Drumroll, Please.......... Presenting the newest member of our family...

Porter Owen Nielsen

 Can you believe all this fit in there?...

We took this picture the day before he was born.

Labor was... well, labor.  My doctor decided to induce me at 39 weeks since Porter hadn't really been growing much since 35 weeks and we wanted to get him out sooner rather than later so he could grow and thrive better.

After 7 failed IV attempts up and down my arms, 5 hours of waiting and waiting, an epidural that only worked on half of my body and a single push, Baby Porter was born January 20, 2011 at 1:42 pm (the day after his daddy's birthday so it should be easy for us to remember).

He was 5 lbs 10 oz and 19 in. and so handsome.

Life started out kind of rough for our little guy. Just a few hours after he was born they ran some routine blood tests and found out he had low blood sugar levels. He was whisked off to the NICU and they had to put an IV in his head to get his sugar levels up and keep him stabilized.  I thought it would be an easy fix but when he wouldn't nurse hardly at all for the first couple days I realized that he wasn't going to get to come home as quickly as I was hoping.  We tried everything to get him to eat but he was stubborn.  Little by little he improved each day but he still had to stay in the NICU until he could prove that he could eat enough on his own to stay healthy and grow.  They had to keep running blood tests every few hours to check his sugar levels.  It's hard enough watching your kids get shots at the doctor's office but I had to watch them poke his little heels for blood sample about 8 times a day.  Throw some nice post-pregnancy hormones on the whole situation and I was a little emotional.  Even though we live really close to the hospital, I didn't want to have to leave Porter there and figure a way to get there to nurse him at all hours of the day and night so I continued to stay at the hospital through their "hotel stay" program that allows moms of NICU babies to stay at the hospital so they can be near their baby.  Kole and our parents were super helpful to run back and forth to get me what I needed and still be there for the kids.  That was really great but I missed Eve and Jack and they couldn't even come visit since flu season had the hospital on defense and no one under 14 was allowed in.  I tried to come home for a couple hours in the evenings between feedings but it's just not the same as really being home.  Finally after 6 very long days, his doctor allowed him to come home.



So now he's home and he's doing great.  He's happy and healthy and eating like a pig all day long.  Too bad all that eating is just going to make him grow.  I love the tiny baby stage and it ends all too quickly. 

We are all so excited to have him home but I think Eve and Jack are especially thrilled...

 

What a proud big sister.



Jack just can't wait until Porter can play.  They are going to have so much fun.



Amazing that something so tiny and peaceful makes life more crazy! 

I'll try to keep things up-to-date amidst the many sleepless nights to come.

Hello 2011

Happy New Year (almost a week late)! We hope you did something exciting to bring in the change- perhaps exciting enough to give balance to the universe since we lived it up like the old married couple we are...  we actually got a babysitter and went out to dinner with Kole's family pretty early in the evening, we ate ourselves almost into a coma, we got home by 9 and watched some tv and then went to bed by a little after 10ish.  Totally exciting, right?

Maybe our New Year's Eve was calm but 2011 is already shaping up to be a little crazy.  If this first week is any indication of how the year is going to go... well, let's just say I'm a little nervous.  On Sunday I was put in as the new primary president in our ward, Jack turned 3 on Monday, that same day our furnace got condemned by the gas company (yes, we have to get a new one ASAP), the kids and I have been sick all week, and the baby should be here in the next 3 weeks.  Truly I am just a tad bit stressed but really I'm not complaining- maybe it's a good thing that we're getting all the stressful things over with at one time.  We can hope.

My little baby boy is 3!  He is growing up to be so smart and funny and handsome.  We just love him so much.  We had a really simple birthday party for Jack.  Just cake and icecream with family.  One of the favorite things he got was a Spiderman costume.  Now he finally doesn't have to play dress up in Eve's princess clothes.  Yay for him!!!

Oh, and by the way, "different" (see last post) was not good!  I am blonde again (sigh of relief).  My hair decided to turn pink so it had to go.  It's nice to feel like myself again anyhow.