Ty Matthew Lewis

Ty was born December 27 at 4:11 am.  

He weighed 8 lbs 8 oz and was 20 inches long

The story:

I woke up at 1:47 am with a bad contraction and had to go to the bathroom.  I timed 3 more contractions that were pretty painful and they were getting closer together quickly, so I woke Jeff up and told him we needed to go.  We were on our way to the hospital at 2:30 and by this point my contractions were getting pretty hard.  They wanted me to fill out some paper work at the desk, but by this point, I was getting on the floor on my hands and knees during contractions and told them they needed to check me.  I was at a 7.  Luckily, I still was able to have the epidural, my doctor got there, broke my water and I pushed Ty out--he took four pushes during one contraction.  We were all making guesses at what he weighed (the highest anyone guessed was 7 lbs 10 oz--I was measuring a lot smaller then I was with Kate and she was only 6 lbs 9 oz)  We were also so excited to find out if our baby was a boy or a girl.

He came out--he had such a healthy cry and red skin and he was a BOY and SO big.  It's always such an amazing experience--bringing one of these precious babies into the world.  We fell in love so quickly.  I especially had a lot of time to get to know Ty in the hospital and he is such a sweet little guy, we're so grateful he is here and safe and healthy.

This is right after he was born, my first time holding him.

 This is Jeff's first time holding him, also right after he was born.

He has lots of hair on his head--mostly blond.

 Grandma Packer saved the day, she was staying at our house so we could just leave in the middle of the night.  She helped so much with entertaining the kids and giving them attention, staying with them so Jeff could come hang out, cooking, you name it, she did it.  We appreciated her help so much!

 Grandma and Grandpa Lewis came to visit, Ty was a little sad that day.

 Grandma and Grandpa Durtschi also came to visit, we loved having the support of all of our parents.

 Grandpa Durtschi came the day Ty was born, then came back the next day, it was really nice.

 I had grand dreams of taking Ty home in this stocking.  He was bigger then I expected though, so just his legs fit well.

 It took forever to get checked out (seems to be the case every time).  Jeff and I got to have one last lunch together in the hospital (I LOVE Jordan Valley hospital food!)

 These are the flowers Jeff got for me, I loved them.  

 Ty coming home.

 Kate holding Ty for the first time.  All the kids were sick with croup (a really bad case of it) just days before we had Ty, so we were pretty careful for the first couple of weeks.  Kate was smitten from the very first, Scott was smitten from the very first (even commenting on how cute Ty's ears are in the hospital), Austin was VERY unsure at the first.  He was pretty nervous in the hospital, but he is warming up now.  Kate wants to help with everything with Ty, Austin and Scott share their special toys with him, it's been fun so far.

Ty's billirubin was high when he was born, so we had to take him to get it checked the next day, it was still really high, so we took him the next day (New Years Day) and it had shot up to critical levels.  We had to run him up to Primary Childrens Hospital for the night to be under lights and get IV fluids because he was dehydrated.  I didn't get a picture because the whole thing was traumatic--especially for an emotional, newly post-partum mom.  I forgot the camera.  One nice surprise is that some good friends from our neighborhood were there working that night, it was nice to see a familiar face, they were great.

They weren't sure, but one of the main causes (I think) was that I didn't have enough milk, so the bilirubin wasn't getting flushed out of Ty's system.  He was fussy those first few days and then started getting more lethargic and wasn't having a ton of soiled diapers, so I'm pretty convinced that's what it was.  When we came home, I was feeding him a bottle after every feeding--about 1-2 oz extra.  I had very little milk and was pretty discouraged that I wouldn't be able to nurse.  A couple things have helped turn it around.  I started getting more sleep, I was less stressed (after Ty's bilirubin levels finally came down) and Fenugreek--a supplement to increase milk supply, it works wonders!!  I also got a double breast pump, and things are working much better now.

We're starting to get things figured out and Ty is such a little sweetie (I guess he sleeps about 18 hours a day, so maybe we can't judge yet).  He has already captured our hearts and we're so so grateful to have him in our family and so grateful he is healthy and well.