Wonderful Doctor

Today I had my 6-week appt. with my obgyn. When he came into the room, he asked me how I was, and we chatted a bit. Then he asked about Conner, and I started crying. I usually don't cry when people ask me about him, but today I was extra emotional. I started to tell him "Well, he is still up there (referring to the hospital), and he is having some issues with eating.." and my Doctor got a surprised look on his face, and said "Wait, what do you mean, still up there?". It turns out that my doctor was not aware that Conner was born with a heart defect, since it wasn't discovered until a few days after he was born. So when I explained to my doctor that Conner has Tetralogy of Fallot and that he has been in the hospital since he was born, he was stunned. He said that he had had no idea that I didn't have my little baby at home with me this whole time, and that somehow/somewhere the lines of communication didn't get back to him about our situation. He said he felt so bad that he didn't know and sincerely apoligized...while he was saying this, my doctor got teary-eyed, which of course made me cry more. I felt such a genuine concern from him and that he really cared about me and my sweet little baby. I have never felt that type of kindness from any other doctor my whole life. I would highly recommend him-his name is Dr. Layne Smith and he is at Alta View Hospital.

This was the first time that I did "skin to skin contact" with Conner. The nurse that suggested it was so cute and excited for me to try it! She talked about the emotional bond that it creates and also explained that Conner can actually get antibodies from me through doing this, which can benefit him. It was such a sweet experience! I LOVED it and I'm sure that Conner did too! As the nurse laid Conner on my chest, I felt an overwhelming sense of purity and innocence from Conner and it brought me to tears. I felt his warm body against mine and could feel his precious breathing softly on my chest. After just moments of being placed on my chest, his heart rate slowed down and his oxygen level went up- wow! It truly was a special bonding experience for us.

I just had to post this adorable video of Conner staring at me! I was holding him, and then I looked down at him, and he was totally staring at me with his big beautiful eyes! So Paul grabbed the camera, and recorded him just staring at me! I love his big sweet eyes, the wrinkles on his forehead, his little open mouth, and everything about his cute face in this video!

Wow...this is definitely one of those times where I wish I had kept up on this whole blogging thing... now I have tons and tons to write about with the birth of our precious little Conner boy, and everything that has gone on since. Just the super super basics for a minute, and then I hope I will be able to write out the details in the next few weeks.

Conner Paul Staten was born February 12, 2010 at 9:57pm. (He came 3 weeks early). Weight was 6lbs 2oz, length was 17 1/2 inches long. Conner has blond peach fuzz on his sweet little head and his heart defect is called Tetralogy of Fallot. He will have surgery to correct this defect when he is 4-6 months old. We did not know about his heart condition before he was born. Conner has been up at PCMC for 4 weeks, 1 day, but we are hoping that he gets to come home this weekend!!! He has to be able to take all his feedings orally and then we can bring his home! (right now he is taking about 1/2 from the bottle, and 1/2 through his feeding tube). We just started working on breast feeding with Conner, and I hope he can continue to get the hang of it!!!

Ok, that will have to do for now. Hopfully I will be back very soon to continue the story. :)

No specific reason for me to post a wedding picture, other than I was just
thinking of my cute husband and when we got married. And that we are a
mere 8 weeks away from having a BABY that we created together...
WOW

BABY

So I can hardly believe that I only have just under 3 months left before we have a BABY!!!! When I really think about it, it pretty much blows my mind that I'm going to be the mother of a tiny little infant who will depend on me for food, comfort, love and pretty much life! I'm so thankful I picked out a husband who is AMAZING with babies/kids. I will need him so much. The first 4 months of my pregnancy went by pretty slow because I didn't have anything to 'show' for being pregnant. I didn't really start showing until around 19 weeks (at least for other people to be able to see). We were able to find out what we were having at 18 1/2 weeks. It was sooooo exciting to find out!! Both our families, with the exception of Sheryl, thought we were going to have a girl. If we were going to follow the pattern on Paul's side of the family with all 12 grandkids, (boy girl boy girl boy, etc) we were 'supposed' to have a girl. But of course, here comes the only daughter-in-law and she breaks the cycle that has been going for almost 16 years. Sorry! The nurse had a really hard time finding an angle that she could tell what we were having. In fact, she looked for about 10 mintues and still couldn't tell! So she first did some measurements and then had me lay on my side to see if she could find a better angle. Sure enough after just a minute, she told us we could start the drum roll again, and to announce what we were having, she said, "Well, it has out-door plumbing!" We laughed and of couse knew that that meant we were having a little BOY!!! The nurse was using a new 3D machine that could switch back and forth between a regular looking ultra sound and the new 3D images that they can get, like the pic I posted with this post. It was amazing to see him moving around, kicking his little legs around and waving around his arms. He was tucking his little face away from the camera, being shy, but it was so awesome to see his sweet little body. I wish I could have another ultra sound to see him at point now. According to the baby info I get sent, he is about 2.5 lbs, and about 15 in. long. I feel him moving daily. He rarely moves during the day, and even when I lay down to sleep he doesn't usually move around too much. It's mostly when I'm 1/2 way sitting/laying down when he decides to really start rolling, and playing and kicking. I love love love feeling him move! I think it is so cute!! I love watching my bare stomach when he is moving. Paul really likes to feel him move too...it's just a little more strange for husbands I think because they can't feel what it's like and to them it's like an alien moving around in their wives stomach! lol. We have so much fun watching my belly grow. I love my changing body and I truly think its the most amazing miracle to be able to have another little human grow inside my stomach!!! WOW! I'm so thankful that I have the opportunity to bring a baby into this world and give him a home of love and where he will be raised in the Gospel. This Sunday I will officially be in my 3rd trimester and we still have so much to do!!! We don't have a name picked out, we don't have the baby room even remotely done, we don't have the crib, and in fact, I have bought nothing having to do with a baby! lol. It will get done though of course. Just under 3 months left to do it all.