A Little Over 7 weeks Old

We took Sam to the pediatrician on Friday. He weighs 6 pounds 1 ounce and is 18.5 inches long. He had his 2 month old shots done a little early.....oh, that was hard for Mommy. Good thing Daddy was there to help. :) He is eating 3-4 ounces every 4 hours now. He seems to change a little bit each day. He's a very good baby....he still pretty much only cries when he is hungry. There is a span of time in the middle of the night where he just wants to be held. We are breaking him of that slowly. Getting your nights and days staight is hard work.

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What An Amazing Week!

This past week has gone by at an incredibly fast rate. It feels as if the days of the NICU are way in the past. Nick and I were looking back at pictures and video of Samuel and we can hardly believe we have our little guy home. He is a very good baby. He eats about every 4 hours. He started out eating 2 oz of milk and now he is up to 3 oz. Sam has been enjoying his new bedroom. He's had a few visitors this past week. He only cries when he is hungry. He has only spit up a few times this past week. He seems to be gaining weight. Nick and I weighed him on our scale.....we're not sure how accurate that is but we think he is about 6 pounds now. We go to the pediatrician tomorrow and we'll find out for sure. Here are some pictures from Sam's 1st week at home.

Leaving the hospital. Ms. Karen walked us out. Sam and I will miss her terribly.

1st time in the car seat.

Aunt Melissa feeding Samuel a bottle.

Grandmother and Granddad enjoying their 16th grandchild.

Daddy putting Sam down for a nap.

Posing with Aunt Jessica......no more pictures Sam says.

Sam's 1st time in his swing. He loves it!

Going for a stroller ride for the 1st time with Daddy, Mommy, Georgia, and Yankee.

Samuel enjoying some tummy time.

Talking to Aunt Debbie....he was just a gooing and gawing.

At the optamologist this morning. Waiting for Sam's eyes to dilate.

Waiting for the doctor to check Sam's eyes out. (Babies who have been on oxygen have to have routine eye exams.) Sam checked out just fine. Although, Mommy had to go wait in the hallway because Sam was crying. Good thing Daddy was there. :)

Our sweet little family.

6 Weeks Old Today

Samuel is 6 weeks old today! He weighs 5 pounds 10 ounces. On average, he has been gaining about 1 ounce every 24 hours. Nick and I got a surprise when we went to see him this morning.....HE'S COMING HOME TODAY!!!!!!!!! The nurse asked me if I really wanted to "room in" or if I'd be okay with taking him home this afternoon. Of course you know what my answer was. So, we will be rooming in at our house tonight! I am going to run a few errands this morning, try to catch a nap, and then I'm going to pick Sam up and take him home. Nick and I are SOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited. Thank you again for your love, support, and prayers. Please continue to pray for our little family.

Sam's Progress

Here's the scoop on Samuel going home. I will be "rooming in" at the hospital tomorrow. They will put me and Sam in a hospital room and I will take care of him. I can call on the nurses if I need help. All the nurses said it is not required that I room in because they have seen me care for him....change diapers, feed him, change his clothes, etc. I want to do it though. It will be a baby step towards going home and it will allow me to get any last minute questions answered. Sam will then be released on Saturday morning!!!! He will have stayed in the NICU for 6 whole weeks. It will be so nice to have him home. Driving back and forth to the hospital has been exhausting. Today Sam weighed 5 pounds 9 ounces and is a little over 18 inches long. He has gained a little over 2 pounds and 2 inches since birth.

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Thank you all so much for all of your prayers. It has been a crazy month and a half. I know the next few weeks will be just as crazy. I will do my best to keep the blog updated. It will be difficult since we will be making very limited trips out of the house. Because Sam is so susceptible to infection, we have to limit the visitors and stay out of crowded places. He wants to meet you all....just give us a little time to get adjusted. Please continue to keep us in your prayers.

Easter Sunday

At church on Easter Sunday.

The Easter Bunny visited Samuel! :)

Sam loves his new bunny.


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On Easter Sunday, the nurses allowed us to bring Sam into a room with windows. After attending church service and filling up on a delicious Easter meal at my mom's house, my family came and stood outside the room to sneak a peek at our growing boy.

My Memphis Shower

Look how nice everything looks.

Getting ready to play a game at my shower.

Playing "Guess That Baby."

And the winner is.........

......My sweet mom! There were great gifts for winning the games. :)

The food was AMAZING!

Look at all those presents!

The cake matches Sam's bedding. Cute huh! It was delicious.

Playing "The Stinky Diaper Game." You had to guess what candy bar was melted in the diaper.

Laine trying to figure out what was in that diaper. :)

My sisters Melissa and Jessica threw such a great shower!!!!!

Pics From Class Shower

My class shower was so much fun. It was so good to see my students and their parents. The kids look so big compared to my little guy.

My sweet 3rd grade class! :)

Opening gifts. My class was SO generous.

The gift table.

Look how cute the table decorations are.....baby sock bouquets.



Party favors....my room mother is SO creative!

Do you like my "New Mommy" crown?

Quick Update...New Pictures Coming Soon

Samuel has really picked up the pace on bottle feeding. On Friday, he took 5 bottles in a row (2am, 5am, 8am, 11am, 2pm) and then two more bottles (8pm & 11pm). That's 7 bottles for that day! He did about 6 bottles on Saturday and then again on Sunday. To come home, Sam has to eat 8 bottles for 3 days straight and still gain or maintain his weight. The nurse today said she would pull his feeding tube later today. They are getting a bit more agressive about getting Sam home. This means Sam could be home as soon as Thursday or Friday of this week!!!! :) Nick and I are very excited. We will definitely keep everyone updated on Samuel's progress. Today he weighed 5 pounds 6 ounces....almost a 3 ounce gain from yesterday. He was circumcised this morning. The whole thing took about 5 minutes total. The nurse said he cried, but he was fine when they brought him back to us. Poor little guy! Dr. Wilson, the same doctor who did my c-section did the procedure. We are bringing Sam's car seat tomorrow. They do a study by placing him in the car seat for an hour to make sure Sam can handle the car seat.

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We had a wonderful Easter weekend. The Easter bunny came to see Samuel in the hospital. I promise to post those pictures as soon as I get another spare moment. He got a cute basket with a little bunny, 2 books, a CD, and some pacifiers. Please keep praying for us! :)

A Week At Glance

I can't believe a week has already gone by! People have been getting onto me about getting some new pictures of Samuel up. I finally made some time to post new stuff today. :) Samuel is a month old now. Today he weighs 5 pounds 1 ounce......yea, he reached the 5 pound mark! He gets cuter and cuter with each passing day. He had a bit of a set back over the weekend, but is okay now. He is taking 3 feedings by mouth a day and the doctor said that will go up tomorrow. He is close to coming home....we just don't know how close. That's up to Mr. Sam. He may have his big boy surgery ("snip snip") as early as tomorrow. Poor little guy. :( Please keep praying for Samuel.

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I had another wonderful shower over the weekend. My sisters Melissa and Jessica put it all together. They should go into the baby shower business! :) I'll have to get those pictures up another day. I haven't forgot about getting the pictures from my classroom shower up either. There is just not enough time in a day. I'll put them up sometime this weekend.

Sweet boy....just snoozing away after a feeding.

Daddy burping his sweet boy.

Daddy, Mommy, and Samuel.

Sam is off his oxygen!!! He gulped a bottle down yesterday.

Mommy and Sam. Such a good eater!

Getting big!

Getting ready for a diaper change....Shoo Weee! :)

I have to go back to school on May 11 for the last two weeks of school. That will be a very hard thing to do since I will just be getting my little guy home. Well, my mom and dad will be caring for Sam during that time. The nurses suggested that my mom start coming to get used to handling a preemie. Yesterday, Samuel was held by someone other Nick and I and the NICU nurses...... his Grandmother Willett (my mom).

4 Weeks Old Today!

Samuel is 4 weeks old today. Wow, that is hard to believe. He has accomplished so much over the past month. With love and prayers, our little Sam has come a long way. As of today, he weighs 4 pounds 11 ounces.....just 5 ounces away from the 5 pound mark. He still has nasal prongs and is taking in oxygen at a rate of 25%. We breath in oxygen at a rate of 21%, so Sam is very close to being off the nasal prongs. We should see a lot more progress once he is off the oxygen. The doctor said some babies just take a little bit longer to wean off the oxygen. The nurse and I worked out a new feeding schedule for Samuel today.

8am Mommy will nurse Sam + Tube feeding

11am Nurse will bottle feed Sam

2pm Mommy will nurse Sam + Tube Feeding

5pm Nurse will bottle feed Sam

8pm Mommy will nurse Sam + Tube Feeding

11pm Tube Feeding

2am Tube Feeding

5am Tube Feeding

This will be a lot for Sam, so please say some extra prayers for our little guy. If Sam continues to gain weight or hold his weight over the next few days, we will add more nursing sessions and bottle feeding sessions. They will also start to pull his tube feedings when I nurse him. This weekend and next week will be a big transition for Samuel. Hopefully it will lead to him coming home very soon. Nick and I are ready for that day to come. :)

A Long Day

Today I nursed Samuel at 8am and then enjoyed some snuggle time with him. Our snuggle time ended when little man filled his britches. :) I got up to change him and was about to close his clean diaper when he filled it again. He's making sure I have this diaper changing thing down. :) Then it was time for me to pump. After pumping, the neonatologist came in and checked Samuel out. He was very excited about Sam's lack of PDA (see yesterday's post for more info on PDA). He was also excited about the weight gain Samuel has shown. The doctor suggested I start to nurse Sam 2-3 times a day and see how he does. So, I left the hospital and headed to my Mom's house to take a quick nap, eat some lunch, and pump again before heading back up to the hospital. I killed some time checking email and such. I will go up and nurse my little guy in about 10 minutes. That will be extra calories for him because he is still being fed by the tube. The nurses had to move his tube from his mouth to his nose this morning because Sam kept pulling it out. It broke my heart to see the nurses putting it in his nose. It didn't hurt him, it just caused him to gag some. It took 3 tries to get it in place. I have to admit...I cried. I told Nick that he would have to take Sam for his shots. :) Well, it's time for me to sign off. Keep praying guys! :)