Surprise, we're parents!

We've had a busy last few weeks! It all started with the unfortunate passing of 2 wonderful women, Bob's Grandma Zellma, and a very good family friend of the Samperts, Karla. They both passed the same day and the funerals were planned a day apart, so we took some time off work and drove home for the funerals. Jared met us at our place and we headed to the Jeppsens after work on Monday. We stayed the night with Jap and Jen and the kids and then we all caravanned home. It definitely made the 700 mile drive go a lot faster to have Jared and the Jeppsens along with us! Jared rode with us and Mady and Brooklyn took turns riding with us too and we played a lot of games on my phone together and just had a great time. We got to the Samperts Tuesday evening, then Ronny and Monika and the boys flew in on Wednesday and we had a sad few days of funerals, but it was nice to celebrate the lives of these 2 great women and to have some time with the whole Sampert family together. Carolyn's sister Barbara and her husband, David, also were home for these funerals, and I've only met them once before as they live in South Carolina, so it was nice to spend some time with them too.

Jen is always the organizer and had her friend Cassy take family pictures of us while we were all home, which was a great idea since we never have that opportunity. Unfortunately, the weather was not so cooperative, as it snowed and was freezing most of the time we were home, but the morning of pictures it was windy, cold, and drizzling a bit, but the pictures still turned out pretty well despite that! Also an added degree of difficulty with this many little kids, but we were glad to get some nice shots.

One of the better shots of all of us

Bob and I--our last picture of just the 2 of us before Johnny arrived!

A belly shot before Johnny's arrival

I really thought this was a cute one!

After a great visit home despite the sadness, we really enjoyed seeing our families but headed back to Salt Lake with Jared on Sunday. The drive went ok--I sat in the back and put my feet up, and we all took turns driving which broke it up quite a bit.

So Monday seemed like a regular day! We hadn't posted a picture for 32 weeks yet, so we thought we'd go ahead and take one. I felt great! I had a good day back at work, finishing rounds early, putting my feet up while I worked on notes and dictations, and I got the usual 3 consults after 3:30, all of which I was politely invited to push until Tuesday, but did and dictated before I left because I had time. I drank plenty of water, and took the elevator instead of the stairs throughout the whole day because they were painting the stairs by my office so they were closed. I got home and put my feet up and Bob took care of me as usual. I felt a little uncomfortable, like Johnny was a bit lower than he'd been and I had a bit more pressure, but overall felt ok.

Unfortunately, I had trouble falling asleep no matter how many times I repositioned, got up to pee, or did anything else. Eventually I started to have a little pain, and I realized I was having contractions! Never having had any contractions this whole time really, it took me a bit to realize that's what was happening! I started timing them and they were 5, then 4 minutes apart over the 30 minutes I timed them. So, I woke up Bob and told him, "I don't think he's coming yet, but we need to go to the hospital to get checked out!" Needless to say, he was awake pretty fast!

We headed to Salt Lake Regional, where my doc has privileges, and they checked us in quickly and got me on monitors for Johnny and my contractions, and this confirmed that he was doing great but my contractions were now 3 minutes apart, regular, and getting stronger. They did a bunch of tests, including a fetal fibronectin, which is a test to tell how likely you are to deliver prematurely. If it's negative, there is a very low likelihood that you'll deliver in the next 2 weeks, but if it's positive, it's very likely the baby will come soon. Mine was of course positive, so they told us we'd be staying. They initially told us a minimum of 48 hours, and if they stopped my contractions I could go home on bed rest for at least the next 5 weeks. They gave me steroids to help Johnny and terbutaline to stop my contractions, and initially this seemed to work--I got 4 shots of terb over my first 1/2 day there and my contractions started spacing apart, as far as 30-40 mins between them, and were weaker and we thought we'd be going home with bedrest soon, and really did not think Johnny'd be joining us!

Here I am at Salt Lake Regional with my very puffy fingers and toes and cankles! Feeling ok at this point though--the contractions were not very painful yet, thankfully.

Later in the evening on Tuesday my contractions started to get closer together, so they switched to nifedipine, but it didn't really work either and my contractions got 3 mins apart again and much stronger. We'd previously discussed that if they got closer together and stronger they'd transfer me to the U of U hospital because the NICU at Salt Lake Regional only really takes premies down to 34 weeks, so if there was a real possibility of Johnny coming, I should be at the U with a big level 3 NICU where they'd be well-equipped to care for him. I called my nurse and told her it was getting worse and she agreed it was time to transfer, so they got that ball rolling, and checked me again before I left and now I was dilated to a 4, from a 2-3 when I came in early Tuesday morning. Because they weren't sure how quickly I'd progress, they debated sending me by helicopter! The U is only 5 mins away, so I got my first ambulance ride (no lights or sirens) there. Bob followed in the car so we'd be able to drive home eventually.

We got there and they checked me again and I hadn't progressed. They got more labs and increased my nifedipine dose, but my contractions continued getting stronger and closer together, unfortunately ending up without a break between them. I'd have one start, and before it would stop the next one would come, and now they were super-painful. This went on for several hours and they gave me some fentanyl which did NOTHING but make me a little woozy for a few minutes, but I still had horrific pain. I got my second dose of steroids, more labs, and the pain continued. They didn't want to give me my epidural until they were sure I was going to deliver, so I just suffered along.

Finally, early in the morning Wednesday, the pain was so bad that I was just crying and moaning, definitely a low point. Poor Bob felt awful because there was nothing he could do for me. I tried repositioning, peeing every few minutes, breathing deeply, nothing helped. Finally, I started having a bit of bleeding and the pain was at its worst, so I called the nurse and asked her to get my doctor again to see what else we could do. They checked me again and now I was a 5, so they agreed that I was definitely having Johnny today and there was no chance my contractions were going to stop at this point so they called anesthesia to get my epidural. They also counseled us about a possible emergent c-section as my bleeding could mean I was having a placental abruption. Luckily, Johnny's heart rate was perfect throughout all of this, which gave me a lot of peace despite my own discomfort! They gave me my epidural and it only really made my left leg numb and my contractions were all focused in the left side of my butt! After a bit the anesthesiologist came back and put more med in my epidural and then I was numb everywhere from the waist down. By then they'd already moved us to a different room expecting I'd deliver soon. This new room had a window in it through which they would pass Johnny to the NICU team to resuscitate and take him there. I closed my eyes and had the first 5 mins of rest in the last 48 h and it was glorious. Then the new attending doc of the day came in and explained that because my epidural was so effective and I couldn't feel my contractions anymore, she wanted to check me again to see if I had progressed further. Sure enough, even though I'd just been checked an hour prior, I was now an 8, 80% and she told me I'd be having him soon so we should all get ready!

They broke my water, put a scalp monitor in him, and 4 pushes later he was born at 9:07 AM on Wed, Apr 27! He was 18 inches long, 4 pounds and 14 ounces. He was 32+5 weeks along, but cried right away and they whisked him away to the NICU team through the window, but he was so handsome and Bob and I were so overwhelmed with joy! I know everyone says so, but now we know firsthand just how much love we have for our new baby! It really was overwhelming!

He got CPAP for just a few minutes, then oxygen through a regular nasal cannula, but then was on room air with no support by 1 hour of life! Because I was so numb from my epidural, I had to wait until I had a little feeling back before they'd let me go see him. Bob went over and saw him though and he texted me pictures so at least I got to see how he was doing!

Here's Bob hanging out with Johnny when he first got to the NICU!

Johnny had CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) for a few minutes after he was born because he was working a little hard to breathe

I started to be able to move my legs and they let me come see him! By then he'd already gotten rid of his oxygen and was doing great with no support! He was so handsome!

This is our first family picture of all 3 of us!

Jared and his friend Amy came to visit us shortly after Johnny was born, then my friend Amber came, and Rach came later that day! Johnny was very alert and watching her and enjoyed their visit, even though he looks sleepy here!

When I was visiting him the next day he had to get his heel poked to check his sugar since premature babies are more likely to have hypoglycemia. His sugars were good though, although he hated the poke!

Karl and Christi came to visit and Johnny got to meet them too!

Cute tiny little foot! Those nails are a lot longer now!

Bob doing his cares--every 3 hours he got his diaper changed, temp checked, an assessment by his nurse, and then got fed so we'd start that process.

Watching us from his box

Bob enjoying his son!

Cute little footprints we did on his second day of life! We didn't roll the left one as much, so it looks smaller, but don't worry, his feet are the same size!

Handprints are way harder to do, but still pretty dang cute!

Bob doing his cares-taking his temperature, changing his diaper

He loves having his hands by his face, even when he had IV's in them! He was poked a lot the first few days and had 7 IV's in the first 4 days! Poor guy! Luckily he got to full feeds quickly and stopped the IV's by then.

Being held by Mom

Such a loveable little face with his half smile!

Proud papa

Good morning Johnny!

Holding my hand

Snuggling with Daddy

Snuggling with Mom!

Bonding with Grandpa Sampert

Carolyn came down with a bit of a cough just before they made their trip here, so she of course didn't want to infect Johnny, but I persuaded her to come at least take a look at him since he was safe inside the box, and here she is enjoying a peek at her newest grandson!

He would wake up before it was time to feed him every 3 hours and was so alert! He definitely slept the rest of each day, so these wakeful moments were so precious!

Ron was pretty excited to meet Johnny too!

Our little angel, sleeping so peacefully!

Snuggling skin to skin with Daddy!

He does a LOT of yawning! :)

Snuggling with Daddy!

Cute hands and so awake and alert!

Holding Daddy's finger

Such tiny little fingers!

Johnny wants to wave hello! And the shirt is definitely right!

He's very pensive! There's always a lot to mull over in the NICU

Cute little lion on his bum!

Huge yawn!

More quality Daddy snuggle time

Such a loveable face! His furrowed brow cracks me up! His hat has a sticker on it because it's ours-we put his stickers on the clothes we brought for him there so the nurses would know not to throw them in the regular NICU laundry.

Such a cutie!

waving hello again

Such an adorable guy!

"Psst! Lemme tell you something!"

Getting his first bath ever! He LOVED it and didn't cry at all and was such a mellow boy!

Look how he even looked at the camera! He's such an alert little guy!

We took a few pics while the NG was out when we changed it! He has such a handsome face and it was nice to see it without the tube!

He always has his hands up by his face and they're so cute!

This might be my fave Johnny pic ever! He has a great smile and although I'm sure they're mostly accidental still, they're soooooo adorable and I was so happy to catch this one! His hair is all fuzzy after his first bath, and I love his little crab sweatshirt!

Had to get a picture while the NG tube was out! Johnny was not feeling up to the paparazzi though!

So the NICU was tough. He was doing everything except eating everything by mouth, so I asked if we could go home and keep working on feeds there. initially they were hesitant, but compromised that they'd consider it once he was 35 weeks, which he was on Friday, and they let us go home!

Still not sure what we're up to!

So cute all bundled up in his car seat and ready to go!

Ready to go on his first car ride home!

Lilo's checking out her new little brother

We're so happy to have our sweet boy home, even though he keeps us very busy! I've pumped quite a bit, so if I'm noy nusing him, Bob can give him a bottle, but we add a small amount of formula to it to increase the calories, then we warm it up, and whatever he doesn't take through the bottle he gets through the tube. When I nurse him, I estimate how much he got and give the rest through his tube. He's making AWESOME progress just in the day and half we've been home though! In the hospital he only took 10ml by bottle, but this morning he took his entire volume, 45ml, by bottle for Bob! He nurses better each time too. In the hospital he was taking 10-20% of his feeds by mouth over the course of the day, and in his first 24h home it was >1/3! We're trying to be patient, because he's still a little guy and wasn't supposed to arrive for another 5 weeks, but we're hopeful that he'll not need the tube in the next 1-2 weeks! :)

He has his first doctor's appointment on Monday to see how he's doing with weight gain and we'll adjust his feeding volume a bit at that point I'm sure.

For those who don't know why we picked his name, my dad's name was John, and Bob's dad's middle name is Jay, hence he is John Jay Sampert for both Grandpas. We call him Johnny and think it really suits him!

Thanks to everyone for all their support and kind words and prayers throughout these crazy last few weeks! We're all doing well and just so appreciative that this all worked out as well as it did and he's so perfect and healthy despite being a bit early!

Because of my preterm labor and the two miscarriages I had in 2010 prior to getting pregnant with Johnny, I have a few more tests at my next appointment to help try to figure this out. Most likely I will need to do progesterone shots with further pregnancies to decrease my risk of preterm labor, but again we're just grateful that although he came early everything worked out and now they'll monitor me that much more closely next time so we'll be less likely to have a bad outcome/super premature baby with our next pregnancy. (Although it's tough to think about another baby right now while we're enjoying this one!)

Hope you're all having a great weekend and I really can't express how loved we've felt from all the prayers, calls, texts, emails, packages, and other ways everyone's conveyed their concern and love for our family! We're so grateful for all our blessings and especially this darling sweet baby Johnny!