Smiles

Hugs from Big Sis

Doesn't Sully look thrilled? Don't be mistaken, he loves his big sis, even when she clobbers him over and over again.

Awesome Hair

A Face to Love

Cousins

Beautiful

My Buddy

The Lady of the House

Most days, I am pretty sure she thinks she is in CHARGE! Oh, so sadly mistaken.

Sully's many smiles

NAH!!!! Only smiles around here :)

A girl and her rainboots

This girl is obsessed with rainboots. Who cares if they are 3 sizes too big?!

Mr. Sullivan

I thought Grammie and Grampie would appreciate this photo.

And yes, he does have a bad case of male pattern baldness.

The Keeper

The two newest members of the family

Gato has taken it upon himself to be Sully's personal body guard, protecting him from that big, threatening black lab (HA!), Gunner.

Polka Dot PJ's

Thanks to Grammie for these beauties, too!

Does your grammie love you this much?

Does your grammie love you enough to make you a cute froggy backpack? Mine does.

Man, she's talented!

I wore it to the library to hold my Signing Time videos. I don't want to brag, but I pretty much looked like a million bucks.

We love Sully!

The boy in the pointy hat

Mom, did you really put us in this when we were kids?

I guess a pointy hood never goes out of style.

Big Sis

Los Ninos

The faces we get to love everyday...

I'd say we're pretty lucky!

The longest day of the year

Sunday March 28th, 9:30 pm- My water broke and after much deliberation with Rode, we decided that I should go to the hospital in spite of the fact that I had gone the previous Sunday convinced I was having the baby only to be told there was no baby coming (much to my shigrin) and I was sent home. I didn't want to be known as the lady who came to the hospital in false labor every Sunday, but I was almost certain this time it was legit. After the first test for amniotic fluid came back negative, I was feeling like the boy who cried wolf but could not deny the fact I was "leaking." Thank heavens the nurse found some newer, unexpired lithmus paper to retest, which showed that I was in fact leaking amniotic fluid and was not a crazy lady.

Monday March 29th, 8:15 am- Sully was born. After cleaning him off, I got the chance to hold him only to have him whisked away when the nurses realized his breathing was not quite right. After 2 hours of CPAP (the little mask over his face helping him breathe), Sully still wasn't breathing right on his own so the doc called the NICU in Provo and arranged to have the NICU team/ambulance come to Heber to pick up the babe.

1:30 pm- The NICU team intubated Sully and put surfactant into his lungs. They transported him in that little incubator looking thing on the stretcher. I cried and then took a much needed nap, Rode stood by the little boy all morning, then headed down the canyon to be with him in the NICU. He was a champ through it all.

5:30 pm- They extubated Sully in Provo and he was breathing fine on his own, but still had plenty of wires, tubes, and machines hooked to his little body to monitor him.

7:15 pm- Thankfully Dr Tayler gave the okay for me to be released from the hospital. After making a quick stop at home to give Liv some love, Aunt Hezzie and I headed down the canyon.

7:30 pm- Grammie landed in SLC from Philadelphia (she was on a trip with friends and jumped on a plane as soon as she got word the baby was coming). Papa Winterton picked her up and brought her to the hospital in Provo so she could meet the new grand baby.

9:30 pm- I got to the hospital to relieve daddy and finally brought him something to eat. Hezzie, Grammie, and I cuddled with Sully and all of his wires until about midnight then headed home. This was the point when I started asking myself "Did I really have a baby this morning?" It seemed like it had been a weeklong day.

Tuesday March 30th- Sully got moved to the "border" nursery where babies are learning how to eat and getting ready to go home. I got a room at the hospital (yay!) so I could nurse him through the night. Liv got to come meet her new little brother through the glass and loves to say "Hi baby!"

Wednesday March 31st, 2 pm- After the docs made sure Sullivan was 100% healthy, they gave us the okay to end our very expensive stay in the NICU. We were all very happy to be headed home, but a little nervous to be in charge of a fragile baby. Grammie, Hezzie, Rode, and I have spent plenty of time anxiously staring at Sully sleeping, analyzing his breathing patterns, and convincing ourselves there is a problem.

Tuesday April 5th- Sully got his tanning bed, which he enjoyed for the first day. He then decided it was much more comfortable and far less sweaty to sleep in someone's arms or mom and dad's bed and didn't want much to do with his new luxury bili-bed.It's been an eventful first couple of weeks, but well worth it for a face this cute. A few things learned...

1. When your baby is in the NICU, you HAVE to ask questions and be persistent until you get the answer you are looking for. It was hard to feel like I was in charge of my child, because he was always in a nurse's care (which i appreciated of course). But I had to remember I was still his mother and could have a say in decisions beibg made. Luckily I learned my mother's interrogation techniques- those poor nurses had sue kane and sue kane in training asking a million questions.

2. Although it felt nice to get a baby out of my large, uncomfortable, 8 months pregnant body, it would have been worth it to keep him cooking for a little bit longer so he could grow some surfactant.

3. A NICU ambulance ride costs $800 down the canyon, just in case any of you were considering that as transportation to provo. It would probably be cheaper to call a cab :)