More pics of Me

Hello, My Mom had a difficult time getting these pictures to post. For some reason, the blogger site isn't working very good and she couldn't get the pictures to line up. Oh well. I lost my umbilical cord last week and so I was able to have my first real bath. I wasn't sure of it at first, but it was ok in the end. I still have been giving my Mom a hard time with breastfeeding, but she is supposed to be calling someone to come help. So that means I am going to have to change my habits, boo hoo. My Mom or Dad will post some more pics of me as soon as they can. Hopefully the site will work better then. I wanted to say one last thing and that is to welcome my new friend into the world. Her name is Audrey Ella and she was born on Oct 5. Her Mom and my Mom have been friends since they were kids. Welcome Audrey and I hope we can meet soon and play together.



Pete making a bottle













Hangin' in my bouncy seat (8 days old)













I like my bouncy seat, but it gives me hiccups sometimes











Relaxing in the boppy pillow, Mom had to use a towel to hold my head up









Taking a snooze

9 days old and my Mom thinks I can reach those toys already












13 days old, smiling up at Mom

Another smile for Mom

Me and Uncle Jared

My first bath, not too sure about this yet (15 days old)







I like my frog towel that was a gift from Darci, Mike, Lindsay, and Audrey ( she is a newborn too)

Doctor Visit #2

Jacob had a doctor appointment yesterday and he has grown to 8 lbs 9 oz. That's almost 1 pound more since birth, and over 1 pound from his coming home weight. He is doing really well. The only problem right now is breastfeeding. It's been a huge challenge for me. I am trying to stay calm and relaxed when trying, but it does get frustrating. My milk has come in but not in large quantities and I don't know if Jacob is always comfortable. So we are working on positioning and using a syringe of formula to try to keep him latched until he can do it consistently on his own. I know others who had a difficult time and made it, so I hope I can stay strong and keep trying. I am just glad he is gaining weight and the jaundice has decreased dramatically, almost completely gone. That's good so he didn't have to have another bilirubin test.
Pete has been great. I let him sleep at night so at least one of us gets sleep. Plus, I have to stay downstairs for a few more days due to the surgery, and Jacob does too so I can nurse/feed him. Luckily, he sleeps a good 2 1/2 to 3 hours at one time most of the time. I try to nap during the day as much as I can. Well, that's it for now. I don't have any new pictures on the computer yet, but will get those posted asap. Take care all.

Fountain of Youth

Well, it's been very interesting the first few days home, especially diaper changing time. We will get Jacob all cleaned up and about to strap down the clean diaper -put ointment on his little pee-pee to keep it moist after his circumcision- and then the fountain of youth comes alive!! It's quite powerful, as he was able to aim and hit himself in the head lol. I have been fortunate to dodge the fountain, but it's been fun watching him try. I had my 1 week checkup yesterday, and had my staples removed. The doctor was kind of confused why the on-call doctor didn't take them out before we left on Sunday, but oh well. She took them out and gave me a prescription just in case I have a superficial infection. I guess the skin was a little pink from either the staples being in too long, or possible infection. So to be on the safe side, she prescribed some antibiotics. She also informed me that my placenta had an infection. That was surprising and she was shocked that I didn't show any clinical signs like fever, chills or shaking because that normally would show up. Delivery is the cure for that infection. But anyway, I am fine and weigh 3 lbs less than before I got pregnant, so that was fabulous news!! Anyway, that's all for now. I have attached some more pics of Jacob over the last few days. Enjoy!

10 hrs old








9/28/07 Jacob and Grandma Bradley, only 11 hrs old.








Jacob and Grandpa Tormala, 20 hrs old








Great Aunt Mary Tormala holding Jacob, 9/29/07-1 day old








Great Uncle Ken Tormala, Dad, and Jacob - the oldest and youngest Tormala 9-29-07







Great Aunt Joyce and Jacob 9-29-07












Jacob, Mom and Dad 9-29-07





Krystal, Uncle Jared's girlfriend, and Jacob 9-29-07









Getting ready to leave the hospital 9-30-07 (2 days old)








Jacob's first car ride, ready to go home









Jacob and Dad, 1st night at home 9-30-07









Grandma Bradley and Jacob, 3 days old (10-1-07)








Jacob making faces, he actually did smile today for me and he's only 3 days old







Jacob trying out his bouncing seat









Jackie being curious









5 days old in my cradle









In my bouncy again, I like the vibrations









Grandma Tormala and Jacob 10-3-07









Bath time








All clean and smelling good








I can fold my hands all by myself - 6 days old


















A close up, What are you doin' mom?








Trying to smile for mom








Just chillin' in my bassinet

First Dr. Visit

Well Jake had his first Dr. visit today. He had a good car ride over to the hospital, no fussing at all. The nurse had me get him ready while Sara rested and answered questions. He was doing just fine until they took his temp... rectally... He kinda had a look of "what the heck was that" and then proceeded to cry.

We left the hospital with Jake weighing 7lbs 6oz. He weighed in at 7lbs 11oz which is almost back up to birth weight. He also stretched out a bit, he is now 20.5" long. All his vitals were good and his jaundice is fine. We have another visit on Tuesday of next week.

After that we had to pick up some groceries so Jake went shopping. I asked Sara to stay in the car but she thought she could use some exercise.

Later on at home Sara had a loss of sensation and numbing in her left leg from her hip down to her toes. She called her Dr. and they said to go to the ER in case it is blood clot. Once we got checked in and settled in the exam room her numbness had subsided. They checked her out and figured it must be shifting of fluids which caused it. I think she was on her feet too much but I am not a Dr. She is home again and feeling fine now. Next time she will stay in the car when I go get the groceries... More later.

Baby Is Home Now

Well Sara and Jacob came home yesterday afternoon during a wicked rain and lightning storm. Once we got home, the cats were introduced to Jacob. Squirt the male cat seems to like him just fine. Jackie the girl kitty seems to me to be a bit jealous but has not bothered the baby at all.

Once we got that out of the way, we introduced the dogs, Toivo is a German Shepard and Zed is an Alaskan Husky. They were both real excited and still are. They want to smell the baby and I think they want to know if they can play with it. We are going to take it slow with the big oaf's. I had them sleep in the garage last night. They saw it fitting to chew off some insulation from the garage wall. Ha.

Onto the baby's first night. Well I can say that Sara and I are both tired. She tended to Jacob more than I did, though we were both up. I kept saying to let me take care of him but she wanted me to get some rest too. I don't know why, I did not just have a C-section.

So, Jacob was up pretty much every two hours or sooner. He fed well all night long, and did not fuss too much. I did get the pleasure of having a blast of poo come out at me right after I had moved the dirty diaper out of the way, I think I heard him laugh at me. So other than having very little sleep our selves we are doing good and Jacob is well. It was nice to finally be in our home rather than a tiny hospital room with only three options for sitting. We will keep you updated as best we can. That's all for now.

Bringing Jacob Into The World

Hello everyone, I am pleased to be able to tell the story of Jacob's arrival. As you know we went in on Wednesday Sept. 26 to start the induction. We arrived at the hospital at 0730 and the adventure began. Sara was given medication to soften the cervix and start the induction process, these med's were taken every four hours up until 1730 that evening. She was then given a 12 hour medication so she would not have to be bothered all night long. Sara had a rough night as things started to happen. Jacob dropped quite a lot during the night and mild contractions were starting. Sara did not sleep at all during the night, I felt terrible as there was nothing I could do, so needless to say Daddy got sleep.

The next morning everything was going according to plan. Sara was given another dose of med's to kick up the process. This was not easy for her either. She was in a lot of pain as my fingers can attest to that. At around 1030 she was given a epidural. This needless to say helped with the pain a lot. We waited and waited. We played a game of Cribbage which Sara almost won but I squeaked out a victory. It was a long day with quite a bit of anticipation and worry and excitement.

At 2030 Sara was fully dilated. Contractions were steady and the Dr. was on her way to the hospital. We had a Nurse and two wonderful student Nurses at our aide. We began to push around 2045. Sara did a wonderful job, and the Dr. arrived at around 2115 or so. She checked the progress of Jacob and found that he was face up on his way out. This meant that we needed to get baby to turn so he could make it under the pelvis. Sara was on her hands and knees for a half hour, and bearing with the contractions the whole time. I was by the head of the bed giving her ice chips and massaging her shoulders.

At 2145 Jake finally turned and we began pushing again. Sara pushed and rested for another hour and 15 minutes. It was noticed by the staff that Sara's catheter may not be working, the tried to back flush it, and that did nothing. Then they put a new one in. This too, did nothing, Sara's bladder was not draining and thus blocking the way for Jacob. She was so exhausted and could not go anymore. Her tears broke my heart. It was at this time that Sara was given the option of continuing or a C-section. After a sleepless night the night before and an exhausting day of labor, she could take no more. She was prepped for the operation and and by 2330 I was able to be by her side again in the OR. As the staff worked, I was there to comfort her. At 0006 on September 28th our son was born.

As I watched him come into the world, my emotions ran wild and tears welled up in my eyes. Shortly there after we heard a rather deep cry and Jacob was brought over the the cleaning area. I looked down into my wife's eyes and I saw the joy and the tears and I was completely beside myself. The miracle of life, is so amazing and my life changed at that moment. I now realize what life is about.

Jacob Matthew Tormala: Weight: 7lbs 13oz Length Overall: 19 1/2"

As you can see, Jacob is a beautiful little guy, and look at his mother, isn't she just glowing. I am so happy to have been able to experience this.

One More Day!!

Well, tomorrow morning at 7:30am we are to be at the hospital to start the induction process. I was only dilated to 1 cm last Thursday so I am sure it won't be the most pleasant experience. However, it will all be worth it when he arrives. The doctor joked around with us and said we better have him by Friday morning because she is on call the next couple of days. I am predicting he will be born sometime on Thursday afternoon. Hopefully I won't require too much pain meds, but I will be willing to take anything if necessary.

In case you were all wondering why we are inducing a few days early, it's because I am losing my 100% health care coverage on Oct 1 ( our due date). My new insurance isn't as good and since I lost my short term disability and will have no income coming in, we don't need any added expenses. I will be returning to work sooner than planned, but will still have 6 weeks with our new baby. Pete will be home for 75 days, which started on Sept. 18th. So he will get to have a couple of weeks with the baby while I am working. We have day care lined up, which is something we both don't want to do, but we don't have a lot of choice at this point. Maybe if we have another, then I can stay home....we shall see.

Well, that's it for now. The next blog will be introducing our little guy. So stay tuned....