Strong Team

Update: Taylor's jaundice levels went down on Saturday, so the pediatrician discharged us from the hospital. Even though he had lost 7% of his birthweight, she felt that it was okay to release him and we were thrilled. She ordered another bloodtest for Sunday morning followed by a visit in pediatrics, where we found out that Taylor had to be readmitted because his levels spiked up more than the initial results. He also had lost a total of 11.5% of his birthweight. So, here I am at 4:15 in the morning, sitting across from Taylor's crib watching the SPO2 monitor like a hawk! Every time the alarm goes off, my heart skips a beat. This is totally a flashback of our NICU time with Jacob. However, the only difference is that we are much more prepared this time. We are stronger. We are more knowledgeable. We have more trust in nurses. We have each other. We are a strong team. I don't think there is anything Jeremiah would not do for me or my boys. I sit here with tears as I don't know what I did to deserve such a loving husband who sacrifices so much for his family. His love for us is so immense that nothing seems impossible or unresolvable. He makes things easier, which I appreciate so much. I hope he knows how much we love him!!

While Taylor is receiving his phototherapy for jaundice, Jacob is happily spending time with my parents. I feel so lucky to have family that can help any time I need them. So many have sacrifice their time for me and I am so grateful. When we were in the hospital, Jeremiah would go back home for an hour to visit Jacob and bring special treats and surprises to make sure that he knows we are thinking about him and that we love him. I know he misses us because he makes sure my mom knows the routine at night before going to bed, which is reading a few of his favorite books, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Chica Chica Boom Boom, If the Savior Stood Beside Me, and The Book of Mormon. Following that, he would fold his arms to show that he can pray like Enos. Then, he'd cry for me. =) That is when my mom turns on "frout (sprout)" to console him until he falls asleep. Jacob is so lucky to have Mama and KongKong there to spoil him to pieces. We are blessed too. We don't want them to go home next week! =( Having spent so much time with my parents, we were surprised to find out that Jacob can speak a Cambodian word! Guess what it is???? Yes, it is "POUM." When we were changing Taylor's diaper before feeding yesterday, Taylor passed gas and Jacob said, "Baby poum!" Jeremiah and I laughed so hard. It was pretty funny. Hahaha...my parents...sigh...funny.

Jacob meet Taylor. Taylor meet Jacob. When we got home on Saturday, Jacob was napping. I was so anxious to see Jacob's reaction to the new baby. When my dad brought him to the room, I took one look at Jacob and had the biggest smile on my face. He looked like a BIG...I mean BIG boy! He was always my little baby, now he's a big boy! He came and sat on Jeremiah's lap and pointed and said, Baby. When Taylor cried, he would say Baby Cry, but would not touch him at all. It was almost like he was afraid. Jacob stared and watched for a while before Jeremiah brought him downstairs to get a special treat that Taylor had brought home for him...sprinkled cupcakes! It didn't take long before he escaped and ran upstairs to see Taylor again. The night went pretty smooth until 3 am in the morning when Taylor woke all of us up. The hardest part was explaining to Jacob that I had to feed Taylor and he needed my attention. I couldn't hold Jacob. I couldn't hug him and we couldn't fit on the rocking chair all together. He was pretty upset and cried a bit. We all finally went to bed about 1 1/2 later...so I thought. I woke up 1/2 hour later to find Jeremiah rocking Taylor to sleep....then an hour later...then another hour later...he didn't put Taylor down at all. It was so sweet to see how much he loved the little boy already. He is such a good father! Now with us in the hospital again, we'll have to reintroduce the boys and hope the transition will be somewhat of a smooth one. =)

Introducing Taylor J Sorensen

Welcome to the world, Taylor J Sorensen! Taylor was born on Wednesday, February 16, 2011 at 3:45 in the afternoon. He was a whoping 8lbs. 8oz. and 20 inches long.
We did not get information about weight and length until after almost an hour of holding, cuddling, and kissing him. After he was delivered, he was placed directly on my chest while the nurse cleaned him. He started working right away breastfeeding,while Jeremiah and I adored him. I kept looking at Jeremiah in amazement at how big Taylor was. I couldn't believe I gave birth to such a cute and big boy!

While the nurse was prepping for his first bath, Taylor was inconsolable...just like any newborn. Taylor grabbed Jeremiah's finger for comfort and it reminded me so much of Jacob when he was in the NICU.

Here he is lying on the giraffe after his bath. The hate barely fit him. Some of the other beanies I brought from home didn't fit it either. I guess he can skip the newborn sizes and move on to 0-3 months. So...who do you think he looks like? Any resemblance to Jacob? I think he looks a lot like meeee! =) First bath...I still can't believe how BIG he is.

Phototheraphy=fun...NOT! He is miserable under and on top of the bililights! Lots of crying and irritability! After the first day of therapy, his numbers elevated so we had to stay an extra day. Anticipating that his levels would go down, we were disappointed to find out that it DID go down slightly by one point. As I am updating this blog, we are waiting for the pediatrician to come in and order another blood test and tell us whether or not another night's stay is planned. We all just want to go home!! Taylor especially wants to meet his big brother, Jacob!!

He has his own wubbanub and he looooves it!

Want details on how it ALL went down? Hahaha...I'm sure some of you are dying to know! First of all, I am shocked that I went beyond my due date! I thought I would deliver sometime around 34-36 weeks, but Taylor had different plans. He didn't want to come out at all. Early Wednesday morning around 3 am, I had contractions that were about 5-7 minutes apart. Jeremiah and I timed each contraction and decided to go to the hospital. On the way to the hospital, my contractions began to spread a part...more like 10-15 minutes. I was sure they would send me home. After observation, I was dilated to 5 cm (dilated to3+ cm the Friday before), they admitted me at about 6:00 ish and told me that they would break my water at 8 am. It didn't happen because it took me quite a bit of time to pass my stool. After passing my stool at 8:00ish, at 8:30 the anastesiologist (sp?) came in and prepped my epidural. At 10:00, the midwife popped my water bag. At 11:30, they started me on pitocin at 2 ml an hour, increasing it by 2 ml every 10 minutes. They got to 4 ml and I dilated to 7 cm. The contractions were beginning to take its course and the epidural meds began to kick in...an HOUR later. *sigh*... I made slow progress and at 2 pm, I dilated to 9.75. They had me push, but I guess Taylor wasn't ready. After a push, his head would retract back, so they waited another 45 minutes where I proved that I'd use all my might and strength to get Taylor out. See, even with the epidural, I could feel the pressure from every contraction. I was READY. I wanted to PUSH. Finally at 2:50, pushing began. It took about another 55 minutes before Taylor arrived. There were lots of emotions. I thought about Jacob the whole time and even cried that morning when Jeremiah mentioned his name. So, you are probably wondering how this compares to Jacob's delivery...not one of them were harder than the other. It was equally has hard. Jacob had a lot of emotional pain and uncertainty. Taylor had a lot of physical discomfort, but that uncertainty definitely is the same. I can say that Heavenly Father has blessed me greatly and has humbled me in ways that I would have never expected. I feel so fortunate to have experienced both of my children's births with my loving husband. I can't believe we have TWO kids now! *BIGGEST SMILE IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD!*

Park

The weather was nice on Monday, so I decided to take Jacob to the park. He hasn't been out since last August. This was a really nice treat. At first, he watched all the kids play. After careful observation, he was comfortable enough to play and had so much fun. He was the littliest one out of the bunch, but it didn't stop him from climbing, sliding, and swinging without any help...well, he needed my help with the big kids' swing. =)

This is where he stood to watch all the kids play. He didn't move from this spot for awhile.

Wearing his Sunday's best for church. This was a special day because Jacob was in nursery ALL by himself. I left after 10 minutes and of course, he cried, gagged, and threw up. The nursery leaders were awesome. They were so patient and worked with him. On the way home, we asked him what he did in nursery and he said, "Nursery nice. Nursery cry." When we asked if he sang songs, he started singing heads, shoulders, knees, and toes. =)

Riding his bike at the park. He is such a big boy!!

Tears

Jacob loves looking at his pictures and videos on the blog. Tonight was the first time we've shown pictures and videos of him in the NICU. To our surprise, Jacob was very emotional. He was on the brink of crying- had tears in his eyes and buried his face in my chest- while watching/listening to the video of him taking his first bath in the incubator and the video of me kangaroo caring with him. Tonight, Jeremiah and I held and hugged him a little closer and a little tighter. Our son is a NICU graduate! We can't believe how big our son has gotten. We are so blessed with his health. We are a forever family and I'm so grateful for that!

Gracie and Jacob

Gracie has a groomer now. He picks her up from our house and drops her off. She came back smelling so good the other day! Since she was so clean, I let her out to play with Jacob. They both had a blast!

As Edith was preparing to vacuum the carpet after having Gracie out to play, Jacob decided to climb on the pillows. When he sees the camera, he jumps right in front of the lens and says, "Cheese." He will not move until he sees a flash. Here, we are at Mama's house. One of his favorite places to hang out on the weekends....BECAUSE...he gets so spoiled!!! Jacob learned how to pedal two weekends ago at Mama's house. He perfected his skills this past weekend. It's one of his favorite things to do. Unfortunately, he thinks biking into my ankles is a funny thing, so he's got some work to do. He knows when he's in the limelight, so he'd act up. You'll see it in this video.