Babies Babies Everywhere!

At the end of June my sister and brother in law had their 4th baby! Conner Douglas is so incredibly cute and very squishy which is the best part about babies :)
   On October 21,2014, at 7:23pm, Samuel David graced us with his presence! We had a very long day of it before he finally arrived though. At about 7:30am we started pitocin to get the lovely contractions that I had been having for weeks actually doing something. Those were doing their job for a while but then around 7 or so, Sam's heart-rate started dipping down with the contractions and I wasn't dilating more than a 5 or 6, so we decided to take him out via c-section. It was a good thing we didn't wait longer because his head was actually stuck in my pelvis and the cord was wrapped around his neck so I literally would not have been able to get him out on my own. I was hoping I could but he had other plans apparently :) He was 7 pounds 7 ounces and 20 inches long and cried right away which was a great thing! He had the cutest classic baby cry with a squeak at the end!

Here I am meeting him for the first time (on the outside)! He whined at me but turned toward my voice which was so comforting since I couldn't hold him right away! In fact it was quite some time before I got to hold him cuz they had to finish stitching me up and then they waited until we were settled in our room before bringing him to me.
   The hospital stay was traumatic and hard because Sam had a really hard time nursing. He would scream like someone had cut off an appendage but then wouldn't nurse well. So, he lost 10 ounces in the hospital and then by the Monday after he was born he had lost a full pound down from his birth weight. He also had a high biliruben  count so we had to have his blood checked about 5 times I think after the hospital checked it a couple of times while we were there. By Saturday after he was born we had to use lights for him. No fun at all!!

I really think he looks like a glow worm from the 80's in that pic :)

  After the Monday weight check, we started using formula and a hand pump to keep my supply going and just pretty much fed him from the bottle. I tried a few times to get him to latch on but he would throw a huge fit 90% of the time. At his 2 week checkup, he had gained almost a pound! He was up to 7lbs 5oz so the dr ok'd me to start trying to nurse more. After that we went to WIC and I was able to see a lactation consultant and she corrected my improper hold, showed me how to get Sam to latch on properly, and he nursed really well for the first time since he was born!
   Around the beginning of November, I had my milk tested to make sure I was making enough calories and enough milk for Sam. They tested the foremilk and the hind milk and weighed Sam before eating, mid-meal, and after he was done. My fore milk was 21 calories, hind milk was 43 calories, and Sam gained almost 3 ounces from eating! So, my milk is better than formula (which is typically 20 calories) and he had plenty of supply :). I was elated!!
   On the 7th of November, my friend at Coco Portraits took some great newborn shots of Sam:

 
  Just before Thanksgiving, Sam turned 1 month old :)

He would not smile or even stop crying so I could take a quick picture :( But he had a great pose for his huge feet!

  Thanksgiving was spent with family at my sister's house and we had a wonderful couple of days with them!

 
And I will catch up with December and January next time since I think this might be the longest post EVER!!