Well, we went to see the pediatric surgeon yesterday morning. Dr. Rogers was very nice and Jackson seemed to like him too! Maybe because his eyebrows looked like they were alive! :-) He informed us that he had two hydroceles on either side of his scrotum and that he would need to repair both sides. (usually when there is a hernia on one side there is mostly likely one on the other.) So, his surgery is scheduled for Tuesday March 6th. Most likely early morning. Since he is so young they have decided to keep him overnight just to watch his vitals. We're not looking forward to this but we know it has to be done to prevent any future problems.
I was very impressed with the nursing staff since UVA is a large teaching hospital (not the hospital he was born at) and you tend to be just another patient to them. The nurses were very attentive and comforting to him which made me more comfortable.
Oh, one more thing. They did another exam on Jackson and he weighed 11 lbs and 22 in long. Just two days prior at his regular doctor appointment he weighed 10 pounds on the nose! We couldn't believe he gained a pound in two days! I had noticed him eating a lot more often than he normally does but I guess he was going through a growth spurt. The nurses asked if I was breastfeeding and said this happens with breastfed babies. I can understand mistaking a couple of ounces since they usually gain an ounce a day but a whole pound? And in two days!!!!!
Please keep little Jackie (as uncle Nic would say) in your prayers. I'm sure I will be a wreck until he is safe at home. I know it is a common procedure but it is nevertheless....surgery. We'll keep everyone posted as to his recovery.
Love,
Steph
Well we made it to 2 months and we're still alive!!! Jackson is doing so well. We got him on a routine and he has only been getting up one time during the night to feed for the past two weeks! A girlfriend of mine told me to get this book called Baby Wise and it's all about putting them on a routine to get them to sleep through the night. Literally the day I started this routine he has been sleeping so well and not being so cranky during the day!
We have his 2 month shots Monday which I am not looking forward to! Poor baby has to get 4 shots! It will probably hurt me more than it will hurt him! :-( We also have our appointment with the pediatric surgeon this Thursday. We should find out more when they want to schedule his surgery.
Jackson is starting to stand up (with help of course!). He loves to stand up on Scott's stomach and push up with his legs. Maybe he'll skip crawling and go straight to walking! His head is getting stronger too. He loves his bath time. He actually splashed around playing with a rubber ducky the other day!
He also is now fitting into his tennis shoes! I posted a pic of them. Too cute!
Well that's all for now.
Steph
Well we had the sonogram on Tuesday and it turns out Jackson will have to have surgery to repair his hernia. He has an inguinal hernia which is: Inguinal hernias: The muscles and ligaments in the groin area do not come together completely also allowing the sac holding the intestines to poke through. Some babies (especially premature ones) are born with this. In addition, adolescents particularly males may acquire these. This type of hernia generally does not close on its own.
On the sonogram when Jackson would cry you could see part of the bowel poke through into his scrotum. The doctor said that it has not yet incarcerated into the scrotum so they want to close the valves prior to this happening. This is not painful for him so that is good to hear. His pediatrician referred us to a pediatric surgeon who we have an appointment to see on February 15th at 8:45am. Hopefully they will do the surgery soon before it actually gets worse. We'll keep everyone posted as when the surgery will be. Please keep little Jackson in your prayers that everything goes smoothly. He doesn't seem to know anything is wrong and he is gaining weight and working those lungs!
On a lighter note he is doing much better during the night. Last night he only got up once!!!!! Whoo hoo!!!
Well, we decided to schedule an appointment with Jackson's pediatrician last week. He had been very fussy after feedings and spitting up a lot. We didn't know if it could be reflux, colic or something else. He would cry a lot and nothing seemed to help him calm down. The doctor checked him out and said he was fine that it was just colic. Colice peaks at about 6 weeks of age so lucky for us it's almost over. Literally the following day he was fine!!!! No more crying and hardly any spit up! Dr. Nolte did look at his "supposed" hernia again and is sending him for an ultrasound this Tuesday. We should find out the results either late Tuesday or Wednesday. If it is indeed a hernia surgery will have to be scheduled but they informed us this is a simple procedure that would only be outpatient. Hopefully it is nothing so please keep him in your prayers. On a lighter note he is gaining like a champ! He weighed almost 9 pounds at the doctor's office! They were amazed by how much he is gaining so quickly! They asked if I had 'magic' breastmilk! :-)
Other than that we're doing good. We took him out again this past weekend and he did so great. Sleeping the whole time!
Well, we'll keep everyone informed of his ultrasound.
Have a great Monday!
Steph
I have to brag on my little man. He slept so great last night!!!! He got up at 12:15am and then not again until 5am!!!! I was so proud of him!!! It seems when he sleeps well during the day he does so at night as well.
His feedings are also starting to space out more. He no longer goes every 1 to 1 1/2 hours. He is now feeding every 3 or 4 hours which is great for me!
It also snowed today! Our first snow of the season. How it snowed in Texas before Virginia is beyond me!
Hope everyone had a great weekend!
Steph
Hey everyone! Sorry it's taken so long to put up another blog. Someone has kept us very busy!!! We've been doing great. TIRED but great. Jackson has been busy gaining weight. He is eating well. At his last doctor's appointment he weighed almost 8 lbs!
We've also been out on the town with him. We went to the mall last weekend and he did so well! He didn't cry once! It's amazing how many people come up to you when you're carrying around an infant.
Our nights are getting a little better. He picks and chooses what nights he wants to sleep longer. One night I'll get up at 11pm, 2am, 4am and then the next night it is 1am and 4am! Crazy! Hopefully he'll get on some sort of schedule soon. I think my body has already gotten use to the fact that it will be a while before I get some real rest!
I've posted a few pics. Enjoy!
Steph
Check out my two favorite men!
Well, we made it through the first week! Whew! What a whirlwind! I can't remember life before sleepless nights, 3am feedings, poopy diapers and the trials of breastfeeding!!!!! This is no walk in the park! Nevertheless, one look at this little guy's face and my heart melts! It is all so worth it!!!
We got home from the hospital last Monday, December 18th. Lucky for us we had Grandma Ginn (Scott's mom) waiting at home to help get us through! What a lifesaver! She cooked, cleaned, did laundry, and of course gave unconditional love to Jackson! I don't think we would have made it through the week without her! Tuesday we had a nurse come to the house to do a check up of both Jackson and I. He got a thumbs up from the nurse weighing in at 6 lbs 3 ounces. They say babies can lose up to 10% of their birthweight before they leave the hospital, luckily he didn't. The first night was crazy!!!! We had his Pack-n-Play in our bedroom. Any little sound he made the covers were flying off and I was at his side making sure he was okay. Needless to say I did not get any sleep! This was also probably the worse day for me since my milk had come in. When the nurse checked me I was completely engorged!!!! She just looked at me like you poor thing! I was miserable! It literally looked like I had a boob job! They were painful to the touch and even more painful when he nursed. The nurse had to massage the milk out while Jackson was feeding and it had to have been equal to the pain of the contractions I had giving birth!!!! I sat there crying my eyes out while she did this. Luckily after this was over breastfeeding got better.
Wednesday Scott and I went and bought me nursing bras. It turns out that the nursing bras I had bought from Motherhood Maternity were too small and were not fitted properly. That was what was making me engorged! So we went to the hospital's lactation store and got fitted for nursing bras. Literally later that day it was so much better!!!!
Thursday night I started feeling sick like I was coming down with the flu. I was getting cold and hot and had muscle aches. I also had a fever of 100.8. I called my doc and she informed to me take some Tylenol and rest. Soon after that I was feeling so much better.
Friday was Jackson's first pedi appt. I was scheduled to see the doc after him. (We have the same doc). He weighed 6lb 6oz. Doc said he looks great and is gaining weight fast! That night we also decided to put him in his own room to try and get some sleep. I was a little nervous but at the same time was lacking in sleep! To my surprise he did so well!!!! I maybe got up 2 or 3 times to feed throughout the night and the rest of the time I got to sleep!!! It was great!
Sunday (Christmas Eve) we had to take Grandma Ginn to the airport. :-( It was so nice having her here the first week. Now that I'm feeling better and able to do things it's a little easier to take care of him. When we got back he slept and slept and did well again last night. We also opened our Christmas gifts. It was nice being at home, the three of us, spending Christmas Eve together as a family.
Well that was our week in a nutshell. My dad, stepmom, Alyson and Chris are coming to visit today (Christmas Day) They ended up going straight to Aunt Gloria and Uncle Rob's because my grandfather is in the hospital. Hopefully he'll get better soon and we'll make a trip out to North Carolina to see him and let Jackson meet his great grandpa. Scott's dad, stepmom and brother Nic are coming this Thursday and staying a week as well. Uncle Mat and Aunt Amanda are planning on coming mid January. We can't wait for everyone to meet him!!!!
Well that's it for now.....someone is hungry!!!! :-)
Love,
Steph
He's Here!!!! Jackson Henry was born December 16, 2006 at 2:52 pm, weighing in at a whopping 6 lbs. 12 oz. He showed up 2 weeks early, what a great Christmas gift. Steph did great, she was a pushing machine, and very determined.... I surprised myself and was able to stick by her side throughout the entire delivery! Trust me when I say~women are incredible...it looked very very very painful, but Steph managed to keep her composure. Here are a few pictures of my beautiful wife and son. Oh, and there may be a few pics of me as well. Enjoy...hope to see everyone soon.
Proud Father.
I'm in labor! Contractions started at 3:45 AM. We called the doctor and told them that contractions were 5 to 6 minutes apart, lasting 45 seconds. The doctor told us to try to wait another hour or two. They started coming every 5 minutes so we called the doctor again. He told us to come into the hospital. So we left the house at 8:08. We got to the hospital and they put me on a fetal monitor to check Jackson's heart rate. The doctor came in to check me and I was 5 centimeters, 90% effaced, 0 station. Now we are just waiting for the doctor to come check us again. By the way, my name is Micah and today I am the blog poster. Stephanie is dictating what she wants on here. Bye for now the doctor is here again.
Well I'm still progressing!!! We saw Dr. Owens today who is my original doctor. We finally got to see her after we've made all the rounds with all the other doctors. She said everything looks great and his heartbeat was normal. I actually lost a pound from last week! I've been eating like crazy so I don't know how that happened! I am at 138. The nurse said my weight can start tapering off now since we're towards the end.
My internal exam was a little unpleasant but tolerable. I am now 2 cm dialated, 80% effaced and 0 station. She said he is really low and she actually felt the bag of water!!! How weird is that! I told her she could go ahead and pop it if she wanted to! She told us she thinks he'll come within the next ten days which would be at the end of next week!!!!
We are so ready for him to get here! Hopefully I can kick this cold before he arrives. I feel horrible so sorry for not calling anyone after my appointment. I had no energy to talk. I just want to lay down!!!! :-( Well that's it for now. Hopefully it will happen soon!!!!!
Steph
Perfect timing huh? I am feeling horrible! I thought I was doing good keeping away from Scott when he had his cold last week. I was doing really good about washing my hands and spraying anything he touched with Clorox antibacterial spray! I guess it didn't work. Hopefully it will be gone before Jackson comes. I can't imagine having to wear a mask during labor!
I have my appointment this afternoon at 3:30. I'll post later this evening and let you know if I've made anymore progress.
Send get well vibes my way!!!!!!
Had another appointment today and Jackson is progressing fast! From just last week I have gained 3 pounds from 136 to 139! I really don't feel like I'm eating all that much but at least he's putting some fat on!
Dr. Culver checked his heart rate and it was in the 140's then all of a sudden jumped into the mid 170's! He continued to check his rate but said that it is common for the heart rate to jump around like that. I'm sure it didn't help that I was having a contraction at the time he was measuring his heart rate. He finally got it stabilized in the 140's. He reassured us that that was normal.
On to the internal exam.....drum roll.....I am now 1.5 cm dilated, 75% effaced and 0 (zero) station! Just last week I was 0 dilated, 0 % effaced and 0 (zero) station! I couldn't believe the progress and from the look on the doc's face neither could he! He told us that I am farther along than most women at this gestational week. Then again anything can happen! He could still decide to be on time or go past his due date! I guess the exercise ball is paying off! Well, that's all for now....my next appointment is next Tuesday!
Off to go bounce on the ball!!!!!
Well, we finally made it to December!!! I have my next appointment on Tuesday. I've had no more contractions but he still feels like he is going to fall out! I went walking today to see if that would help but it just brought on more Braxton Hicks contractions.
I think Scott is coming down with a sore throat. :-( I'm trying to keep my distance as the last thing we need is to both be sick when Jackson arrives. Hopefully he'll wait a little longer till it passes to make his arrival. Watch.....he'll come at the most inconvenient time! :-)
We're headed out tonight to go get our Christmas tree! I'm so excited. We put all of our Christmas decorations out last weekend but have no tree!!!! Though the weather outside does not make it feel like Christmastime! We have highs in the low 70's!!!! It feels like summer! I think we're supposed to get a cold front today to bring the temps back into the 30's and 40's though. Texas had some snow yesterday! How weird is that!
Update: We finally got our Christmas tree up last night! I had fun decorating it while Scott watched. He's still feeling crummy but up and about. I went Christmas shopping on Saturday and walked around forever! I even bought a birthing ball to sit on to get things moving! I started feeling a little like I was coming down with a head cold....I took some Tylenol sinus and it went away....whew! Can you tell from the pic how much I have already dropped? I finally noticed it in the mirror yesterday. He is way low!
Well, that's it for now. I'll update next Tuesday!
Well today was my first internal exam appointment. I was so nervous I actually had butterflies in my stomach sitting in the waiting room. I also had to pee so bad because I drank so much water and I was holding it for when I had to give my urine sample. Well, turns out my doc was running behind schedule and I had to sit in the waiting room with a full and heavy bladder! The secretaries at the front were asking me if I was okay because I was making these horrible faces! :-) I think they thought I was having contractions! Finally got into see Dr. Montgomery ( the last doc I had to see). He was really nice and more importantly gentle! It was more so a lot of pressure than anything but not too bad. I had told him that I was feeling a lot of pelvic pressure and felt like he was going to fall out! I also told him I hadn't noticed if I had "dropped" or not or if I did I couldn't tell. He told me he would know once he did the exam. Sure enough I was right! Jackson has dropped! He didn't check to see if I was dialated or not (he said there was no reason) but he said I was at 0 (zero) station which was farther along than most at 36 weeks! He told me that that meant he was engaged in my pelvis and would most likely not turn breech. Also primigravidas (women having their first baby) typically engage before labor and may enter labor at -1, 0 or even +1 station. I was so excited!!! Maybe this means he'll be a little early! I've read that some doctors think that labor is imment when a woman gets to 0 - +1 station. We'll see soon enough! I also gained 4 pounds in 2 weeks! Two weeks ago I was 132....now 136. Must have been that Thanksgiving meal!!! MMMMmmmmm!!!! He also said don't hold our breath for a 10 pound baby. He looks like he'll be a little peanut! Yeah for me!
When I got home I had to finish up my work for the day and I started having contractions (Braxton Hicks). I decided to time them just for fun and they were coming every 8-11 minutes for over 3 hours! But they were only lasting a couple of seconds so nothing to get excited about! :-( I think it might have been from my internal exam today which brought them on. They were not painful just uncomfortable. They told me to call when they are 5-6 minutes apart and lasting 60-90 seconds. Well I'm off to bed. I think I'll put my bag in the truck just in case!
Good night!
