4 Week Old Pictures!!

Jack was 4 weeks old last Thursday and here are some pictures I took of him while we were just hanging out at home! Enjoy!

This is my afternoon view from the floor as I attempt to work while ALL my boys take naps on the couch!

Jack loves his swing!

SNEEZE! Bless You!

Surprised after his sneeze! Too cute! I think I might have to print and frame these 3! :-)

He looks so white now that his JAUNDICE is gone...

Close Up!

Tired Boy!

xoxo

4 Weeks Old!!

Jack was 4 weeks old on Thursday! Man time flies - it so doesn't seem like it's been 4 weeks! Today we had his 1 Month "Can Be Healthy" appointment with Dr. Mijares! Jack is up to 8lbs and 1oz! And he is now 20 inches long! Dr. Mijares printed off all his growth charts for us, he is a little small all around, but within the normal range - so that's good!

We have still been having lots of trouble with GAS and he has been exhibiting signs of COLIC for the past couple weeks! We switched his formula about a week and a half ago to Enfamil Gentlease which is supposed to help with gas and fussiness, but we haven't seen too much of a difference - or a difference at all really. Dr. Mijares said that if Gentlease doesn't work for people she usually recommends trying a formula that is completely broken down so that Jack's little belly doesn't have to work to digest the formula - but it is VERY expensive. For a 12.8oz can of powder - which will last about 5 days - is $22! OUCH! She gave me enough samples that should last about 10 days and said to try it and see if it makes a difference or not before we go out and buy any. She said that we should see a difference within 2 -3 days. We gave him his first bottle tonight at 7pm so here's to hoping it helps - or not hoping it helps so that we don't go formula broke! She said we would only have to have him on it as long as we wanted but recommended until 8 - 12 weeks old. She said we didn't have to switch him if we wanted to try to "wait it out!" We'll see if it works miracles or not and decide from there!

I'm going to try to get some pictures taken over the weekend and I'll post them when I can! I'm just warning everyone he has lost all of the hair on the top of his head - haha! And he looks pretty funny at the moment - I'm just hoping it grows back SOON!

xoxo

Newborn Pictures!

We had Jack's Newborn Pictures taken on Tuesday and they are now up on her website! Jayme is the same photographer we used for my Maternity Pictures - which turned out great! We are going to have Jack do her First Year Program too which is 3, 6, 9, and 12 month sessions, but I wanted a Newborn Session too - so here is the link: www.magicwand.photoreflect.com/

You will need to click on Jack Spear under the "Recent Photos" section and the password is Nolan.

I am so impressed with Jayme! Even though you can't tell in any of the pictures - Jack was screaming the entire time! We had to trick him with a bottle just to get any shots! We'd put the bottle in his mouth and then I'd pull it out and she would shoot before he started screaming! She also does Birth Announcements and there are a couple examples, but none of which are the final one - I'm still debating on which pictures to use!

Enjoy! xoxo

Jack and George

Some of you might be aware of how concerned I was about how our dogs, primarily George, would react and adjust to Jack being around, well at first it was bad! Charlie is the most laid back pup ever and he doesn't even really acknowledge that Jack is here - other then the occasional head sniff. George on the other hand did not react well at first! He would flip out everytime Jack made a noise or moved and he would act like he was just going to smell and lick Jack, but then he would try to sneak Jack's little hand or ear in his mouth! The first 2-3 days I seriously thought we were going to have to find George a new home and I was so upset, but I didn't feel like I could take a change on something happening. There were a few times that George was pretty aggresive and if I were home alone with Jack that I wasn't sure I could have kept him away from George!

Well needless to say, they are now becoming the best of friends! Evidence below...

George is naturally a protective/jealous pup...especially when it comes to me - he would even growl and snip at Chris sometimes! Well he is now turning that protectiveness towards Jack. Whenever someone comes over and holds Jack, George immediately has to sniff them out and make sure they are OK - in George's world! It's so cute! And the other day I was doing the dishes and Jack was getting fussy laying on his Boppy Lounger on the couch...well when I walked into the living room George was laying beside Jack with his head over his belly as if he was trying to comfort him! It's also like George knows when Jack needs something - at night when Jack is in his pack n play he makes many noises and most of the time George just ignores them, but then every once in awhile Jack will make a noise and George will run over to the edge of the bed - and usually it's when Jack really does need something! It's so cool how dogs can tap into our lives and understand what's going on! I'm just so thankful things have worked out with George and Jack - it's such a relief and weight off my shoulders!

xoxo

Pictures!

Jack didn't think it was as funny as Addy did!

At the hospital with his IV.

Jack's first ride in the carseat coming home from the hospital (the first time)!

Eyes Open...sort of!

Just relaxin' after dinner!

xoxo

3rd Doctor Visit

Well today was a good day at Jack's doctor's appointment! He now weighs a whopping 7 pounds 2 ounces! Yes, he gained 7 ounces since Tuesday which is totally awesome! He is now 19 1/2 inches long too!

While we were at the hospital this week we had an ultrasound done on his kidneys to check their size and today Dr. Mijares said that the right one still showed as slightly enlarged, but within normal variance so no worries there! She said we will still follow up on them in a few months, but she doesn't think there is going to be any problems!

Jack has also been a little gassy/constipated since switching to the formula, so we got some tips from the doctor on how to handle it! The least invasive is to take his legs and do bicycle movements with them, give him a warm bath, give him up to 4 ounces of water a day (the extra fluid will help soften his stools), and lastly put some Karo Syrup in with the water, also you can take a rectal temperature (inserting the thermometer will cause him to push). So hopefully one of these will work in the future so that we can avoid another night like last night (he was up screaming and straining until 3AM!).

All in all he looks to be back on track - we are so relieved!

xoxo

1 Week Old!

This is a little late, but here is our at-home 1 Week Old photo - courtesy of Chelse!

xoxo

Jack's Dr. Appointment and Hospital Stay...

On Tuesday we went for Jack's second newborn appointment with Dr. Mijares - let's just say it didn't go well! First off he had only gained 1 ounce over the past 7 days, which isn't good (he weighed 6 pounds 11 ounces). He had gained a quarter of an inch in length. Then Dr. Mijares came in and I broke the news about not wanting or being able to breastfeed anymore because it was stressful and my boobs were NOT producing near enough milk and that he had been fussy for 2 and a half days because I didn't think he was getting enough to eat from me!

However, Dr.'s main concern was his coloring...he was obviously still Jaundice! She immediately sent me to the hospital for another Bilirubin level test and this time said, "Wait at the hospital until I call you with the results," which automatically sent my brain into worst case scenario over drive! So off to the hospital we went - I should also mention that the weather was starting to get really bad outside with tornado threats and severe thunderstorms! We got to the hospital and they did his test and then the tornado sirens started going off. We were rushed down to the hospital basement to wait out the storm - which took about an hour and a half! I'm not even going to go into all the types of people I was with in the basement...GROSS! Luckily Jack slept through the whole thing and I never had to get him out from under his blanket!

After we'd been in the basement and the weather started to die down I say the lab tech coming into the room headed straight towards us and she says, "We need you to come back upstairs because we need to draw more blood to run some additional tests." I was like, OK? I was waiting for the results after experiencing the painful process of having his blood drawn! Chris was on his way to the hospital - he had been stuck in the basement at work! Just as the lab tech hands me the phone to talk to Dr. Mijares Chris came walking down the hall...

Jack's Bilirubin level was up to 23 from 16.2 the week before and she said we needed to be admitted so that Jack could get the Phototherapy treatment and some IV Fluids. Basically, since my breasts had stopped producing enough milk and Jack wasn't getting enough to eat he wasn't able to continue to pass the Bilirubin quickly enough so his Jaundice got worse, and then he was a bit dehydrated on top of that. We headed straight upstairs where they started his IV and then proceeded to draw even more blood and get a urine sample for another round of tests!

We started the Phototherapy treatment shortly after that. It was the longest night of Jack's life yet! He was in this blanket with the light shining up from under him. I could not take Jack out except to feed him and change and burp him! Try getting a 12 day old to stay asleep unswaddled and in a weird place! I think I got maybe 2 hours of sleep comprised of 10 - 20 minutes at a time!

His first Bilirubin check at about midnight was still 23, then his 6am check was 18.5, then his noon check was 17.2, and his 6pm check was 16.7 so we got to come home! They said that now that he is on formula he should be able to continue passing the Bilirubin quickly enough on his own. Breastmilk can/does take longer to make the Bilirubin pass - especially if they aren't getting enough!

We go back to see Dr. Mijares tomorrow afternoon so I will post another update! Oh, and we weighed him before leaving the hospital last night and he weighed 6 pounds 15.5 ounces! Some of that might have been from the fluids, but with all the formula he was drinking over the last 24 hours I'm hoping some of that was real weight gain!

xoxo

First Newborn Dr. Visit

We had our first dr. visit this morning with Dr. Mijares. Overall everything looks really good! We did have to go over to the hospital to get his Bilirubin levels checked because he is a little Jaundice. Dr. Mijares called me 30 minutes later and said that his level was 16.2 but would have to be at least 21.0 before they would need to do anything and that basically it's a little higher than average, but still OK. She said I didn't need to do a thing though!

I had a laundry list of questions that I had kept over the past few days of being at home, and surprisingly found that most of my concerns and questions were things that are completely normal with newborns, so I'm a little more at ease now!

Our first few days at home have been packed full with visitors, but everything seems to be going OK so far. The first night home was rough, but thank goodness my mom was here to help out! She left yesterday and at first I felt lost, but I did good by myself last night so I'm more hopeful now! Breast feeding is going pretty smooth so far and I'm really happy about that because I was not liking having to supplement him with formula. So as of yesterday he is now strictly a Breast Fed Baby!

That's all I have time for! Jack's calling!

xoxo

Birth Story

We went to our 39 week doctor's appointment at 9:20am on Wednesday May 27th. If you have kept up on my blog then you know I was already planning on pitching the whole induction idea to Dr. Shaw, but really I didn't have to say much. She said to head to the hospital at 8:00pm that night so that we could start an induction! She checked me in her office and said I was 3cm and that my cervix was much softer and more favorable then it had been the previous 2 weeks.

Chris and I both went back to work and worked until 4:00pm, then headed home for some last minute packing and chores! For my last "pregnant" supper I had frozen burritos! Then some vanilla ice cream with chunky peanut butter!

Once we got to the hospital we got checked in and started the first round of Cytotec about 9:30pm. Cytotec is basically the oral pill version of Cervadil which most people are more familiar with. I was surprised to learn that I was having contractions before we even started the Cytotec, but I wasn't feeling them at all. About 11:30pm they gave me an Ambien to help me sleep and by about 12:15am I was OUT! The nurse came in about 3:00am and gave me my second round of Cytotec and checked me again and I was still 3cm.

I was woke up at about 7:00am and ate breakfast shortly after, I showered and got as dressed as I could get. About 9:00am Dr. Shaw came in and checked me again and said I was still pretty much 3cm, but that my cervix was very soft and had started the thin really well. At this point I had continued to have contractions all night long, but never felt any of them. Dr. Shaw decided to go ahead and break my water and explained that we would get my epidural before we started the Pitocin so that my contractions wouldn't get too bad (she warned me that after she broke my water I would probably start feeling the contractions!). I was so unprepared for what I was in for - I started feeling the contractions pretty much immediately and I seriously couldn't hardly handle it! I don't even have cramps with my periods anymore so it was an unusal and horrible feeling! My nurse, Roxanne (who was great!) called Anethiesiology immediately to get my epidural, but they were really busy and said it might be 15 minutes - well 15 minutes turned into about 50 minutes so I had to endure about and hour and a half of contractions which was enough for me! Anyone that has a "natural" birth is 1. crazy and 2. a much better woman than me!

The epidural process went terrific - I was a bit nervous about it but the lady, Shannon, that did mine was awesome and 2 contractions later I didn't feel a thing! It was a little after 11:00am by the time my epidural was in and I was once again comfortable. We started the Pitocin and then Roxanne checked me and I was 4cm. So now I was just laid back watching TV and waiting, enjoying the day. About 1:00pm an alarm started going off on the monitor and Jack's heart rate had dropped down into the 80's and 90's. Roxanne came in and said that I was having too many contractions that were lasting a long time and that Jack was probably just getting a little tired and stressed so she turned off the Pitocin in order to give him a bit of a break. She checked me again at this point and I was 5-6cm. We laid off the Pitocin for about 45 minutes, but Jack's heart rate continued to decrease with every contraction, but would always bounce back up into the 140's - 150's when the contraction was over. Roxanne now said he was probably having some cord compression, but didn't really elaborate because I don't think she wanted to stress me out too much - although it was obvious I was. I was pretty much glued to the monitor from that point on. She checked me again at about 2:00pm and I was 7cm. Roxanne turned the Pitocin back on, but at a very slow rate and we waited. Then I started to feel the tightness in my stomach from the contractions - it wasn't painful, but I could tell so I asked Roxanne what we should do and she gave me an extra shot of my epidural and then decided to check me again - this was about 3:00pm and I was complete and he was at a +1 station.

Roxanne called Dr. Shaw and told her my status and this is why I love Dr. Shaw - Dr. Shaw said that as long as Jack was doing OK that I could "labor down" on my own, which basically meant wait and let my body do the work naturally of pushing Jack down further into the birth canal rather then me "push" him down. So Roxanne said now just tell me immediately when you get the urge to push and I just kept saying I can't feel anything (because of the extra shot of epidural she had just given me) and she kept reassuring me I would know. Well she kept checking me and his head kept getting lower and lower, but I never had the urge. She finally decided that we needed Dr. Shaw because he was getting so close and Dr. Shaw headed over. There was a little bit of hurry up and wait as the room was set up for delivery and then Dr. Shaw arrived and the show was on the road! Roxanne said OK - bear down and push! So I closed my eyes and pushed with everything I had (or thought I had because I still wasn't feeling a thing) and that's when I felt his head pop out, I took a breathe and pushed again and I felt the rest of him slide on out and I was done! I seriously couldn't believe and I never felt a thing - other then the slight pressure of him coming out, but ZERO pain!

The reason for all the decreases in Jack's heart rate became very clear at this point - his cord was wrapped around his neck twice! So as he was getting farther into my pelvis and the birth canal it was getting compressed! I'm pretty sure Roxanne knew that the whole time, but didn't want to worry me - which I'm OK with because I know she would have told me if anything was seriously wrong or she was concerned! The nursery nurse, Joyce, took Jack and started cleaning him up and checking him out - he got a 9 out of 10 on the Apgar Scale! She weighed him and he came in at a slender 6 pounds 15.4 ounces and 19 inches long! We were all expecting a much bigger baby, but he is just a little guy!

Within about 25 minutes Jack was already latched on and breast feeding and things have been going well since then!