as I was expecting.

The first type of light he had was called a "bili" blanket. It was a small pad filled with lights, which connected to a large hose-type cord with a power unit. It was loud and a bit obnoxious, since it wasn't possible to wrap him up fully, his little feet always sticking out. But he didn't seem to mind.

This light was also a hassle because we were to switch it from his back to his stomach every two hours - and because I was only feeding him every three, it made for some long nights. Add to it the fact that he hadn't latched on to breast feed yet, so I was pumping after feeding him... I was one tired mama.

Zy and I took a trip to the either the pediatrician or to the hospital each day to get his levels checked again and again... the poor kid had bruised feet from all the poking to get his blood drawn.

His levels were rising with the "blanket," so the next type of light was a "bili" bed. It was a large box with a bili light inside, and had a sort of jacket attached to it. He laid inside with his arms through the "jacket," and couldn't move much - not that newborns do, anyway. But that also meant no cuddling, with anyone. I was normally the one to hold him, since the only time he could be off the lights was to eat, but cuddling and feeding him are totally different - so not even I was able to get some good newborn snuggles in, really.

But, we were eager for him to be totally healthy, so it was easy to let him be.

After the first night of him on the bed, his levels were still rising - so we were told to keep the bili blanket on him as well, and that seemed to help. I was told by the pediatrician's office that we could take him off the bed - though his levels were still higher than they were at the hospital. I didn't feel great about it, so I followed my instinct and decided to leave him on the lights one more night. The next day, his levels were much lower - and his poop was the right color (very important when the body is trying to get rid of the biliruben), so he was soon lights-free!

After that, we were able to get all the snuggles we wanted in with our sweet little guy. He loves cuddling much more than Jack did, even from day one. Funny how different they already are!

Our Sweet Little Zy

Here are some new pictures of our new little bundle of joy, when he was just a few hours old.

Our Newest Little Man

"I'll be out of town until Sunday. I need you to sit and not do anything until then."

...I guess I should have listened. I didn't tell him then that my parents had already given us tickets at Christmas to see Little Big Town in Wendover, which was that weekend.

Dr. Smith's request that I stay put had been weighing on my mind since Wednesday, when he told me I was dilated to a 1.5. I knew that wasn't much, so I figured I'd be fine - but felt deep down that maybe we shouldn't go. Being a huge fan of Little Big Town, I pushed the feeling aside. Things would probably be fine.

Having not been able to shake the feeling of unsurety of going to the concert by Saturday afternoon, I knelt beside my bed to say a quick prayer. The answer I received was that I should probably stay home, but things would be fine if I didn't. It was up to me. As indecisive as I am, it wasn't necessarily the answer I wanted to hear.

Still unsure of going one hour later, we packed everything in the car and headed to my parents' house anyway. We left Jack with a brave TJ and Dixie, who had volunteered to watch all of the kids overnight.

We drove to Wendover with Heather and Jeff, who also had tickets, and we followed my parents in a blizzard toward Wendover. We arrived at the Rainbow hotel in one piece, where we ate at the buffet before heading to the concert. Aside from being generally uncomfortable (as most pregnant women are at 36 weeks), I was feeling well. The concert was amazing, and I sat through the entire thing, not even having to use the bathroom once... which, in itself, is a miracle.

The group after the concert

We returned to the hotel shortly after the show, and it didn't take me long to disappear from the smoke-filled lobby, leaving Chris to wander as he pleased. I settled into bed and Chris came up not long afterward. We lay down and attempted to get some sleep on the hotel's hard bed (I actually thought ahead and came prepared with my own pillow, so I wasn't completely miserable), and succeeded... for an hour or so.

I awoke abruptly, after what felt like a few minutes of sleep, to what I thought was pee - causing me to jump out of bed and "run" to the bathroom (as quickly as I could with my legs crossed). I sat for a good while waiting to be done "peeing," furious because I could no longer control my continuously draining bladder whatsoever. When I thought I was done, and after what seemed like forever, I went back to bed after glancing at the clock (1:15 AM) to a questioning Chris.

"Do you think that was your water breaking?"

"I don't think so," I replied.

I really didn't think it was, so I tried drifting off to sleep again - only to be woken again with the same problem, ten minutes later. This time, on my way to the bathroom, I managed to grab my phone sitting next to me on the night stand. Sitting there in the bathroom, I Googled the symptoms of water breaking. Lo and behold, they were the same as mine.

I think my exact thought was, "crap." I called out to Chris unenthusiastically, "Chris... I think my water did break."

Never had I seen Chris act more quickly than I did then. He was at the bathroom door, fully dressed, in an instant - and knocking on the adjoining door in our room the next. My mom answered to Chris telling her that my water had broken, after which she woke up my poor, tired, snoring dad to tell him we had a trip to the hospital ahead of us. Meanwhile, I was on the phone with a nurse at Alta View, discussing my dilemma of being over 150 miles and over three hours away. I was advised to head back to Salt Lake, and if my contractions got to be less than five minutes apart, to stop at the nearest hospital. Not wanting to deliver in Wendover (who does?), we packed up quick and were on the road within ten minutes - leaving Heather and Jeff behind and sending a text telling them where we had gone (which wasn't received until about four hours later by a shocked sister who thought I was kidding).

Having never felt contractions with Jack, I was nervous that I wouldn't be able to gauge how far apart they were this time. About 20 minutes into the ride, I knew this labor would be different from my first. Not only could I feel my contractions, they were intensely uncomfortable. Not intolerable, but not pleasant.

They started out about ten minutes apart. They were seven minutes apart with about 75 miles to go, and five minutes apart when we got to Tooele. The hospital there would have been the nearest if we decided to stop, but we figured since we had made it 120 miles, why not go the extra 30 and try making it to Sandy?

The next 15 minutes actually went by rather quickly, and we arrived safely at Alta View around 3:15 AM, cutting the trip time in half without any trouble (not only did we dodge any police that would have pulled us over instantly, the road was dry... which was also a miracle, the road being wet from the snow on the way down).

We entered the building to a completely silent, staring staff. Having come from Wendover, they were expecting a much worse situation than me simply walking in and being dilated to a four, which is what we soon discovered after I was admitted.

Within the next hour, I went to being dilated to a five and a half. I decided to get the epidural, which happened around 5:00 AM - and slowed everything down, like it had with Jack. Also, like it had with Jack, it made me itch like crazy... perhaps the worst part of the entire labor experience (aside from pushing, of course). After not progressing much in about four hours, they gave me a (very small, upon request) dose of pitocin. I didn't want it, but things were needing to get going. And they did. I was at an eight at about 9:30, and at a nine and a half at 10:50.

The tiredness had really kicked in around 7:00 AM, and I was able to get maybe an hour of sleep. Needless to say, I didn't really feel up to pushing. But - as is usually the case with labor - ready or not, it was time. I was dilated to a ten at 11:15, with a little help from Holly over the phone, giving me some ideas to help me dilate faster. Dr. Tanner came in (sadly, Dr. Smith was still out of town) and I started pushing... dismissing the fact that my contractions were still eight full minutes apart.

Luckily, it was only three or four sets of pushes... having to sit in between each contraction for eight full minutes was not my idea of fun, to say the least. It was worth it, though. Zy arrived at 11:43 AM, and put on my chest, where he stayed for a few minutes. I never had any bonding moment with Jack at the beginning, so this was a first for me.

I will never forget that moment. He was perfect (albeit a little bruised from having to wait in between pushes as well). He weighed seven pounds, one ounce, and measured 19 inches long - which came as a shock to most of us, with him being four weeks early. I'm thankful he was... a couple of extra pounds wouldn't have been ideal to push and wait for eight minutes four times over.

The proud dad...

... And the hat that dad made for him (which impressed every nurse, having been made by my husband).

Over the next couple of days, there were some rough spots - including a blood transfusion, some fainting, and three separate catheters. Yuck. But, we were able to have Zy in our room with us, instead of having to take a trip to the nursery every time we wanted to hold him, or even see him, like we had to with Jack. In addition, I didn't look like a sumo wrestler this time around, which was a major plus.

And we got lots of time to kiss and snuggle our new little guy.

When Jack came to see his little brother, it was an occasion I won't soon forget. He spent a few minutes kissing, squeezing and poking the baby - and the rest of the time pushing the nurses' button on my hospital bed. They probably had to ask if I needed anything about eight times. When I think about it, I'm not sure why I expected anything different.

This picture represents what he has been doing to Zy for the last seven weeks. Turns out that the name Zy sounds like "his eye," and Jack is happy to show us where they are on his little face. Poor kid.

But, the best part of our three-day stretch in the hospital was that we went from a family of three to a family of four... and we couldn't be more blessed.

It's strange how it feels as though he's always been here. We love this baby and already can't imagine life without him!

A Day In The Life Of Jack

Though not all of the following happens on a daily basis (but a lot of it does)... here are a few of the things Jack's been up to these days.

He loves to "help" mom and dad. I'm usually telling him not to open the dishwasher... therefore, the look on his face is a regular occurrence. He hates to hear me tell him no... which happens a lot. He loves it, however, when his father hands him a hammer to play with, and will happily tap away at anything within eye range.

He thinks it's so funny to hide from me... though, he gives himself away pretty quick with his chuckling. He also loves stickers...

Loves to climb in boxes... and out of the grocery cart.

He loves to "dress up," here it's with his cape from his Halloween costume and an over-sized t-shirt of dad's...

And here, he found a shower cap in our bathroom and is watching the Letter Factory with it on.

His favorite past time is finding anything he can to fit inside this. Can't find your keys? I'll bet you money you'll find them if you tip it over.

His favorite thing in the world is his sippy cup. He finds various spots to sit while drinking - his first choice always being a box, if there's one around, or the laundry basket. If neither is there, he will settle for his bench in the kitchen.

Loves new toys in the car... and loves it even more when I give him an entire box to explore.

And while I love all of these things that make Jack the busy, fun, adventurous boy that he is...

I love it when he's asleep.

He sure keeps us busy... but we sure love this little man.

It's A...

When it comes to the second child, finding out the sex of the baby is even more suspenseful than the first. We wondered if Jack would have a brother to teach all of his tricks to, or a sister to pick on... and though it's a win-win for either, we couldn't help but want a girl this time around.

For me, having a girl means having more than just a few short years until I hand them to their spouse... just as the saying goes: "A son is a son until he gets a wife, and a daughter's a daughter for the rest of your life." And while I know that I can be close with my sons as they grow older, there's something about having a girl that I yearn for.

Having had dreams for a couple of months leading up to my ultrasound (and sometimes still) that this little nudger was a girl, I was prepared to hear what I wanted to. Most of it was me getting my hopes up, and the rest of it was what I thought was my "motherly instict," as they say. Not to mention the fact that everyone was talking to the "girl" in my belly already.

What I wasn't expecting was the first thing up on the screen to be the shot in between the baby's legs. He had no shame in hiding it (just like his older sibling)... it was definitely a brother.

I didn't cry. For selfish reasons, I might have teared up a little... and the first thing that came to my mind was, "will I ever have a girl?" which only lasted about two seconds - because I couldn't help but see visions of my two little buddies running around and causing mischief together, which could only make me smile. Not to mention the fact that he was totally healthy, which is always a miracle in itself, and the fact that he had a nose identical to Jack's ultrasound picture. Who wouldn't want another Jack to play with? I walked out of that appointment excited and happy that I could start calling him by his name. We couldn't be happier - regardless of whether or not it was a girl. And, Chris, having grown up with four brothers of his own, was beyond excited.

Unlike with Jack, when we were more than ecstatic to call everyone we knew the minute after our ultrasound appointment, we had decided beforehand to wait to announce what we were having. It was fun to keep everyone in suspense... and while that may sound dramatic, it kind of was for me. My family isn't the kind to hold things in for very long.

We decided to announce it that weekend while were all together for the night at my Uncle Brian's house. During dinner, I asked everyone to put their names in a hat, out of which Jack picked one. He happened to pick my nephew Robby's name, which I was hoping for. I think he was excited to be a part of it, and to open the envelope I handed him which held the gender inside.

Jack was just as excited... even though he knew what it was, having come to the ultrasound appointment with us (and having given his attention to the entire thing, as is his nature).

Time to celebrate! Yes, Chris looks very happy here...?

Jack was more than happy to get in on the celebration... as it had to do with candy.

It was a fun way to announce it. Later, we announced it to Chris's family by putting numbers on "Nana's Scoreboard" we had made for her. The girls are still winning, at three to two - thanks to Geoff marrying Aubrey with two girls already. :)

As for me, I am getting ready for this little guy to join us - and trying not to think about how busy Jack already is. Who knows... maybe this one will be more chill? We'll find out!

Dubb Days

At the end of September we had a fun visit with the Douberley's - it's always fun, yet bitter sweet to have them here. We love the time we have together, but know it's not long enough before they're on their way back home to Florida. Hopefully we can make it out there again sometime in the somewhat near future.

The grandkids have a blast together, as always...

Here are the big kids playing on the trampoline at Grandma and Grandpa's.

And the little kids taking their turn. Apparently Jack hurt little Ty and was kissing him better here...

Here they are goofing around... Cessna pouring water on Robby as payback, while he is crying because even though it's fair, he's sad about it. And Bree, playing with Jack's face. He loved it.

Here's little Ty - I call him my "squishy boy" because he is so soft and squishy. And adorable.

We had a giant sleepover at our Uncle Brian's house, and enjoyed good food, each other, and of course, swimming.

Jack is "pushing" Taylor into the water here. He got a kick out of how dramatic he was about it.

I'm happy to say my sisters are my best friends... I couldn't live without them.

It's always wonderful to have our family together. I love these people more than anything.