Small, Quick, Scattered Thoughts Update

Things are going fairly well here. My mom left early this morning, so we're on our own!!! I'm very nervous to be left alone with the two boys. It scares me to have to watch and take care of both of them. I just am not sure how well I'm going to spread between them.

It was so nice to have my mom here!! I haven't had to worry about making any meals, cleaning anything, entertaining Michael, I've done nothing...except taking care of Xander, of course! But that's all I've been in charge of. If Michael needed something, he'd just go to my mom. If Xander needed a diaper change, I could hand him off to her if I was running late for an appointment. This week has also been FULL of appointments that Nathan, me and Xander have had to go to. We haven't had to worry about babysitting for Michael because my mom was here. I just don't know how I'm going to handle everything! I suppose it's a good thing it's turning into winter around here and we're not going to be going anywhere too often.

On Thursday, November 12th, Nathan and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary!!! We can't believe that it's been 5 years already! It's gone by pretty fast, but then again it seems like it's been longer. We had a really nice evening. Nathan went to work for the first part of the day and came home around 2:00. Then we took off to Idaho Falls, leaving the boys with my mom, and ate a really nice restaurant down there. It was so nice to be together and not have to worry about anything. Then we drove back up to Rexburg and went to a movie. We saw "The invention of lying". It was pretty funny. It was a really nice date, the nicest date we've had in a long time!

The toughest thing about this first week at home with Xander has been figuring out eating. There is nothing, I think, about a newborn that is more frustrating than figuring out breastfeeding!!!!!!!!! When Xander was born, he weighed 7 pounds, 14 ounces. When we left the hospital, he was weighing 6 pounds, 15 ounces. Pretty scary to see that your child has lost a full pound!!!!! And this was a COMPLETE shock!! In the first 24 hours of his life, he had pooped 14 times!!! I think I already blogged about this, but oh well. You can read about it again. So it was a shock to see because we thought he was doing great. But nope, not so great! So we get home and he starts sleeping more, staying awake less, not latching on as well, and getting yellower. So I made a call into the lactation consultant at the hospital and she was able to fit us in. She said he wasn't sucking strong enough to eat enough, so he wasn't getting the calories he needed. She gave us a syringe and said to pump while he ate and then feed him about half an ounce with each feeding. We started seeing results by the next day! His face was filling out, he was pooping and peeing again (funny how your life can revolve around a diaper for the first few days of having a newborn!), and was looking more alert. So we went back to the consultant on Monday to check and see if what we were doing was working. They weighed him and he came in at 7 pounds, 3 ounces. So he had gained about 2 ounces a day!! Great news!!! And he was eating more and for a longer amount of time. So she was optimistic that things were going well and told us she wanted us to come back on Friday for a follow-up. She also said we didn't need to give him as many syringes, and to only give him 1 a day. So we did just that, and went back yesterday. Well, he didn't do as well. He now weighs 7 pounds, 6 ounces, so he only gained just less than one ounce a day. He should have been gaining a full ounce each day. So he wasn't gaining enough. And then to make it worse, I fed him, and after each side that he nursed on she weighed him. On one side he got just under an ounce, and the other he nursed only 5 minutes and got a third of an ounce. She said that at his age he should be getting close to 3 ounces of milk, and he had gotten just over an ounce. So this was very depressing for me! I feel like a failure!! I know, I know, it's not my fault. The consultant said there's only so much I can do. A lot of it is up to the baby to determine how well he nurses. But for some reason, I still feel like some of this is my fault. I know, it's irrational, but it's still how I feel. So now we're giving him a little bit more in a syringe each day and I'm taking some herbs to help boost my production. Right now he's going through a growth spurt, so hopefully that will help my production as well.

I just hate the first few weeks of having a new baby!! Nursing wasn't the easiest thing for me with Michael either, and eventually we got everything figured out. It's just the figuring out thing that's tough!!!!

So there's our not so quick and short update. I know that things will get easier. I know that Xander wont be this small forever and that he'll get better at eating. But while he is struggling with eating and while he is this small, life is sure tough!!!!

And, I want visitors! I want to show off my baby and have something to break up my day! So if you want to come by, please do so! I would love it!

Michael Meeting Baby Xander

Alexander Isaac Sunderland

Let me first say that I was pleasently surprised by how great Xanders birth was!!!! It was a whole different and much better experience than Michael's.

On Tuesday morning Nathan and I woke up and got to the hospital at about 6:00 in the morning. Of course, the night before I got hardly any sleep! It was sooo frustrating. My mind was racing the whole night, and I constantly had Michael Jackson songs in my head (we had seen the new movie "This Is It" about Jackson's concert the night before). Of course, I finally fell asleep about an hour and a half before we had to leave.

So we got to the hospital about 6:00 and were shown to our room. I got into the gown (those things are always so confusing to get into! I hate them) and then they came in to give me the I.V. I hate I.V.'s!! And, I learned that morning, that I also hate BYU-Idaho interns!!! My nurse walked in and following her were 2 BYUI interns. The nurse said they were there to do the I.V. and asked if minded if one of the interns tried to do the IV.
My first thought was HECK NO!!, but the interns were right there and I'm too nice, so I said sure, why not. So one of the interns gave it a try and of course failed. Now, when I say of course, I'm not dissing the intern. It took 2 other trained nurses and 4 tries later to find a vain that would accept an i.v. But the annoying thing about one of the interns was the eagerness she had to "help".
She wasn't the one who trying the IV - just giving moral support. Everytime the intern poked me the "moral support" intern would loudly exclaim "Good try, good try!" and "You were so close!" I wanted to yell at her and say that I wasn't a soccer game! A good try would have been successful! Then the nurse mentioned the catheter (which I got after the spinal--best decision EVER!!!) and the over eager "moral support intern" started practically jumping on her feup and down exclaiming that she would love to give me a catheter!
Of course she didn't direct her eagerness at me - the "victim"... rather the intern pleaded with the nurse like I was a medical dummy to be poked and proded.
I felt very.....invisible. Everyone kind of ignored her and we told the nurse a few minutes later after the interns had left that we didn't want the intern doing the catheter. A few minutes later when the interns were back in the eager intern brought it up again. It was just so annoying how she didn't even seem to acknowledge that I was there and that maybe, just maybe, I wouldn't want her to do a procedure on me.
She also kept continually telling the nurse her schedule. "I need to check the patient's (me) vitals now because I half to go soon... or "I have to check the baby vitals right now because my paper says so..." or "You checked the vitals without me??!!
It bugged me. I wouldn't have been annoyed if she had asked me if she could do it, or asked the nurses outside of the room or something, but nope. Her grades and her education goals of utmost importance to the detriment of her medical patients. BYU-Idaho should consider a Bedside Manner 101 Class.

About 7:30 they had me in the bed and were wheeling me down the hallways to the operating room. They had me scoot over to the skinny little table (being full term pregnant and HUGE, that must have looked pretty funny!) and then they got the spinal in. The actual spinal wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The numbing stuff before the actual spinal hurt a bit, but it was more of a pinching feeling than pain.
They had me lay down and they got everything ready. I was so worried that I was going to feel everything or that it wouldn't work, but it worked really well. I didn't even know when they had started cutting - which was kind of freaky. I hated not being able to move my back around or even move my toes. I was telling my brain to move them, but they would NOT move. I know that's a good thing, but still, it was kinda freaky.

Finally at 7:57 Xander was born! It seemed to take forever for them to cut to him and take him out but it was a really exciting wait. Nathan was right next to me standing up and watching what they were doing. He also had the camera so he was taking pictures and I kept asking if they had Xander yet. It was just fun to know that he would be born any second. Finally I heard Xander's scream and it was the best sound in the world! And boy could he scream!!!! He could also really move! I didn't get to see Xander until about 10 or 15 minutes after he was born because he was kicking and screaming and moving his arms so much that the doctor was really afraid he would drop him if he didn't hand off the baby right away. So they took Xander away and got him wiped off and warmed and did all the newborn tests on him and everything. His weight was 7 pounds, 14 ounces (so much for the big baby concern!). He was 19 1/2 inches long and his apgars were 8 and 9. It took about 15 to 20 minutes for the doctors to finish everything up and for me to get back to my room for recovery.

Finally about 30 minutes after I was in recovery Nathan and Xander and a nurse came into the room. The nurse got Xander to latch on and I fed him for the first time. All this part is a bit of a blur. I know I fed him, but I don't remember how long for and if I did the other side, too. We spent most of the day in that room and then moved to the other room at around 2:30 or so. At around 12:00 Nathan left to go see Michael and switch cars with my mom. Due to the H1N1 flu, the hospital has a policy that children under the age of 18 are not allowed in the hospital! So Michael was not able to visit at the hospital, so my mom and Nathan took turns taking care of Michael. Before we switched rooms I had a little throwing up episode and that was horrible! Of all things for a hospital room to not have, they didn't have bedpan handy. - so it got all over me. It was the worst thing ever! I was so mad they didn't have anything! And then, to make it worse, that stupid intern was so concerned about getting her stuff taken care of in time for her to leave for class, that she didn't even help the nurse clean me up! She was just standing around asking questions and being a distraction. Finally the nurse had to tell her to stop talking and just wait. It was very frustrating! So anyway, the intern finally left at 3:00 and the stay was more enjoyable.

The next few days at the hospital were really nice. The whole experience with Xander was so much more enjoyable. One of the medicines that was given to me through my spinal was a pain reliever that worked for 24 hours after the surgery! I LOVED it!!! Because of that, I didn't have any pain until the next day. I didn't even feel any of the afterbirth contractions! Xander is also a pretty good nurser! We've had more trouble latly, but in the first 24 hours of his life, he pooped 14 times!!!!! We were shocked!!! By day 2, his poop had transitioned most of the way between meconium and the newborn poop. Also, Xander was such a good sucker that my milk also came in by the end of day 2. For those who aren't aware, both of these things are not normal! For pooping, it's expected that a baby poop and pee one time for every day old they are. And as far as milk coming in, it usually comes in between days 2-4, and it takes longer if a C-section is done.
Xander and I are doing very well. We were able to come home on Thursday afternoon, and we're gradually figuring things out. We have run into some trouble with nursing, though. Apparently things were going too well. We realised the day we left the hospital that Xander had lost a full pound in the 2 days since he was born. We thought it was from all the poop, but weren't sure. After we came home from the hospital Xander stopped peeing and pooping as often and wouldn't nurse for the right amount of time. I could literally tell the time by how long he would nurse! When he finally got a latch, he would suck well for exactly 5 minutes. Then he would close his eyes and go back and forth between sucks that were getting him food and sucks that were just comforting to him. He would do that for exactly 5 minutes, and would jump if tickled or if his feet were rubbed. Then he would fall into a deep sleep and nothing that we did would get him to wake up. We could literally get his whole body wet and he would not make a noise or move a limb!
I knew this was not normal, so on Friday morning we went to a wonderful lactation consultant. She was such a great help! She had us nurse in front of her and gave us some information on what was going on. Basically, his suck had become lazy and he was having trouble getting enough milk from each feeding to give him the energy that was necessary to continue eating with before falling asleep. So we have had to supplement his feedings with pumped breast milk and give that to him through a surrenge after each feeding. I basically feel like a cow that is being pumped, but it seems to be working. Xander is pooping and peeing again, and I can see his face becoming fuller again. We were also worried about jaundice, as his skin was starting to become more yellow, but that has started going away too.
So now we're just hoping that the supplementing will help his suck become strong again and that we won't need to pump in addition to feeding to him.

We're really loving him and it's so fun to see Michael interacting with Xander! He loves to come over to Xander and rub/pat his head and say hi. He also sighs when saying hi and comments on how cute he is. Then he refers to him as his Xander, and when I say our Xander, he just corrects me and says, no, my Xander.

Our family just seems so more complete, which sounds so cliche, but it's really true. Sometimes it's really weird to look around at our family and count four people. It's just weird, but a good weird.

More Pictures Of Xander!!

Here are some more pictures of our new little addition! I want to give a whole post to the delivery and first few days, but this will have to do until I can get to that!

Happy Mommy

Happy Daddy
Oh no, we're not tired at all!

All dressed and ready to come home! It's amazing how absolutely little they look in the carseat, and then they outgrow it in a year!!

On our way home! Michael was SOOOOOO excited to meet "his baby"

Michael holding and meeting Xander for the first time

Chillin' in the swing

No more pictures, please!

"It's ok, baby" Michael is saying

OH NO!! IT'S A GHOST!!!

Nope, just Michael!

First bath--He's not much of a fan!

Xander has arrived!

The baby has arrived!!


Alexander Isaac Sunderland was born on November 3, 2009 at 7:57 A.M. by C-Section, in just under 20 minutes.
He weighted 7.14 lbs and was 19 inches (I think... Amy would know for sure). He is also very healthy, and has quite the set of lungs.
Here are some photos, Amy can fill you in on some future post.

Amy during the C- Section
HELLO WORLD!

Seven pounds, fourteen ounces
Measurments

Stop it with the pocking already!!

Just for comparison, our two sons...

7 Hours To Go!!!!!

Well, here's my last preggo picture with Xander!!! It's hard to believe that it's finally the time, but it is! I go in bright and early tomorrow a bit before 6:00 and then the c-section will be around 7 or 7:30. I'm pretty nervous for the surgery, but I know it'll be good and things will go smoothly. I hope so, anyway.

So look forward to pictures! We'll put them up as soon as possible! Oh, and I'm pretty proud of this:

Total Weight Gain: 15 POUNDS!!!!!!!!

Xanders Current Measurement: 8 pounds, 10 ounces!!!!!

Total Weight Loss For Me (if the ultrasound was really accurate): about 6 pounds, 6 ounces

Pumpkin Carving!!

We carved our family pumpkin on Tuesday before Halloween. It was fun, but Michael had some mixed feelings about it. He was interested and curious, but he didn't want anything to do with the pumpkin guts! He touched it once and he was done! It's funny to compare it to a few years ago when he was a baby and 1 and trying to eat the pumpkin guts!

Totally grossed out!

The safe way to carve out the guts!

Sorting out seeds and guts...we never did get around to roasting them...maybe next year...
The finished product!
Funny side note about the face on the pumpkin. Before "designing" the face, we asked Michael if he wanted a happy face or a mad face. He said Mad face. The whole time it was being carved out he was all excited about the mad face! But when he saw it carved out and lighted up, he suddenly decided that he wanted a happy face! So we made a happy face when Grandma Stoa got into town!

Happy Halloween!!

We had a really fun Halloween this year. Michael is really getting a lot more into the spirit of dressing up and getting candy and going trick-or-tricking. Every holiday is getting funner and funner as he gets more and more involved.

Of course what good is a holiday that involves lots of pictures without a massive bump on the head!!

Michael was busy playing with Grandma Stoa and was getting a bit too excited running up and down the hall way, and before we knew it, he had tripped and landed on our kitchen chair. He got that huge bump right away! And, actually, the bump was bigger before I took the picture. It was pretty crazy. Luckily it went down quite a bit before morning and didn't look as bad the next day.

We made a gingerbread haunted house and decorated it. Michael didn't really help too much with the decorations, but he sure loved eating the candy!!

Michael's teeth after eating some of the frosting! It was all black...it looked pretty gross.

Later in the day we went to the grocery store and they had some carts decorated for Halloween and were passing out candy. So we got Michael back into his costume and walked around the store. He enjoyed looking at the other kids and seeing what their costumes looked like.

Finally it was time for Trick-or-treating! Michael had a lot of fun with this too! Every time we were done with a house he would come to me and say, "Mom, I want some more!" So we walked around our complex and we were actually surprised with how many were passing out candy. It was really fun. We went around with a little neighbor girl named Kaitlyn. Michael and her are about the same age and they have a lot of fun together.

Here we are back at our apartment. Michael wasn't too sure what to do here. He asked my mom for some candy and then just kinda stood there. He didn't know if he could walk in or if he was supposed to stay out side. Finally Mom stepped away and said to come in. Then he walked in and started to take his costume off. We were planning on going to a housing development near by to do more trick-or-treating, but Michael declared that he was done! We tried explaining that he would get more candy, but he didn't care...He was done!

Then he and mom played Candy Land while Nathan and I went on a spontaneous date...And let me just say, Nathan and I no longer know how to date!!! It was kinda weird....We had no idea what to do!! I'm not saying it wasn't fun, it was, we just had no idea what to do and there wasn't anything around to do. This is rexburg after all! We ended up going to Coldstone's and talking. It was really nice to have a few hours to ourselves with out worrying about Michael and getting home at a certain time.

Anyway, so that was our Halloween night! It was a good night and Michael is already looking forward to next year and going trick-or-treating again!

Halloween Party 2009

We had our Ward Halloween party tonight. It was pretty fun to get Michael all dressed up in his little fireman outfit and do a trial run of the whole costume. The jacket and hat I got on Ebay for less the 5 bucks! Pretty good deal, I thought. I also like this jacket because it's a perfect size! It's just too big so it fits wonderfully over his big winter coat so we wont have to worry about bundling him up and covering up his costume on Saturday when we're out and about trick-or-treating.



The youth of the ward had a few booths set up with little games for the children and one of them was a donut eating thing. Here's the video of Michael trying to get the very powdery donut. It was great!

At one of the booths they gave him this plastic teeth thing. He thought it was pretty cool when we got home and tried many times to bite me with it.

3 WEEKS TO GO!!

Here's my second to last belly shot! I'll take one more the day we go to the hospital and that's that! I can't believe that I already only have 3 weeks, but at the same time I can't believe I still have 3 weeks! I feel soo ready to just have this baby and be done with this pregnancy! I feel like I've been so uncomfortable for so long that "feeling uncomfortable" is normal for me now...I can't wait to feel abnormal!

I also can't wait to know how I'm going to have this baby! I haven't posted about this, but I've been having ultrasounds TWICE a week for the last 6 or so weeks, and will continue to until he's born. (I tested positive for some ANA blood test they ran back in the first trimester, so now I'm considered "high-risk") So these ultrasounds have been fun to get a sneek peek of Xander but we're finding out he's going to be a BIIIG baby. He is already measuring at over 7 pounds, and I still have 3 weeks to go. No wonder I'm uncomfortable, huh? But anyway, I just wanna know what's going to happen. I don't neccessarily want a c-section, but will probably have one, but at the same time if I went into labor on my own, we'll try for a normal delivery (unless he's over 9 lbs, then we wont). So I just feel like maybe I can avoid the c-section, but maybe not. I just wanna know how he's going to be born so I can prepare myself for that! Yes, I realize that didn't make much sense.

Anyway, I'm just anxious to have him and meet him and see what he looks like and begin this crazy journey!!!!

Family Pictures

During labor day weekend we took a visit up to Canada to visit Nathan's family. While there we had Nathan's cousin come and take some family pictures of all of us. Here are some of my favorites.

30 Days Notice

I, the Landlord (Mommy), am issuing a notice for EVICTION. Tenant (Baby) will have to comply and promptly vacate the premises, or wait until authorization for removal by physician. After which, she will be removed from the property by c-section.

The Tenant (Baby) is being evicted due to breach of contract and destruction of property. Expansions only to the FRONT of the house, within reasonable limits, were discussed. Not only have these limits been exceeded, but additions to the back and sides of the house were also made without approval from the Landlord (Mommy).

Remodeling and gutting of the home was never approved, nor was changing the initial layout and base structure. Due to the damage by the Tenant (Baby), the foundation has been compromised, and the structural integrity of the house is questionable. The Landlord (Mommy) has also received numerous complaints about frequent nightly disturbances.

If the Tenant (Baby) does not comply with the notice it will result in an immediate and forceful removal at the discretion of a physician and the Landlord (Mommy)

****************************

Yes, it's true. I only have 30 days starting Sunday October 4 until this baby will be removed by c-section!!! CrAzY!!!!!!

Mistaken Identity

In our house we watch a lot of news, and because of the extensive media coverage of President Barack Obama, Michael is very aware of who he is - or at least what color he is apparently.
Today we decided to turn on Remember the Titans, because Michael likes to watch football (I don’t know why) and during one scene when there isa black football player in a suit Michael stood up and exclaimed “Its President Obama!” not quite sure what we heard I asked him to clarify who it was to which he said “Its President Obama Daddy!”
So we may need to work on that one….

Our Big Helper

Slowly but surely things are getting ready for Xander! I finally went through ALL our boxes of baby boy clothes last weekend and got everything organized! I'm so glad I did this!!! I found so many clothes in the wrong boxes and realized that we have a lot more than I realized when it came to clothes for this little guy. I'll be honest, when we first out I was having a boy I was dissapointed it wasn't a girl, but now I'm grateful. We really don't have the money to go out and buy clothes for a girl, so I'm very grateful we're having another boy. Plus, I know he'll be funner for Michael in a few years.

But anyway, a few weeks ago we got the crib set up and Michael "helped" Nathan with that project. While they were upstairs, I was down stairs doing stuff and all I heard was non-stop talking coming from Michael! It was so cute, because he was so excited to be helping daddy and to be making something for the baby. One thing he kept saying was "babby's going to like this daddy", or "Do you think the baby will like this? I think the baby will like it". At one point, a rail fell down and Michael goes, "Oh, Baby wont like that daddy!" It's just so cute, because Michael loves to see the baby stuff. One day when I was going through our 0-3 stuff, Michael was playing while I was organizing and he turned around to show me something. I was holding up a item of clothing and when Michael saw he totally sighed and cocked his head over to one side. It was so funny!
I just love Michael's face here. He's in mid-sentence about something.

Holding up the rail for Daddy

Trying on a little winter hat. Hard to believe this used to be too big on him!

And here's a video of Michael "Helping" Nathan with the crib. Hopefully you can understand what he's saying. If not leave a comment and I'll type out a dialogue...Maybe I'll do that anyway, we'll see.

The Best Ward Activity EVER, Our Fireman, and Potatoes!

So, back at the end of July, our Elders Quorum threw the best ward party we'd been to in a long time, if not ever. It was so fun! They had steaks that they grilled (so yummy!) and a long line of side dishes and deserts that the ward members brought along. They also had some fun activities going on. They had a rock climbing wall come in from campus, a bouncy gym thing for the kids (Michael LOVED that!), and a fire truck came and sprayed the kids in a huge field (Michael loved the idea of it, but didn't actually enjoy getting wet. I think he was scared/hesitant, but Nathan quite enjoyed it!)

Michael got to go in to a REAL firetruck. Michael is so funny. If he sees something that he really wants to do, he will pester us CONSTANTLY until he's able to do it, but as soon as he's doing it, he looks like he's bored to death and not that impressed. But when he gets off, it's all he talks about like it was THE coolest thing EVER!

The firetruck and it's long ladder/hose. This was soo fun!!
You can't see their faces very well (I was trying to not get wet while taking pictures, so I was kind of far away) but Nathan has a huge smile and Michael is sort of grimacing. I think it's funny.

Again, Nathan smiling and Michael looking offended.

Our Real Own Fireman
Michael loves play acting! He has a few things that he's majorly into right now. One is Star wars (Ugh, I'm not a fan, but with a daddy like Nathan, it was inevitable) and the other is firemen!!!! When we went to a yard sale a few weeks ago, we got this hat for free and it has been on his constantly ever since! He also has a life saver type vest that was too small last year and that is his fireman vest. Then he has his rain boots that were also too small last year and those are his boots!

This was a one day thing. This little dump truck was his fire engine.

Michael has declared that he will be a fireman for Halloween! We're really getting excited for Halloween this year! All these hollidays are just getting funner and funner as Michael gets older. I've always been excited for hollidays, but finally I have someone to be excited with! So Cathy (my mom-in-law) found a fireman tool belt with an axe, walky-talky, goggles, whistle, badge, and fire extinguisher that hang off it. The kit also came with a red hat and a flash light that attaches on the side. So Michael has been THRILLED to be a real fireman! And I'm THRILLED to have most of his costume already! All we need to do is find a fireman coat (or I'm thinking of finding a red rain jacket and yellow duct tape and just making it a fireman jacket). He has black pants and black snow boots already, so we're set! We can't wait!

Pigs Love Potatoes!

One day I was making potato soup when one of my potatoes went missing. Michael LOVES any and all vegetables and it was a while after lunch, so I knew immediately who the culprit was. I walked into the living room to see him helping himself! Who willingly bites into a raw potato more than once????? Obviously Michael enjoyed himself, because he ate about half of that puppy!

Also that same day, while I was making dinner, he got out that bowl his feet are in and our brand new thing of salt and proceeded to "make dinner". He dumped out ALL of the salt into the bowl. I was annoyed, but I also got dinner made in good time, so I wasn't too annoyed.