News & Events

Thursday, August 31, 2003
At 4:34 am EDT, Alexander became a big brother! Check out his little brother's page.

Sunday, June 7, 2002
Pappy (Mom's dad) comes to visit. He takes care of Alexander so Mom and Dad can work on unpacking the house. Pappy can't stay forever, though, and he leaves the afternoon of Friday, June 14. His help was very, very, very much appreciated!

Thursday, June 6, 2002
Alexander flies out of Texas and moves into his new house. Dad and Alex fly to their new home to sign the papers and move in. Mom stays behind in Watauga, TX to clean the house up after everything is loaded on the moving truck. She will fly out on Saturday, June 8.

Friday, April 5, 2002
Alexander is six months old today!

Weight: approximately 16 pounds
Height: approximately 24 inches

Friday, October 26, 2001
Official due date. Well, it was. Cancelled!

Friday, October 12, 2001
Alexander is a week old!

Weight: 6 lbs, 11.6 oz

Thursday, October 11, 2001
Checkup: Alexander meets our chosen pediatrician.

(On the evening of his birth, there was a little mix-up at the hospital, and for some reason they insisted that our doctor didn't have rights to practice in the hospital. Since we were so short on time, we didn't argue (much) and accepted the pediatrician on-call at the hospital for the time being. It turns out that a secretary at our doctor's office missed a checkbox, and so our doctor had rights to the entire hospital except the maternity/nursery section. This has already been corrected. She had obtained rights to practice at this hospital so recently the issue had never come up before our turn.

Alexander is still looking great.
Weight: 6 lbs, 12 oz.
Length: 19.5 inches.

Tuesday, October 9, 2001
Checkup. New estimated due date. Cancelled!

Weight: 6 lbs, 7.6 oz

Monday, October 8, 2001
Checkup: Alexander's bilirubin level. All is well; Alexander's bilirubin count is way down.

Weight: 6 lbs, 11 oz

Sunday, October 7, 2001
HEP B vaccine was given today.

Great news! Alexander's bilirubin count was down some this morning, so they took the light off of him. The count this afternoon was a little higher than desired, but the pediatrician decided to release him as long as we promise to bring him in Tuesday for a checkup. So, at 3:30 pm, we headed home! I stand corrected; the checkup is Monday.

Saturday, October 6, 2001
The baby shower is planned for today.

Though Mom and Baby are doing great, neither will be attending the baby shower today. Dad is still trying to decide whether to stick with Mom or make an appearance.

Edward attended the shower in Jennifer's place. Afterward's a few people headed over to the hospital to visit Jennifer, and to deliver the presents, her lunch, and the special "chocolate - no icing" cake she had requested.

Alexander's bilirubin levels are higher than the pediatrician likes, so he was put on a special blue light designed to help him break the bilirubin down. If the levels are better tomorrow, he may have to stay an extra day. The light is a neat little contraption that shines through a paddle against his back. It's compact enough that he gets to stay in the room with us, and we can still pick him up and hold him.

Friday, October 5, 2001
Jen went in to the doctor for a blood pressure check, and the doctor discovered she was dilated 5.5 centimeters. The doctor sent her straight to the hospital and induced labor. Once contractions started, then after three hours of pushing, Alexander was finally born at 7:30 pm.

Pics are in the photo gallery, in The First Days. They aren't sorted or touched up yet, but they're there for viewing. There's even a short sound byte of Alexander's first sounds!

What a complicated day this has been!

Weight: 6 lbs, 13.5 oz
Length: 18 inches

Tuesday, October 2, 2001
Checkup. During today's exam, the doctor discovered that Jennifer is 3-4 cm dilated and fully effaced. Alex may be arriving much sooner than originally expected! The doctor said we may even be seeing him this week.

Friday, September 28, 2001
Class. "Parenting (part 2)" We learned about selecting and installing car seats, changing diapers, washing and bathing, SIDS, massage, breastfeeding and bottle feeding, and everything that's needed for the baby's layette. (We also learned what layette means.)

Friday, September 28, 2001
Class. "Parenting (part 1)" We learned basic safety around the house and infant CPR.

Wednesday, September 26, 2001
Class. "Breastfeeding" That about explains it. We learned what to do and what not to do for breastfeeding.

Monday, September 24, 2001
Checkup.

Monday, September 17, 2001
Checkup. From now on, we're going to be seeing the doctor weekly. Jennifer's blood pressure was extremely high today, so the doctor sent us to the hospital for observation for five hours. The observation went well. Jennifer's blood pressure stayed down to normal, and all the tests turned out okay. The doctor also ordered Jennifer to quit her job and stay home and off her feet.

Saturday, September 8, 2001
Class. "Labor in a Day" We spent the entire day learning about labor and delivery. We got a tour of the hospital, too. The delivery and recovery rooms are really nice. The room has a rocking chair, a recliner, bassinet, changing table, huge bathroom, and a bed that converts into almost any shape imaginable (it would put even the most complex Transformer toy to shame). Everything happens in that room, and the baby will stay in the room with us at all times, except for a few periods of testing in the nursery.

Wednesday, September 5, 2001
Checkup.

Wednesday, August 22, 2001
Checkup.

Wednesday, August 8, 2001
Checkup. From now on, we're going to be seeing the doctor every two weeks.

July 5, 2001
Checkup.

June 6, 2001
Checkup. This visit is when the full slate of sonograms was taken. I have them, but haven't scanned them in yet. Also, it looks like it's going to be a boy.

May 28, 2001
Checkup.

April 22, 2001
Checkup.

March 21, 2001
Checkup. This was the first scheduled checkup.

March 14, 2001
The first set of sonograms are in! Jennifer had a little bit of a scare and we went in for an unscheduled checkup. The doctor decided to take some pictures just to make sure everything was okay. All looks well!

February 21, 2001
Suspecting she was pregnant (home tests on February 11 and 18 showed positive), Jennifer visited the doctor. The doctor's test also showed positive, and she prescribed prenatal vitamins. Jennifer made an appointment to see the obstetrics doctor on March 21.