Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Milk Monster

Milk Monster

 
Jackson came home on Sunday May 15th, Betsy and I were very excited to start this new chapter of our lives.  With Jackson in his car seat, all hooked up, and secure it was now for real.  We get to take him home!!!!!!! 
 
Once we got home Jackson started to cry, Betsy fed him and he kept falling asleep and it was really hard to get him to stay alert enough to feed, but we did what we could.  He would cry and cry, almost as if he was not feeling good or was really hungry.  Jackson was up all night and so was Betsy and I, he would eat but as soon as he started to get he would fall asleep. 
As some of you know Betsy and I have a year old Golden Retriever named Bailey.  She is such a joy to be around, but those of you who have had a puppy she is very hyper and I was afraid she was going to be that way when Jackson got home.  She is one who chewed a hole in our carpet when we were not home, when ever someone new comes to the house she is always the first to greet them at the door jumping all over them.  So I was concerned that Bailey was going to be a little over affectionate with Jackson.  Don't for one minute think that Bailey would ever do anything to harm the baby, because is is one of the sweetest, most gentle dogs, and she always means well.  Well I was proved wrong because Bailey has been the best dog over the past two weeks.  When Jackson cries she is the first to be at the bassinet looking around, looking for someone to help because she is worried that the baby is hurt.  Jackson coming home has mellowed out Bailey. 



Bailey
Jackson was scheduled to have a Doctor appointment on Tuesday the 17th, we woke up that morning and Jackson ate well drank his meal, again he fell asleep and we didn't think much of it because he was telling us he was hungry by crying and I just thought that he was getting what he needed and he then just fell asleep because well as we all know babies sleep like all day long.  We got to the appointment and of course we were late, and since Betsy grew up in Papillion and our Doctor was in Papillion the odds were very high that he would run into someone she knew, and well we did.  She knew one of the nurses, so being late wasn't that big of a deal, but Jackson I hope you get my sense of time and not your mothers. 

At the Dr. appt she weighed him, and listened to his heart, and did all sorts of things to him.  The Dr was concerned because he had lost a little under one pound.    So he had to do a modified breast feeding routine.  We needed to bottle feed him as well has boob feed him, this was something that Betsy didn't want to do because she was afraid he would get nipple confusion (he didn't).  We had an appointment the day after to see how much he would gain off of this, he gained 8 ounces of the wight he gained back and he was happy, he was sleeping more and more.   
                                                                                                               
 
Jackson sleeping on daddy, with Bailey passed out next to me too

Jackson hooked up to the ultrasound machine
                                                                                                                         Also she heard a murmur in his heart and wanted us to go to the cardiologist to have an ultrasound done.  he did great, he slept most of the time and didn't move or fuss much at all, I think i would have because they took like 100 pictures of his little heart. 







 

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Baby Jackson

8.4 pounds at birth

Showing that Jackson was 21 inches at birth.
Jackson with all of his hair.
Chart to help Guys understand what Dilation might look like. 

Getting Oxygen
Before the action in the operation room

Jackson Smith was born on May 12, 2011, he was 8.4 pounds, 21 inches long, and had a full head of hair at birth.  It was a very long day, Betsy and I got to the Bergan Mercy Hospital at 10:30 PM on Wednesday the 11th.  We walked the floor multiple times, stopping periodically for a little contraction, she was a champ I was so very proud of her.  At around 6 AM the nurse came in and checked Betsy's dilation and still it was around a 5 (half way there) again throughout the day the nurse (Bethany) came into the hospital room and checked how dilated she was and again and again she was roughly the same.  Bethany was the best nurse that we could have had, she was someone who would joke with you when you needed it, explain when you didn't understand something and be there when you felt like you were going to cry from the pain.  At around 3:00 Betsy's doctor came to the hospital after updates from the Nurses to check on the progress and see what we were going to do next.  The Doctor stated once she checked the progress of Betsy cervix, she was at about an 8.  The problem now was that the baby hadn't dropped and it was looking at though the baby wasn't going to drop anytime soon, if ever.  At 3:30ish it was decided that the baby wasn't going to drop and she was going to have to have a c-section.  We had a little scare when the doctor stated that we had Meconium    (click on link to see what this actually is) but shortly after we heard the best sound in the world Jackson started to cry, soon after the nurses whipped all of the green cottage cheese, weighed and measured Jackson I was able to hold him.  It brought tears to my eyes and I was the happiest person in the world.