Rachel, Charlie, and McKay

Which is McKay and which is Sam?

This week has been a bit of a trial. With my mom going home and McKay being sick, it’s been a long, sleep deprived week, to say the least. I know that it’s totally normal for the first child to be jealous of the new baby and to be naughty so that he can get his parents attention, but add sickness upon that and you have Monster McKay. My calm little boy has had a few rough days – and so has his parents. There’s only one word to describe him this week – TANTRUM!!! It also doesn’t help that I can’t pick him up and when he tries to climb on me it hurts. I’m definitely not as fun as Dad or Grandma. Who can blame him?

Although it’s been a bit rough, we’ve had our good moments too. McKay still loves holding, kissing, and hugging the baby despite us trying to keep the coughing little boy away. When Sam is sleeping and McKay has my full attention, he’s lovable and happy. It’s so funny to me how he calls Sam, “B” for baby. He’ll say, “B nose, ” as he points to Sam’s nose, or “B eyes,” as he points out his eyes. He still is pretty cute. However, the funniest thing this week occurs when McKay sneezes. Picture this: a cute toddler sneezing, snot hanging down to his chest, holding really still (waiting for me to get a kleenex), and then saying, “I ‘neezed!” Oh really! I would have never guessed! I wish I had a video of this to post because it makes me laugh, but with snot hanging I’ve chosen to grab a kleenex instead of the camera. Now when Sam sneezes he says, “B ‘neezed.” So funny!

I sure am grateful for my two cute boys and pray for patience with McKay. If any of you have any suggestions on how to best help McKay transition (and me for that matter), please leave your ideas.

McKay holding a hungry Sam

Samuel Robert Allen was born a week ago today, February 10. He was 7 lbs 13 oz and was about 19 inches long.

Samuel Robert Allen

At about 9pm Tuesday night I was feeling really sore and achy so I decided to go take a hot bath. When I started the water the tub looked a little dirty so I decided to give it a little scrub before I took my bath. After a good clean, I was putting the cleaner away when my water broke. I wasn’t sure at first, but was convinced as I kept leaking water. In a nervous-excited anticipation, Charlie and I got everything we needed in the car, dropped off a sleeping McKay at Chris and Mandi’s, and headed to the hospital. After they asked a million questions, confirmed that it was indeed my water that broke, I was admitted into Labor & Delivery.

Contractions weren’t strong, I wasn’t progressing very quickly, and the doctor didn’t want to use pitocin, so I rocked in a rocking chair for about 2 hours while Charlie slept on the couch. At about 6am when my doc came in I still wasn’t progressing so they started a small dose of pitocin along with breaking my water completely (I guess initially it was a high leak and there was still a lot of water). That surely did the trick! In minutes my contractions were strong and coming about every 2 minutes. The nurse asked me if I wanted an epidural, and I answered, “Yes! Now!” I thought the word “now” meant right away, but to my nurse it meant, “Let me show the student nurse how to plug in all the numbers on the computer and then I’ll teach her how to call for an epidural.” Oh well. I did get my epidural pretty quickly, but being in pain, it felt like forever. Then the anesthesiologist came in with a resident anesthesiologist and low and behold, another teaching moment upon my back as I tried to curl up and endure contractions. BUT, once that epidural was in, instant relief. Gotta love modern medicine!

At this point we were feeling like things were going well and I was making good progress, until the doctor came in (those doctors ruin everything ). After being checked, due to unforeseen circumstances and complications of my unique anatomy, the doctor recommended that we change directions and prepare for a c-section. The doctor and nurses gave Charlie and me a minute to discuss this, and we too felt a c-section was best for the baby and me. As I held back some tears, the doctors and nurses prepped me for a c-section.

The c-section went well and little Samuel was born at 12:04pm. He was perfect in every way. As Charlie left to the nursery with Samuel and they sewed/stapled me up, I started to feel sick and dizzy. I figured it was all the meds that were being pumped into me. However, once in recovery everyone started talking about how pale I looked and started to worry when my blood pressure dropped and my pulse began to race. With doctors and nurses scurrying about, it was discovered that I was bleeding quite a bit and some of the amniotic sack was still inside of me. Thanks to doctors and nurses things were taken care of quickly, but nonetheless it was a bit on the scary side (mostly for Charlie since I was kind of out of it). Finally, after about 9 hours in recovery, we were able to go to our patient room. The next morning they checked my blood levels again and I was still quite low so they decided I needed a blood transfusion. Most of the next day was spent getting blood. It’s quite the process. Everything went well and my levels came back up and I was no longer nauseated and dizzy. I also felt a ton better – on to recovery!

Crying Samuel

After 4 days in the hospital, I was so happy to be released and able to come home. A  HUGE thank you to Mandi and Chris for taking McKay and watching him. Also a HUGE thank you to my mom who changed her flight so she was able to come help earlier. It’s been great to have her here with us!

We are doing well and adjusting to our new little family. McKay LOVES Samuel – probably too much. He always wants to feed Samuel, show him his toys, hold him, etc. Samuel is a great eater and sleeper. He is a super easy baby thus far. He even sleeps for some decent chunks of time at night. We are truly blessed to have this perfect little boy join our family! Thank you to all of our friends and family for your love and support!

Rachel & Samuel

Grandma & Samuel

McKay trying on Samuel's hat

In January we had a significant storm come through and leave quite a bit of rain.  Actually, it wasn’t too much (remember, I’m from Oregon).  The difference between here and Oregon is that Oregon can deal with a couple inches of rain, Arizona can’t.  Below are a few examples:

I don’t have much of an update except there is still a baby on its way and hopefully he will be here in the next two weeks. Even though I’m ready for this baby to be out of me now, I think I can be patient for two more weeks. However, if he is later than that, I might not be as patient. Besides, if it goes a week after, the doctor will end up taking him c-section anyway (blah!). Cross your fingers that this baby comes on his own and does so in the next two weeks.