Trip to Colorado!

Bahboo took his first visit to Colorado to visit Grandpa & Grandma Bullough (hehe- pappy) and we took family pictures! Here are some from our trip... also- more to come from our cameras... haven't up loaded them yet.

HEAVENLY BABY!

So briefly- the updates... His pediatrician appt went great- he's 10lbs 12oz and Dr. Heaven says we're awesome parents! Woo Hoo!! Bahboo is still sleeping through the night and his smiles are much more frequent now... as you will see. The real purpose of this post is to show off the new pics that I've taken of him! Enjoy!

2 months today!

So- it has been two whole months since our wonderful addition arrived and although I have said it before and over and over again- HE IS SUCH A DELIGHT!! I love him SO much! It is awesome to watch him grow and see the changes in him daily-

His eyes have gotten so much stronger now and I can tell that he can see me when I peer in at him while he lies in his crib... He's looking right at me and he follows me when I move from one spot to the next...

He also continues to smile at me (much more frequently now) and responds to the sound of our voices... He is such a happy baby! The books say that babies are sensitive to the feelings and moods around them and can sense distress or uneasiness and then reflect back that same nervousness. On the flip side of that- they can also sense joy, love, happiness and the security of a happy home and are happier babies for it. Well he brings such happiness to our family that it is hard not to feel on cloud nine just being around him. We just adore our son!

He is also continuing to sleep through the night- much longer now... His bed time is still anywhere between 10 and midnight- but once he goes down... for the last week or so- he's been sleeping about 7 hours at night! I am still not regulated in my sleep so I'm usually awake around 2:30 or so- so I go in and check on him and if he's wet at all, I change his diaper (without waking him up entirely) so as to ensure that he continues to sleep comfortably and doesn't wake up pre-maturely. It seems to be working well doing it this way.

It is so special to be his parents and specifically his mama. Rob and I thank our Heavenly Father every night in family prayers for blessing us with such a special spirit. I think back on being pregnant and can only see now that I have this wonderful soul how special all that time truly was... Getting to know and bond with him and cherishing every moment that I hold him and play with him is what the great stuff in life is made of.

Rob has been so helpful too... I am really lucky and grateful to have him for my soulmate, my husband, friend and father of our child and children to come. Dividing and conqur is our strategy... At 5:45am when the baby is up and ready to be fed- I go for the baby and he goes for the formula. On Tuesdays and Thursdays- I have to leave around 9 for school and so they both get to bond just father and son. Being able to continue with school is a miracle as well- our family is so fortunate in so many ways!

So all is well in the Bolt household. We are surrounded by so much love and care from our families and friends and all just love and spoil the little guy to the max! President David O. McKay once said that "No success can compensate for failure in the home." - but I have come to find my own rendition "No success in the world can compete with the joy in my own home." - And it is so true... so very true.

The best of the best!

Yep, that's my kid- the best of the best!
2 new wonderful things have occured during his 7th week... First and foremost... He is sleeping through the night! This is great! He falls asleep somewhere around 10:30-11:30 and he's out until 5:30-6:30... which by all standards is through the night! It is FANTASTIC! Now, all we have to do is get me regulated so that I fall asleep that early... :-)
Secondly- he's starting to smile! REAL smiles- not the fake, gassy ones... Sometimes he smiles when I grab his hand or foot and just today I was talking to him while I was changing him and he turned his head towards me and grinned! It's the cutest thing ever!! I don't have any pics of it yet- but as soon as I catch him on camera you know I'll be posting it!

Sleeping Cutie-

I thought everyone would like to see some cute pics of the bahboo-

Isn't he precious?

More pics!

Ok everyone- here are the long awaited photos of the nursery :-)

I will pat myself and my husband on the back because we had the nursery COMPLETELY finished (that's- painted, the wall border (thanks mom), the crib the bookshelves, etc) well before the baby arrived. Here are the pics- enjoy!

The walls are 2 shades of Aqua with a Ralph Lauren Candlelight Sheen on top to create the pearly shine.

The crib and the changing table are a custom made match that were actually MY crib and changing table and have weathered the storm of my siblings as well... It is still in beautiful condition and I managed to get the most wonderfully comfortable rocking chair with wood that matches the set!

I did these two pictures myself and had them framed... I wanted to ad something personal to the room and they came out great! I even signed them "Mom'07".

Ok- more photos!

These were taken last thursday and today :-) The sleeping ones are from today :-)

Enjoy~

Our first outing...

Hey everyone- it's been a while...

No news is good news, right? Well- everything is going great here! Bahboo has been putting on weight and is starting to develop those darling little rolls- his little thighs are getting kinda chubby :-)

I haven't taken new photos of him yet- I know SHAME ON ME! I'll take some soon and post them... We should be getting some family portraits taken soon so then we'll have the WHOLE family in the shot!

Anyway- the picture I'm posting was from his first outing... we went out to Los Reyes 2 weeks after he was born (it was a tribute to my water breaking since that was the restaurant that Rob and I had eaten at the night I went into labor.)

Also- keep your eyes peeled for a slideshow- I'm learning Picasa so I can post some more fun things :-)

Big enough for his britches!

It has really been a busy couple of days!

So- he had a pediatrician appointment Friday and he...did... FANTASTIC! His stitches healed like a charm and get this- he put on a pound in ONE week! That's totally awesome considering he'd lost a pound and a half due to the PS. The pediatrician (Dr. Heaven- really, her name is Jordana Heaven) was thrilled at his progress and said that he looks great and is doing wonderfully! We're all so thrilled... and now that he weighs 7lbs 9oz we've graduated OUT of Premie diapers and he's into wearing Ones!

He's also eating a lot more now... his little tummy can only hold about 31/2 oz per feeding but an hour after he's finished that- he tells me he's still hungry so I give him another oz... so all in all- he's taking down about 41/2 oz per feeding- which I think is fantastic because he's so little anyway and he definitely had some catching up to do! So I say- EAT AWAY BOY!

What's more is- we've reached the one month mark and that means no more sleeping with Mom and Dad. For the past 3 nights he's been sleeping in his crib in his room instead of with Rob and I and the transition has actually been pretty seamless! In all honesty he could have been sleeping in his crib a lot sooner but I am the one who couldn't bare to be so far from him... Luckily I have come to learn that all of the mommies that I've talked to did the exact same thing for their first month and that there wasn't anything strange about my separation anxiety. :-)

Good to know!

Lastly in our biggies of this weekend- bahboo was cleared by Dr. Heaven to graduate to regular baths instead of sponge baths and so tonight he had his first bath! We're trying out the new Johnson & Johnson's Bedtime Bath and Lotion and while I don't know if it actually soothes and calms him and get's him into sleep mode- but it smells terrific and I think I'm going to be making the switch for my own use!

Oh yeah, one more thing- during one of the 3am feedings, I think Friday, it was- it occured to me that he's growing so quickly and I know I am going to miss all these little precious moments of his cut new born faces and what not- so I begged Rob and he let me order a videocamera! I've been kicking myself that we don't have a video of our wedding or of our honeymoon and various trips that we've been taking over the past year and 7 months and I just really don't want to harbor that same regret with our perfect little guy. So- new camera is one the way...

UNFORTUNATELY the budget didn't warrant me to shell out the unreasonable bucks for one of those fancy ones that you can upload to the computer (we have to buy $30 cans of formula and diapers you know) so we'll only have for videos for here- HOWEVER, my sister go one of those videocameras that is SPECIFICALLY designed for putting videos on the internet-so I will snag her one of these days and hopefully get some good footage to post for all to see!

All is green again!

We are one week out of the hospital and EVERYTHING is great again! He eats so well now and I don't have to keep changing my clothes feeding... the laundry was getting ridiculous!
But he's so happy now and he sleeps well and he eats well and he makes funny faces and talks to me while he eats and coos when we cuddle... and Rob is so awesome for watching him on Tuesdays and Thursdays ALL day so I can go to school.
Anyway- Robby is one month and 2 days and it has FLOWN BY! Already- life is just blinking by.

Let the games begin!

My father-in-law likes to say to me "You never know what comes with wedding cake..." Boy was he right! It takes someone to be a parent before they realize what a constant sense of fear and joy feels like... It's this presence that is always looming in the back of my mind... sometimes in the front of my mind- like when I stand over my son while he sleeps and will him to keep breathing because I just know that he'll quit breathing as soon as I look away or try something selfish like going to sleep. But that kind of fear is small potatoes, I now realize, compared to the genuine panic you experience when you realize that your son has to go to the EMERGENCY ROOM because he's been projectile vomiting for a week and now you're worried that dehydration will start and that the little M.D. in your head is telling you that there is DEFINITELY something wrong with your baby.

Being a parent, a mom for sure, comes with a whole new realm of education- you get your medical degree and you don't even know it. All along the way of motherhood you learn all sorts of fascinating terms. Today's term is "PYLORIC STENOSIS" (pronounced just as it looks).

Pyloric Stenosis (PS) is the over development of the Pylorus Muscle - the muscle at the bottom of the stomach that controls the food transference from the stomach to the small intestines. When the muscle is over developed it prevents ANY food from being digested in which case dehydration becomes a real concern because he's now projectile vomiting all over you after every feeding! The only way to correct this little problem is surgery. They go in laparoscopically, making 3 tiny holes like the points of a triangle and then they insert their camera and tools and cut the muscle to relieve some of the tension so the opening can spread and allow for normal digestion. They don't cut it all the way down they just loosen it. Over time it will heal with scar tissue and should not cause any future complications. As I have learned this is the 2nd most common problem requiring surgery in newborns. For more info click

http://www.schneiderchildrenshospital.org/peds_html_fixed/peds/hrnewborn/pyloric.htm

Now enough with the medical mumbo-jumbo- let's get real for a minute. This was THE LAST thing I was expecting. When my son has been throwing up formula for a week, I start experimenting with different types of formula just in case its actually an allergy. To no avail and TONS OF LAUNDRY and a week later (yes, I did call the pediatrician 4 days into this little circus act and they told me to keep trying different formulas and to give it 2 weeks!) I call the doc back and tell the nurse that it ain't working and I can't even get him to keep Pedialyte down. She tells me to take him to the hospital because they are worried about dehydration. So, New Years Eve my husband and I rush off to the hospital and wait in Emergency for the doc. He comes in and I explain everything to him and right off the bat he pre-diagnoses Robby with PS. I have never even heard of this! They admit him to the hospital and we wait the night out for the Ultrasound tech to show up in the morning to confirm visually that it is in fact PS. Yada, yada, yada... time passes, curtain falls and the Ultrasound confirms the PS. An hour later the Surgeon comes in to explain to me what all goes with the surgery. It takes about 45 minutes with a 45 minute observation to follow. The surgery is scheduled in 3 hours and by 6pm yesterday he was in the OR getting everything taken care of. It's a day later and he hasn't really been in the mood to do anything but sleep- but the doc said that the surgery was just fine and that he's healing well. We won't be out of here until tomorrow maybe Friday depending on how he takes to eating...

I really wish I could say that I held it together and didn't quiver a lip at all... but that simply isn't the case. This precious little boy- he has such a dear soul and the most pure gaze when you look him in the face... I was truly worried Monday night about what I didn't know. I'm grateful that I have a family surrounding me with the faith to pray and to be supportive and confident- especially when I'm the one falling to pieces. My love and appreciation goes out to everyone who hopped to and answered my call and never thought twice about my request for a prayer on behalf of my little angel. I know that all of you were just as necessary and effective as the procedure and the doctors who have been taking care of my son. He's recovering well- we're just waiting for his appetite to return and for him to be able to keep food down. No luck yet but I know it will get better.

Anyway- in the mean time- I've posted some more pics of him just because I know EVERYONE agrees that he is so stinking cute! Even the nurses like to tease me that they might just walk out of here with him cuz he's cute enough to take home. :-) Love to all and I hope everyone had a Happy New Year!

Not quite like I remember... definitely more delightful and definitely...wetter.

I love my son! I want to make sure that everyone knows how terrific I think being a mom is because I have a terrific kid! Oh yeah- its a lot of work and a little sleep but I find such joy in taking care of him that all of the labor is something I don't mind... Here is what I do mind- and its only because until recently I hadn't quite figured out how to protect myself. Protect myself from what?- you might ask... FROM THE WILD WHIZZER!!! Nobody told me you do twice as much laundry because he'll pee all over everything when you think its safe to change him or for whatever reason he's mastered the art of leaking... no matter how straight you put that diaper on! And if I'm not bobbing and weaving the pressure washer then I'm ducking and dodging and then finally resorting to just shielding myself from THE SUPER-PUKER! We're talking projectile-folks! This kid has it coming outta both ends!

I get the throwing up... he's been having a rough time with formula and its not sitting in his stomach very well- so no never mind to him- BLAH!- I'm covered in it! Poor thing. I feel bad for him! But the whizzing... yeah- I'm still stumped. Mandy and Joe gave us what looks like a little cup or shield type thing to "delay the spray" but all it ends up doing is creating a little puddle that the poor dear ends up swimming in... which still means more laundry for me so I've just decided that the new diaper is my shield while I quickly discard the other. Its quite a technical process... you'd think it took a degree to change a diaper! I'm still investigating the inner-workings of "the leak". I have NO IDEA how he can pee all over himself WHILE he's in a diaper! I've changed millions of theses things... I KNOW HOW TO PUT A DIAPER ON!- but alas... its one wet spot after another.

Did I mention that I LOVE being a mother! When all is said and done... I get a clean diaper on him and a full tummy (both for the mean time) and then this darling little angel just looks up at me and gives me the cutest faces and looks and it doesn't matter that I've changed my clothes as often as I've changed his and it doesn't matter that I have to feed him twice as often because he gives half of whatever he's just eaten back to me which means I get even less sleep than before. This PERFECT child is mine to hug and hold and kiss and cuddle with and it makes all the waterworks worth it. Who couldn't love THIS baby?

The real deal! He checked!

So Lil' Robby has seen the real Santa! We took him for his first ever visit and of course he got his picture taken and while sitting on Santa's lap... he reached up and grabbed his beard! The picture is worth a thousand words! Being a parent is awesome... we get to do such fun stuff!

BTW, my child will NEVER behave like 90% of those zoo animals running around the mall! Grubby little Rhesus Monkies!

Oh yeah, he's not fussing in this photo... He's actually streching... but the stupid photo girl took the picture anyway... believe it or not... this was the best of the 3 poses. Stupid girl. Thank goodness Stevi was there and took her own pics... I'll post those soon. :-)

I'm in love!

Wow- is he not the cutest baby ever?! I just can't help but want to hold him and watch him ALL the time! He's a TOTAL time waster! Luckily our sleeping schedules make it so that I finally get the energy to do something while he's sleeping for one of his long hauls... so I still manage to get things done... but he's just so FREAKIN' CUTE that the rest of the time is just spent loving him! We're totally smitten with our new family member. It doesn't get more precious than him!

He's Here! 10 days early!

Hooray! I got my Christmas Wish... My son decided to show up 10 days early and now we have 2 fun weeks before Christmas to play with him! He's SO adorable!

So here's the story... so that EVERYONE knows how it all went down and I can quit retelling it. :)

On Friday Night, Rob and I went out for mexican at Los Bravos... We got home around 10:15pm and I went pee... (like ya do- when you're preggers) and then I went to let my puppy out to go potty... well, Rob pulled into the driveway and I bent down to pick Penny up so she wouldn't run out infront of him and when I stood back up... WET. Not like a big water balloon gush but enough to make me wonder if I hadn't just pee'd my pants. I thought it was weird because I'd just pee'd and while I really do go every 5 minutes... this seemed different. So I went back to the bathroom and it everything coming out was all clear. (Sorry for the gross details, put your big girl pants on for the rest of this story if you're starting to feel icky.)

So, I called my mom and asked her what it was like to have your water break... she sort of paused so I started explaining and she said to keep my eye on it and call my doctor. So after that, I called my mother-in-law because she's a nurse and I explained to her what happened and she said to call my doctor and see what happened.

So, I call Renee (my midwife) and I explained everything (again) and she said from my description it sounds like your water broke but the only way to know is if you go to the hospital and have them check you.

So, Rob and I started packing (just in case it was all for real) and that's when the first contraction hit... WHAM! It was like I got stabbed in the back, right above my butt. I went "YOW!" while on the phone with my Mom and she said, "That sounded like a contraction!"

So- Rob and I started to pack and move a little quicker... all the while I'm timing these pains at every 5 minutes.

So, we get all our junk in the car, 3 bags, 2 feather pillows, a towel for me to sit on and our Christmas cards (in case we have time to work on them) and we head to the hospital. We check in to our room at 12:06pm and the nurse comes in to check me.

This part was excrutiating too... I think she shoved her whole arm in there! All she said was... "hmmm... not really dialted more than a centimeter" and when she pulled her arm out it was like a tidal wave! She then said "Well, your water is definitely broke now!" And I said "So you're not sending me home?" And she said... "Umm, no... we're not sending you home." :-)

So, they start hooking me up to the monitors and I call my mom and Shelby and Priya and tell them its the real deal.

Mom and Shelby don't show up till about 2:30 but Priya gets there pretty quickly and she and Rob are my labor team.

WOW DO CONTRACTIONS SUCK!!! Holy cow... the pain. Priya held my hand and Rob rubbed my feet and we just took each contraction, one at a time.

Mind you at this point, I'd already let everyone know that I wanted an epidural and they tried to "hold me over" with Demoral so I could make more "progress". Well, at 2:15 they gave me the Demoral and Rob made me wait until 3:00am to ask for the epidural so that it looked like I'd given it a "chance to work". Well, you can bet that at 3:00am I was still asking for that epidural.

So, my nurse comes back in and says "Ok, the doctor is on the way to do something about the pain." I didn't get my epidural until like 4:20.

Dr. Greenberg showed up and started working on me and by 4:45 I had my epidural and was VERY comfy. Everyone passes out... The only person left paying any attention to me at all was Priya. She stuck around until about 6:15 and then went home to shower and change and she'd be on her way back.

Well, I sort of drifted off and at 6:45 my nurse was back in there checking my progress and said "Wow! You've made a lot of progress! 5 centimeters!"

"Cool." I thought... and went back to sleep.

At 8:15 the doctor on call came by to arbitrarily check me, mentioned something about not seeing my contractions on the monitor for the last little bit and then all of a sudden went...

"Um... can you call Renee and tell her that if she doesn't get here quick she's going to miss this delivery." And the nurse rushed out.

I went "Huh?!" and he said "Yeah, nobody knows why your contractions weren't being picked up by the monitor but you're at 10 centimeters and its time to push. His head... yeah, it's right there."

So- I hollar at my sleepy support staff (mom and shelby passed out on the couch and poor hubby asleep on the floor) and I'm like "Guys, time to get up... we're there."

So everyone wakes up and Rob comes over and the nurse is already in the room and has me bent like a paper clip and she's telling me to push.

So, I start pushing.... and pushing... and pushing.. (15 sets of 3.) My midwife calls from the parking lot and says "I'm here- I'm on the way in... hang on!"

So, she shows up around set # 9 and takes a look and she's like "You're doing great- keep pushing."

Finally... on set #14 push#2 Renee says "Sarah, you push like that again and you'll have this baby!" One more push and at that moment my mind goes blank... All I can think about is... I'm going to be pushing this kid out FOR ETERNITY... IT'S NEVER GOING TO END... and then Renee yells, "STOP!"

I stop and the room goes silent... she says- "hang on one quick sec, the cord is around his neck"- she just flips the cord over his head and says "give me one more little push" and I pushed and she said "harder" and I pushed harder and PRESTO! Baby!

He squaked once and then she flopped him on my tummy and he sort of sqeaked and cried a little and then they took him over to be cleaned and I couldn't believe it that it was all over!From broken water to delivery in 10 hours and 35 minutes.

The rest as they say is history... he's adorable and so good and hardly cries and sleeps so well!

Enjoy the goo-fest below... he's too cute for words... the MOST beautiful baby ever!

Robert Walter Bolt II (Lil' Robby or "Squeaker" as I call him)
December 8, 2007
6lbs. 6oz
20.5 inches
Northside Hospital