All about Sam

Little Sam is 6 weeks old already, and I think it's time I introduced him properly! Sam is the most amazing baby. Possibly our easiest baby yet, which is saying something, because Grace and Viv were both pretty easy. Don't hate us :) I think this is definitely an example of God's mercy! How would we have done all this with a colicky baby???

Sam is a super eater and falls asleep without too much work most of the time. He is growing like gangbusters. I don't know how much he weighs, but he is about to grow out of his 3 month clothes. Sam was bottle fed most of the time I was in the hospital, but once I tried nursing him again, he picked it back up immediately, and now he is an expert at going back and forth. He is a champ. Sam is also snuggly, which is irresistible. AND he doesn't spit up when he's being burped. I love that. But then, he occasionally--without warning--spits up what seems to be the entire contents of his stomach, which is kind of a mess.

My favorite thing about Sam is his eyes. They are so alert and seem so intelligent somehow. Like he is wise beyond his weeks. He will stare into your eyes and move his mouth like he is trying so hard to communicate. He is really a joy, and we are so glad he's part of our family!

Coming to you live from Provo

The biggest problem as a result of all this craziness is that I am under a lifting restriction for 6 weeks. Which means that I can't lift anything heavier than Sam until mid-November. This is a serious problem because Viv wants to be carried around all the time, and sometimes she needs to get in and out of her crib. Or get her diaper changed. Or she has to be rescued from nearly falling down the stairs. Or she bites her tongue and bleeds all over. I can drive now that I'm mostly off my narcotics, but I can't get her in or out of the car. Basically, I need someone around all the time in case poor Viv needs something. Plus I am still moving pretty slowly and have basically just been taking care of Sam but haven't managed to make meals or clean the house or do much taking care of the girls.

Two days before Rob's mom was scheduled to leave, we sat down to figure out how much help we would need and who we could ask. I was freaking out a little at the prospect of being alone all day with all 3 kids. Finally the answer hit us--I could go to Utah and stay with Rob's family until mid-November. (My mom works so staying with my fam wouldn't help me during the day....) And, Rob's family generously agreed to take me and the kids in. So after 2 days of frantic packing, my brave MIL and I got on a plane with the 3 kids, 4 diaper bags, 2 car seats, 2 extra carryons, 1 big stroller, and lots of help from the guy pushing me in the wheelchair. We actually wheeled a luggage cart ONTO the airplane. I've never seen anyone do that before :) It was a long, tiring day, but we made it safe and sound! It will be hard to be away from Rob and from home for so long, but it felt like the right decision, and a huge relief. So if you're in UT and feel like lunch at Cafe Rio, I'm available any time! But you might have to help me get the kids out of the car :)

My Everything

A quick update before I get to what I want to say. I came home from the hospital on Friday, yay! It has been wonderful to be home, and also challenging. It is a lot harder to get to the computer than I thought it would be! I am getting stronger and less sore every day. I have a new appreciation for the little things the kids do that are so adorable. I didn't realize how much I missed them. My mom is here, and she is soooo much help. I quite literally could not do this without her! So many people have been so helpful, thoughtful, and wonderful--family, friends, Rob's co-workers, people at Grace's preschool, and of course the ward. We are so, so blessed.

I have finally taken some more pictures and hopefully I will get them up on the Flickr site soon.


Which brings me to the most wonderful person of all, Rob. I have been through a lot physically the last few weeks, but Rob has had the harder job. As I try to list all the things he has done, it just doesn't do him credit. He has taken care of everything so that I would not have to worry at all. Every night that he possibly could, he brought Sammy and stayed with me at the hospital, then took care of all of the midnight feedings. That, in addition to being there as long as he could every day and doing anything for me that I couldn't do for myself. Then he would go home and take care of the girls. He kept the medical people on their toes and asked all the questions I didn't even know enough to ask. He gave me a number of blessings which brought me so much comfort and peace. He has been my emotional rock and has bolstered my faith. He has been Superdad. He brought food from the cafeteria when the hospital food was just too gross :) He nagged me to do all the annoying things they tell you to do so you won't get pneumonia or a DVT while you're in the hospital. He has told me all the way through that I am beautiful, even when I was completely distended and greasy-haired and had tubes coming out my nose. And he's never complained.

I know the problem with lists is that I've surely forgetten something huge. But I want to tell Rob how much I appreciate all the sacrifices he has made and continues to make. This may be corny, but some lines from this poem have been in my head when I've thought about Rob. The poem is Funeral Blues by W.H. Auden, and even though it is a poem of mourning, to me it's about the depth of love. (I took some liberties with the tense and with the last line...)

He is my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought I knew how much I loved him: I was wrong.

Thank you, Rob, for being my everything.

Update

A quick update. As long as nothing drastic happens overnight, I should be able to go home tomorrow. I hesitate to say this for fear of jinxing myself, but that is the plan!

Second, this is how I look, particularly in the abdomen. At least this is how I feel like I look :)

Nectar from Heaven

Thank you all so much for your prayers and thoughts! I can feel them, and I am feeling much stronger and ready to recover!

Since I got readmitted about 10 days ago, I have basically been forbidden from putting anything in my mouth. No food, no liquid, not even ice chips. It was pretty torturous, especially because I'm also kind of dehydrated. My mouth has been parched!

This morning, I was allowed to go onto "sips" of liquid.

I was sitting looking out the big, sunny window, holding Sam and having a nice conversation with Rob, and I took a drink of apple juice. It was so sweet, and it kind of slowly made its way through my dry mouth, waking up my tastebuds. Suddenly I was crying--I just tasted a little nectar from heaven.

Land of not what I expected: delux tour

Hi everyone,

This is actually Rob posting for Julie--so the writing won't be quite as good as you normally expect. Since she posted last Julie's been stuck in the hospital, just waiting for her ileus to resolve. Then yesterday she developed a fever, and her White Blood Cell Count and heart rate both went sky high. The surgery team decided she needs exploratory surgery to make sure there wasn't any sort of injury from the C-section that they were missing on the CT scans.

In the OR they found a large hole in her cecum (the first portion of her large intestine). The contents of her GI tract had been draining through that hole into her abdomen for the last 8 days so it was full of all sorts of nasty stuff, which explains why she had such a bad ileus. They cut out a small section of her bowel reconnected the rest of it, and washed everything out really well. She's in the SICU now on very high powered antibiotics, so that they can make sure the bacteria from her belly doesn't get into her blood stream.

She's doing well and they hope that she'll be ready to leave the SICU tomorrow. She actually looks better now than she did before surgery. Her sense of humor is back, which is good. Her assessment of the situation after she came out of surgery last night--"so that was my problem, I was full of poop......"

We're grateful for the dedication of the nurses and the doctors currently taking care of her. We are also incredibly grateful for the love, concern and support we get from all of you.