Jackson's 2nd Week

Howdy! Well, Jackson made his appearance out and about in public this week. He visited the Rose Garden and also a pumpkin patch in between visits from family and friends. Click here to view a photo show from his adventures this week!

Poor guy has a cold - probably the same one Jason and I had last week. He's a bit congested and cranky, but hopefully it will move through quickly. Jackson had his first visit with his pediatrician this week. His jaundice is all better and he's gaining weight well - he's at 8lbs now and has grown a full inch in 2 weeks! Unfortunately, Jackson's having a bit of tummy problems lately, so we switched his supplementation to a soy-based formula. It seems to be okay, but he's still a bit gassy, which has him in tears during the early evening. I'm also staying away from dairy, too, to see if it helps any. But, hopefully he's tummy problems will ease up soon. He's sleeping well - I wake him up at 4:00 - 5:00am for a feeding and he goes right back to sleep until 8:00 - 9:00am. Who hoo!

Oh, and another bit of momentus news - his umbilical cord fell off this week. It was really starting to gross me out. Now he has a cute little belly button!! : )

Welcome Jackson Dana Stull!

Well, as all of you know by now, Jackson Dana Stull joined us a week ago on Saturday, October 11, at 10:23pm! He weighed 7lbs. 11oz. and was 20.75in. long. (Apparently, I must have mother's intuition as my guess a few posts ago came closest to the actual date, weight, and length (!) - go figure! Amanda's guess was the 2nd closest - go meeha!)

The labor and delivery went well. It was pretty straightforward - I felt minor contractions about 3:00pm Friday afternoon and they became stronger and 5 min. apart around 3:00am Saturday morning. The on-call doctor said I should come to the hospital around 6:00am. We were admitted around 6:45am. At 1:00pm the OB broke my water to move things along and by 10:23pm our little guy was here!

We have been home since Monday afternoon and are getting used to our new schedule. Our pediatrician, Dr. Trager, asked us to come back to the hospital Tuesday morning for a lab test since Jackson had elevated levels of bilirubin. This is a common occurrence in newborns. Basically, their little liver needs to catch up and start eliminating bilirubin on its own (when he was in the womb, the placenta would help filter bilirubin via my blood instead). Sometimes it takes a few days for their liver to catch up. Dr. Trager also asked that we place him in his diaper in a sunny place for 15min. at a time. UV light also helps to break down excess bilirubin. So, Jackson's becoming a little sun baby - he loves lounging outside in his diaper in the warm sun! We had to go back for the test again on Wednesday morning. But, the levels appear to be going down, so Dr. Trager is okay with continuing his sun treatment and checking him again next week during Jackson's first pediatric appointment. He's looking less jaundice, which is good.

Some things we have learned this week:

• If you plan to be somewhere, tack on another 2 hours to your "get ready" time. We were going to be at the hospital at 7:30am on Tuesday, but ended up getting there at 9:30am.
• White noise is great - it really does help the baby get to and stay asleep.
• We can be entertained just by staring at Jackson's beautiful face for hours at a time.
• We can't sleep enough.
• Jackson will go through a minimum of 3 outfits a day.
• Where does he put all of that milk??
• Baby feet are super soft and kissable.
• We are very lucky to have such great family and friends who visit and bring us dinner!

Projects!

So, I thought I'd share with you some projects I've been working on over the past week. I decided to get crafty and make a few bags. This is my first attempt at making bags, so they are by no means professional-quality! The first is a diaper bag, which I finished last night. Here are some pics.

Diaper Bag: I was so excited to finish it, there may be some stray threads, but I think it looks pretty decent for my first attempt. There are lots of pockets to stash things and you know me...I have to have a black bag with a pop of color!! There is an exterior pocket on one side for storing a bottle and another exterior pocket on the other side with a small velcro flap.










Everyday Bag: The second is just an every day bag. I liked the blue corduroy and flower print fabric -- good fall combo. I actually made this bag before I made the diaper bag and totally destroyed the inner lining -- so I will not be showing you that part!! lol.(I'm learning.)



There are 2 halves to the bag. Each "side" that attaches to a ring is a separate half and each has its own zipper. In between the 2 halves, there is another open pocket which has a snap holding it together, which is shown below.



Glad I was able to finish these before baby comes! : )

Baby Stull...Where Are You?

Well, my due date has come and gone and still no Baby Stull!

I had my next (and LAST) OB appointment today. Status --- NO CHANGE. Absolutely no change and/or progress for the past 3 weeks. *sigh*. So, after discussion with the doc (who does not like to go more than 1 week beyond the due date), I have a 3:00am appointment in Labor & Delivery at Good Sam next Thursday, 10/16, for induction. Soooo...if Baby Stull does not make his move within the next week, he'll definitely be here sometime on Thursday!

I'm not too thrilled about the induction...I would much rather this happen naturally. But I am excited to know that he'll be here in a week, one way or another.

If you have any tips on how to induce labor naturally, let me know. I've heard of walking a ton (which I have been doing --- we even went on a (slow) HIKE last weekend), eating spicy foods, walking with one shoe on/one shoe off (?), vacuuming, taking castor oil (well, at least this will clean you out), cinnamon tea. If you have any other suggestions, do let me know.

Overdue Baby Stull reading his eviction notice:

What's Your Guess?

As we wait for Baby Stull to make his appearance in the world, I'm wondering when YOU thing he'll make his grand entrance!

Post your guess now: birthday, weight, and length.

I'll be the first to post mine below...

Eviction Notice Pending

I had my next appointment today and...
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no change since last week.
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.
.
...sigh...
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I have a feeling the little guy is going to be fashionably late.

Stay tuned...

Week 39 Update

Its been a while since I've posted! Well, not much to report back on the baby front over the last 10 days or so...just waiting anxiously for Baby Stull to make his appearance. My last doctor's appointment was last Thursday and not much to report - the little guy is head down and his head is "engaged", which means he's ready to go. But, as far as when that will happen, we just don't know. The Dr. said it could be the same day or in 3 weeks...soooo... we continue to wait...(drumming fingers). My next appt. is this Thursday, so we'll see if there is any change. Sorry I don't have more exciting news to share!

Kerry did send me info regarding this interesting article: PETA Urges Ben & Jerry's To Use Human Milk

The thing that I find even more disturbing than PETA's written request to Ben & Jerry's is that in PETA's letter (which you can read in the link above) they indicate there is a restaurant in Switzerland that plans to make their soups, stews, and sauces with human breast milk!! However, according to this article, that will not happen because of Swiss regulations. Um, I think I'll pass on the cream of mushroom soup, thanks...