Both Jen and I agreed that little Jakey needed to have a circumcision (or as it is listed and talked about here at the hospital...a "circ"). It is no secret that I am not much of a needle or blood guy but I wanted to show my support for the little guy since I was the one sending him under the knife and he had no say in the matter.
To do the quick clip they have to restrain his legs which was a little tough to see, but he was wrapped in a blanket and enjoying some sugar water through a bottle nipple so he wasn't even making a peep. When the doc came he quickly applied a local anesthetic and I stood off his shoulder as he trimmed Jake's peepee (man, why did I choose that word).
I am proud to report that Jake didn't make a peep (he probably has a sweet tooth like me and that sugar water distracted from the main event) and that he is recovering nicely back with mom and dad. He must have gotten his toughness from mom who, as I have stated many times before, has been the total trooper throughout this entire process.
Love you honey....and Jakey....and Lys!!!
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Oh What a Night...
I was tempted to try logging an entry in the middle of the night to see how truly delirious I was. However, the delirium was so great I wasn't able to grab the laptop and peck my way through an incoherent update.
At about 8:45 last night our final guests for the day departed and to Jen and me it felt like it was already 2 AM, which was an unfortunate feeling to have since our young Jake was interested in getting some milk that hadn't quite arrived for his consumption. From 9 PM until about 2:30 AM both Jen and I kept trying anything we could to get him to stop crying if even for a few moments. He fed on more colostrum, laid on Jen's chest, walked the room with me, had a binky in or a binky out, he was rocked, rolled and cradled. However, even with all of that, the combination of the lack of real food and some built up gas (and at one point hiccups) caused JR (as you can see I am trying all name variations) to consistently be uncomfortable and aching for a good cry.
Finally, at about 2:30 I crashed out while Jen pulled feeding and watching duty from 2:30 until 5. I awoke at 5 to find Jen rocking and feeding the little guy, after which I took over the watching duties and Jen was able to get some quality zzzz's while Jacob and I did some father son bonding. So, needless to say we are an exhausted bunch, but we survived the night and now Jake is happily sleeping in his bassonet while I write this note and Jen flips the channels on the tube.
At about 8:45 last night our final guests for the day departed and to Jen and me it felt like it was already 2 AM, which was an unfortunate feeling to have since our young Jake was interested in getting some milk that hadn't quite arrived for his consumption. From 9 PM until about 2:30 AM both Jen and I kept trying anything we could to get him to stop crying if even for a few moments. He fed on more colostrum, laid on Jen's chest, walked the room with me, had a binky in or a binky out, he was rocked, rolled and cradled. However, even with all of that, the combination of the lack of real food and some built up gas (and at one point hiccups) caused JR (as you can see I am trying all name variations) to consistently be uncomfortable and aching for a good cry.
Finally, at about 2:30 I crashed out while Jen pulled feeding and watching duty from 2:30 until 5. I awoke at 5 to find Jen rocking and feeding the little guy, after which I took over the watching duties and Jen was able to get some quality zzzz's while Jacob and I did some father son bonding. So, needless to say we are an exhausted bunch, but we survived the night and now Jake is happily sleeping in his bassonet while I write this note and Jen flips the channels on the tube.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Rocking the Diapers
Everything is "coming out okay" for our little Jacob as I have already changed three diapers today with a nurse changing the fourth...and my mom may have changed a fifth. Today has been nice and relaxing for both Jen and myself. She has continued to progress well and has eaten among other things part of a turkey Subway sandwich and some Pad See Iew (0 stars). My mom came out to say hello and get some baby time and a couple of Jen's coworkers and friends joined the party supplying us with the Thai food and some beverages if we feel so inclined (oh and some flowers as well...these guys were thorough).
Other than having a happy, healthy baby, a quickly recovering mother and wife and a fatigued but incredibly happy husband and dad there is not much else to report. I'm sure tonight will offer some more challenges and we will be sure to log those for everyone's enjoyment. Here are some more pics for your enjoyment...
Other than having a happy, healthy baby, a quickly recovering mother and wife and a fatigued but incredibly happy husband and dad there is not much else to report. I'm sure tonight will offer some more challenges and we will be sure to log those for everyone's enjoyment. Here are some more pics for your enjoyment...
The Morning is Finally Arriving
It is almost the end of our first night with little Jake and we are still holding in there. Jen and I each were able to steal about two and half hours of sleep over the course of the night which is less than I expected to get (lord knows why) and I'm sure about as much as Jen thought she would be getting. Our boy has some good lungs and can let out a decent cry, but overall I can't really say that he spent a whole lot of time crying last night...but that could have been because one or the other of us had him in our arms for the entire evening. :)
Jen is progressing fairly well, but she has had the displeasure of dealing with the side effect of vomiting. She has had the chance to get up out of bed a couple of times and even took a quick walk from one end of the room and back to her bed. The sciatica that caused her to contact the doc and push up the delivery date has disappeared with the arrival of our baby (he is no longer setting up camp on her spine).
I managed to change my first diaper this morning (a changing that followed closely on a changing from the nurse...our boy has been eating). Just like me, he has settled down once he has a clean set of undies and is tightly wrapped in some warm baby blankets. :)
We will fire up so more pics later this AM, but for now we are going to refocus on Jacob and see if we can't steal a few more zzzz's before today's group of visitors arrive.
Jen is progressing fairly well, but she has had the displeasure of dealing with the side effect of vomiting. She has had the chance to get up out of bed a couple of times and even took a quick walk from one end of the room and back to her bed. The sciatica that caused her to contact the doc and push up the delivery date has disappeared with the arrival of our baby (he is no longer setting up camp on her spine).
I managed to change my first diaper this morning (a changing that followed closely on a changing from the nurse...our boy has been eating). Just like me, he has settled down once he has a clean set of undies and is tightly wrapped in some warm baby blankets. :)
We will fire up so more pics later this AM, but for now we are going to refocus on Jacob and see if we can't steal a few more zzzz's before today's group of visitors arrive.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Jacob Opens to a Full House
Even though the baby came 6 days early, it didn't mean that he was going to enter the world with just mommy and daddy. Our wonderful godmother, Jackie Wilburn, batted in the clean up spot by joining Jen in the operating room while they did all of the icky needle and prep stuff (I am a large, large baby when it comes to needles), but I came swooping in behind the curtain to offer Jen what support I could. Jackie acted as the documentarian as she took footage of stuff none of us will probably ever watch again, but we completely appreciated the effort. :)
The time between when they rolled Jen towards the OR to when she was getting rolled to our room was less than an hour. For me it seemed pretty painless but Jen made it all look easy when I know that it wasn't. Once we reached the room we had the full squad awaiting our arrival. For my side of the family this is our first grand-baby (we inherited the beautiful Alyssa at 3) so my side came out in force. For Jen's family this is the first grand-son so they also came out to offer their support.
In any case, I am having trouble finding the words right now due to excitement, fatigue and amazement so I will leave you with some more pics...
The time between when they rolled Jen towards the OR to when she was getting rolled to our room was less than an hour. For me it seemed pretty painless but Jen made it all look easy when I know that it wasn't. Once we reached the room we had the full squad awaiting our arrival. For my side of the family this is our first grand-baby (we inherited the beautiful Alyssa at 3) so my side came out in force. For Jen's family this is the first grand-son so they also came out to offer their support.
In any case, I am having trouble finding the words right now due to excitement, fatigue and amazement so I will leave you with some more pics...
Say Hello to Jacob Ryan Grothkopp!!
Stats --
Born on: October 4th, 2007
Born at: 5:19 PM PST
Tipping the scales at: 8 lbs 9 ozs
Standing tall at: 20.5"
Born on: October 4th, 2007
Born at: 5:19 PM PST
Tipping the scales at: 8 lbs 9 ozs
Standing tall at: 20.5"
Getting Ready to Head to the Hospital!
I got the call from Jen at 11:40 AM that she was heading to the hospital and got the green light to have the baby early. After bombing through town in a taxi and then cruising the rest of the way home as fast as I could (within the speed limit) I made a pit stop at Bartell Drugs to get a new 8mm tape and then headed home to find Jen getting the house ready for departure. Many boring cleaning activities followed and we are in the final few moments before heading to the hospital for a few days.
More to come from inside the hospital...
More to come from inside the hospital...
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