sleeping through church

Today was Savannah's 1st day at church...and she has mastered what many men over the age of 50 work on for years...sleeping uninterrupted through the entire service. Since the temp has risen from a frigged 15 degrees to a balmy 45 degrees this week, she has also embarked on her first few walks around the block...the best part about this is that she has done so while loving daddy (as you can tell from the picture above). Wrigley has taken to Savannah very well and checks on her often while Savannah sleeps in her pack-n-play. She has learned also not to stick her cold furry nose (wrigley's) too far into SB's sleeping area for fear of waking her to what could only be described as a pterodactyl scream! On another note, who out there (besides Karl) knew there was a "p" in pterodactyl? Anyway, she mostly just stands guard these days--or, more aptly, lays guard. Another observation: Based on the pictures from the blog, Savannah never leaves her car seat...weird. Maybe we should be getting something from Chicco...time to send pictures.

C-Section story, not for the faint of stomach

I am just about healed up from the C-section and it has been a long 5 week recovery. The end result gave us a beautiful baby girl and she is so sweet. But I hope never to go through a healing process like that again! At the hospital, I got an infection. In the hospital the doctors and nurses were on the look out because I had a high white blood cell count. I did not come down with a fever until about a week after the delivery. And not being aware of the risk of infection, I was surprised when a 1/3 inch of my incision opened and puss pored out. (Sorry for the nasty picture, but yes it pored out.) And not only that but about 3 days later another 1/4 inch of it opened and..... yes, more puss. The doctors said the solution was to put me on antibiotics and stuff the now openings in my stomach with gauze to suck out the puss and allow the wound to heal from the inside out. As of yesterday, I am now done with the gauze stuffing and it is 97% healed from the inside out! It was a painful process! Have you ever had a wound that you had to clean by rubbing it with a wash cloth or something. That is what it felt like the first few weeks of having the gauze stuffed into my open wound. Not fun!

But, I would do it all over again if it meant I got to bring home our Sweet Savannah! She is mostly sleeping through the night. For the last 5 days or so, she has woken up once per night for a feeding. (Except for last night of course, there was two.) But every night gets a little better. Speaking of, I must head for bed myself!

Sweet Savannah is 1 month old!

Thank You!!

THERE ARE SOME REALITIES IN LIFE THAT DON'T STRIKE TO THE FULLEST UNTIL A NEWBORN COMES INTO THE PICTURE...FOR EXAMPLE: HOW MUCH A LITTLE PERSON CAN DOMINATE THE CONVERSATION WITHOUT SAYING ANYTHING INTELLIGIBLE, HOW "I'M TIRED" TAKES ON A WHOLE NEW...ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ...OH, SORRY, DRIFTED OFF THERE FOR A MOMENT!, AND HOW MUCH A GRANDPARENT CAN ABSOLUTELY LOVE A GRANDCHILD AND PUT TO EASE THE ANGST OF NEW PARENTS--ONE OF THE TRUE VALUES OF A GRANDPARENT IS THAT THEY HAVE GONE THROUGH SIMILAR THINGS THAT YOU ARE CURRENTLY TACKLING--ONLY, IT HAD TO BE WORSE FOR MY PARENTS BECAUSE IT WAS ME (JESS) THAT THEY HAD TO DEAL WITH--IN HIND SIGHT, I'M SORRY FOR EVERYTHING MOM!!! WE HAVE BEEN BLESSED TO HAVE HAD GRANDPA & NANNA (SP?) FOX AND PAPA AND GRANNY SCHWARZ COME TO VISIT. WE FOUND MOST REFRESHING THEIR QUIET CONFIDENCE IN OUR ABILITY AND GODS SOVEREIGNTY IN GIVING US LITTLE SAVANNAH. A COUPLE THINGS THAT WE LEARNED: WHEN GIVING A BATH, DON'T TRUST THE "WARM WATER" SENSOR ON THE INFANT BATH TUB UNLESS YOU WANT TO REALLY PISS OFF A 1 WEEK OLD KID! THE GENUSES (YES, GENUSES) THAT CREATED THIS WATER TORTURE DEVISE WOULD RATHER HAVE YOUR KID JOIN THE POLAR BEAR SWIM CLUB THAN STAY WARM AT BATH TIME--WE SHOULD HAVE TRUSTED GRANDPA & NANNA FOX ON THIS ONE!

THEIR JOY FOR THE MOMENT AND LOVING SUPPORT OF US WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN AND WE WILL CONTINUE TO THANK THEM AND OUR LORD FOR HIS GRACE TO US THROUGH OUR PARENTS.

THANK YOU GRANDPA & NANNA FOX AND PAPA & GRANNY SCHWARZ.

How many diapers does it take?

This morning after Savannah and my early morning nap, I was woken to a hungry baby. I often change her before I start feeding her so the wet or poopy diaper does not distract her from a good feeding. This morning however it took more than 1 diaper. While changing the diaper our Savannah "sharted" into her fresh diaper before I could close it up (when you fart and poop comes out too) and then finished it off with a good pee which ran down her belly and on her morning outfit. I then removed her outfit and gave her a good wipe down and began to put on a new diaper when she again pooped and peed and did a darn good job of it! Thankfully mom and dad were still here and I called for mom who helped me bathe Savannah and do the clean up. So, to answer the question, I need to keep 3 or more diapers on hand when I change Savannah!

Baby Love

After 14 hours in the hospital with contractions which include 6 hours of labor and 40 minutes of pushing, I was rushed into an emergency C-Section on December 30th. Savannah was born at 7:15pm. I have been recovering not only from delivery, but also from the c-section. It was definitely scary being rushed into the c-section. But every time I started pushing Savannah's heart rate dropped and they thought the umbilical cord was either in the way or wrapped around her. She was also facing upward instead of downward during the delivery. And with a 14 cm head, I don't think she would have fit anyway. The healing from the C-section is not as bad as I thought it would be. I get better every day, and the meds are definitely making life bearable.

We will be continuing to update the blog with more photos and updates. I am hearing the cry of feed time. And that means mom... and I love it!

Thanks for all your prayers and notes of encouragement! I love to keep in contact with you all!

Welcome Savannah Bailey Joles!!

Born: 12-30-08 at 7:15 pm by c-section.
Weight: 9lbs 8oz
Length: 20.5"
Head: 14 cm

Pictures on attached website is available for the next two weeks:

http://www.bellababyphotography.com/interim/

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