the pumpkin headed booooy

Here is X in his "Halloween" costume. but I am aloud to call it that for two reasons. 1) the bear outfit he has is a little to big, maybe he will fit in it next year, and 2) with this hat (lovingly made by Jessie) and this shirt (a great gift from the Newman's), Xavier is more dressed up then the children who have been stopping by our door tonight. Unless toddler is considered an appropriate costume for a 4 year old girls.



here is his outfit.




















and here is a better pic of his awsome hat.

AAP seal af approval

Xavier had his first visit with his pediatrician today. He checks out as a healthy 5 day old. He is almost up to birth weight, and the doc says he should be their by Friday. He has shrunk .25 inches, but the doctor says that is because the hospital never gets it right. And he has been cleared of all respiratory and jaundice concerns. Lastly, the entire staff agrees that he is the cutes baby boy they have seen in a long time. His next visit is just after thanksgiving. At his one month we get to start getting vaccine shots. should be fun.

Today is a success

Karen took a shower, I took a shower, and since their is a first time for everything, X has his first bath.

Here are some (g-rated) pictures...of the baby, not Karen or myself.

First the soap















Then the clean H2O
















Relaxation with some night time lotion.
















Proud Dad

Dog loves to read my blog too.

title says it all.

one more for fun.

Fashion statment of the day

I am the type of person that likes to buy things. So if a portion of proceeds go to something worth going to, that is good. here is X in his (red) shirt. Gap donated proceeds to AIDS research with every (red) purchase.

here are the pics.

Mary and Clara come over to play

Two of X's cousins stopped by to say hello today. He had fun stacking blocks, and eating lunch. Mary did a trial run in Xavier's high chair, just to make sure that it worked well enough for her baby cousin, and Clara gave us tips on baby proofing. Here are some pics.


Mary T is no longer the baby. Number 18 is here to stay.














Clara gives some tips on how to hold a newborn.



















Family photo with cousin X

Oh, what a letdown

Karen will be slightly embarrassed by this post, so i shall try to be cryptic. but her milk has come in and all i can say is wow.

Baby Lesson Number 1 leads to an experiment.

Last night was a doozy. Went to bed at about 10:30 to listen to X cry until 2:50. This is what we have decided. When mom drinks caffeine at night, baby does too. At about 2:50, i took my turn in cuddling, patting, and hugging until X finally calmed down. Then after a little conversation we have come to the conclusion that X seems to sleep better as long as his head is above his belly. Another words when he is sitting up. Tonight we may try to put a pillow under his mattress to give him a little prop as he sleeps. We will see if it works.

A day of adventuring

first day at home and we cant sit still. after a relatively easy night with some good sleep we got up to start the day. A made some pancakes then we packed up to run some errands. First we stopped at Target to get some much needed essentials. we walked around a little and actually ran into a fellow iuem spouse. Then we stopped off at "the kitchen" and showed of our new bundle of joy to my co-workers. We also picked up a slew of frozen dinners to keep us fed for the next little while. Here are some pics from the day.

One of mom and X




















Daddy and X















X up close and personal
















Getting ready for a day on the town. Karen picked the shirt, and grandma made the socks.

Karen's family 2: Jeffery's Family 0

Aunt Mebe came to visit us at the hospital and to help us to move into the house. Here is a picture.

trip home and the first night

Last night was a good night. We were able to sleep about two hours for every 30 minute meal. We left the hospital at about 5:30. We got home, got settled, fed X and out him down for a nap all by 7:00. At 7 Karen and I sat down and had some dinner and reflected on the last few days. We were laughing because while we were in the hospital we caught a couple episodes of "bring home baby." On each episode the family was all frantic and running around the night they got home, and it seamed like each ones life was thrown into a total chaos. Somehow we avoided Armageddon, and were able to have peaceful night. the few revelations we had were 1) the dog likes the smell of poppy diapers and 2) we need to be sure to check X's diaper before feeding time. Apparently he does not like to eat with a squishy butt.

Here are some pics from the trip home, and first night.

getting ready to leave...

in the elevator

In the car.

meeting the dog.

and in the ocean that is his crib.

A couple pics for the day

here is X after cluster feeding, in the middle of a post perandial nap.

Also one of the Boy with his name plate. and a little gassy grin.

Dogs, Danishes, and Weather Control

So i finally got to get out of the hospital this morning for a short period of time. I had to run home to take the dog out and pick up the infant carrier, because we are going home today. I stepped out side and thought, gee its cold...Starbucks must be open, but on my way home i found that it was not. At this point I realized that the uber coffee chain is not as all powerful as we all thought.

Here is the back story. Our house is about one and a half blocks from one of the main through fairs of the city. About two months after we moved in, the gas station on the corner of previously mentioned through fair and and equally substantial cross street, was torn down and a big billboard was erected that declared "Starbucks opening summer '07." About six months ago the construction started. This is a big deal because we live approximately 5 miles from the two hospitals that Karen works at, and between here and there, their is no where to stop to get a snack or drink or anything. Once you get past the hospitals there are things, and if you go the in the opposite direction of our house from the hospital you come across things in a couple blocks. But, essentially we are in a no drink zone. So this was nice because Karen could now grab a drink on her way into work and start her day on a slightly happier, coffee induced, note. Well as we all know summer has come and gone according to the calender, but not according to the temperature outside, and as most of you do not know Starbucks is still not open. So, both Karen and I, on separate occasions, with separate sets of friends, both deduced that Starbucks must have purchased the array of weather controlling satellites that the USSR launched during the cold war, to brain wash the public into thinking it was still summer, and there billboard was not a lie, and the the new Starbucks would be open in the summer of '07, or at least before it got cold. The sad thing is that, even three days ago when we checked into the hospital, it was still too warm outside to be considered fall. However, this morning when i went outside it was chilly, the news was reporting freeze warnings for the next few days and there was actually a nice layer of ice on my car. SOOO naturally my first thought was, Starbucks is open. but alas it is not, and Starbucks is officially no longer the supper power that I have been lead to believe they are, they can't even control the weather.

To continue the original story. Once i thought Starbucks was open i decided it would be a nice surprise to bring the new mom, her favorite coffee and a piece of lemon loaf. Once I found that it was not open, I thought mom like Panera better anyway. This thought sent my brain on a completely different tangent because of my love for German chocolate danishes. Panera has (or i should say had, but that is getting ahead of my self) the best German chocolate danishes ever. Whenever we go to the St. L Bread Co, i get one for dessert, but i have not been able to the last couple of visits because they had been sold out (or so i thought). So i get to Panera and rush up to the pastry case, which is packed to the brim with all sorts of decadent baked goods, and am shocked to see no German Chocolate Danishes. So i get to the counter and ask about them and the cashier says "we stopped making those about two months ago, they did not sell very well. Apparently no one liked them." WHAT? no one liked them... I liked them... I loved them, no one asked me. At that moment I realized the shock and dismay that Karen had felt when coldstone stopped carrying Cinnamon ice cream. I was heartbroken, but then i thought of X and my heart was whole again. I finally settled on a couple of asiago cheese bagels with an assortment of cream cheese.

After picking up breakfast I went home to check on supper pup, and he was supper excited to see me, which was nice. I brought home a baby rag so he could get some of the scent in before X gets home. he seamed to really enjoy it. Hopefully this will make the adjustment to another "creature" in the house a little easier. At least that is what all of the parenting books seam to say. We will see tonight, and i will be sure to leave an update. Until then...

Celebration dinner

after giving birth in those fancy hospital we are in we get a nice sit down dinner while the baby is taken away to get his hearing tested and the last round of tests. Basically we get to order of the same menu we have the last two days but they bring it in on a fancy table with a black table cloth and a flower. Karen had Citrus crusted pork loin with carrots and red potatoes, a field green salad with walnuts and poached pears (the same one she has already had two other times), and the sinless chocolate cake for dessert. I had the Plum chipotle glazed salmon (it was spicy) with red potatoes, and grilled vegetables, A Caesar salad (the same on I have already had two other times) and the pot of chocolate for dessert. Earlier in the day I had steeped away and got some sushi, so we had an "appetizer" of raw tuna on beds of sushi rice with small strips of seaweed. By the way while we were eating Xavier passed his hearing test. Here is a picture of our "celebration dinner"

24 hours of life

Here is a pic of him at 5:11 pm today. he was 24 hours old and doing what he does best.

The first birthday cake

This is a pic from a friend in Pitsburg. She made X his first cake. It looks yummy.

The first visiters

Karen's sister Julie and her oldest Emily stopped by to say hay. They were very welcome and agree he is the cutest baby right now. Here is a pic of X and aunt Julie and X with cousin Emily

The First Son

Mom and the boy

Dad and the boy. X gets the thumbs up.

Fussy night = easy day?

I have a new hypothesis. That if you have a fussy night with a baby, you are going to have a easy day. SO we finally got to get some sleep at about 4:00 am and that was for a little over 2 hours. people who say no synthetic nipples for the first two weeks must not sleep at all. X apparently likes to fuss, suckle like two times then pass out while actively sucking but not really eating. the solution is to pop in a passy and let him pass out. So he has taken to the nursing idea now and he is eating fairly regularly now and pooping too. The breathing problems have all cleared up and he is a healthy happy baby boy.

here is a pic to go ahh over.

dinner and breakfast

Dinner: Karen had cream of tomato soup, bow tie pasta with herbed olive oil and grilled vegetables, a side salad of mixed green with poached pear, a side of green beans and a pot of chocolate for dessert. I had a grilled vegetable personal pan pizza with a side of green beans and a side Caesar salad, with a sinless chocolate cake for dessert.

Breakfast: Karen had fresh fruit with a breakfast sandwich made with marble rye, egg, Canadian bacon, mushrooms, peppers and mozzarella and a side of red potatoes and a fresh biscuit. I had pancakes and cheerios.

Xavier had breast milk for both dinner and breakfast, and a few times in between.

Last post from the birth day

Last post of the day. Mom and I are beat so we are going to try to get some sleep. X has been having some breathing problems. Nothing to serious but we are probably going to let him stay in the nursery for the night instead of rooming in. He looks hungry, snuggles in to eat and then falls to sleep, we believe it is because he is having problems breathing. He is just not quite accustom to breathing real air. Something they may take a day or so to get over but as I said nothing to serious. Either way, we are here until at least 6 pm on Sunday. Indiana has a mandatory 48 hour stay policy in order to get certain blood work and other sensory tests performed within that small window of time. But now it is bed time. We will keep you up to date as to how things are going tomorrow, and have some more pics for all the enjoy.

Welcome to the world Xavier Stephen

3:30...8 cm dilation and a little pain. Start to watch the movie "the Holiday" after having watched 12 episodes of friends.

4:30...10 cm dilation and a bunch more pain, with some nausea. Movie gets turned off to prevent distractions

4:45 start working on getting baby out.

5:11 Xavier enters the world at 8 lbs 4 oz, and 21.5 inches.

Baby and mom are doing fine. Baby is currently having his first live meal. Here are a few pics.

progression is good

so things are moving along nicely. Contractions are steady and strong, but not being felt do to the good drugs. We are currently 100 and 4+, and baby has dropped considerably at last inspection. The nurse said that the baby definitely has a cone head, and we are both eager to see him. Hopefully in the next few hours we will start the delivery process. I will let you know a little later.

The pain has reached an eight

The contractions are steady and strong. Even a little to steady. About an hour ago they were hitting every 2 minutes to every 1.5 and were 15 to 20 seconds. Apparently that is a little to much to fast so we decreased the pit and started an epidural. so at 11:00 we were fully effaced and had a dilation of about 4. The epidural took about 20 minutes to hook up and now mommy and baby are doing just fine.
more later

on again, off again, ON AGAIN.

The Ob just stopped by. She says "well, we will do the cervidil again and see if we can get the cervix thinned. If that does not do anything we will send you home and bring you back in on Tuesday to see if we can start again. but first i need to double check your Truman (?) score."
then she say "wait a second. I was told 30 and 1. I think you are closer to 50 and 1.5. This is good. Lets put in the cervidil and see if we can get you a little softer and hopefully have a baby today." Then she says "Hold on a second. You have a collagen band." Apparently she had a tough spot that was preventing dilation. then it was "oh, there we go, lets call it 50 and 3.5, and the head is right there and the sack is right there and palpable. Lets break it."
So this means that the sack is broke (as of 8:40) and fluid is leaking. we are past the point of no return and the Pit is being started as I type so the contractions should amp up here pretty quickly. Here is hoping for a short labor and a happy, healthy, baby. We will tell you more on the flip side.
Oh and by the way, we did get to eat a little breakfast but if the anesthesiologist asks we have not eaten since midnight.

Breakfast?...not a good sign

So we just spoke with the nurse and she said "go ahead and order some breakfast, you are going to be here a while." Apparently after speaking with the OB, it has been decided that the cervidil has not done a good enough job, so we are going to try it again. It should be set at around 8am and stay in place for roughly 6 hours. Then if we are more dilated they will start the Pitocin. But in the interim, enjoy our breakfast selections. Karen is having Vanilla Yogurt and fresh fruit, A croissant with margarine, Grits with Cheddar cheese, a side of sausage, and a decaf coffee with milk and sugar. I am getting Pancakes with syrup, a side of Bacon, and a side of potatoes, with a diet coke. I also oredered a bowl of Cheerios and an apple on reserve for later. We will let you know more the day goes on.

Baby watch day two...AM

So it is morning and the nurses have just left. Apparently the cervidil has done its job, but not completely. We have a thin almost fully effaced cervix, but still only 1 cm dilation, and no lowering. Right now we are washing up and getting ready for what is bound to be a long day. Post shower the iv will be set up and the patosson should be started by 8:00 at the latest. For now here is a parting shot. hopefully the last of baby belly 1.0

Dinner 1 at the Hospital

Dinner was very good, however i did not get a picture of it.

Karen had the Black Angus Fillet, Roasted Red potatoes, Whole wheat roll, Mixed field green side salad with poached pears and a balsamic vingeret and Angle food cake with Raspberry sauce for dessert.

I had Citrus Crusted Pork fillet with Sweet potatoes, a whole wheat roll, a side Caesar salad and the sinless chocolate cake.

All of it was really good.

As of right now we are enjoying Thursday night programing on NBC. The office was great, "ooh Dee."

So their is a chance that some Ambian may be involved before to long, then no eating after midnight to get up bright and early for the patoson at 6:00am.

Arrived at the hospital

We are here and hopefully soon baby will be too.
We checked into the hospital at 6:00, we are situated and the cervidil is in. If all goes well, this may start some contractions on its own, or it will at lead soften the cervix enough to help with the delivery tomorrow. We will have to wait and see. For now, here are some pics of the birthing suite.















The left is the far side of the suite, with the flat screen TV and the Baby warming station














Second, there is the center of the room with the Nurse's station, the cabinets are full of meds and iv stuff















Then there is the close side with the happy mommy and the rest of the nursing stuff.
note the grassy mood facade with the back lite moon.
















Lastly we have the opposite side of the room with the fun view, bathroom, and jacuzzi.


More later, once we get dinner

No baby yet.

Just wanted to say no baby yet. We are plus one from the due date by not plus one in the family way. We have done everything that we have been told to do to help the contractions start but nothing has seamed to help SO, tomorrow night we are going to check into the hospital to get things moving and Friday morning Karen is being induced. Why so soon? You may ask. Well, apparently baby boy is big, and if he cooks any longer he may become to big to come out. Also Karen’s first shift post birth is November 15th. So the longer it takes for Baby to come out the shorter the break between then and the 15th. So even though some people out there frown upon induction, and don’t think we should force the baby to follow our schedule that is how it is going to happen. SO by this time Friday night hopefully Xavier will have enterd the world, and the first picture of baby boy Crevier will be up on this very page. Until then, goodnight and sweet dreams.