Our First Week with Connor...

I can't believe it's only been a week since Connor has been out. He already has this sweet little personality. I've been very very spoiled because I've been able to hold him and love him to my heart's content. Grandma and Grandpa Lamb took the boys for almost a week and then Grandma Mary & Danny came in town and entertained the boys for a few more days. Randy also took Andrew on a fishing trip. I actually kind of missed them :).

The 2nd day we were in the hospital, Connor had to be under bili lights for 24 hours. I could only hold him for feedings...it was so sad! So I made up for it by barely putting him down once he got out. Did I mention he is so sweet!? He actually did well under the lights, he is a very calm baby - all the nurses commented how good he was in there. They said that most babies scream. I was worried that his little goggles would fall off, so I stayed up most of the night checking up on him. He did better when I kept my hand on his tummy - and even though I couldn't hold him, it was still a bonding time for us. The boys and Grandma & Grandpa came to visit in the hospital. The boys were very excited. And wild. When they left, Randy and I were overwhelmed ("What have we done?!"), but thankfully we had a few more days before we had to face reality...

I love staying at the hospital. I slept, watched movies, and fed the baby - it was great. Here he is in his car seat ready to go home, dunn dunn dunnnnnn....

The first night he ate almost constantly, but the rest of the week he has let me sleep in 3-4 hour stretches.

When the boys came home from Grandma & Grandpa Lamb's, I was gone with Connor getting his newborn pictures taken. When I got home, they were waiting anxiously at the door to greet Connor. They were so cute with him. They covered him with blankets and talked to him.


Would the American Academy of Pediatrics approve of this sleeping position?



Grandma Mary & Grandpa Danny...

Fishing Trip

First Bath

The nurses at the hospital said that we could give Connor a bath before his cord fell out. It's funny how the "cord policy" has changed with each of my children. But we decided to live on the wild side and give Con a bath when he got home from the hospital - he wasn't smelling so fresh from heaven...



He wasn't a big fan. I think the water wasn't quite warm enough. He smelled so yummy, though.

Red Butte Gardens with Grandma

Grandma Lamb took the boys to Red Butte during the summer...

Grandma & Grandpa Time

Grandma & Grandpa Lamb were so great and took Andrew and Josh for a few days when Connor was born...

Connor's Eviction

Connor Joseph Lamb

August 30, 2010, 8:59 pm
8 lbs. 5 oz., 21 in.

Connor's Birth Story...
I say that Connor was evicted because I have my doubts this child would have come on his own. Either my body didn't know how to get with the program or Connor was just too comfy in there! On August 30, five days past his due date, I went in for a prenatal visit. Randy stayed home with the boys and told me that I wasn't allowed to come home without an induction date! We were both worried that he would be too big if we waited much longer (Andrew and Josh were induced at 39 weeks and were both over 8 lbs.).

At the prenatal visit, my blood pressure was high. It hadn't been high during the entire pregnancy. My midwife took it again 15 minutes later, and it was higher. So...she said I needed to head upstairs to labor & delivery to induce labor! I called Randy's mom so she could come pick up the boys and I called Randy to get their bags packed because we were going to have a baby tonight!

At 6:15 pm, the pitocin was started to get my contractions going. The nurse increased it every half hour until it got to a 7. The monitor wasn't picking up the contractions very well, but I was feeling them pretty soon after the pitocin was started. At first it was tolerable, but then they got evil. I'm sure the nurses thought I was a pansy because the monitor wasn't picking them up! The midwives had a shift change at 7 pm, and I didn't meet the new one until around 7:45 pm. I told her the contractions were pretty strong, but she didn't check me because it was still early. We talked about getting an epidural and some other pain management options. We also talked about turning the pitocin off to see if my body would do the rest. She said that I should eat something and brought me a sandwich. She had other patients having babies, so she left for a little bit. At this point, the contractions were getting worse. I couldn't eat the sandwich or really concentrate on anything else. The only thing I wanted to do was go to the bathroom! By the third bathroom trip, Randy said I'd better get that epidural, so he called the nurse.

The anesthesiologist came in at 8:51 pm (this was documented on the computer). I told him that I didn't know how on earth he was going to give me the epidural because by that time I was in a lot of pain and the contractions were close together (still not showing up very well on the computer, so I think everyone still thought I was being a pansy). My midwife came in and said, "Are you ready to take a little rest now?" I told her I was, but I didn't know how we were going to do this! She got me through the next contraction by doing counter pressure (she pressed on my knees, Randy pressed on my back while I was lying on my side). This felt so good! After the contraction, my midwife got paged and I told her to not leave me! I wanted her to keep doing the counter pressure with me. She said she'd get me through the next contraction and then she needed to take the call. I sat up on the bed to get in position for the epidural, then the next contraction came. They did counter pressure again, but in the middle of the contraction I yelled, "I'm pushing!" My body just took over from there. This baby was coming out, ready or not!

My midwife hurried and checked my progression. I was complete and the baby was crowning. She looked over at the anesthesiologist and said we wouldn't be needing him. There were many people in the room at that point and everyone was scrambling to get the party started. I was terrified and screaming (I'm sure I convinced many undecided mothers on the floor to go ahead and get that epidural!), it was so hard for me to surrender my body. The nurses, especially my midwife were great. I just did my best to listen to them and do what they asked. It was crazy and insane, but 8 minutes later (from the time the anesthesiologist came into the room), Connor was here. I had an unplanned pitocin-induced, med-free labor. I am woman, hear me roar. Connor's apgar scores were 8 then 9. We have been so blessed.

And this little guy was so worth the wait.

1st Day of School

Movie in the Park

Each year, student housing invites its residents to a movie in the park, which is just a hop, skip & jump from our place - they also provide the popcorn, cotton candy, and soda. This year it was "How to Train Your Dragon."

Distractions....

We got together with some friends at the Gateway to play in the fountains today....

I'm listening to a great book....

And tomorrow I'm off to the fabric store because sewing makes me happy...

Nine days until my due date. He'd better not be late.

Andrew's Secret

Andrew: "I'll tell you a secret about Josh." "He's naughty."

More Goodbyes

Living in student housing, we've met and said goodbye to many many friends. This year was definitely the roughest. I have special memories and experiences with each of these ladies - each one of them has taught me so much by their example. It's been a lonely summer not having them around.

Julie Randall, Jennifer Sunseri, Me, Jenny Martin

(Pictures taken the end of May)
Back row: Jenny Martin, Julie Randall, Mandy Halverson, Me, Kristl Nelson, Rachel Holman, Sherrie Crawford, Claire Hogue
Front row: Maggie Minson, Danica Loveridge, Annette Brown, Shellie Wilson, Jessica Lowe

Going Green

Our little patch of grass was looking pretty pitiful the beginning of April:
So we planted some new grass seed, and this was the result 6 weeks later:
The boys like to eat their lunch on this little patch on most days. I wish that I could say that our lawn looks this lush now, but 90 degree weather and pregnancy have made it suffer a little. It's amazing what water will do for living things.

Andrew's First Tooth!

Andrew lost his first tooth yesterday! It was hanging by a thread and I finally convinced him to let me give it a good yank.

Grandma Mary made him this cute pillow for the Tooth Fairy. It took him awhile to fall asleep becasue he was too excited. The Tooth Fairy left him a gold dollar.