Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Cheers! Jacob is 4 weeks old!

We celebrated Jacob's 4 week birthday today at Grandma and Grandpa's house in Port Angeles.  Jacob had his bottle of milk and the rest of us raised a glass of bubbly and ate cupcakes.  :)  Jacob continues to do well--eating, sleeping and growing.

We are in Port Angeles for a few days to spend time with the grandparents, but also to help out with bottling at the winery.  Matt has not seen the process before and it's quite impressive.

Today, we also hung out with our friends Nicolas and Sofia (Annie and Jamie got some good mommy time together too).  We can only imagine what trouble these kids will get into together as they grow up!





In the last week, we have had some more visitors and some special outings.  Annie's Auntie Joy came to visit and got in some cuddle time with Jacob.  The last time she saw him was in the hospital and he has certainly changed and grown a lot since then. 






We also went to Jacob's first baseball game on Friday!  We walked over to Cheney Stadium to see the Rainiers play.  After a 90 minute rain delay, they finally started.  Jacob didn't cheer very much during the game because he was asleep most of the time.   It was a pretty cold and wet night, but we all had fun.









People also ask how our cats, Jack and Phoebe, are adjusting to having Jacob in the house. Overall, they are doing very well. They don't get as much attention as they used to, but still manage to find some nap time together.

Matt and Annie are figuring out how to take shifts in the night and nap during the day.  We have also plotted out some fun trips for this summer and hope to see some of you along the journey.  Stay tuned for future posts on our adventures.  

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

He's 3 weeks old!

We had another check up with the doctor today to check Jacob's weight gain progress.  He's up to 8lbs 13oz--a gain of 7oz in 5 days.  Right on track!  Yay!  We also saw the doctor today for his circumcision.  Umm, sorry, no pictures this time.  (Jacob will probably freak out when he's a teenager and finds out we wrote about this on the blog.)  He did great (Matt stayed out in the waiting room), and only cried a little bit (Jacob that is).  In fact, during the most painful part, he was practically asleep.  Needless to say, he's been quite cuddly and sleepy this afternoon.

Today, Annie also ate her first of many "mom meals"--eating with one hand while standing up with a fussy baby in the other arm, and managed not to spill anything on the baby or herself.  Maybe we're getting the hang of this!

On Friday, we took our longest car trip so far out to Grandma and Grandpa's house in Enumclaw where we had dinner.  The dogs were quite curious, but were well contained most of the time.  We've also been enjoying some dinners provided by members of our church, which is a big help to us as well.  

No more doctor's appointments for awhile.  So now we just get to have fun together as a family for awhile.  And keep eating and sleeping--hopefully lots more of both!

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Two week update

Monday May 10th (Jacob's original due date) came and went uneventfully and we can hardly believe he is two weeks old now. We looked at each other and chuckled.  The last two weeks feel like a year!  With all the days in the hospital and trips back and forth, the lack of sleep and many visitors, we have had quite a ride. 

This week, we had several appointments with various doctors for Jacob and Annie.  The neurosurgeon says everything looks good at this stage and we'll follow-up with him in 4 more weeks.  Today, we had a check up with the pediatrician who also says things look good.  Jacob is showing good signs of early neurologic development (good muscle tone, reflexes, and eye tracking), but he does need to put on weight a little more swiftly so we'll be working on that. 

Yesterday, Annie met with the lactation consultant, who gave her blessing to stop breastfeeding/pumping.  Her milk production was very limited and not very fruitful, so Jacob has been bottle feeding from the beginning.  For the most part, this is a huge relief as this has been a big stressor for Annie.  Everything else is going well with her post partum recovery. 

We hope to get outside more to enjoy this beautiful weather in the next few days.  Here are some pics from the last few days of Jacob's many faces.  He's cute even when he's mad.  :)




Monday, May 10, 2010

Happy Mother's Day!

What a beautiful first Mother's Day!  We got up in the morning and got ready for church.  It was Jacob's first appearance at church and he was the center of attention for sure!  It was wonderful to finally be back with our community who has been praying so much for us and to introduce Jacob to the church.  He slept through the whole service, of course. 

In the afternoon, we all took naps while watching the Mariners game.  A Sunday nap and a Mariners win--the perfect mother's day gift for me! 

Matt's parents brought dinner fixings and we enjoyed our first meal of the season out on our deck.  Matt and Jacob gave me some great Mary Kay treats and we capped off the evening with strawberry shortcake.  A great day!

This week, we have several doctor's appointments for both Jacob and Annie and fewer visitors planned.  We are looking forward to getting into a more normal routine, if such a thing exists with a newborn. 

Jacob is now ready for his "brunch" feeding.  Matt just said "it's all about the food!  You are SO your mother's son!"  Yes, the foodie gene has been passed on.  :)

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Special visitors

Lynn and Leigh headed back to Enumclaw this morning, after helping with some clean up around the house.  After doing many loads of Jacob's laundry, we realized our hamper was full to the brim as well, so we started in on that. 

This afternoon, we had three special visitors.  Great Auntie Stephanie and Great Uncle Avery came to see Jacob.  Stephanie has seen Jacob several times, but this was Avery's first visit.  Jacob enjoyed his afternoon meal while resting comfortably in their laps. 

Just as Steph and Ave were leaving, Annie's Grandpa pulled up.  A sleeping Jacob greeted him at the door and he quickly settled in to Great Grandpa's lap.  He is so proud of his first great grandchild!  And we are so glad Grandpa could come to visit today, as he represents all of our grandparents.  He shared memories of Annie's dad as a baby, more than 60 years ago.  Times have changed, but babies are still special. 

Grandpa took us out to dinner (Jacob slept through the whole thing) and now we are back at home settling in for the evening.  And the Mariners have even scored some runs!  A great day indeed. 

Friday, May 7, 2010

A quiet day

What a beautiful day!  We were pleased to have a break from visitors today and just have some time together as a family.  Firsts for Jacob today include his first bath and first walk in the park.  You can see that he enjoyed the walk in the park a bit more than the bath. 

We also said goodbye to Grandma Vicki, but welcomed Grandma Lynn and Grandpa Leigh for the evening. 
That's all the news for today! 

Thursday, May 6, 2010

In today's news...

We went to the pediatrician today for a routine hospital follow-up.  Despite our best guesses, Jacob's weight is holding steady at 8lbs 4oz, but that's a good thing too.  As the doc checked him out, she said he has good reflexes and muscle tone and looks overall normal at this point.  That's pretty darn good, considering all he's been through.  She also had some reassuring advice about what's normal for newborn behavior

We had several visitors today as well.  Annie's friend Jamie came by with her two kids Sofia (3 1/2yrs) and Nicolas (5 weeks old).  Jamie and Annie grew up together in Port Angeles and now their kids will grow up together.  Nico is already giving us hand-me-downs too.  :) 

Annie's aunt and cousins came to visit today too.  Emily and Kayden were especially excited to see Jacob after following him on the blog; and looked on lovingly.  Thank you for the wonderful gifts! 


We are looking forward to a quieter day tomorrow, except that Annie's mom is heading back to Port Angeles.  She has been such a great help to all of us and we'll miss her.  Matt's mom is coming in for a couple of days though to pick up where Vicki left off. 

And just for fun, here are some candid pics of our sweet little Jacob. 

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Today's adventure

Jacob slept well last night, which means mom and dad slept pretty well too!

Every day brings new challenges and discoveries. Today, we ventured to Costco! Jacob slept through the whole trip, until we stopped for lunch. We successfully did a feeding and diaper change in public for the first time. Yay!

We also had several visitors today to come meet Jacob, including some of his future friends Luke, Aaron, Kirby, and Frankie (ages 9 months to 3 1/2 years).

Tomorrow, we go to the pediatrician's office for a check up. We're taking guesses at how much he'll weigh. While he lost some weight after birth (down to 8lbs 4oz), he's been eating like a champ since we got home.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Rough night, good day

Jacob is 1 week old today!

So our first night at home together was, well, I guess what it's supposed to be like with a newborn. But it's all new to us! The feeding, diaper changing, crying, and sleeping (in decreasing order of frequency) is the new normal. Jacob is getting used to his new surroundings. Maybe he's missing the lights and noises of the NICU because he decided not to sleep much last night. But the place he was most comfortable was with mom or dad. Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep last night either.

Today is a new day though. Both Matt and I got showers, which does wonders for making you feel human again. I had an appointment to get my staples out (yes, back to the hospital campus again), so off we went. Then we got the car seat checked out and adjusted. Since we were in the neighborhood, we stopped by to introduce Jacob to some of Annie's co-workers and came back with several baby gifts as well. And all this before noon!

Annie's brother Steve came to visit as well and did a great job in his first time role as uncle. Jacob enjoyed cuddling up in his arms.

The afternoon was quiet with Matt and Jacob taking a nap together and Annie's mom off to the grocery store. Jacob even slept through our dinner hour, allowing us all to have dinner together at the table. We know that will likely be a rare thing in the weeks and months ahead.

This late night post comes as we are settling in for the night, easing Jacob to sleep. We'll see how this night goes...

Until next time, nighty night.

Monday, May 3, 2010

We're Home!!

It was an amazing day. It all started in our little room at the hospital. It was great to spend the night with little Jacob; we all had a great night and we got more sleep than I thought we would. Jacob went back into the NICU for an ultrasound around 4:30 AM.

At a more reasonable hour several people came into the room to do tests on Jacob. He had a hearing test and the physical therapist came in to check him out. Finally the assistant of the neurosurgeon came in and told us that the ultrasound looked really good and that we could take him home today. We were overjoyed!!

We got out the car seat and he had to spend an hour in it while hooked up to the monitors to make sure that it wasn't causing him any undue stress. He passed that test and we were able to leave.


We came home and Annie's dad met us when we got here. He hasn't seen Jacob in several days and he was able to hold his grandson for the first time. What a proud moment!


Then Annie's mom came visiting. She is going to be staying with us for a while (and we are very thankful for the help) and was also able to hold her grandson.


Now we are sitting at home and Jacob is sound asleep (finally) on his grandmothers shoulder. We are all about ready to turn in for a short sleep.

The next chapter in our adventure begins--A Day in the Life with a Newborn. Stay tuned for updates! Although they may be less frequent since we don't have the relative peace of the hospital and endless support from fabulous nurses at our fingertips, which allowed us to focus completely on Jacob. But we'll figure this balance out together.

With much love, joy, and thanks for your prayers,
Matt, Annie & Jacob

On our way...

We all got a pretty good night's sleep last night, with a couple of interruptions for Jacob's lab draw and ultrasound.

So far today, he has been visited for his newborn hearing screen, the physical therapist for a baseline evaluation, the NICU nurse, the neurosurgeon's office, and the lactation specialist. Whew! But he has passed all his tests and we are just waiting on the last couple of things to happen before we go home. If all goes well, we should be on the road home early this afternoon!

Hooray! Yippee! Next post and pictures from the ride home from the hospital.

Sunday, May 2, 2010


We started today with a call from the NICU, they said that during rounds the doctors took a look at Jacob and because he was doing so well we could spend the night with him. For that reason we are now back at the hospital in a room with Jacob!! We are sure that we will not get a full nights sleep, but we are sooo happy to be with Jacob. We also know that they are going to be taking him sometime between 2 and 4 AM to go get another ultrasound on his head. They just want to make sure that the shunt is installed correctly and that it is working (which anybody can see that it is).

His central line has been taken out and he is off all the monitors, he is a free man. So tonight is our first night in the big world outside the NICU. It is comforting knowing that if there is a problem several nurses are a phone call (and 20 feet) away, but at the same time they are giving us our space to be with our son. This is the next (and hopefully the last) step before we get to bring our beautiful boy home.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Day 5


Another great day for little Jacob. He had his skull cap and dressings removed early this morning so we were greeted with our little boy with a full head of hair. He had two of his biggest feedings today, which gave the doctors and nurses enough motivation to take him off of his IV!! He now only has the heart monitor and breathing rate monitor, so only 3 wires left (why those two things require three wires is beyond me?). They said they may take out his central line tomorrow.

Grandma and Grandpa came by today and so did Aunt Stephanie. Stephanie hasn't seen him since the day he was born and when she saw him she exclaimed "Is that the right child?" His head is much smaller and without the air tubes and all the other leads that they had coming out of him on his first day of life, he does look like a very different baby. Aunt Stephanie got to hold him, which was very exciting for her.


Jacob also had some snuggle time with mom this morning. He was very content and very happy to snuggle with mom.