A play pen for Sam

 Sam has been getting very mobile over the last month so we decided to make a play pen so he could have somewhere to hang out in that was safe. With all the house construction going on, we have lots of random chemicals and tools laying around that he loves to get into.

 It is made out of hemlock and has six sides. Not all six side pieces have to be used at once so it is variable in size.

 A jig was made to align the drill so all the holes could be drilled in the ends.
 Once all the pieces were cut, they were pegged and glued up.

 Then wooden hinges were made.

 and glued onto the sections.

 Then we had Sam test it out. It is huge! He did help us discover that going at too sharp of an angle puts too much torque on the hinges and one broke. So, we are going to switch to metal hinges.

 And here you can see the gated side and the lock to keep the door closed.

November So Far...

November has been a month filled with fun things to do with Sam. Here is a little recap of our adventures so far.

  

Sam turned six months old already! So we decided to see how much he had grown. Here he is in his outfit he wore home from the hospital six months later.

We went to a wedding and Sam got to see all of his April/May baby buddies.

 Then it was time for his first Thanksgiving at daycare. We went and ate lunch with him and he tried cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, and green beans.

 We made our first trip to the children's museum where Sam loved the trains and watching the other kids play.

 

 Sam had fun playing with his dad and "Dusty" the Roomba.

Happy 4th!

 July 4th is always the first day of summer in the Seattle area. We had our first weather above 60 degrees and it was sunny all day long.

 We took Sam to see his first parade. He did well until a bunch of tractors were stopped in front of us and kept revving their engines. He did not like that at all so we left for a walk and some lunch.

 We walked down the street at night to watch the fireworks and Sam slept through them. Overall, it was a great day.

More Sam Pictures

Kristen's parents have been here for the past couple of weeks so we have been spending time with family and our new little one. Kristen's dad was able to get some yard work and house exterior items completed but other than that we have just been learning how to be parents.

Samuel with his grandpa Paul

With his grandma Connie

 

He never tires of being held

 

Samuel with his mother

He likes to sleep in his car seat and go for walks

Samuel's 1st house project

Tyler made a step stool for the bathroom so we can reach things on the top shelf easier. Sam helped him out - it's never too early to teach him how to work around the house!

 We will probably use this when Sam gets bigger so he can reach the sink. We may need to modify it a little then though so he doesn't fall through the cutout.

Sam's first few days

We have been home for a few days now and things are going well. Sam had his first pediatrician appointment and was down in weight about half a pound from birth. It must be the lack of eating in the first few days along with the massive pooping. We have a weight check again next week and hopefully he will be up again.

 We got to spend lots of time bonding as a family. Tyler has been making me amazing dinners every night and a great help to have around.

 In general, Sam is a very content baby. He is very alert and sleeps like a champ. I usually have to wake him up at night to feed.

 Poppy has not subsided in her watchfulness. She will not leave his side and stares up at him when we are holding him in our arms. She also rests her head on the side of his bassinet while he sleeps and will lick his toes or nudge his blankets if he makes a peep. She whines when we leave the house and she can't come along. She is so watchful, she has even missed the postman the last few days!

 Here he is relaxing on the blanket his great grandma Carol made him.

 We have been going for nice long walks every day. The weather has been beautiful all week and Sam seems to love being outside.

And finally, his feed me face...

Our Latest Project Complete! The Birth of Samuel Lincoln Smith.

With a due date of May 8th, we were thinking we had a few more weeks until needing to be fully prepared for the arrival of our little baby boy. Much to my surprise, he decided to come a little early. I was at work on Tuesday when my water broke. I was with a patient and not quite sure what was happening. It was about 11:45 and I was having no contractions. I decided to keep working and call Tyler at lunchtime - 1:00. I felt fine and decided to finish up the work day and then call the doctor. So, unbeknownst to them, I saw three patients while leaking amniotic fluid.

Luckily, my last two patients of the day had cancelled so around 3:30 I headed home. I packed up a few bags to bring to the hospital just in case and called Tyler to come home. I then called the hospital and they told me to come in.

 

 Once we arrived, I had to fill out the admitting paperwork and was taken to triage. They monitored the baby's heart rate and checked for amniotic fluid. The nurse decided to admit me immediately and called to have a room ready. It just so happened that my doctor was the one on call that night and would be working until 7:00am. It was about 5:00pm and I began walking to try to start contractions.

 

 After an hour or so of walking and doing every type of stretching/poses possible, my room was ready and I still was having no strong, regular contractions. The doctor recommended starting Pitocen to induce labor. This was very frustrating to me because things were going exactly against what I wanted but I agreed because it had been about seven hours since my water had broken and I knew that the risk for infection to the baby goes up and there is usually a 24 hour time frame that the hospital would prefer to deliver in.

 Once the Pitocen was started, I asked to be hooked up to a telemetry unit and be able to walk around. Tyler and I strolled the hallways for a few hours but the monitors kept slipping on my belly and the nurse would have to come get us to readjust because she was not getting steady readings.

I tried different positions in the room to try to speed things up and reduce the pain of the contractions.

Around midnight, I was having regular contractions that were getting moderately painful. I told Tyler to get some sleep because we still had a long time to go and he would need it later. We were still having trouble with the monitors slipping every time I switched positions so the nurse asked that I stay in the room hooked to the six foot cord. Apparently it was happening because of the shape of my stomach. They said because I had a basketball tummy that things move more. They told me it was a complement and that I would be grateful for it after labor but that unfortunately it made it harder while in labor. I was having lots of contractions that were being missed so I laid down for 30 minutes to get a good baseline.

You can see above on the graph what they were monitoring. The top line is the baby's heartbeat and the lower is the contractions. In the picture, they are about one minute long and every 2.5-3 minutes.

Around 4:00am, the baby's heart rate started to drop a few times so they put me on oxygen to get it back up. He responded well but I was not feeling too great at that point. I asked to nurse to check my progress and I was only dilated 4cm after laboring for almost 17 hours. They upped the Pitocen to as strong as they could and things went down hill fast. I was in a lot of pain and about 5:00am called for an epidural. Tyler awoke to me on the phone and felt bad that he had been sleeping but I was glad that he had because I thought I would need him for the pushing stage more.

The anesthesiologist arrived around 5:20am and I got immediate relief. I'm very glad I decided to have the epidural done. It let me rest some but was not strong enough that it kept me from feeling pressure and minor pain - exactly what I asked for.

 The nurses continued to have trouble monitoring my contractions with the band slipping each time I moved. They called the doctor in to place an internal monitor to get a better reading. When he arrived to place it, he said there was no need because he could see the baby's head and it was time to push. It was about 10:00am and as you can see above, I was thrilled with this news - maybe we would make the 24 hour period after all!

I asked to watch in a mirror and this made it easier because I could see my progress. About ten pushes and twenty minutes later, Samuel was born. It was Wednesday, April 18, 2012 at 10:32am.

 Tyler cut the umbilical cord and then Samuel was placed on my chest.

 He began crying immediately and looked perfect! We spent the next half an hour bonding while I delivered the placenta and got a few stitches.

 I asked the nurse to show me the placenta. Tyler and I are both scientific people and I really wanted to see what had been keeping my baby alive the last 37 weeks. It was amazing to see.

 About an hour after he was born, he got cleaned up a little and weighed. He was 6lbs, 5oz and 19 inches long. The pediatrician declared him in good health and he was given back to Tyler and I for some family bonding time.

He stayed in our room the entire time from birth until going home. He had several tests done and passed them all with flying colors except for his hearing screening. We have to go back in two weeks to have it done again but the woman running the test said he likely failed because of a quick pushing stage leaving fluid in his ears and that he had higher than normal brain activity going on that was throwing things off.

The next morning, the nurse asked us when we would like to go home. We were all doing well enough that we could leave at any time. We filled out all the necessary paperwork and were discharged around 2:00pm Thursday afternoon.

When we got home, the animals were very excited to see me after being gone for a few days. They both were also very interested in meeting their new family member. Poppy began guarding Sam immediately and has not left his side since. She looks the most tired out of anyone in the family. Volt also reacted well and has been affectionate and sweet trying to cuddle with us and purring up a storm.

 

On Friday morning we went for our first walk as a family down the street to the park. I am in a fair amount of pain still but it was nice to get out and get some fresh air and exercise. Every day we are figuring things out more and enjoying our new family member Sam.