Breaking Rule No. 7

Erin created the first rule. Rule No. 1, no peeing on the Mommy. I call this one the "Golden Rule". It went from there. By the time I was able to put in for my couple of rules, I got 6 and 7. Last night we had a serious violation of rule No. 7.

Some time around 2 AM, Erin gives me a poke to get up and change the boy. He is awake and starting to fuss. Time for a new diaper and then a good meal. So, I pick him up and head for his room and the changing table to put on a new diaper. In the short few moments it takes me to pick him up and get him to the changing table, he lets loose more than a few wet farts. Yea...

Not without some trepidation, I pull off his diaper to change him. Diaper is wet, but not really poopy. I wipe him off quickly, and all of a sudden he breaks rule No 7, no pooping on the daddy.

At this point, I have a real mess on my hands, both literally and figuratively. I manage to swiftly get myself cleaned off, him cleaned off, and in a fresh diaper, so his rear end cannon is now safely contained. He is now screaming his head off, and there is still poop all over the changing table.

Fortunately, my wife is wonderful. From the warmth and comfort of our bed, her mommy radar goes off, sensing "something is awry", and she rushes to my rescue. Erin scoops up Xander and sits down to feed him, while I proceed to clean up the rest of the mess.

I would say, I'm sure that it won't be the last time, but I actually don't even need to speculate on that. He managed to it to me again this morning. Oh well. Nothing that a really good long hot shower can't take care of.

Jake

The problem with good photography...

The problem with really good photography, done with professional equipment and with professional studio lighting, is that you end up with professional looking photographs!

I went to Walmart today to get some last minute prints of the photographs we've been taking of Xander and Jennifer (Gran) during her visit. I didn't have much time, as she was about to leave for the airport, but that's what one-hour photo shops are for, right?

Well, the short story is that it took the permission of not one but two managers at Walmart to let me walk out of the store with photos of my own family, and only after I had signed a waiver stating that I had permission to make prints and was not infringing on copyright rights of the professional photographer who obviously took the photos. In the future, they strongly suggested I bring a signed letter and/or business card from Jake saying that I'm allowed to make prints there, and they'll kindly keep it on file for me.

Can you believe that these latest photos were taken in our garage, with Xander alternately crying his little heart out (he was hungry, as usual) or asleep? Jake's getting better and better!

Milk does a body good

Erin here...
So when Xander was first born and before my milk came in, it pained me that the little guy was so *hungry* and obviously wasn't getting enough from me. Within 72 hours (time is fuzzy, but we were still at the hospital) my milk arrived and nursing was going well, but the boy was still *hungry* all the time. We've been home for over 2 weeks now and the boy is still *hungry*; I feed the kid for 30-45 minutes every 1.5-3 hours, 24/7. Thank goodness Jake takes one of the feedings around midnight or I'd never sleep for more than an hour at a time. In truth, all I do all day long is feed the baby, or change his diapers- and usually his outfit at the same time.

I used to be ( was it only 3 weeks ago?) a successful business woman, respected for my brain and my work ethic. Now, I am a milk factory. It is enough to make me wonder what good it's doing.... until we went to the doctor yesterday and found out Xander's latest stats:

The goal for a "2 week" appointment is that the baby should be of good color, have regained birthweight, and be showing signs of awareness and activity. They also do followup work on some screenings (thyroid, etc.) and make sure the parents are doing ok.

At birth, Mr. Xander Lewis was 21.5" long and 8 lbs 8.4 oz. He lost almost 10% of his body weight in the first few days, and almost an inch off his height once his cone head went away.

At his "2 week" (19 days old) checkup, Xander was

22" long- in the 90-95th %ile
9 lb, 9.5oz- in the 75th %ile
14 3/4 inch head diameter- in the 50-75th %ile

In other words, it may be exhausting to Moms, but for babies, milk really does a body good!

Somehow, even though I miss the mental challenge of my career, for right now, I'm feeling rather good that what I'm doing is, in fact, a worthwhile vocation.

So much news to share!

Erin's turn here... Jake's been asking me to update this for a few days, and I must admit, it's high time! We have so much new news to share after a whole 5 days away...

First off, the most recent news. Xander is no longer the youngest cousin. Morgan Jacob was born to Meg and Jason April 17 at 1:50 pm. He was a healthy, good size baby- 7 lbs. even; 21 inches long. Meg is already up and about at home, and it sounds like the whole family is doing really well. We can't wait to meet the newest addition!

Jake has returned to work, but has managed to work less than a full week this past week, and will likely work a little less than full time again this week. I think it's hard on him to be away from his son, and hard also to jump in to a full load on less than enough sleep. We're all still adjusting. Xander sleeps so well some nights, and other nights.... not so much.

While Jake has been back at work, Otto has taken over some of the duties of secondary caregiver. He is very protective of Xander, and gets very concerned if the baby is left alone, especially if he starts to fuss. It's a little like another dog I've heard stories of...

Otto does his best, but the lack of opposable thumbs does make helping out with diaper changes difficult. The good news is, Jake's mother, Jennifer, a.k.a. "Gran", has arrived for a nice long visit with us and with her first grandchild. She is a wonderful grandmother, singing the baby songs, taking scads of photos, and holding him and playing with him as much as she can.

Jen is also doing a wonderful job of feeding us. In the first 14 days after delivery, I lost 26 lbs. In the last 3, I've lost less than one!

Xander, on the other hand, is fattening up nicely... we have his next doctor's appointment on Tuesday, and I'm expecting him to have regained his birthweight and more... I suspect he may even be close to 9 lbs now.

Today was another bath day. Xander's umbilical cord fell off after 12 days, and his belly button is now looking really healthy, so it was time to break out the tub. Xander wasn't so sure he liked the water at first.... but he started to really dig it after a moment, and even let Jake wash his head without a whimper! Water baby!

Baby Portraits

Portrait sessions with babies don't last very long. We were able to get a few photos while he was happy and sleepy. Hopefully tomorrow we can get some awake photos. For now, these are some pretty adorable sleepy pictures.

Jake

What a week!

It is crazy to think that tomorrow is Saturday. Although I've taken the entire week off, the weekend still seems real to me. In part because it means that I'll start back at work on Monday. Not full time, if I can help it, but I'll still be back in bright and early Monday morning. Yikes.

We have had friends trickling through this week. Thanks to everyone for the flowers, food, and company. We love you guys. For those who haven't come by, and want to, give us a call. Don't worry about waking the baby, he sleeps through anything when he wants to. And when he doesn't want to, NOTHING will make him sleep. Ughhhh.

Xander got to see Leah again on Wednesday. She seemed perplexed that he just cries at the drop of a hat sometimes...

So far the sleep thing has still been pretty good. The last few nights have been a little rough, he has been sleeping about every other hour. I've still been taking one feeding with a bottle each night, which is working pretty well. Unfortunately, this doesn't always put him to sleep, something about feeding with mom puts him right out, where the bottle doesn't.

Xander had his first bath on Wednesday. He was generally pretty calm through most of it, especially given that neither he nor I knew exactly what we were doing. It looks like I dumped the poor guy on his head. Good thing babies are resilient. We've got video on this one folks, although I didn't know it at the time... Enjoy.

The dogs are doing great with Xander. Otto particularly looks out for him. If Xander is crying, he runs over to him, sits down beside him and looks at us as if to say, "Guys, can't you see he is crying, come on now, do something about it." They are becoming great friends.

Xander got to meet his "other half", Alex, last night, and parents Peter and Audra. Alex is going on 6 months old and it is amazing how grown up he is. It is hard to imagine that our little guy will be like that soon.

As I started to write this, he was wide awake at 8:30 PM. More awake than he had been all day. By 9 PM he was acting hungry and fussy so I went ahead and got him a bottle, although it had only been an hour since he last ate. By the time I got the bottle warmed up (thanks to Allison and Todd for the bottle warmer its awsome) he was completely asleep. Its almost 10 PM now, and he is still sleeping. Once he wakes up, its time for him to eat, and then hopefully bedtime for both of us. We'll see.

Jake

Life with a New Baby

The last few days home with Xander have been fantastic. It is amazing what a wonderful little boy he is. Yes, we are those parents who can spend hours just staring at our little baby. He doesn't really do much, but that doesn't seem to matter.

It has been wonderful to have visitors and phone calls from friends and family. You guys are great!














There has been lots of cuddle time with the little guy. He is incredibly soft, and warm. Nap time is lots of fun.













We got out for a nice walk today. It was beautiful, in the upper 60's. Xander seems to like to ride in the chariot. Just a short trip around the block today, Erin is still healing and needs to be reminded to take it a little easy on occasion. That said, she is doing incredibly well. My wife is awesome.






Of course, it is not always cuddly time and happiness. The boy has good lungs, that's for sure. All in all though, he is a pretty happy baby, he has been pretty good to us so far.










I've been taking the first night feeding so that Erin can get some sleep and work on healing. He has been sleeping about 3 hours at a time, so really, we are doing pretty well. He has been a good eater, and does just fine with both bottle and breast feeding. It is nice for me to be able to feed him too. It is great bonding time for us.

Home from the Hospital

We had a nice nap in the morning at the hospital. After that we packed up to head home from the hosptial today. Everyone at the hospital was great, but we were ready to get out of there.









We got ourselves all packed up, but then realized that we didn't have it quite right.









That's better.















We are home now, and it is wonderful to be here.

Baby Parts

Hands, feet, ears, all there. More pictures for everyone.

Headed home today! We expect to get home by 2 PM or so. Can't wait to bring Xander to his house!

Jake

Daddy Time

So far, this baby is easy. Yes, I've probably just jinxed us for the rest of our lives. Oh well. He slept for about three hours last night, then ate for a while, then slept again for four more hours. Seven hours of sleep. That's awesome.

Erin is doing really well. She did some walking around last night, and has been up and moving lots this morning. She was able to get a shower last night and again this morning, and is starting to feel pretty well. Of course, the percocet helps.

I've gotten a chance to spend lots of time with him this morning while Erin has been getting some time to take care of herself. This dad thing is great, he is so amazing. Yea, I'm smitten.

Jake

First day, First visitors

Oh Baby! Ain't he cute? While near picture perfct, a few minor improvements had to be made.... for instance, swapping out hats made him much more lively and happy.


Xander may have Dad'd rugged good looks, but Mom's circulation... check out the poor blue hands and feet! He was just a little cold and soon warmed back up.


We weren't kidding when we said that this little baby has HUGE hands and feet....

Here's our little guy with his 5 month old friend, Leah... different size kids to be sure


until you check out the feet- Xander's are BIGGER!

It has been great to have a few visitors come by. Both Jake and Erin are feeling a little cooped up being here at the hospital for so many days. We're hoping to take our little boy home on Sunday afternoon, but it's also possible they may keep us until Monday.

Happy Baby

We had two good feedings last night, and one this morning. Erin and I were able to sleep between for a few hours, which we both desperately needed. Everyone is feeling much more lively this morning. Xander is doing well, all of his tests have come back with no problems. The pediatrician will be in later this morning to give him a full review. Erin is feeling great. We expect that she will be up and walking by the end of the day today. She is already feeling a little restless to get up and out of bed.

Jake

Welcome Alexander Jackson Lewis

Alexander Jackson Lewis

Born April 2, 2009

10:14 PM

8 lbs 8.4 oz

21.5" long

Xander and mom are both doing very well. After a long labor Xander was delivered by C-section. He was "sunny side up" and has a huge head, it is really squished right now. He just wasn't coming out the normal way. Everyone, especially Xander, is tired, but he is feeding really well, as long as he can stay awake. We expect to be in the hospital till Sunday or Monday. We'd love to have visitors, just give us a call to arrange something. I'll post more tomorrow, need to get some sleep.

Jake