1st thanksgiving for Sam and an abundance of pictures

Sam had his first thanksgiving at nana and papa fins house. we had such a fun time and lots of yummy food. After the long drive ( not really but for a little guy in the car seat it was long) to Orem, Sam had his first real scaredy attack ! My whole family was at the house (except elder finlinson in korea! Hooray) and it was kind of loud with lots of people all excited to see him, and he kind of freaked out. It was a new experience. I nursed him and he finally calmed down after ten minutes of screams. So sad, but alas he had a wonderful time and warmed up to the big loving family who like to laugh and kiss his little toes and hold his little self . So in the end I know that Sam is as thankful for all the family and especially cousins Eden, Eva, and Leila who he would giggle and smile at. And I am grateful for little nieces who are so gentle and excited to see Sam all the time. We had a wonderful time but really missed all of Zachs family who were so far away! (we were super excited that Elliot could come down from byui and be with us!) We wish we could see the whole fam this holiday season, but I guess that's why we are thankful for iPhone communication and Skype ! Anyway thanksgiving was great, I think we all got rejuvenated after family time and the big ol feast! Can't wait till Christmas!
We also got to see Ryan and his new fiancé Michelle with her sweet little girl Ellie. We are so excited for that cute little family !

Did I mention?

We got iPhones and I think they are the greatest invention ever! I am going to start blogging again cause it is now so easy to do while I have some spare time feeding Sam!
And for a little treat here is Sam with his next door buddy Isaac who is my friend Kandi's little guy! We love having them over to play! And... Sam meeting dearest Kristen crespo who lives so far away in Texas. Boo. But we were so glad to see them over thanksgiving !

Life around here lately...

Sam has been such a fun little buddy ! He wakes up every morning with a big gummy grin! He wiggles around all over the floor and LOVES to have daddy play time and coo at mommy. Zach recently got an iPad that he uses for school and when it came in the mail I had to take a picture of Sam enjoying the new packages. Anyway we have really been enjoying each other in our little ephraim apartment. I try and go on a walk with Sam everyday. He is starting to learn how to crawl and push himself up all by himself! Where did time go ? I think it was just the last post that he was born!!! Oops. I also started doing once a month cooking freezer meals and we are locing it as a family! Check it out at onceamonthmom.com) Anyway I feel very grateful for Zacherys hard work and Sam's sweet smile. I love being a mother and I sure love my boys!

Just in case ...

I wrote a couple of posts about Sam and our hospital adventures. You can find them earlier in the blog roll, because I dated them they didn't appear at the top. So, if you'd like to go back and read those you're welcome to it.
Thanks,

Zach T Power

Week Three

You are growing! At your two week appointment you were 4lbs. 110z.! Then this week at your 3 week Dr. appointment you were 5lbs. 6.5oz! Dr. Weipert was shocked! You gained 11.5 oz. in 7 days! The goal for premie babies is to gain an oz. a day...you gained at least and oz and a half each day! Keep up the good work! It does not surprise me that you gained so much weight, you eat 10 times a day (more than the average of 8) and you eat till milk runs out of your mouth. I have to put burp clothes every where when I feed you because you try to eat so fast that milk gets all over your face. It does not help that my milk pours out with out you even having to suck! You have to stop and catch your breath every few gulps. Daddy thinks it is the cutest thing he has ever seen. By the way Dad use to get after me for saying 'cute' too much! He is now saying 'cute' at every little thing you do, and wear. He dressed you in a little blue striped jammy suit and could not get enough cuddles from you early this morning. He loves you so much and is always wanting to help. You two are going to have so much fun!

Week Two

Sam, you are such a strong little guy! While you were in the NICU, one of your nurses, Kathy who was one of our favorites, said that she heard you crying, so she went to check on you. You had rolled over and scooted down to the end of the isolet with your tummy up and over the sponge roll that protected you! I have no idea where you got the strength but you got it! Dad says it is your monkey jump. It is also somewhat difficult to change your diaper because you are a wiggly worm with the strongest legs! Nana and Uncle Tyson cannot believe how you hold your head up and you are only 2 weeks old! Amazing little guy!

You are a very good baby. You are very content and happy. We always see you looking around trying to figure things out. A few days ago I ate a whole bag of cherries and that really upset you! I could not get you to keep your milk down, and you were crying in so much pain. I felt so bad. Dr. Branham said that your little system is intolerant to Corn and Cherries, not forever, but just for a while. Ironically I ate tons of cherries and fresh corn on the cob all day that day! I am so sorry that you had to go through that!

Sam, you are eating very well! You wake up before each feeding, every 2-3 hours. You always manage to give the most heart warming smiles while I feed you. I love it! Feeding you is one of my favorite things. I love to sit there with you on my lap while your little dark eyes peer up at me. I love to sing 'I am a child of God' 'I lived in heaven' 'sweet hour of prayer' and 'the King of Love my Shepard is'. You really like music. I am so grateful for your little self to be here with us. You are such a good, happy little guy. We love you so much.

Week one

Sam has been doing so so well. The Doctors are absolutely shocked at the progress he is making. Sam was put in the NICU as a what they call a 'feeder grower'. He basically needs to just be able to eat and gain weight. He started being fed through a NG tube that went into his stomach. I was able to produce enough milk and colostrum right off the bat that he did not need formula! (I have so much milk that I am feeding my little nephew Johnny who is also in the NICU right now!) The nurse said I have enough milk to feed twins or more! I count that a major blessing! Another major blessing is that Sam is a natural breast feeding baby. The nurses call him a barracuda. We tried a non nutritive feed where he breast feeds but I pump right before, so he is only getting a full tummy from the NG tube. He LOVED it. They then upped him to one real breastfeed a day and Sam thought that was the best! He got to suck and get milk. He went for 41 minutes straight! The doctors quickly put him at 2 nutritive feeds a day, which he passed so they went on to 4 of the 8 feeds to be nutritive. He was slowly gaining weight and eating so great! He got to come home from the NICU after being there only 11 days which is amazing! There are still multiple babies in the NICU who have been there for 28 days plus who still are stuck on non nutritive feedings! Sam really has done so so well. The doctor said that in his 2o plus years of working in the NICU he has never seen a baby like Sam who does so amazingly! It was so nice to bring Sam home, one of the reasons being that Zach and I were exhausted from driving to the hospital every 3 hours to feed him. By the time we got home from the hospital we would have 1 hour until we had to go back. This schedule went on all day/ all night. We both have loved having him home where I can wake up, feed Sam in bed, and go right back to sleep! Amazing!

The day he was discharged Zach brought Sam back from the car seat test and we got to take off all the leads and cords! He looked like a fresh baby. I have never seen Zach so happy to be with his little son, going home, cord free! We could not believe how tiny and adorable Sam looked in his little car seat. It was all such a great experience.

This is random but Zach and I thought that the hospital beds were so comfy! Maybe it was because we were so exhausted, but really we give them an A+!