Sam is two weeks old!

 At Dr H's for Sam's 2 week visit.

Here are his stats:
Height 20.5 inches - 75 percentile
Weight 8 pounds 14 ounces - 75 percentile
Head 37 cms - 75 percentile

Sam is nursing well and growing fast!  He is so much bigger than his brothers were at this age!!!  What a difference staying in the womb longer makes!

 RDH and August invading Sam's playmat

 August and RDH LOVE Sam

 Grandma gave the boys those recordable books....Here August is "reading" to Sam.  He carefully turned each page as Sam got the full story read by grandma

 The boys created a "car" with their chairs to "drive" around the house in

 Tummy time!

 The boys picking out the cinnamon roll they want

 Sam meets Aunt Marci!

 Ahhhhh - the most AMAZING cake!  Thank you Kathy for this awesome cake.  It cheered up my baby blues and put me in the perfect sugar high.  It was very delicious and I am very grateful :-)

The Day Sam was born....his birth story

Sam stayed put just like we prayed for him to do!  He was born on his due date.....or maybe a day later....since this was a leap year.  We thought he would be here much sooner because both his brothers were born a month early and I started having contractions that were painful at about 37.5 wks.  They would come and go and even get as close as 7-10 minutes apart but then would disappear after an hour or two.  At 39 weeks, I let my Dr check my cervix and the contractions were actually making some changes and I was 3 cms dilated and 70% effaced....more than I have ever been prior to labor.  The contractions continued.....we went through the last weekend in August and it was full moon (a blue moon at that too), yet no baby.  I was happy because I loved the fact that Sam was  staying cooking.  After labor day weekend, and spending most of it in pain....I went into the Dr on Tuesday - September 4th to see what was going on.  The contractions were staying a consistent 10 minutes a part, but were not going away.  He examined me and said I was 4 cms and 90% effaced.  Given my history of a very fast 5-10 cms with August and RDH....he was a little concerned about how much time I would have to get to the hospital once I was in full blown labor what I currently was experiencing was pre-labor.  I went home after the appointment and he said that if the contractions stayed consistent then to go to St Davids in the morning.  They stayed consistent that afternoon....even got worse, and I started losing mucus.  So.....the next morning we headed into St Davids.  Hooked up to monitors, I was showing contractions 7 minutes apart (they want you to be a 3-5 minutes before they admit you).  My Dr decided that he wanted to break my waters to give my body a little push.  He was very worried about sending me home as I was at 5 cms by then...and he wasn't sure we would make it back.  I was SOOOOO hesitant to do this and had even dreamed of delivering "en caul" but finally I conceded because at some point you have to trust your Dr and I truly felt like I had been in labor for days at this point.  At 8:15, my water was broken by my Dr.  Not only was the flood gate open - literally but so was the flood gate of PAIN!  I couldn't see straight - the pain and contractions were so intense.  I couldn't talk, I felt like my body was completely being ripped in half.  I felt Sam descend into the birth canal....I was sick with pain.  I started shaking uncontrollably....I seriously felt as if I was going to die.  I had an AWESOME L&D nurse who provided strength and comfort.  My body went from  5cms to 8cms in 20 minutes.  By 930am I was at 10 cms.  I could have pushed and had the baby then....but I was a complete wreck....I could not organize my thoughts mentally to gain composure and my dr was not back at the hospital yet.  So at 10 cms and with the babies head engaged, I got an epidural.  They will give you an epidural at any point in which you ask for one.....but they are not as effective once you cross a certain pain threshold.  I kept asking why is this thing not working and the anesthesiologist explained to me that I just waited too long.....but at least it brought the pain down to where I could speak.  Since Sam was doing well on the heart monitors, we sat and waited....waited for some sort of pain relief and waited for my Dr....this also allowed Sam to get nice and situated in the birth canal.  We waited 45 minutes and I couldn't move or push.....or Sam would be here.  It was a great decision as it allowed for me to stop the violent shaking I was having before and allowed for me to relax.  I still felt the pain of the contractions.....but at least they were dulled.  After 11am, my Dr arrived, I was placed in stirrups.....he exclaimed....HI BABY.  I pushed once.....and Sam was here.....all 8 and a half pounds of him.  CRAZY!  So......I am glad i did listen to my dr because if the contractions had come on greater at home or if my water had broken at home....Dr Richard Heller would have attended the delivery....along with an ambulance as I don't think he would have been able to get me in the car to get to the hospital.  Sam had a 9 APGAR score and is perfect in every way.  I decline the traditional nursery bath for him so the child actually hasn't been bathed to date (waiting for the umbilical cord to fall off).  Everything was done in our recovery room, so he never left us and I loved that!  We were then taken to a suite at St Davids because all the other rooms were full and they didn't have time to prepare one for us since my delivery was so quick.  The suite was awesome!  Richard enjoyed the full sized bed and we both enjoyed the refrigerator and coffee maker :-) 
Thanks for all our visitors!  We loved sharing the first few hours of Sam's life with you!  And thanks to Grandma for taking such good care of August and RDH and making them feel special. 

Welcome Samuel Felix Heller

After 3 hours of labor and 1 push....and what could have really been 2 hours of labor....Sam is here!!!  This was the only internet appropriate picture of his arrival

8 and a half pounds!  BIG BOY!!

On the warming table.  St Davids has really changed its policies....they did everything in the recovery room with the baby rather than taking him to the nursery.  I declined a bath for Sam.....so he never left our side...it was awesome!

Daddy with his new son!

Dr Y with Sam.  What a great doctor....and he had big shoes to fill since my previous Dr who delivered August and RDH retired.

Visitors!!!!!  Mark, Kelly and the Hellers came to visit too.....but unfortunately I didnt get pictures of everyone!  Thanks to all who came to visit and keep me company while Richard went home to help my mom with bath and bed for August and RDH.

Mommy and Sam.  We lucked out and got the suite at St Davids since all the rooms were full and I delivered so fast.  It was awesome to have the suite and not have to pay the upgrade !!

Passing the hearing test

Driving home!

The boys meet Sam!

Our family of 5!

August and RDH LOVE Sam!!!!

Cuddling with Mommy!

Sam - one week old!  Love this little guy!

Last Picture Pregnant

Last picture before we headed to the hospital!  September 5, 2012

40 weeks pregnant

 When given a choice to swim in the pool or in Daddy's cooler....they ALWAYS choose the cooler now!  They LOVE IT!

 Especially when Daddy sprays them!

 August looks like he is hoarding his juice box here :-)  hahahahh  trying to keep it away from RDH!

40 weeks pregnant!  I can't believe I reached my due date.  CRAZY!  I have been having lots of contractions.  Today I am 4 cm dilated and 90% effaced.  I thought the full moon would have helped me out last weekend - but no dice.  We shall see what this week holds.  I feel like I have been in labor for days now.

Richard Dean's words!!!!

I have been slacking on updating the blog on the boys development.  Gina called me the other evening just to talk about how astonished she was on RDH's speech development (at 22 months) and of course I loved taking that call (much better than the calls I get about him biting his friends)  Here is a listing of what he is saying.....he is starting to use 3 word sentences and overall is becoming a great communicator.  He has an older brother who talks non stop......so he has a great teacher :-)
Here are the words/sentences that I can think of off hand that RDH is saying....
Bus, Yellow, August, Daddy, I want my Daddy, Mama, I want my Mama, more waffles, toast, Georgia, water, Grayson, no, ho ho (his brown monkey), Milk, hat, poo poo (and will tell you when he has it!), grandma, Elmo, cracker, goldfish, outside, shoes, socks, night night, bye, car, welcome, thank you, ketchup, pillow, no way, dont want to, SIT!  (always said as a command and always directed to me).  Richard Dean has a very strong personality....I love seeing his strength and determination in everything he does!

Still pregnant....39+ weeks!

Yes....you read right....Im over 39 weeks pregnant right now and loving it!  Even though I am in pain, Baby Heller feels big, and the pressure is insane....I am so happy to have made it this far.  And I know that even though I am up every hour in the middle of the night to pee....it is still easier to be this pregnant than to have a newborn.  So I am enjoying spending time with RDH and August, getting lots of work done and out of the way, and being able to lay down at night - even if it is hard to sleep.  I have had LOTS of painful contractions and I know that they feel like because I have had 2 babies already.....these things are real.....they just aren't getting closer after an hour.  Yesterday I did concede to a pelvic exam because my DR wanted to see if the contractions were doing anything and give me an idea about when labor did fully kick in how long I have to get to the hospital.  This sounded like a reasonable reason to have an exam so I allowed it.  I was 3 cms dilated and 70% effaced.  I remember it took 6 hours of HARD labor with RDH to get that far along.....so at least these contractions are giving me a head start from where I was when I showed up to the hospital with my other births.  Now I am just kind of nervous about how much time I have once labor does fully kick in!  For now, I am enjoying these last few days.....but I am really excited to meet Baby Heller and to eat some SUGAR!!!!  Its been 14 weeks that I have been on this diet.....and I am not a person that diets......so this forced one has been rough and I can't WAIT to eat whatever I want!