Jason's First Week

 Well, Jason is a pretty laid back guy.  He let's me know when he wants to eat by squawking (and that squawk will become a full-on wail in one minute if not answered in a timely manner) and it's like he carries a pocket watch in his gown--that boy eats every 2 1/2 hours without fail.  He lost 9 oz. in the first 3 days of life, so I guess he's making up for it.  I've been "encouraging" him to get his days and nights straight by waking him up multiple times during the day while he is happily snoozing.  I give him a sponge bath in the morning, which he screams through, and he gets a lotion rub-down in the afternoon to wake him up.  Just the act of changing his diaper is usually enough to wake him up enough to eat.  And like a true boy, I have gotten hosed down during these diaper changes more times than I can count!

You talking about me?

 The second night home, he went on an eating rampage, demanding to be fed every hour.  I think it was because my milk had just come in.  The fourth night was perfect.  Fifth night--screaming and crying with a tight stomach, and he hadn't pooped that day, so I'm going with tummy troubles.  He was doing that wonderful nursed-baby transition from meconium to yellow poop, and I think he had trouble making the change.  Yesterday, a huge blow out and he's been a dream baby ever since.  Guess who slept all night (with only 3 wake ups to eat)?!  Me and Jason!

 See that smirk?  He makes the cutest little faces while he's snoozing.  And you can tell when he is in dream mode because he raises his eye brows, twitches his mouth, and makes surprised faces.  

 I do get to see those baby blues when he's awake.  His usual awake time is when he is nursing.  I try to talk to him while he's eating, saying his name a lot and talking about our day.  I've been leaving all the lights on during the day to help with that night/day mix up that newborns have, and I think it's helping.  

Big sister Emily is just a sight with him!  She helps me carry in his car seat to daycare in the morning, gives him a big kiss on the head when we leave, and loves to help with diaper changes.  She doesn't like to hear him cry and becomes very concerned.  She will randomly leave what she's playing with, run over to him and point out his ears, nose, toes, etc.  Then he gets a big kiss and she's right back to what she was doing.  I think we hit the right mark on timing with these two--let's hope the jealousy doesn't ever rear its ugly head!
What's Next?  Jason is back to the doctor on Thursday (11/1) for his two week  check up!

Pumpkin Party

 The night before my induction, we broke out the pumpkins and decided to get them carved/decorated.  Let's be honest--it wasn't likely to happen after the baby got here, am I right?  So here we are getting the pumpkins ready to greet the trick or treaters next week!

 We have learned that Emily can't be trusted with sharp objects, so she got to paint her pumpkin!

 Geet's homework may take 3 hours because of his distractibility, but when it comes to pumpkins, he was very focused.

 Even though she was limited to a paintbrush and black paint, that didn't stop Emily from wanting to use the scraping tool.  She basically used it like she was spreading mud on drywall.

 Did you catch my face in the background?  I didn't think that Timmy was really going to take the picture!  When we downloaded all the pics, this one made us all laugh hysterically....so it had to part of this post :)

Yes, Caroline is wearing a bib.  But it's against her will.  Emily "rediscovered" all the bibs in the bottom drawer in the kitchen and has spent a week putting them on everybody.  Which is ironic since she herself refused to wear a bib ever. 

Welcome Baby Jason!

 Our induction on Wednesday morning went very smoothly, with the exception of the epidural fail at 8 cm!  After being very comfortable and not even able to feel that I was having a contraction, they came on strong and I could feel everything.  My Godsend-of-a-nurse, Jamie, tried to get me a booster of meds, but it was time to push by then.  10 minutes later, Jason Oliver Drinks was born!

 Jason Oliver Drinks

8 pounds, 9 ounces

20 3/4 inches long

October 17, 2012 @ 3:09 PM

 He was very alert from the moment he was born and boy, is he an eater!  He took right to nursing and didn't stop for an hour and a half!  The siblings and grandparents were getting restless to hold him!

 Big yawn!  Having so many visitors tuckered the poor boy out.  Aunt Carrie was there by noon, so she got to witness everything and capture all those first moments on film.  My co teacher Robin stopped by just as I was assigned to a recovery room, and my friends Jen, Tiffany, Tracy, and Natalie all stopped by on Thursday.

 Jason has the most adorable quizzical look when he first opens his eyes.  Here he is hanging out with Daddy.

 Baby's home!  We came home Friday afternoon (the head nurse dragged out the discharge process and we probably could have been there in the morning, but oh well).  Emily took to the baby immediately.  She loves to give him kisses on his head, pat his back when I am burping him, and tickle his toes.  She doesn't seem to be bothered by his crying (which he doesn't do much) and isn't displaying jealousy issues (yet).

 Aunt Carrie was a lifesaver!  She drove all the way from PA on Wednesday morning and made it in time for the birth.  She was an official "leg holder" and photographer!  She brought all kinds of frozen dinners for us, so Tim and I don't have to worry about making dinner for about the next month.  Carrie was loaded down with presents for us, including my birthday present.  She was a huge help with the kids, basically stepping in for Tim and me on Wednesday night so that Tim could stay at the hospital with me.  She took Garrett and Caroline home, got them in bed, up the next morning, and off to school.   Then she treated me to some Starbucks and hung out with me at the hospital Thursday and Friday, in addition to spending the night with me on Thursday.  Carrie was at our beck and call, truly just a generous person who was more help and more appreciated than she could ever imagine.

 Baby Jason on the drive home.  It was uneventful--hopefully he likes car rides!

39 Weeks: The Buck Stops Here

Well, I had my final OB appointment yesterday at perinatology, which started out as anything but routine.  As soon as I parked in the parking lot, I got a call from Timmy that he had wrecked his car.  Not a "fender bender".  Not a "mishap".  But a full blown, totaled car.  Luckily, he wasn't hurt and the guy he rear ended was fine too.  Turns out the guy slammed on his brakes when a traffic light turned yellow and with the rain, Timmy's car just hydroplaned right into the back of him.  I got a beautiful text message pic of the car with its folded accordion hood.  
I told the receptionist right away that I could only stay for my appointment if they were running on time, since my husband had just totaled his car in DC.  She assured me that they had only one person in front of me.  It still ended up being a 2 hour appointment!  Halfway through my ultrasound, the screen froze and they had to restart my whole scan!  And the really helpful tech was like "Wow, that's never happened before!".  Yay, lucky me.  
On the frantic drive home (at this point, Emily has been sitting at daycare about 2 hours longer than she normally would), I get a call from Jenna....did I know that Caroline's softball game was rescheduled....for that night?  At 5:30 PM?  Like.....in twenty minutes??  Ummm, no I didn't know, my ESP hasn't been working correctly today!  So it was a mad scramble to get back to the KG, get the kids ready for softball AND baseball (Garrett had practice), get everyone to their respective fields, then get Emily.  By this time, Tim has stopped 5 times on his drive home to put water in his busted radiator and somehow got the wrecked car into our driveway.
So long story short, torrential rain storms called an early end to the softball game, I got Garrett and Emily home right before the sky opened up, and everyone was in bed close to normal time.  Oh, the baby, you ask?  Well, he is doing great.  I got lovely amounts of amniotic fluid, he's head down and very low, I'm dilated almost 2 cm and 75% effaced.  His growth scan revealed a likely weight of 8.5-9 pounds.  I am scheduled for a 6 AM induction tomorrow (Yikes!).......stay tuned ;)

Emily: 23 Months

 It's a few days early, but something tells me we might be a little busy this week :)  So here are some updates on Emily!  She almost two-going on twelve-going on 22.  She says "thank you mommy" and "thank you daddy" for everything.  Doesn't matter if we're filling a juice cup or handing her a toothbrush or helping her with her car seat.  We were at the doctor's office on Friday afternoon to get the last of her shots before her 2nd year old visit, so here are some stats:
Height: no clue.  they didn't do this one.  but she's visibly taller.
Weight:  26 pounds on the nose.  She lost a couple pounds with the croup last week.

Emily likes:  Sissy and Geet and all of their attention; reading books to herself; doing her puzzles; seeing her friends at school; her new Elmo Halloween shirt; anything with monkeys on it; bows (but not in her hair); drinking out of cups with straws; footie pajamas; Taggie blankey and stuffed bear; being outside; checking on the mail; mostly everything!
Emily dislikes:  pumpkin flavored stuff (how is this my child??); getting shots; being disciplined; the bath (after she got the shots); being sick; when Mommy or Daddy leaves the house without her

Fall Festival 2012

 With only 4 days until our scheduled induction and a major case of cabin fever from my "modified bed rest" orders, Emily and I ventured out for my 10th (her 2nd) King George Fall Festival parade Saturday morning. Tim was busy getting in some crabbing before Baby #4 makes an appearance, so it was just us girls.  Garrett and Caroline are both playing ball this fall (baseball for him, softball for her) so they got to ride on the KG LL Fall Ball float and throw candy.

Hope there were no fires from 10 am - noon.  We had every police car, fire truck, and ambulance in that parade!

This is the "cute" face that resulted in a full bucket of candy!

Do ya dig my Elmo Halloween shirt??

I don't care how the team plays this season--well, maybe a little--but the band was awesome!

This Tootsie roll pop lasted for hours.

This guy offered me a whole handful of candy if I ventured into the road.  It was worth it!
 Mommy scored a Heath bar!

Professional candy throwers

Lots of horses.....and lots of clean up.

The excitement was overwhelming.  I barely made it to the car.