Day 6

October 16th, 2009

This was his first time out of the house since coming home from the hospital. We went to Costco to pick up some pictures. Unfortunatley, Costco was closed by the time we got there! They close way too early on Saturday.

My mom is so good to me. I don't know what I have done to deserve it!

Some say that toes are over rated. Obviously they haven't seen my little ones.

Trying to be like daddy.

Tiny little thumbnail!

Just had my hair done, does it look ok?

Day 5

October 15th, 2009

Taycen is getting better at feeding. Instead of waking up every hour and feeding for only five minutes, he somestimes feeds for 10 or even 15 minutes and sleep up to three hours. Aunt Kristen came to visit, and so did Aunt Sheri and her family!

Just waking up!

In the cap and booties that Georgia knit for me.

Aunt Kristin

I love my boppy pillow

Mitch holding Taycen

Shalee holding Taycen

Tyler holding Taycen

Sheri holding Taycen

Sheri and family with Taycen

Mom and Dad!

Day 4

Thursday marked Taycen's 4th day of life. Overall, he had a pretty good day and was shown lots of love by his parents, grandparents, aunts, cousins, and neighbors.

Good morning little boy!

Caught sleeping on the job!
Grandma is already spoiling him rotten.

Taycen being held by Joe's sister, Beth, and Beth's family: Hunter, Kallie and Lexie.

Sorry Uncle Cort, you will have to wait until you get home from Vegas to see, squeeze, hold, and love me.

Beth and Taycen

Hunter and Taycen

Lexie and Taycen

Kallie and Taycen

Day 3

The night was rough, but the day was nice.

Here is a video that gives an overview of the day. There is NO SOUND, just nice baby footage staring Taycen and his cousin, McCade! The part of this 60 second video from day 1, in the hospital, but is just to cute to miss.

Nanny and Pappa came just to see Taycen for the first time! Grandma also came by, and so did Marcus and Maria with new baby cousin McCade. McCade is nine days older than Taycen.

    

The day after "B-Day"

Sunday night was a rough night for two of us, the third member of the family slept at his leisure and was warm, comfortable, and well fed; although, he was more interested in sleeping than eating. At around 1 AM, Natalie had a sleep aid and some pain medication. I slept on and off until 3, then I couldn’t sleep anymore. Between 3:30 and 4 I started composing emails and text messages to announce Taycen’s birth to friends, and co-workers. I had already sent mass texts to family the night before leading up to, and directly following his arrival.

At 4 AM I decided to wander to the nursery to see our darling baby boy. He had been bathed and was beautiful. I held him for an hour in the nursery in a rocking chair. He made little baby sounds and quickly cooed himself to sleep. At 5, the nurses handed me a small bottle to see if I could get him to eat a little. He was able to eat about 28 mL of formula bringing his grand total for the night to 38 mL. I burped him and then held him for another half hour or so. At 7 AM I returned him to his bassinette and joined Natalie in our room. Breakfast was served to Natalie and she was able to eat a fair amount. I was happy to see her appetite return. I finished off what she could not eat.

Our first visitors were not until the afternoon. Chantelle, Natalie’s sister, and her daughter Marissa came to visit at around 3:30 PM. They were followed by our neighbor and good friend Steve Larsen. Natalie’s mom and Chantelle’s other daughter Aubrey visited for a short period at around 6:30 followed by Ryan, Natalie’s brother, and his family: Rebecca, Manuel, Megan, and Daniel. The children were so good with Taycen and wanted to hold him, so he was passed gently between Manual and Megan multiple times. Each time was like the first with their big eyes, smiles and eager anticipation to see and hold their new little cousin.

A new tradition at the Alta View hospital that we had the good fortune to experience was their special dinner for two. This was a full dinner for two on a nicely set table that was brought into our room. We were able to select our entrees, sides, and desert from a fairly complete menu earlier that morning. I had a steak and Natalie had salmon. It was a very nice dinner that was provided to us and it was really a nice break from the normal hospital experience.

Video of Taycen Speeping

Marissa holding Taycen

Manuel holding Taycen

Megan holding Taycen

Ryan and Rebecca's Family

Aubrey holding Taycen

Our special dinner for two: Natalie had salmon

Joe had steak

Happy Birthday Taycen!

October 4^th, 2009

I was awakened early in the morning to thunder and the gentle sound of rain on the windows. Natalie, like many other nights before, was unable to sleep due to the aches and pains in her hips, her ongoing contractions, and a sore throat. She had spent a majority of the night on the couch but was up early washing some of the new baby clothes that we had received at her baby shower the day before. We started watching General Conference at 10 AM and by 10:20, the pain became too much to bear and she went to bed. She took one half of a Unisom pill (sleeping aid) and laid in bed in tears because of the pain. I ran a warm bath for her and while the bath tub was filling up, I rubbed her lower back to help relieve the pain. After her bath, she took a few Tylenol and rested. I continued to wash and organize the gifts that we received. At noon, we decided to start timing the contractions and she really started complaining about the pain in her back. At this point, we both know that she was in labor, but we wanted to time the contractions just to make sure. We timed the contractions at about five minutes apart and because of the pain in her lower back, we went to the Women’s Center at the Alta View hospital.

Once we arrived, they showed us to a room and checked Natalie to see if she was in labor. Natalie was dilated to a 3+ and also tested positive for amniotic fluid, meaning that her water had broken. Natalie turned to me and said that she wondered if it had broken the day before during the shower but was not sure because it had only been a slow leak, not a gush that ran down her legs. Once she tested positive for amniotic fluid, she was admitted to the hospital. She was given an IV and blood was taken for tests.

At around 4:14 PM the anesthesiologist gave Natalie an epidural. At this point she had dilated to a 5 and the rest of her water broke and came gushing out. The water that had come out previously had only leaked out and was only a small amount. At around 5:30 PM I went down the hospital cafeteria for a quick dinner, then back up to be with Natalie. At 6 the nurse checked again and she had dilated to a 7. Several times the baby’s heartbeat dipped down and was concerning, but after changing positions it came back up. Natalie distracted herself by watching “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” and had to have the epidural button pushed every hour and a half to avoid the pain of contractions and the catheter.

At 6:40, Katie, our nurse checked and she said that she was completely dilated. She asked another nurse to call Dr. Walker. Dr. England, our regular OB/GYN, was in Yellowstone, so his associate, Dr. Walker delivered our baby. Taycen Joseph was born at 7:29 PM. He was 6 lbs. 6 oz. and was 19 inches long. He scored an 8.9 on the APGAR scale and was very healthy! Katie’s shift ended at 7, and she had a family dinner to get to with her husband, children, and another couple, but she stayed until the baby was born. She had actually taken care of us a month before when we had to stay in the hospital with pre term labor and contractions. It was very nice of her to stay. She said that she couldn’t leave until the baby was born because she was invested and wanted to make sure that he got here safe. It was very nice of her and we really appreciated her special attention and love for us and the baby.

Bright Lights!

I love you mommy

Footprints

His head measured 33 cm

I need a bath!

Finally, I made it!!

19 inches long

Taycen: I finally meet the face of "the voice!"

Daddy: We meet at last!

Grandma and Grandpa meet Taycen

Aunt Marchaan and Uncle Brett meet Taycen