Merry Holidays.

It is a stormy Saturday morning out on the farm. Yesterday we took Jack into Dallas to run some errands. A steady stream of visitors start flowing in next week, so we thought it might be a good idea to replace the 25 year old bed in the guest room. Jack is a good traveler. The sound of the road sooths him, he never cries when the car is moving. We went to a couple of places and bought a cool "French Country" headboard and nightstand....then went to the super discount mattress store and got 98% off the deluxe space bed 4000. After that, we hit Target and got Jack a baby swing, then went to Uptown for some pizza. He did great the whole time. Monday, Jack is a month old. Time is already flying by.

It has been a while.

Sleep.  Wherefore art thou sleep?  For the first few night, Carrie and I would take turns with Jack at night.  One would sleep in the bedroom, the other would spend time pacing, bouncing, talking with, singing to, changing, praying to all mighty Jesus that the boy would fall asleep.  Normally, Jesus would not comply...probably because he was asleep.  The next morning we would be worthless, but Jack would be hungry, bright eyed, and ready to get on with his day.  Both of us came oh so close to the edge of sanity.  We lacked sleep.  We were tired.  It was hard to think straight.  Over the next few days when the sun began to set, we started to get down in the dumps, worried, a little depressed because we knew that it was going to be another hard, sleepless night. 

A few nights ago we decided that all three of us would stick it out together in the same bed.  Wow, what a difference.  Jack loved being between us.  He would fuss a little, but would curl up next to Carrie and sleep for good periods of time.  We woke up feeling 100 times better than previous mornings.  We were still tired, but we were sane.  

I'll try to keep this thing more up to date...until then, enjoy these pics!

No More Blues.

The trip to the Doc's office this morning was a piece of cake compared to Friday.  Jack is on a bit of a better schedule.  He normally sleeps for about 2-3 hours and then eats/gets burped/changed/held for about an hour or so before going back to sleep.  Then repeat, repeat, repeat.  He is eating like his daddy.  He has put on 3 ounces since Friday!  After the weigh in, they took his blood and called us back around 2pm this afternoon.  The Doc said if the count had gone down to 15 he would be off of the light.  His bilirubin count is down to 12.5.  No more sleeping on the Bilibed.  Back to sleeping with mommy.

The color yellow -- our Nemesis

Jack's Bilirubin count on the day he was born was 8.3.  Our pediatrician told us that we needed to come back in for a checkup today.  Our appointment was at 10:00am back at Medical City, the hospital where he was born which is about 50 miles from our house.  We tried to prep for the trip last night which involved getting the stroller ready and figured out, car seat, diaper bag supplies, Carrie's insurance card, blankets, pillows for nursing, breast pump, filling out Jack's new patient info online....well you get the idea.  After all of that, we got a massive amount of sleep..2 hours or so. 

Morning comes and we have to wake up, feed the dude, change the diaper, get ready, eat breakfast, move all of Jacks stuff out to the car (it was 35 degrees this morning) and hit the road.  Once we get to the hospital, we had to walk from the parking structure to the office building (this building didn't have valet).  This totally drained every ounce of energy out of Carrie, she was hanging in there for our little man.  Once we were in the office, they poked and prodded Jack.  The test for Bilirubin is a blood test and they pricked his heal for the blood.  He totally freaked out, and Mommy was sad.  The pediatrician let us know that Jack was in great health but did look a little too yellow.  He said that he would call us later on about the blood test and if the test came back over a certain level, Jack would have to receive light therapy.  

So the phone rang this afternoon about 3:00 with the news that Jack's count was up to 16.  We then got the orders that Jack would have to be put under a light until Monday morning.  The positive spin on the story is that we have Jack at home with us receiving his light therapy in his own bassinet.  Monday we are confident all will be well.  Until then, he can only come out to eat and to have his diaper changed.  He is doing well, but we have to fight ourselves not to pick him up and squeeze him.

Jack rules the roost.

The time is 3:34 pm.  The only reason I know this is because my computer says so.  Jack is in charge now, and he runs a tight ship!  The car ride home from the hospital was nerve racking...I mean Carrie and I have driven back and from the farm to Dallas about 4 trillion times now, but it was just a little different having Jack as the payload.  We made it back home safe and sound.

I gave Jack a quick tour of the house when we got home, he really liked his room.  The cats were not very thrilled about our new little addition..I locked them in cat jail (the laundry room).  I wanted to make them outside cats right then and there, but Carrie had a little bit of a problem with that, can you believe it?  Janga is staying with Mom and Dad for a few more days, we will introduce her to Jack this weekend.   Other than that we have been responding to the guest of honor's requests 24/7...with pleasure.  Carrie and Jack have been working on feeding time, they are making great progress!  We catch a nap when we can, and are soooooo tired, but this is the greatest time of our lives!  

Back on the Farm..

The three of us are back home. Donkey welcomed us in his usual way. Jack and Mom are fabulous. They are sleeping on the bed together. I'm trying to be somewhat productive, but not having much luck. I can now define the word exhaustion...that would be this very moment.

Late Night

Here are two pictures from the past hour or so. Jack was a little fussy after he had the "dreaded male baby procedure" earlier this evening. After they brought him back from downstairs, he crashed on me for about 2 hours (he likes my bare belly) then woke up and wanted a snack from Carrie.






It is late. We both have fallen head over heals for this little man. Carrie and I have been married 8 years today. Taking Jack home is the most perfect gift we could ever imagine.

Finally! The Internet is back. Behold, the story of Jack.

Internet access at the hospital has been down forever!! I finally called IT, they said a switch was down. What's a switch?



Anyhow, Carrie is such a trooper. She did an amazing job in labor. She was at 3cm at 12:00pm and reached full dilation around 4:30 and ready to push. Jack's head was down, but his face was up. Normally babies are born faced/head down. Since his head was up, this made it much more difficult to get him past Carrie's pelvic bone. I held Carrie's left leg, the nurse held the right one, and the Doc was in the middle running the show. As contractions would come, Carrie would push as hard as she could. Jack was being stubborn. We could see his head get to a certain point, but as soon as Carrie would stop pushing, he would slide back up to where he started. This went on for about an hour and a half. The Doc threatened Carrie with the vacuum if she didn't get him out soon...that gave her motivation! Not long after that a final push and out came Jack's head. When his head came out, we could see that the umbilical chord was around his neck and face. I had the quickest and most intense flash of terror...although with so much going on at one time, it was hard to lock in on any one emotion. Almost immediately Doc cut the chord and cleared his nose and throat, all while his body was still inside of Carrie. One more push and out came the whole dude! He was fine and we were thrilled!! Many tears and cheers followed.

We are in recovery now, set to leave tomorrow morning. I can't wait to play him some good music. To be continued.....

Meet Jack Lewis Lindsey

(click on the picture for the full image)

7lbs. 1oz.

19 1/4"

He is a healthy dude!!! We are super excited!!

Carrie is fully dilated!

We start pushing in 10 minutes!!!!!!

Superbaby Lindsey is on his way!

The big day is here. This morning Carrie noticed her tummy was hurting a bit and had a few other symptoms (I won't go into too much detail)..so we called the doc office and they told us to come in for a check up. The nurse on the phone said it didn't sound like labor, but to come on in. We made our way into Dallas and up to Medical City where we have our usual check ups. When the Doc came in to see us she said Carrie was dialated to more than 3cm and ran a test to discover her water had broke. Then came the quote of the day (so far) "That will get you a ticket up to labor and delivery".

So that brings us to now. I'm sitting next to Carrie in the delivery room. Her contractions are about 4 minutes apart. She wants me to finish this...so I am finished! More soon.