Hospital Days

Being in the hospital after having Sawyer brought me some of my favorite memories. Something about being in a cozy room with your husband and new baby is just awesome. Because of that I was looking forward to my hospital days with Mike and Blair. I knew I would miss Sawyer like crazy and I did. I would find myself getting weepy at the thought of missing him but I knew he would be in good hands.

My hospital stay with Blair was so wonderful and I basically held her almost the whole time. We stayed two nights and I loved almost every second of it. Something about the snuggling of a newborn helped me forget how painful the whole surgery and recovery was. However my nurses seemed impressed that i was able to get out of bed so easily after the whole ordeal. I remember it being much more painful with Sawyer. 

I loved being visited by my little dude. He was he sweetest boy and I was so happy to see his smiling face. Sawyer and Molly (Mike's mom) came twice on Thursday and once on Friday and we went home Friday evening. Sawyer was a big hit in his Big Brother t-shirt! 

Blair is such a dreamy baby. She loves to eat, loves be held, and loves to be snugged up in a warm blanket. We learned in the hospital that she needs to be swaddled by more than one blanket so we've been swaddling her with 2 at home and she seems so content. She was super alert right after she was born and stayed that way into the recovery room, then while in recovery she fell asleep and stayed asleep (aside from a few cry-outs when she wanted to eat) for almost an entire day. She even slept through her first bath that night. She reminds me of Sawyer but I also think she has her own little look to her.

She doesn't seem to care for baths (except for that first one), getting her diaper changed, or getting dressed. We are all so in love with her and Sawyer is a great big brother. He has a cough so we've been keeping them apart as much as we can but he is so sweet about her.

I took a bunch of pictures on my phone during my stay and wanted to post them mostly for my memory since I love them just as much as the ones taken from my regular camera.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back to the Pumpkin Patch!

I just couldn't NOT go back to the pumpkin patch, I needed some pictures of Blair surrounded by pumpkins! I know, I'm a little weird. We decided to go back to the same place since Sawyer seemed to like it there last weekend, and they have a great produce (and more) store and a bunch of vegetables sounded really good to me. It was really strange to me to walk around the store and the pumpkin patch thinking "I was just here one week and one day ago, and she was in my belly, and now she is in her stroller."

Having just had a baby, it took me a long time to get off the couch and get myself and Blair ready, but I was determined to do this. My family was patient with me and no one complained (at least to my face) that we left the house at 3. We intended on leaving a bit earlier but a certain little girl decided she needed to have a marathon nursing session right then and there and how can you say no to a teeny tiny baby? After everyone was fed and happy (except Mike and I who realized we had hardly eaten all day, what the heck?) we left and it was so cute to see Sawyer sitting in the backseat with his sister. I kept asking him what she was doing and he would give me the play by play-she slept the whole time.

Snuggling her daddy

 

These pigs were going nuts, Sawyer thought they were funny

She was clearly thrilled

 

 Poor gal kept sliding down farther and farther

Awkward Family Photos

Blair Victoria Hufford! October 16th, 2013

We are in love with this girl. She is perfection and the sweetest girl I could ever even imagine. I'm so glad she is mine! She came into this world quickly and with gusto! I had a planned c-section for October 20th, but she had other ideas!

Wednesday the 16th was my first day off of work and I had some errands to run. I planned on spending the rest of the week with Sawyer, but wanted to get these things done (like getting a nail taken out of my tire) and knew it would be easier on my own. I ran all around town and then picked up Sawyer from daycare around 12:30. We hung out and home, put together a sticker foam spooky house, and relaxed. I had a doc appointment at 3:20 and at 3:00 I went to use the bathroom before we left and at that point my water broke! At least, I was 80% sure it did. I called Mike and told him he better come home, and decided to head over to my appointment anyway because I figured they would be able to tell me for sure.

I got to the parking lot of the doctors office, walked around the car to get Sawyer out of his seat, and became more aware that yes indeed, my water broke. I called the receptionist and asked her what to do, she checked with my doc and then told me that I should head over to Labor and Delivery at the hospital to be sure. Now remember, Mike is at work in Hillsboro, I have Sawyer, and we have no family in town! I drove home, grabbed my suitcase and camera, and then took Sawyer back to daycare. I called Mike's mom and arranged with her to come to Salem from Bend and pick up Sawyer from daycare, I was so thankful that this all worked out. Thank you Tiffany and Molly! Once I started driving to the daycare the contractions started. They weren't too bad but I knew that my time was limited before things got more intense. I cried after I left Sawyer and by the time I got to the hospital I was having a rough go, emotionally and physically.

I get checked in at the reception desk by about 4:20 I think, but it took until almost 5:00 for them to get me into a room. So for 30 minutes I was standing in the waiting area, alone, and having painful contractions every 3 minutes.

I finally get into a room, they confirm contractions are now coming every 2 minutes, I can't even handle the pain! They get things going really quickly and bumped back someone else's surgery so that I could get in ASAP. Mike gets there at 5:30 and I think I scared him with how much pain I was in. Sorry Mike! Labor was progressing really quickly with contractions every 1.5 to 2 minutes, I basically had no break between them and was crying with each one. I went from 6cm when I checked in to 8cm in 20 minutes and I think about 5:50 they finally got the "ok" to wheel me into the operating room. I got my spinal inserted and things were smooth sailing once that kicked in.

They started the surgery and I felt nothing, which is such a different experience with having Sawyer as I only had an epidural with that c-section. Mike was allowed to come in finally and the whole vibe of the operating room was so relaxing and calm. It was really great and the doctors and nurses really took great care of us. At 6:16 we heard her cry out! There she was! It was so awesome to hear her cry and know that she was out. I can't believe how fast this all happened! From 3:00 water breaking to a 6:16 birth! She was 8lbs 3oz and 20 1/4 inches. Her apgar scores were 9 and 9!

Anyway, we are so in love with this princess, she is incredible and I already don't know what we did without her.

 

 Our hospital now allows skin to skin after c-sections, one of the best moments of my life

 

I was so excited to see my Sawyer! He brought a gift for her and she had a gift for him! The first thing he said when he got into our room was "where is baby?"

I love these next two pictures, I am in my happy place - surrounded by my kids