Home From the Horse-pistol

The first couple nights home from the hospital were interesting. Sanna really had a lot of problems with spitting up and it would wake her up when she'd do it. She couldn't handle laying in her crib, she had to be held or laying on her stomach.  I didn't know it was possible to be as tired as I felt. We made it through those first few nights though and as my milk has come in, her spittiness has seemed to die down a bit. She also can lay in her crib sometimes! We're making progress!

The boys just LOVE holding her so there has been a lot of that going on! Chico runs up to her all the time to look at her and touch and her and he'll say, "Oh! How are you my little one!?" 

We have had a lot of visitors too so she is just one lucky girl to be able to get to be held so often.  Brent has had a lot of studying and reading to do so it's fun for him to hold her while he studies.  Brent has been a SUCH a big help to me during this week. He has practically been waiting on me non-stop, and taking SUCH good care of the boys. I don't know what I'm going to do when the university starts up again tomorrow. I don't like to think about it.

Luckily I have help all around me. Family and friends have been a big help. There was just one night Brent had to be away and I just couldn't handle it all so my mom came and helped me get the boys to bed, kitchen cleaned up and laundry folded.  I was in so much pain that I mostly just watched her do it. I was so grateful for her help.  The next day I had another tender mercy for the pain by way of a new friend I made the night before Sanna was born.  She inquired if there was anything she could do to help and found out about the pain I was having and supplied me with some balm that helped immensely. Meals and treats have been brought in by loving friends and family. All for which we are so grateful.

But the biggest debt of gratitude I owe is to my loving Heavenly Father who has given us everything we have.  He loves and cares for me more than I can understand.  All I know and love is because of his love and tender mercies.  I hope I can live my life in a way that shows gratitude to him for his loving kindness.

Aunt Heidi came to visit Sanna and brought a few fun new toys for the boys to play with. The lizards were a big hit... and I guess Chico thought Sanna would like to have it on her face...

Sanna slept pretty much the entire time they were here.

And I sleep pretty much whenever I can grab a wink. 

"et me in!!!" is what he says as he stands at the screen door which he has mudified throughout the summer. Generally he is covered in mud when he is standing at the door, this is of course the rare occasion that he isn't. :) 

Chico decided to squeeze into Griz's Captain America suit. We shoulda gotten the legs in this picture, it REALLY doesn't fit Chico which is funny because it fit him okay last Halloween.

Gotta capture the crying face, it is so cute!

This is the angelic view I get to see as I look down at her laying on my chest.

Brent studying while holding a conked out baby.

I'm glad Brent captured this picture, it'll be fun to see how big she is in this in a few months.  Right now it looks ready to eat her alive. 

Griz loves to come up to her and kiss her head.

I pumped some milk and when she got close to the end of the bottle Chico asked if he could feed her. He did a pretty good job! He loves being a big brother!

Baby Sanna's Birth Story

Welcoming Baby "Sanna" 

Her nickname is a Swedish name, pronunced: /ˈsônəˈ/ (or if you're like me and can't read phonetic letters it's pronounced like the English word sauna)

written by Sarah, illustrated by Brent

My doctor sat down with Brent and me a few weeks ago to talk about our birth plan. I had hoped to do things more naturally this time around. After I found out that day that I had group b strep, my birth plan didn't feel right to me or to the doctor.  We decided to induce me at 39 weeks. I knew for some reason that my labor would be fast and  even though I had hoped and prayed to go into labor on my own so I could have that experience, I knew down deep it was best for our baby girl if I was in the hospital when I went into labor so that she would be protected from the strep.  So here I am arriving at the hospital...

 Our delivery room...

We were really happy and excited and having a great time.

They hooked up the penicilin and I filled out paper work as fast as possible because I figured I wouldn't feel like it later... which was definitely true. :)

Then after an hour of being hooked up to the pitosen it kicked in full gear and the fun began...

I had a bad experience with an epidural last time so this time around I wanted to put off getting an epidural for as long as possible.  My goal was to see how I felt after they broke my water 4 hours into labor. Little did I know my labor would only last 3 hours total.

Brent put away the camera after the contractions got worse. Even though the contractions were intense, the relaxing breathing was helping. As the contractions got even more intense I struggled to stay focused until my nurse just got down right next to me and started speaking to me. Her voice was calm and firm. She helped me focus, she helped me remember that what was happening was good and right, and she helped me relax each time the contractions would start to subside.  I couldn't have done it without her, she was an angel sent from Heaven! Brent and I feel so grateful for her help.  We could tell everything was going really fast so she started the tub filling up and said it would be my best friend as we got closer to transition.  I switched between the birthing ball, kneeling on the bed, and then sitting on the bed. I needed to go to the bathroom pretty soon after having just gone. As I stood up a contraction started that overwhelmed me. I figured it was because I wasn't sitting, I just grabbed Brent and he held me as I yelled out in pain from it.  The nurse identified that I was beginning to transition. The pressure didn't go away after the contraction ended and I started feeling the need to push. That's when my crying out in pain started.  I said to her in desperation and fear what apparently every woman says, "I can't do this!"  She gave me a pep talk and helped me know I could do it and that it meant we were almost there.  I couldn't believe my ears.  My water hadn't even broken, I hadn't even had any time in the tub, we were almost there!?! Sure enough the pushing began, and with that I started screaming, grunting, and yelling out in pain during contractions. The on-call doctors came running and we all laughed realizing Dr. E was going to miss it, (I called that one)! Brent and the nurse stayed on each side of me up by my face. I had my eyes closed but I listened to them encouraging me on. Brent cheered me on as I pushed. The nurse helped me not get too hysterical.  There is nothing that can quite prepare you for that kind of pain. I was wishing I had the mirror so I could see when the head was visible.  I soon realized that when you're not medicated you can feel exactly where she is, no mirror necessary! And it hurts so bad that you push that baby out of you as fast as possible!!! I don't know where I got the strength to do it but I pushed and pushed and screamed some more and next thing I knew I could feel as her head came out, then her shoulders, and as the rest of her body emerged they held her up and I saw the most beautiful sight of our beautiful daughter.  They placed her on my chest and I was just so overcome with amazement and gratitude for our beautiful healthy daughter.  (And relieved that the pain was over!)

It's hard to describe the joy and gratitude I felt seeing her for the first time.  I was so overcome.  All the pain I had felt during the delivery, and for the last 9 months was so worth it to see her here and healthy.

 Its obvious my body was VERY ready to go into labor seeing how quickly it went. My Dr. came running in 20 minutes or so late and as we were laughing and chatting with him he said, "Next time you have a baby, if you go into labor at home you get in that car as SOON as your labor starts. We don't want any babies born on the side of the freeway!" 
Anyway, back to the pictures...

The nurse offered to take a picture with Brent in it. I was so grateful to her for offering.

 Then the other nurse took Sweet Sanna and got her cleaned up a bit and measured and all that jazz.

Then I got to do skin to skin with her for a bit and even got to nurse her.  It was wonderful! Her neck was so strong, she kept on looking around.

Then the boys arrived right before I was about to get moved out of the delivery room.  They were so excited to meet their baby sister.  Brent captured some beautiful pictures...

Griz kept saying over and over, "Baby out a you tummy?"

Griz has a funny language and way of saying things and the way he says her name is "asanna" (sauna).  Brent had actually thought of having her nickname be Sanna. I thought it was cute too, way cuter than the other nicknames her name could have.  In Swedish language it means "truth" which makes it all the cooler and as a Scandinavian name it means True or Loyal. Love it!

We are a family of 5!  I cant believe it!

They wheeled me out and up the elevator and when we got in my new room the boys got to hold her.

Chico was offering her a little bracelet he found at Grandma's. 

Fresh and clean after her bath...

We visited with people most the rest of the evening and then tried to get some sleep through the cramping and upset tummy. It was also a rough night in regards to feeding her. The night was soon over and here we cuddle while the sun came pouring through that morning welcoming in a new day that went much better...

A little later that morning we were visiting with my mom and she commented on the lack of pictures with Brent in them. So she took some which motivated me to get out of bed and I took a few of them too.

We soon after decided that since I was up and about that we should try to do some newborn pictures right there in the hospital.  I wanted her in white for the pics. Our precious and pure baby straight from Heaven...

Wanna know why she was so relaxed during all the pictures?! I was her mattress there under the sheet. Brent took the pics and my Mom assisted.

 We kept turning the bed this way and that to get different angles and at one point my mom got pinned against the wall and Sanna had turned her head towards her. Brent passed the camera to her so she could capture these sweet faces...

For some reason a lot of Sanna's pics make her look chubby which is funny because she really is a dainty little lady.  She has long skinny hands and feet.

The rest of the afternoon we hung out and played the waiting game as we waited for all the paperwork to get done to discharge us from the hospital.

The boys arrived after a fun filled day with the cousins.  They each wanted a turn with the baby again.

Griz's turn with Sanna lasted a long time. He was having a blast! And was being quite adorable in the process!

Chico got a hold of the camera and took this one of Brent...

The wait was finally over and we headed out of the hospital and loaded all three kids in the back of our car.  It was squished but it'll work!  Sanna sits in the middle and they LOVED getting to watch her while we drove.
And here she is right when we got home.... So little, so sweet, and she's ours! I can't believe it has finally happened!