Samuel Thelonious Wilmart's Journal

2:52pm: Happy Birthday!
SammyT is one year old today. Where does the time go? He is doing awesome - learning and growing all the time. His new favorite thing is blowing on daddy's belly. He makes the most amazing fart noises that way!

He is crawling like a maniac, and will walk if you hold his hands. He can give a high five, and his favorite word is "dad." He's eating some solid food, but still likes mama's milk best.

Starting next week he'll be at a day care center one day a week so mom can work three days instead of two. He'll still be home with a parent the rest of the time. While it's not exactly Baby Einstein time at the center, he'll be safe and clean and fed.

6:24pm: Super Sammy
I'm takng a break from CNN at the moment, to share some photos and an update on Sam the Man. In short, he's doing great! He now has eight teeth, rolls over, gets up on all fours (no crawling yet), scoots around, and has started eating solid food. His sleep patterns depend on teething status, nap status and whim. Right now we're in a "I can't stay asleep at night" phase. Yawn.

Pictures!
I loved the fire at Christmas
Grandpa Jim showed me the fire too
Uncle Alec, Aunt Melissa, Melissa's mom
Sending clothes to Lynne
Playing with Eva at the company party
The Quimper Sound gang
Uh... food?
Sharing Grandpa with Cousin Riley
What's Victoria and why do I want to go there?
Check out my new ride!
It's OK for napping too
I like sleeping with mommy in the big bed!
Look at all those Wilmarts!
Mmmmm... yummy CD...

Enjoy.
Mom

10:56am: Six month update
Sammy had his six month check yesterday, and he's doing great! 21lb 3oz (same as two weeks ago, he's really slowing down), 27.5" tall, and head was 44.75cm. All at the top of the charts (90-95+ percentile). He got one shot, and was a pretty good sport about it.

He'll start taking flouride drops now to protect his mighty chompers.

We heard from his doctor and the pediatric neurologist that everything was normal with his EEG. So the shaking was probably just a transient thing, and nothing to worry about. We are glad, and not surprised.

10:46pm: eatin'
Sammy had his first taste of real food today. It was rice cereal, mixed with lots of mama's milk. He thought it was "OK." I think we'll try a bit thicker mix tomorrow. He liked taking it off Daddy's finger, but was a bit confused by the spoon. It was fun though, and not *too* messy.

Mom

7:47am: teeth!
I haven't uploaded new pictures in a while, but I had to share this new shot of Sam's mighty teeth. Six of them, all ready to chomp on YOU!

Mom

12:40pm: He rolls!
Sammy just rolled over for the very first time. And the second, third, and fourth time. He was on his tummy, and just tucked his shoulders and rolled. Then he laid there with an "I can't believe I haven't done this before" kind of look.

10:38pm: Brain Waves
Sammy went to the pediatric neurologist today. Back in December, he had two "shaking episodes." While he was nursing, his body started to quiver. It didn't last long, and he didn't exhibit any of the typical post-seizure symptoms (spaced out, wet diaper, etc.) But, with the family history of seizures on my side, we and his doctor thought it was worth investigating with an EEG.

The poor guy was supposed to arrive at his appointment sleep-deprived. I woke him up an hour early so we could catch the ferry (the doctor was in Woodinville). We were successful at keeping him awake in the car until the last ten minutes. When we got to the doctor's we were an hour early, so Steve spent the next hour entertaining Sam and trying to get him to forget about sleep and food. They were both good sports about it.

Sam got a zillion electrodes attached to his little head, which was then covered in gauze. Oh, for a camera! They finally let me nurse him, and he dozed off. They tracked his brain waves for half an hour, through drowsy, asleep, and awake cycles. Then they pointed a strobe light at him several times, with different speeds of strobing. That was it.

The doctor will look at the pages and we should get a call early next week. Hopefully everything will look fine and we won't need another in-person appointment.

In brighter news, Sam now has five teeth! I discovered number five yesterday, I hadn't even noticed. Number six should be breaking through soon too. I weighed him at my new mom's group, and he weighs 21lb 3oz. No idea how long he is, but his next well baby check is on Feb. 10.

That's it from the land of Sammy for today. Happy six months Birthday on Saturday!

Mom

10:49pm: Five and a half months old!
Sammy is five and a half months old today. I realize that we haven't given much news lately, and even fewer photos. The photos will have to wait, but here's what Sam's life is like:

*Teeth - he has two on the bottom, one just coming through on top and another on top that will be here soon. Since the top one cut through a few days ago, Sammy has taken to grinding it on the lower teeth. He's picking up mom & dad's anxious habit a bit early, don't you think? The teeth are causing much drool, and some crankiness. Infant ibuprofen is the drug of choice for the pain, but we've only used it occassionally.

*Sleep. Sam naps pretty well in the morning. You can almost set your clock by him; two hours after he wakes up he's ready to go back to bed. He usually naps again in the afternoon, and often in the early evening as well. Total nap time is about three hours. Nighttime sleep is a different story. One night he'll go to bed at 9, get up at 12 to nurse and not wake again until 8am. Then another night he'll be up every 45 minutes between 8pm - 8am. So... some mornings we are well-rested, some not. I just keep reminding myself, "this is a very brief, precious time in all our lives." It helps, really.

*Food. Although babies are "allowed" to have real food starting around 4-6 months, Sammy is still exclusively breastfed. He's shown some interest in what we're eating, but not enough to warrant starting solids. Current research seems to indicate that solids should be delayed when there is a strong family history of allergy. Since Steve is allergic to virtually everything, we're going to wait. We don't have any particular timeframe in mind. Oh, and for anyone who isn't up on the latest, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding for a minimum of a year, and continuing as long as baby and mom want to after that. We're hoping for two years.

*Size. Sammy is huge. He is nearly off the charts for his age. He is currently 20lbs 11oz, and more than 27" long (he was 27" at his last appointment 6 weeks ago). He is now wearing 12month sized clothes, and we had to get a new car seat to accomodate his gynormity. As we like to say, "he's a big sack o'boy!"

*Mom & Dad - we're doing great. I'm working one full day a week now, instead of two partial days. Steve and Sammy have Thursdays as "boy day." They love it, I love being able to concentrate on work for a full day, and we're only a ten minute drive away at any given time. We still haven't left Sam with anyone yet, as there hasn't really been a need. We take him out to dinner with us (he just barely fits in a high chair), and he's pretty easy going most of the time. The hardest thing has been not going to movies together, but we're working it out. He's just so pleasant to be around, we don't feel that need to "get away" like many parents do. Not yet. We will, I'm sure.

That's it from the land of Sammy for today.
Mom

Current Mood: sleepy

9:00am: Holiday Fun
Sammy had his four month check up yesterday - he's doing great! He weighs 18lbs 15oz, which is nearly off the charts for his age. He's 27" tall, and his big ole head is 44cm. Height and head are in the 90-95th percentile. Yep, he's still a very big happy boy.

He still has only two teeth, but we think two more might be coming soon on top. We had to give him his first dose of infant ibuprofen the other night to soothe his sore mouth. He was chewing on everything, including mommy (ouch).

We spent Thanksgiving with Grandma Mary, Grandpa Jim, cousin Riley and Steve's brothers - John and his wife Darcy (Riley's mom & dad) and Alec and his fiance Melissa.

The kissin' cousins had fun together, and so did the rest of the family.

Next up...Christmas...

Mom

5:25am: My life in pictures
The big excitement of the week was that Sammy hurled yesterday. In. My. Mouth. Ugghh! Daddy gets pee, I get puke. Yum.

The whole Wilmart clan dressed up for Halloween. Sammy started out as a bear cub (no pictures) and ended up as Tigger(thanks to Jack & Lynne & Jed). Everybody had a good time. Although Sammy was a little confused about who was the mommy.

Some of Sammy's other rituals include a weekly bath, and falling asleep to the sound of his "fishies" in their aquarium (battery changes required frequently). And if that doesn't work, Sammy has discovered the age-old sleep aid.

Enjoy!
Mom

7:55pm: November update
We have pictures from Halloween, and will be posting them soon. Sammy was just adorable, despite soiling two costumes. He continues to amaze us with the changes every day. Five days ago, we discovered that he has two teeth coming in! This week, he weighed in at 18lbs, 2.5oz. He's a very big boy, and almost always in a good mood. He gets cranky when he's tired, or (presumably) when his teeth hurt.

Earlier this week he went to a conference with me in Olympia. Steve came down for two of the three nights, and we were on our own for two days and one night. He was the star of the show; he was the only baby in attendance. Two solid days of being held constantly, cooed at and smiled at -- he's a bit spoiled now. But in a good way.

We also discovered that he doesn't like too much chocolate in his milk. I ate an extremely large and rich chocolate confection, and he had some bowel upset the next two days. No more giant chocolate treats for mom!

That's all from the land of Sammy. He's doing great!

Mom

2:49pm: Gynormous Boy
We know that Sammy is big. We know that Sammy is

10:25am: HWP
Sammy had his two month "well baby check" last week. He wasn't well, so he didn't get his shots (oh darn). And he was 2.5 months old. But they checked him out from head to toe and decided he was perfect except for the cold.

He was 25" long/tall (95th percentile)
His noggin was 42.5cm around (90th percentile)
He weighed 16lbs 5oz (95th+ percentile)

So he is a giant among men, at least among 2.5 month old men! His cold appears to be going away, hopefully for good. We've been slathering him, us, and anyone who touches him with hand sanitizer. It stinks like rubbing alcohol (the active ingredient) but seems to work.

more pictures soon,

Mom

10:42am: Another cold & more pictures
Sammy is sick again. He was "well" for all of four days, then totally congested again. This is day five of round two, and he seems to be on the mend again. I'll believe it when I see it. We rescheduled his two-month check up (and shots) when he was sick before, now it looks like we may have to reschedule again. The appointment's tomorrow, and unless he makes a miraculous recovery overnight I don't think he'll be getting the needle. We'll see.

In other news, we visited Grandma Mary (unbelievable... no pictures. Grandma, don't let us leave without a picture of you and Sammy next time!), Grandpa Jim,, and Great Grandpa Paul earlier this month. Sam was a huge hit, despite his cold. I just about cried when Steve's grandpa said the happiest days of his life were when there was a baby in the house. Sammy is so good natured and cuddly, everybody loves holding him. Including mom & dad (but we don't mind sharing).

'til next time,
Mom

7:29am: Through the night
They say that when babies sleep five hours at a stretch, that qualifies as "sleeping through the night." Well, Sammy slept six hours at a time for two nights in a row, then night before last he slept seven and a half! We took this as a sign that he was ready to go back in the crib. So last night Sam had the heater and humidifier in his room, and we had no "fussy/crying/I'm miserable for two hours before I go to bed" scene. He went to sleep at 9:30 after a massive nursing (and explosive hurling) session, and slept until 2:30. Up for a quick nurse and back down until 6am. Coincidentally, Daddy had a 7am meeting so this was perfect timing.

OK, more pictures. Grandma JB and Grandpa Jack came to visit in September, much to Sam's delight. He got lots of snooze time on Grandma, and introduced Grandpa to the concept of baby-wearing. A good time was had by all.

9:16am: Dangers of the great unwashed
We think Sammy picked up his cold two weeks ago at his first Mariners game. He seemed to enjoy it, especially riding with daddy.

He is now in day 13 of said cold, and mom has it too. The humidifier in the bedroom seems to help, as does sleeping in the car seat (Sam, not mom). He has not lost any weight, though, as he clocked in at a hefty 15lbs 5oz on Friday. Yowza!

9:07am: learning about links
OK, I'm going to try and post links to some of Sammy's pictures. This is a test to see if it works. He's smiling so much now you really must check him out!

9:23pm: Sammy Pictures
Hi everyone. Beth will be posting soon, I'm sure, pointing folks to certain pictures with accompanying narrative. But for those of you who couldn't care less about the story (apparently) and just want pretty pictures, I thought I'd remind you that you can always look here and see them all in thumbnail form (clicking on an image will blow it up). Pictures will often be posted there in advance of their accompanying story - so check back often...

9:13am: Snuffelufigus
Sammy has what appears to be his first cold. Much snuffling and sneezing. Poor little guy! He seems to be in good spirits, just tired. All that wheezing is surely exhausting. I know it is for mom & dad.

7:23pm: Pure cream, baby
Sam is doing very well on mama's milk. At five weeks, he is already a whopping 12lbs 11oz. He is mostly out of the newborn sizes and into the 3-6 months. Chubby cheeks, extra chins, and lots of smiles.

We had friends visiting the last few days, so we haven't had time to post the most recent photos. Soon, I promise. We have a couple of cute close ups and even a smile or two.

Mom starts her new job in two weeks, so we're busy looking for a breast pump to buy or borrow. Then Daddy can give Sammy his liquid gold. Sleep is still a challenge; Sam seems to nap longer during the day/evening than at night. Ahh... life with a newborn. So short, so precious. Before we know it he'll be heading off to college.

10:00am: A beautiful morning
Today is mommy's Birthday. Sam gave her the best present - sleeping from 11:40pm - 3:40am (four hours!) last night, in addition to some shorter snoozes. This made for a very happy morning all around.

Yesterday Sam graced daddy with several wide-mouthed smiles, and much new interest in the world around him. Perhaps all this stimulation is what caused the extended snooze. Must try it again tonight!

Little man is calling...

8:02am: Daddy: 56 / Samster-the-Hamster: 2
Last night the Sammy finally scored. With mamma asleep on the wing, and daddy half-asleep in the post position, Sammy drove to the hole and w/daddy fast approaching he unleashed his trademark hookshot. Daddy was prepared for this, though, as he'd seen that move before - so before Sammys arcing pee-shot could do any damage, daddy blocked it with a spare diaper. In your pants, Sammy! But the play was not over - Sammy's ploy to lull sleepy daddy into complacency had worked. As soon as daddy stood up from putting the two wet diapers and his wrap in the hamper, Sammy stole the ball drove to the hoop again - this time daddy had nothing to block it with and Sammy scored! Goal! The moment he'd been living his whole life for! He peed on daddy! On your chest, Daddy, he giggled! Then as daddy was wiping himself off, Sammy was called for taunting as he pooped all over the changing table sans diaper - the crowd went wild! We will meet again, friend. No pictures, sadly.

P. S. He weighed in yesterday at 11 lbs! That's a pound in a week. Criminey, this kids gonna be gigantic...

1:07pm: Dinner "out"
Last night we took Sam to a restaurant for the first time. El Serape is our favorite Mexican place, a friendly family joint. They seated us smack in the middle of the room. Of course, Sam needed to nurse as soon as we placed our order.

I was very proud of myself for nursing him right then & there, and not "flashing" everyone in the process. Luckily, my dinner was mostly finger food, so I was able to eat while he ate.

He is having a growth spurt, typical at three weeks. What this means is he wants to nurse every hour or so. I'm not kidding. I probably nursed him 18 times in the last 24 hours. I am a milk machine.

3:42pm: Big Boy
Sammy had his two week check up yesterday, and he is already a whopping 10 pounds! He's still doing great -- growing more every day. His eyes are open wider and more frequently now, and mom & dad are having fun finding new ways to play with him during his increasing "quiet alert" times.

Nighttime parenting is a shared job; Sam sleeps from 1-4 hours at a stretch. Mom and dad are taking turns getting him up, changed, and back down again. Only mom can nurse, but dad does everything else in turn. This way we both get longer stretches of sleep. I'm so grateful to have a husband who is willing to share the night time duties.

In other minutiae, Sam seems to like his new flannel diapers. Cloth diapering is going great, we've only had one real "blow out" so far. And that was on the lap of my friend Lori, who arrived yesterday. She was here for a week before Sam was born, but had to leave before he made his entrance.

That's it from the land of Sam today...

12:46pm: Sammy's Birth Story
At 7:30am on Wednesday, July 31st, we checked into Jefferson General Hospital for a gel induction. Sammy was 11 days overdue, and since my cervix was dilated to 2cm, partially effaced, and midline, I was a good candidate for a gentle nudge from the prostaglandin gel. Our nurse was Laura Showers, the Clinical Manager for the Family Birth Center.

At around 8:30am, Dr. Elinor Tatham arrived to check the results of the non-stress test and administer the gel. What we discovered when we began the NST was that I was having contractions already, but they were very mild. Dr. T. inserted the gel, and we continued to monitor my uterine activity.

By mid morning it was apparent that I was going into labor, and would not be going home that day. My contractions started slowly, gradually building in intensity and frequency. We utilized many of the comfort measures we had learned from books, classes and videos, including laboring in the shower (Steve joined me), on the birth ball, and in various standing positions. The contractions seemed to come most frequently when I was in the shower.

We also had the attendants set up the “water doula” – a big portable hot tub. This really got things going. Steve and I sat in the tub as I continued to labor. I found that a low, guttural moan seemed most natural and soothing. We received many compliments on how well we worked together as a team.

I was checked a few times during the day, progressing from 2cm to four, to five, and eventually to six by the evening. Towards the end of the evening Dr. T. broke my bag of waters, in an effort to get Sammy to descend. He was still too high up in the pelvis, and she felt he might be bouncing against the bulging bag of water. There was meconium in the water, but not enough to be concerned about. Around this time labor began to get very intense and exhausting, and I began to get discouraged.

I don’t remember exactly how things went from being “OK” to being “not OK.” But the following things happened sometime around 9pm: I decided I needed to have some pain relief, I vomited, I began to get hysterical. Getting pain relief took a little while, because we had refused to do a blood draw earlier in the day which would be required before receiving pain meds. Since we wanted to labor naturally, and knew we could always do the blood draw later, we declined to do it until it became necessary. Also, I’m not sure the anesthesiologist was at the hospital, she may have been paged to come in. In any event, it took until about 11pm before I received any pain relief.

The plan was to give me an intra-thecal injection – a combination of narcotic and anesthetic that would allow me to get some rest and let my uterus continue to do it’s work. They also inserted an internal monitor (attached to Sammy’s head) to monitor him more closely. I got a urinary catheter, since I wouldn’t be able to go to the bathroom once I got the pain meds. I also got oxygen, in a mask over my mouth and nose, and a clip on my finger to measure my oxygen level. In preparation for the eventual need for additional pain control, they inserted a shunt that could be quickly converted to an epidural line. I also received an IV drip of fluids, and eventually, pitocin.

The intra-thecal was supposed to last five hours. I, like about 25% of women who receive this medication, responded with an intense all-over body itch. While the pain subsided, and I grew drowsy, I tried not to scratch. After about an hour and a half, I started to feel some contractions again. They grew steadily more intense, until I began to have to breathe through them. Steve was trying to relax in the chair next to me, Dr. T. was asleep in the next room, and the nurse who was monitoring me said it wasn’t time to do anything else. This upset me, as I was rapidly approaching the pain threshold I had just left a few hours before.

Finally the nurse got Dr. T to come in and examine me. I still had a little “lip” on my cervix, but was dilated to 9cm. She ordered the epidural, since I was in extreme pain and had lost my ability to cope with it. She still wanted my uterus to do the work of getting the cervix the rest of the way open. She indicated that baby was still too high up, and she suspected he was face up (best birth position is face down, or toward the mom’s back).

Labor continued, and the epidural never really caught up with the pain. Toward morning, Dr. T. began discussing a c-section. We had the option of booking the first surgery of the day, at 7am, or waiting until that surgery was over to take our turn. We asked to wait, and give things a bit more time. I asked about vacuum extraction, and she said baby was still too high up. She did try to gently nudge him to roll over into a face down position, but he stayed put.

Around this time, I had a particularly strong contraction, and had to push. I didn’t even realize I was pushing until afterwards. When I pushed, I felt a little “pop.” I got Dr. T back in the room and told her. She examined me again, and announced that baby had begun to descend. We were cleared to push.

Push, push, push for awhile. They set up the squat bar in reverse, and tied a sheet to the middle of it. Steve and the nurse put my feet on the bar when a contraction started, handed me the sheet, and I pulled on the sheet to create counter-pressure while I pushed. Unfortunately, Sammy didn’t move much. We also discovered that the pitocin drip had come undone, so my contractions had slowed to five minutes apart. Pushing every five minutes was not very effective.

Once we got the pitocin going again, I kept pushing. Dr. T. decided to try the vacuum in combo with my pushing. Putting in the vacuum cup was more painful than the contractions. But she got it in there, on Sammy’s head, and she would pull gently while I pushed. Still only miniscule movement. She offered one other option – go to hands & knees position – but by this time I was done. We began the process of going to surgery.

The surgical nurse and anesthesiologist came in to meet me, everyone got mobilized, and as soon as the surgical suite was available they wheeled me downstairs. They increased my epidural in anticipation of the surgery, but I still felt contractions pretty strongly. Once in the surgical suite, they realized I would need a spinal in order to get numb enough for the surgery. They were quite impressed that I was able to sit tailor-style on the gurney to receive the spinal. I was so relieved that it was almost over I would have stood on my head if they had asked me too.

Steve arrived dressed in scrubs to sit near my head while I slowly released all sense of pain and feeling. It was all I could do to stay awake. I could hear Dr. Lawrence, the surgeon, talking to Dr. T. But I couldn’t feel a thing. Even when they took Sammy out, they say you are supposed to feel some jostling and pressure – I felt nothing. Steve stood up to watch them take Sammy out. He said he won’t forget that image for a very long time. They took Sam out, cut the cord, and moved him over to a warming table. Steve was able to go to him and talk to him; I could hear Sammy crying and looked over to see him. He was beautiful. Steve said they also removed my uterus to inspect it, and agreed that due to extreme uterine stretching I would not be a good candidate for a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) in the future. So I’ll never know the feeling of a complete vaginal birth, but I do think I’ve experienced just about everything else the birth process has to offer.

Steve brought Sammy over so I could say Hi, but I was way too groggy to interact with him much. Luckily, they let Steve hold him the entire time, walking around the OR. After they stitched me up, they moved me to recovery. Steve had to give Sammy up briefly so the nurses could weigh and measure him (9lbs 5oz, 21.5”). They brought Sammy over to breastfeed as soon as my hands regained feeling. The rest of me was still pretty numb, especially my legs.

Then it was back up to my room, settled in with a self-dosing morphine drip, and mostly left alone. Steve, Sammy and I had some wonderful time alone together as a family. My hospital stay was fairly routine, although we convinced them to let me go home a day early. We came home Saturday to Birthday cake and ice cream, and our own bed. Every day just gets better and better, and I can’t believe how lucky I am to have such a darling boy and loving husband.

Samuel Thelonious Wilmart
Born August 1, 2002 10:26am
Port Townsend, WA