Sam is here!

Apparently I have not been the world's best blogger. The last time I posted I was pregnant, and today is my son's 2-month birthday. Oops. I really do not feel I need to apologize, however, because I'm learning how much TIME a little baby takes! My situation is a bit different, however, in that I had to recover from an emergency D&C due to hemmoraging post-delivery, and I need to supplement formula...so I am washing bottles. And I am attempting to increase my supply, which means I need to pump between feedings and then sterilize the pump. And I'm doing cloth diapers & washcloths (no baby wipes unless we're on the go). SO...between all of that, if I get a shower and a meal, I feel like I'm accomplishing something great. I've also been squeezing in exercise here and there (my mom or Jason watches Sam while I run to the gym) for sanity. Exercise is my anti-depressant! I LOVE love love it! So the baby book, blog, and many other things have been neglected. I laugh because my old Saturday routine would look like this: sleep in, go to kickboxing class at 9:30, come home and have a large hot breakfast including scrambled eggs and wheat toast and fresh fruit, go to the farmer's market, then clean clean clean! I would scrub the kitchen and bathrooms down like crazy, even the floors on my hands and knees, and then Jason would mow, dust, and vacuum. Then we usually would splurge and go out to eat and to a movie. NOW our Saturdays are Sam-filled! Different, yet amazing. Changing, feeding, snuggling, soothing, repeat. Maybe a meal. Maybe a walk. I now rely on my mom's dog Tuffy to "clean" my kitchen floors. Last night around 6:00 I was SO exhausted I had Jason take care of Sam so I could take a 30-min. nap. It was heaven.

At times I still think, "Do we really have a baby??? After ALL we've been through?" We've spent THOUSANDS of dollars on fertility treatments and then fully intended on adopting, and now we have our own biological son? When did this happen? (We don't even know that! :) ) But it has been AMAZING. Sam is now cooing and smiling and it melts my heart. I am SO thankful I will be staying home to take care of him for at least this first year. I can't imagine taking him to a day care after six weeks, although I am fully aware that is the only option for some families. I am just so fortunate to be able to stay home. I will be teaching piano lessons to supplement our income. We'll see how all of that goes!

Things I've learned about our Samuel Michael:

-He loves to lay flat on his back and stretch out.

-He hates to be burped mid-bottle. He will scream like crazy, and when the bottle touches his lips to finish he's perfectly fine.

-He sometimes gets lonely and just wants to be held.

-He LOVES to suck! Nursing, pacifier, even his arm...he's given himself hickies on his forearm!

-He loves his bath...he flops his leg over the sling in the bath and then grins and pees a little. It's hilarious.

-He loves the vacuum cleaner and the car wash...must remind him of mommy's tummy.

So yes...Samuel Michael Dunn was born June 1, 2009 at 4:53 AM at Methodist Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska. After only 11 hours of labor. After they had the hot tub room ready for me for my "natural labor," I asked the nurse, "Remember the whole hot tub idea? Get the freaking epidural." And that was it. I had the shakes EXTREMELY bad from 10PM-3AM, but then was fully dilated and pushed for about 1 1/2 hours. There was a big thunderstorm and I just watched the lightning from the hospital window. Jason and my mom just slept after I'd gotten the epidural because we thought it would be a LONG time until I was fully dilated. Oops! By 3 AM I asked the nurse to wake them to help me push. When Sam was born, I remember wanting so badly to hear him cry. Even after a positive pregnancy test, many times of hearing that precious heartbeat, I knew that this baby would be even more REAL to me once I heard him cry. When I did, I wept. I also had had a breast reduction in 1998 and knew breastfeeding may not be a possibility. I prayed and prayed that I would be able to...to give him the best nutrients possible and to also create an even stronger bond between him and me. When he came out of the womb, he was rooting already! I heard him smacking his lips from across the room! The nurses were trying to clean him and weigh him, and everyone laughed because he just wanted to EAT! And he latched on right away. It was beautiful.

Anyway, I could write more and more...but this had been quite an adventure. I often wonder how people with newborns have these detailed daily blogs with pictures and darling stories. But for now...I had a hot shower today and even got to blog. Now that's achievement. Good night!