The Past Week -- Samuel's Story...

Now that family has headed home and we're settling in at home ourselves, I wanted to try and get back on here for a minute. So with Samuel sleeping on my chest, here's a run down of the last week...

It's hard to believe that a week ago, James and I were super antsy/worried/nervous/etc. about the upcoming induction. We wanted so badly for time to fly by so we could hopefully meet our little guy -- still unsure if he would even make it. Now here we are...a little man in our arms and a basset trying to cope with it all!

We spent all of last weekend trying to make time pass, all while visiting with both sets of parents (who had come to town for Sam's birth). By the time Monday night rolled around, we couldn't sleep for anything! I wouldn't say it was quite like the night before Christmas as a kid -- as we were more nervous and scared than anything else -- but it was close. We just laid there looking at the clock. With having to get up at 3:15am for the induction -- and usually going to bed at midnight anyways -- a good night's rest was hopeless. I think we each got MAYBE a couple hours of sleep total. So with that, we got up, freaked Oba out by packing up the car (we had to show him that Grandma Julie and Grandpa Grant were in the other room so he wouldn't have a total meltdown), and headed on out.

We got to the hospital at 4:30am with a mixture of emotions in hand. We couldn't believe we had made it to this point! Yet all I could think was, it's not over yet -- the worry of him making it. They immediately showed us our L&D room and set us up. By 5:30am, the pitocin drip was started and the wait began. After a check by the nurse, we found out that I was still 2cm (so I hadn't changed at all since the week before), so we had awhile to go still. While wasting time, we talked to our nurse, Shannon, a lot and she eventually found out about our history. She was incredibly sweet. She kept the monitor volume loud so we could hear Sam's heartbeat loud and clear -- totally helped put me at ease! As she was ending her shift, she came in to tell us that she looked at the schedule and made sure that we got an awesome nurse for the next shift. She personally asked her to take care of us, which was so sweet! Much to our surprise, it was the same nurse (Jamie) that we had after the amnio! So the nerves continued to slowly calm as I knew we were in great hands with her. We ended up being her only patient for most of the morning, so it was nice having her constantly in our room making sure all was good.

Throughout the morning, I began the debate as to when to start the epidural (I'm no hero...I'll take the drugs!). I kept holding off -- even though our Ob told me I could get it started as soon as I wanted it -- and by 8:30am, I decided that I was ready for it. I was 4cm and things weren't that bad yet, but I knew that it takes time to get them in our room to administer it so I figured I had better request it now rather than later. By 8:50am, our Ob came in to break my water, and by 9:20am, I had the epidural set up. Let me just tell you...this was the worst epidural experience I've had yet! It wasn't nightmare-ish by any means, but it wasn't as smooth as the last two that I've had (with Jake and Liv). While it was being put in, I experienced all of the "you might feel this or taste that" oddities -- the weirdest one being the jolting electrical shock-like feelings shooting down my right leg, causing it to shake and kick uncontrollably...yeah, weird! I should've known with as odd as it started, it wasn't going to go as smoothly as in the past.

With the epidural in, my water broke, and a strong heartbeat by Samuel, we continued to wait with a little bit of hope that he might actually make it! While it's normal to feel pressure during the epidural, it's not so normal to have the pain with it. As we edged closer to 11:30am, I really started to notice it. I kept putting it off, but finally called my nurse in, because I knew the epidural was failing. I could totally move my legs around, and the contractions were starting to get stronger and stronger -- so much for being on a cloud! With that, they came back to flush the epidural (is that even the right term?). Unfortunately, with the amount of time it took for them to get in our room and for the medicine to take effect, the cloud-like feelings didn't kick in until after Sam had arrived.

It was during this time that our Ob came to check and see how far dilated I was and at 6cm, she decided to head to lunch. She said that one day earlier, her patient jumped from 6cm to 10cm in a matter of about 30 minutes, but she didn't think that was going to happen with us so it was safe to head to the cafeteria. She sure jinxed herself!!! It wasn't more than 30 minutes later that I KNEW Samuel was ready for his big debut! We called the nurse in to check and sure enough, we were ready to go...we just had to wait for our Ob to get back in the room. Our nurse said she could help us push a few times, but no more than that...so they got things set up and we did a few pushes and was then told we couldn't go any further without Dr. Stitt. That wasn't exactly going over well with me, as we were going through back to back contractions and it was just a matter of one or two pushes before our son was going to arrive.

Dr. Stitt finally got back after being paged -- I'm sure it didn't take as long as it felt, but it sure felt like an eternity -- and we prepped for Sam's big arrival. Two pushes later and our son was born! For a split second, I thought I was going to have a heart attack as I didn't hear him cry. However, after Dr. Stitt used the aspirator on him, we heard it...a nice, strong cry from our son. He was healthy. He made it!!!!! As I looked up to see him, I really couldn't believe it. Our fourth child arrived as a healthy little guy! At 12:58pm on June 7th, 2011, little Samuel Ryan Moore was born -- all 5 lbs 8 oz, 17 1/2 inches of him.

Since Sam was a 35-weeker, as much as my Ob wanted to give him right to me (and as much as I wanted him in my arms!!!!!), they had to take him to the table to monitor him and make sure his vitals were good -- all precautionary measures. So I laid there (by this point, the epidural had kicked in!), looking out towards the table where little Sam was laying -- with his proud dad staring at him with a smile. At one point, both our nurse and Ob asked if I was ok...I was shaking, but of course I was ok! I was just in shock -- not to mention a mix of all sorts of emotions. James and I both couldn't hold back the tears of joy. All these years...so much sadness and loss...and now here we are...our rainbow had arrived!

About an hour after Samuel was born, they cleared him, gave him his first bath, and handed him over to me (finally!). It was a moment I won't ever forget. To look down and see our little guy sleeping...that's one thing we had yet to experience. In that moment, we grieved our 3 angels, while being overcome with absolute joy as we stared at our healthy son.

Once they had a room available, the three of us then headed down to our recovery room -- where we spent the rest of our hospital stay. For the first time, we could completely enjoy our stay at the hospital, as we shared in the joy of it all -- rather than trying to avoid any sound that came from our neighbors' rooms out of total pain from our loss. We had our son with us...our healthy, happy little Samuel Ryan.

We spent the rest of our hospital stay soaking up time with our son, visiting with family and friends, and letting it sink in that we finally got to take home a healthy child -- no more leaving our son or daughter behind and going home empty handed! In fact, it's rare that this kid is out of our arms, period -- we barely even put him in the hospital bassinet, let alone let him leave the room. He only went to the nursery a few times -- one of which was for an hour under the heating lamp due to his body temp being 96.7 when it had to be higher than 97. The only other time he left our room was for the peds check and his procedure that as my Ob said, "was going to make him a man." Poor Sam...

I can't thank everyone enough for the prayers and encouraging words -- not to mention the many congrats, super sweet gifts, and meals that we've received (and continue to receive) since Samuel was born!!! I've been overwhelmed by the incredible kindness shown by so many. This little guy is most definitely loved!

On a side note, I also want to thank all of those that have acknowledged our first three children -- Jake, Jordan, and Livy -- in the midst of our new addition. It means the world to us to know that they are still remembered by others, even as we continue this journey with Samuel in our arms. Thank you for that!

Below are (LOTS of) pictures from the past week...

Two days before Samuel was born...

Samuel's first picture...

Someone is not happy...

James and Dr. Stitt...

One proud papa...

Sam's first bath...

Dad's helping...

So nice and clean!

Mom and son, finally...

Checking out his hair...

Hello there, Samuel...

Some VERY proud grandparents...

James' parents...

One happy dad...

My parents...

Nice and happy after a meal...

Love that sweet face...

A super sweet gift from the hospital (provided by a local bakery)...

Because we can't stop taking pictures of him...

Just like in his ultrasound pictures, he loves putting his hand over his face...

While the hospital photographer took some shots, I stood behind her and took one of my own...

Getting to know his dad...

Sleeping...he's a pro at that...

Sam's ribbon...

And the fun begins...

Someone wrote down the wrong weight on Sam's bassinet...

A couple pictures of Samuel and I before we headed home...

Blurry, but sweet...

In his car seat ready to go...

Because we took video of Obadiah and Samuel's first encounter, this picture will have to do for now. He was a bit unsure...

Our little spud is ready for bed...

Lastly, a picture of dad helping Sam prep for his first picture on the chair...

I'm sure plenty have given up on this blog posting by now due to the insane amount of pictures, but if you haven't, thank you for sharing in our journey with our newest family member. We're absolutely in love with the little guy!!!!