Aaron's 2 week checkup

In the midst of attending the funeral for one of my cousins Aaron got to visit the doctor again. Dr Later said he looked the picture of health. He also warned us that the medical community is quite concerned about how the swine flu will "blossom" now that school is back in session and I should consider keeping Aaron home mostly. We don't go very far most the time any way but I guess we need to decide how to handle church. Oh side note on that we will be blessing him on September 27 in our ward which currently meets at 8:30. Back to the Dr, I was a little worried because he wasn't eating for very long but I guess I didn't need to as he weighs 9lb 1 oz up from 8 lbs 3 oz in 10 days! That puts him in the 60%. Head is 14.6 in (49%) and he is 21 3/4 in long (85%) so he is definitely growing! Mom isn't convinced they do a very accurate job measuring how long they are but there is the official record.
He is so sweet and sleepy. I hardly know what to do with him after Miriam doesn't sleep much. It is wonderful having a little bit of heaven in our home.

Gratitude

I've thought a lot recently about how hard it would be doing the parenting thing alone. My heart truly goes out to the single mamas and I don't know why anyone would choose to do it alone. I'm extremely grateful to my mom and my sister Jennifer for their support in getting Aaron here.

Mom helped me get labor started. We thought I was going to start labor on Sat as I had contractions off and on all day, but no can do. Mon when I went to my Dr checkup he stripped my membranes and said if it was going to work that labor would start in a couple of hours. It didn't really seem to do anything, but we decided to try and get it over with. I did a cycle of soaking in the bath and walking. We had about decided nothing was going to happen when bam the contractions hit and hit hard at 11:40 pm. It was a pretty excruciating labor as it was all in my back being posterior. It was almost 1/2 as long as Miriam's, but seemed twice as long some how. Mom stuck with me while Eric was sleeping till we decided to head to the hospital at 1:30 AM. I am grateful beyond anything I can say for the tender loving care both Eric and my mom gave me through all those hours. I would have been highly tramatized without them. I was also very grateful to know Miriam was in good hands with Jennifer and mom (once Aaron came that is). I had worried what to do with her most of the pregnancy because by accident I hardly asked anyone else but mom to babysit her making it harder for her to be without me. Jennifer had stayed with us for a month by then and knew the routines and Miriam was very comfortable with her. Besides Jennifer didn't have any other responsibilities for me to feel like I was inconveniencing her. They brought her down to the hospital 3 times for us to see her and her to see Aaron. Thanks again Mom and Jennifer!

Then when we got home they again sparred me the trauma of learning right away how to take care of 2 children by myself. We had been up early to check out of the hospital and I don't think I could have handled Miriam on my own. Fri Miriam was really cranky and if it had just been me she probably would have spent a lot of time in her bed screaming her head off. Also the next week Miriam had some sort of stomach bug and once again I was immeasurably thankful for extra help as she turned very needy. I'm also thankful that Aaron has been very mellow and sleeps a lot- its sooo nice! Miriam says thanks for playing with me and taking care of me!!!

Jaundice

On Aaron's 2nd day of life the nurses got concerned with his color so they tested his billiruben levels. It came back not so very high, but he was in the high risk category because he was only 2 days old. So he got to spend the next 2-3 days under the lights.

It felt very odd to just hang out in the hospital without him except every 3 hours or so to feed him. Lucky most of our visitors that came (all on Wed night) managed to see him and hold him a little bit. We then had a bit of a to do about checking out of the hospital. Insurance only allows 48 hours unless somethings wrong with momma which put us about 5:30 Thur morning. My Dr suggested to check out after dinner but for the jaundice it was better for Aaron to stick with the more powerful hospital lights. We opted to stay the night and check out that early. Then the other problem was that Aaron couldn't check out till his Dr came to view test results around 7:30-8. So we checked out, they let us hang out in a little breastfeeding room to nurse him then we went and had breakfast at the cafeteria (cheap good bagel breakfast sandwiches!) and talked with nurse. The new test result were about the same level but because he was now 3 days old it put him in the med risk category. To be on the safe side we agreed to take home some lights.

Within a couple of hours we were delivered a light 'suitcase' and a paddle of sorts. I don't think Aaron was very excited about the process. He kept crying out all day and would be ok with a pacifier but he couldn't keep that in very long. We ended up going in and out a lot or just sitting by him. It also made sleeping really interesting that night because we had it in his co-sleeper by our bed, it was a bright night to say the least. Also to help with the jaundice and the fact he lost a lb (10% of his body weight) they wanted me to nurse as much as could- that ended up being about 10 min every hour on the hour practically. I had no problems getting my milk in with that kind of nursing. We got to go back to hospital and his Dr's to check the levels and see how he was doing. Once again levels were similar but because he was 4 days old he now was in low risk category. He also gained apx 3 oz in one day! We had to check his levels on Sun but everything looks good now and I wasn't sad to see the lights go!
He also got so he hated his goggles. For one thing they kept sliding all around. Overall he was pretty patient considering things with the whole process.

Announcing Aaron Thomas Jones

This morning our son was born (5:40) at 8 pounds, 9.7 ounces, and 19.5". Both baby and Mommy are doing fine.
Jessica started labor last night and we left for the hospital about 1:30 AM. Jessica had a fairly difficult delivery, but still managed to do it naturally, so she is one tough cookie! We're really proud of her.

Aaron is a bit more vocal than Miriam was the first day, but not as awake and alert. Miriam had her eyes open and watching the world, but was content and quiet. Aaron makes a few cute little noises as he sleeps. He is more prone to let his voice be heard, but rarely opens his eyes. It is interesting to see the differences in them, even at this very early age.

When we checked in, the nurse who admited us was Britney (Maiden name Johnson, Sorry Britney, I don't remember your married name), from Delta High class of 2000. My Aunt Julie Jones was the nurse who checked him out when he first arrived at the nursery after delivery. Then one of our first nurses to watch over us during recovery was Anita Pittman, who is the mother of Daniel Pittman, also from DHS class of 2000 and fellow swim team member. So once again, Delta proves that it is a small world after all.

Miriam came for a visit in the afternoon, although sadly the pictures are a little blurry. She was so excited to see her little brother! She crawled right up next to Mommy, and held up her arms asking to hold little Aaron! I'm amazed that she even knew the gesture of how to ask, especially since she has never asked to hold another baby before. The next image, although blurry, shows one of the many times she was asking to hold him.



She was so happy to see him, that he held her attention for a good 20 minutes or so (which for Miriam, that's eternity!). She kept patting his head, and giving him kisses. It was so great to see her so excited for her little brother. She seemed to understand exactly what had happened, and that she had been awaiting his arrival. After her time with Aaron, she then discovered that she could open the doors in the hospital and then commenced opening and closing as many doors as she could get to, as many as she could get away with...



She also came for another visit in the evening. This time she was more preoccupied with the doors, than with Aaron, although she did continue to show interest in him and in holding him.

15 Month check up

Well the actually checkup ended up being closer to 15 1/2 due to our trip to ID. We were accompanied by Jennifer who helps a lot when I can't carry Miriam any more and so forth. One of the best news is that her iron levels were finally good, I'm not sure why but both of us have had low iron lately. She weighed in at 21.21 lbs putting her in the 24.91%. It doesn't make sense to me because she looks normal and not scrawny to me. She was highest % at 6 months- right before she got mobile. Miriam is 31 in tall putting her in the 69.15% which is up from last time. she grew about 2 inches in about 3 months. Funny thing is she is back to about the same percentile that she was last year. Last but not least her head circumference s 18.25 in putting her in the 64.85%- the highest yet. It grew 1/2 an in in the last 3 months.

We also visited with Dr Lator about our new baby and it is nice to already have a Dr in place instead of another unknown.
This picture is actually from the 3rd of July in our festive clothes because of course she has about a weeks worth of red/white/blue clothes. Also if you look close you will see her destruction on my left sleeve from eating.

Into messes

Miriam has started into destroyer phase. On July 7 Miriam began her artist career on the wall. If you look carefully there is red pencil scribbles on the wall beside her.She has also turned in a cyclone which I'm sure all moms are familiar with. I documented her messes to prove to her later. These all happened in the same morning. I started feeling desperate at this point of how to keep up with her and this last miserable stage of pregnancy. My sister Jennifer came to the rescue, she came down till the baby comes. We sure appreciate the help in chasing Miriam, taking her for walks, and some help around the house. Thanks!!

Independance Day Celebrations

We hurried out the door eating our egg breakfast as we went to the Provo Freedom Festival Parade. We ended up watching it in a similar place as the last 2 times. Poor Eric hardly got to sit down as Miriam just wanted to wander around. She was a good garbage picker upper. We decided next time we need to bring better snacks. Miriam's favorite parts of the parade were the marching bands, she loved dancing with them and the great big balloons, maybe she could see them better.

After it was over we took our gear over to Eric's work to drop off. Miriam was being a big helper by carrying a chair cover, never mind she dragged it all the way and obstructed traffic, but she was pleased with herself. We then headed over to the Colonial Encampment that Crandall museum does every year. Miriam was tired and didn't want to let us watch any of the entertainment until she fell asleep. We then headed home for naps. It was kind of odd that we didn't do anything with anybody this year. We tried a few folks, but they all had plans.

We had a picnic in our backyard- grilled hot dogs (Miriam's first taste, loved it!), watermelon, the sweetest corn on the cob, chips and dip, and carrot sticks. Miriam and I bathed then set off a few fireworks out front. She liked the colors, but didn't like the noisy ones. We kept seeing random fireworks so in effort of putting Miriam asleep we went chasing fireworks and saw a few here and there.