Time is flying by

Tyler has now been in our lives for almost 2 weeks. He still is a great baby. We are trying to get his days/nights switched to match the majority of the world though. But, he still sleeps a ton and eats well. At his 2 day weight check, he was back up to 8 pounds, 8 ounces after having dropped to 8 pounds, 4 ounces at discharge.

Aubrey is adapting wonderfully to her new little brother. She loves to say "baby" and is always trying to share her sippy cup, snacks, etc. with him and makes sure that the bottle and pacifier are always near him. It's evident that she loves her little brother already.

She has also managed to age herself these past two weeks. She is no longer my little baby. The 25 pound toddler that I carried around at 39 weeks pregnant now weighs about 40 pounds after carrying Tyler. I still carry her when I can though and spend as much time snuggling with her as possible. She is also constantly expanding her vocabulary. The latest favorites are thank you, you're welcome, bless you (especially after Tyler sneezes) and where'd it go?

We love our babies and look forward to what the next months will bring! :) We are thankful for all who have visited us so far and welcome more visitors at any time! Jeff's sister, Jinger and her family came to visit. My parents came back for a couple of days to help me with the transition of being home with the two little ones while Jeff went back to work. (Thanks!) Jeff's parents came over a few times as well. His mom and my Aunt Gail came over to give us some much needed rest as well as one on one time with Aubrey. We are so grateful for all of their love and support.

Aunt Jinger and Uncle Gus

Grandpa Sandberg

Tyler's first bath

two of his many sleeping positions

feed me!

with his big sister

First visitors at home

Two days at home and we have our first visitors. My brother, Aaron came with his wife and daughter, Lissy and Lainey. They are expecting their second (first son) in April. This will be a good reminder of how small the babies are in the beginning. I sure know I had forgotten. We enjoyed their brief visit with us. Aubrey had a great time playing with Lainey and Tyler managed to open his eyes a couple of times to see them. We can't wait until their baby is born and Tyler has a new cousin to play with (one of these days)!

It's a Boy!!!

Tyler Jeffrey Sandberg is here!

Thursday morning, I was scheduled for 7:15am induction at Edward Hospital. After a restless night of sleep, we headed there anxious for our new baby to enter our lives.

Around 8:00am, the labor and delivery nurse, Janet, started me on pitocin to get the contractions going. She checked me and said that I was dilated 5cm, 80% effaced and station -1. About 9:00am, Dr. Pirozhnik arrived to break my water. She said I was now dilated to 6cm and immediately ordered the epidural for me. So, around 9:20am, life was good. :)

The nurse continued to check on my every 30 minutes or so and gradually increased my pitocin level. In the meantime, Jeff and I sat around watching TV and chatted with my parents. Finally about 11:20am, I started to feel the contractions in my back. I also noticed at this time that the instrument measuring them had slipped and they were no longer being tracked. The contractions continued to get a little stronger (even through the epidural) and they were about 1 1/2 minutes apart. So, about 11:35am, I paged the nurse to let her know. She came in and checked me again. This time, she said I was fully dilated and the baby was ready to come out. She said she wasn't even going to have my practice pushing at all as she was afraid I'd have the baby on the first push. I was thinking "could this be true???" So, she called Dr. Pirozhnik to have her come to deliver. The doctor was already delivering another baby down the hall and instructed the nurse to have me practice. So, we did... "breathe in, breathe out, 1...2...3...4...STOP! The baby is coming out." She again called the doctor who was there in 2 minutes. Game time! :) "Breathe in, breathe out, 1...2...3...4...5...6...STOP.... the head is out. Small push...1...2.... It's a boy!!" We were so excited!

1) We had our first baby boy!
2) He was healthy.
3) The Sandberg curse was broken (lots of daughters born to the Sandberg boys)... of course, this was one of the first things that I said after delivering. :)
4) The delivery was surprisingly easy.

So, at 11:54am, Tyler Jeffrey Sandberg was born. He weighed 8 pounds, 11 ounces and measured 20 inches. He had a full head of hair, just like Aubrey.


My mom was in the delivery room with us. She sat quietly while Jeff played an active role holding my leg during the delivery time. Luckily for him, it was much quicker so there was less time for him to feel faint. :) He was so proud when his first son was born. I haven't seen him that happy (and choked up) in quite some time.

My parents were the first to see Tyler. Dad came in as soon as he could and got to hold him. Shortly after, Jeff's parents arrived with Aubrey. She was so cute...excited to see the new baby (not knowing she'd be seeing an awful lot of him back at home) and concerned for Mommy hooked up to the IV's and laying in bed. She cried and didn't want to come to me because she thought I was hurt. She is so sensitive. Luckily, that faded once she received a gift from baby Tyler. He's already thinking of his big sister!

On Friday, Aubrey came back again with Jeff's parents. She was much less apprehensive this time. I was able to get up and walk around with her and she spent a little more time looking at Baby Tyler. Jeff's older sister, Julie, also came to visit.

The entire time spent in the hospital was wonderful. Tyler slept like a champ at night, allowing me to get 3-4 hours of sleep between feedings. This is the most sleep that I had gotten in about a week. He rarely cried and slept most of the day. He didn't even cry during his circumcision. :s The poor thing... It was going smoothly enough that Jeff was even able to escape for a bit to go to Lewis to see the men's team play UCLA and visit with our friend, JT. I would have loved to have gone, too, but duty called. Mom and Dad came to visit me though and spent some more quality time with their new grandson.

Finally on Saturday, we were released to go home. We were ready to take on the challenge of 2 under 2! Aubrey welcomed us as soon as we walked in the door. She's going to love her little brother!

Thanks to both of our parents for helping with Aubrey while we were in the hospital. Jeff's parents came to the house first thing Thursday morning so that my parents could go to the hospital with us. My parents spent the night at our house with Aubrey both nights. She is just as loved as her new little brother!

Bella Baby photos

Here are pictures taken by Bella Baby Photography at the hospital on Tyler's second day of life.