October 27, 2011

Sam's New Office

I am about 3 months late on this post... In July, Sam got a new office and secretary, Stephanie. The best part is, the office is only a five minute walk from our house, so he gets to walk home for lunch and Jenna and I get to visit him almost everyday. We weren't expecting him to get an office for at least another year, but because he's such a rock star financial adviser (seriously!) and a few other things that fell into place, they offered this to him much sooner. I am so proud of Sam and how hard he works to be good at what he does in every area of his life.

October 24, 2011

One month old!

See the resemblance between Jenna and Bugsy from Bedtime Stories? Ha ha. If Jenna goes on a walk outside or stays up too late she goes into Bugsy mode.
A month has already flown by! Here's what's been happening with Jenna around here...
She loves to be cuddled up close to you, scrunched in a little ball. Daddy is her favorite to cuddle on.
Thanks to Grandma we discovered the pacifier. Jenna loves it and has been so much happier since!
She rolled over from her tummy to her back when she was only 2 weeks old! She hasn't done that trick again yet, but she loves to roll from side to side.
She gave her first real smiles, first to Mom and then to Dad in the same day.

October 19, 2011

10 days old

Jenna had her newborn pictures taken at 10 days old. It was quite the experience. I timed nursing perfectly to have her nice and sleepy when we showed up, but once there, it took 2 hours to get her to sleep. I was worried about her going to the bathroom on the photographers blankets and props (as they are naked for the shoot), but when I asked her about it she said, "You'd be surprised at how rarely that actually happens". Well, Jenna pooped 3 times all over the poor ladies props. We finally got Jenna to sleep, and she hurried and snapped a few shots as fast as possible. When we left I swore I would never do newborn pictures again, but as soon as I saw the pictures I changed my mind :)

Grandma's Visit

I could not wait for my mom to come and visit, and the 10 days flew by in no time. It was nicer than I can say to have her here, helping with Jenna and keeping me company. My sweet mom would wake up whenever Jenna did at night and keep me company while I fed her. She cooked almost every meal for us, and was the hugest help throughout the entire time. My mom is truly one of my best friends. Ashley came and spent the night for most of the days as well, and we filled our days with lots of talking, walking, eating, and going to the ocean.
My mom made Jenna's beautiful blessing dress. She couldn't be here for the blessing, but we played dress up anyways :)
Whenever Jenna would fuss, my mom would walk Jenna back and forth outside on the apartment deck. She had the magic touch and could get her calm in no time.
Since I couldn't swim, we got our favorite sandwiches from Waialua Bakery and had picnics in the afternoon at Ali'i Beach Park. It was so nice to finally get outside, relax in the shade, and talk.
Jenna's first trip to the beach! She loved it until it started to rain...
Our traditional Friday pizza, pizookies, and movie night
We miss you Mom/Grandma! Come back soon!

October 14, 2011

I'll love you forever

I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, As long as I'm living my baby you'll be.
I can't help but repeat those words from one of my favorite books when I'm up at night feeding Jenna. Oh, Jenna girl, don't grow up. I love your soft skin, your big eyes, and the little smiles you give when you sleep.

October 12, 2011

Jenna's stay in NICU

Jenna's stay in NICU was an experience so full of emotion for me. The morning after Jenna was born, Sam and I were holding in our room when an older lady dressed casually came in and said she was here to see the baby. After Sam told her she had the wrong room, she introduced herself as the fill-in for my pediatrician, and said she would be examining Jenna. She wheeled her out, and came back 15 minutes later saying that Jenna had "performed well" for her. I said I was glad (not knowing she was being sarcastic), and she told me she was having the nurses give her a bottle of formula. Sam and I were instantly upset, as we wanted me to breastfeed her from the start, and told her to hold off on the formula, when she told us, "Listen, your baby stopped breathing, she turned blue, is on oxygen, and unless you want her brain fried, you'll let us feed her formula". Sam and I were completely confused. Our baby was perfectly healthy, and suddenly she was talking about her being blue and her brain being fried? I was stunned and asked if I could try to pump some milk for her so that she could at least have that. The doctor told me that for a "normal" baby that would be fine, but that our baby wasn't normal and needed the formula. Still completely confused about what was going on, we hurried to the nursery to see them preparing Jenna to go to NICU, the neonatal intensive care unit. Once there, they hooked her up to several monitors to watch her oxygen levels, put her on several IV's and antibiotics, and put a tube down her stomach to drain any liquids. The tube to her stomach was the saddest part, she hated it there and gagged continually with it down her throat. It was so hard from going to holding our perfectly healthy little girl to seeing her hooked up to so many machines, not able to do anything but stand next to her and rub her little hands with IV's in them. Sam and I stayed with Jenna until late that night, standing next to her and talking to her, until the nurse literally had to make us leave to go get some sleep. As we left little Jenna started bawling, and I did the same as we walked back to our room without her. I remember waking up throughout the night crying, just wanting to hold her so bad. The next day we woke up early and did the same thing again all day long, just Sam and I together watching our little girl and the machines, panicking every time her oxygen got low. She had a couple more episodes where she stopped breathing, and that night Sam and I got discharged from the hospital without her. Packing up her little "going home" outfit and leaving without her was so hard. I don't know how I could have made it without Sam, he was such a support and so calm throughout the whole ordeal. The next couple days consisted of rushing to the hospital early, praying on the way that she did okay throughout the night, and staying with her until late at night. I was always so nervous to ask the nurses how the night went, but each day she got better and better. The nurses and doctors in NICU were some of the sweetest people I have ever met. After a couple of days they helped of move the tubes and IV's out of the way so we could hold her, and they let us take her temperature, change her, and do little things that helped us feel close to her. Although it was hard to go through, looking back it was such a special experience to spend all day, every day of that first week with just me and Sam, holding our little girl, praying she would be okay. I have never felt closer to Sam than I did during that week. He was such a comfort to me and made everything so much better. During Jenna's first day, Sam gave Jenna a father's blessing silently with all the hustle going on around us. From that moment on he was certain she would be okay, and helped me feel the same. I will never forget seeing the other parents with their premature babies in the NICU. Jenna looked like a giant next to all the other babies, many who were the size of a barbie. A mom whose baby was in the incubator next to Jenna came for hours every day, watching her baby boy's monitor and talking softly to him. He had already been there for 6 weeks and was still so tiny. I remember when his oxygen levels would drop, the monitors would start to beep and she would say over and over to him, "Breathe in, breath out, breathe in, breathe out." It broke my heart, thinking of her and all the other parents doing that week after week.
After five days, we showed up early and they surprised us by saying Jenna was doing just fine and ready to go home. We were so shocked and excited, but also scared about if we could handle her on our own. In NICU where had doctors and nurses watching her constantly, and it scary to think about just us being responsible for her and her breathing. But both Sam and I felt strongly that her breathing issues had passed, and got to dress our little girl in her pink going home outfit and leave the hospital with her. I am so grateful Sam was able to give Jenna a father's blessing, and for the sweet doctors and nurses that cared so much for her. I am so grateful for a sweet husband that made the experience a tender one, even though it was so scary at the same time.
I can't believe I am posting this picture, but it's too funny not to. Our last night at the hospital they served us a "Couple's Celebration Dinner", where they gave us sparking cider, fancier menu choices, dessert, etc." We had been in NICU all day and I started crying when I saw the dinner, because I did not want to go home without Jenna. Sam snapped a picture, getting me mid-bite with both our trays, looking like I was downing a feast.

October 10, 2011

Jenna's Labor and Delivery Story

On Tuesday, September 20th (five days after my due date - doesn't seem like much but felt like forever!), I met Sam at his office and we walked home to have lunch together. After eating lunch we laid on the couch for a quick power nap, and right when his cell phone alarm went off, I felt what I thought might be my water break. Sam was still waking up when I told him, "I think my water broke!" I stood up, and I quickly was SURE it had broken. Luckily I ran to the bath tub in time for no damage to be done :) The contractions started right there, and were consistently 4 minutes apart. We frantically ran around the house, trying to gather stuff up, as I was pretty sure I would have to be induced the following night (I was scheduled to be induced Wed. at 8pm), and realized we were very unprepared for me to go into labor. It was such an adrenaline rush to realize it was finally happening! When we finally had everything ready, we headed to the hospital, me sitting in a plastic garbage bag (with my legs poked through the bottom) so that I wouldn't get anything on the car. The contractions quickly got even closer together, happening about every 3 minutes, and we got stuck in enough Honolulu traffic to make us nervous. When we finally made it to the hospital I was in quite a bit of pain, but they didn't have any rooms available. After about 3 1/2 hours I felt like I was dying. Poor Sam was trying to help, but I didn't want anyone talking to me or touching me - it took all the concentration I had just to catch my breath between contractions. The contractions were coming every 3 minutes and lasting for 2 minutes. So Sam enjoyed watching Titanic while I just tried to breathe. I had wanted an epidural hours earlier, but they still didn't have a room available so I couldn't get one. I was on a bed in a little waiting area where they check you into the hospital, just waiting for a room to open up when someone had to go in for an emergency c-section so I got claim on their labor and delivery room. Once I got the epidural, it took almost an hour and three doses to take the pain away, but once it was gone, I was one happy lady. For the next 2 hours I continued to be dilated to a 4. Around 10:15pm the nurse checked me and was shocked when I was at a 10 and feeling the urge to push. She told my doctor to hurry to the hospital, although we didn't think she would make it in time. Luckily she did, and after 20 minutes of pushing little Jenna arrived, beautiful as ever. Sam and I couldn't take our eyes off of her. We just kept saying over and over again, "She is so perfect! She is so beautiful!" It was an experience I will never forget. I found it so amazing how we could instantly love this little girl so much. We held her and kissed her and cuddled her for the rest of the night, and finally called our families the next morning to tell them the good news.
At Sam's office, just an hour before my water broke.

October 8, 2011

Eat...Poop...Sleep...

Eat...Poop...Sleep...Eat...Poop...Sleep...Eat...Poop...Sleep...
So, when is this little girl gonna be able to paddle out and go surfing with her daddy? I guess exposing her to the ocean one week into life is a good way to get her started. -posted by sam.

October 2, 2011

One week old!

Time is already going by way too fast. Our little Jenna is one week old and as sweet as ever. We are finally figuring out what works and getting a little bit of sleep around here. We love this little girl like crazy.
 

Copyright (c) 2009 Sam and Melissa. All rights reserved. Design by NodeThirtyThree + Free CSS Templates. Bloggerized by Free Blogger Template.