Good times!

Daddy watches the Nascar race with Tanner
First bath
Papa John with Tanner
Grandma Di with Tanner
Look at that face!

So proud to be Tanner's Mom!
Tanner with Grandma Mullikin
Tanner with "Uncle T"(Scott)









Tanner has been sleeping very well! The last two nights I got roughly 7 - 8 hours of sleep with little interruptions. I found that for now, I can't sleep next to Tanner because any little noise he makes I wonder what he's doing or if he's going to wake up so Tim has been sleeping in another room with Tanner and waking up with him. Last night Tim got up with Tanner the first time, around 2AM and fed him. My mom has been staying with us and has been incredibly helpful and she took Tanner when he woke up at 6:30 AM. It's nice to have those breaks when he's sleeping but when he's sleeping I wonder when he'll wake up and when he's awake I wonder when he'll sleep. I just can't win! Tim and I are so blessed to have such a great little boy.

Life at home

First time with a bottle
Mommy loves Tanner!
Sleeping angel
Much happier with food!






The first two days at home were very very difficult because breastfeeding was not going well and Tanner was incredibly hungry. I didn't realize how little I was able to give him since you can't see what goes into his body when he's feeding. He would spend sometimes 90 minutes shrieking. After we visited the doctor on Friday I was ready to give up breastfeeding and once she told me he had lost more than 10% of his body weight, I knew I had to give in and give him formula to supplement. It was amazing how quickly his manner changed. That's when I realized how undernourished he had been and of course it made me feel so awful. But the good news is, I started pumping my milk and I'm getting more and more so now we only have to give him formula at night. I'm hoping that we'll be able to give it up entirely soon but I am so relieved that he is eating healthily now. He is such a happy baby!

More Tanner!

Can you blame us for not wanting to spend a minute away from him? He is just so cute and cuddly.

Going Home...FINALLY!

So excited to go home!
First time in the car seat
Off we go!
Home sweet home










It was a relief to get in my real clothes again and pack up our belongings to finally go home. Even though Tanner had difficulty with the car seat at first, he went out like a light in the car on the way home. With my parents help, we settled in at home and enjoyed being new parents.

Day 2 and 3

Daddy and Tanner
So peaceful!


Dressed and ready to go home!








We spent 3 days in the hospital and by Wednesday I was more than ready to get out of there. It was great having the help and the nurses were wonderful but I was sick of being in a hospital bed and was getting very easily irritated! We were also having trouble breastfeeding which caused me to feel worried and anxious. Tim and I experienced what everyone tells us - you don't sleep! We were up about every hour or two with Tanner and were incredibly tired. We enjoyed having visitors in the hospital and loved showing off Tanner.

First Day

Being wheeled away from surgery. I was completely out of it.
Family picture taken just an hour or two after the surgery
New Mommy
New Daddy
Our perfect son
Tanner David Mullikin







After a successful C Section we were brought back to the room and I was completely wiped out. I was trying to stay awake because I wanted to look at Tanner but had a really hard time keeping my eyes open. Tim got to spend time talking with Tanner and then Tanner had a bath. I slept a bit but was amazed at how calm and peaceful Tanner was. Nothing seemed to phase him. I was up at 3 AM just staring and marveling at him for hours. I couldn't keep my eyes off him.

It's Time!

I was enjoying myself and having my own little personal party in the hospital room waiting for those contractions to really kick in!
Family members were there waiting anxiously for Tanner to arrive!

You could tell from the anesthesiologist's face that C sections are VERY SERIOUS business! ;)
Tim is prepped and ready to go!
Our first interaction with our newborn son.






I fell asleep Saturday night with no intention of waking up and heading to the hospital but that's exactly what happened. At 2:30 AM my water broke and Tim and I rushed out of the house to the hospital. For some reason, I thought that once your water broke, you had a short period of time before you start pushing (probably from the movies!) so I was panicked about getting to the hospital. Little did I know that I would be in that hospital for 21 hours waiting to start pushing. Turns out, I never was able to push. Even though my contractions were regular and intense enough to deliver (thanks to being helped along by the Pitocin) I was only dilated 4 cm and after 8 hours, still had not dilated more. My doctor thought that Tanner was either sideways or too big for me to deliver naturally so she had to recommend a C section. I was devastated and scared by this but we trusted completely in God and knew he had this plan for us all along. So I was prepped and whisked away and within about 5 minutes of being in the operating room I heard the wonderful sound of a baby cry and relief immediately washed over me and I knew right then that every ounce of pain or anxiety from that day and any other day the past 9 months was worth it. Even though I could hear Tanner crying, I couldn't see him. Tim told me he had dark hair and was healthy, 10 fingers, 10 toes. When I finally laid eyes on him I was stunned by how perfect and beautiful he was - even covered in all that goo! I didn't want to take my eyes off him. It was absolutely love at first sight. He was born at 11:39 PM on Sunday, August 31st, weighing 8 pounds, 2 ounces and 20 inches long.